Making Preparations

In that case I was lucky that you didn't trip over your own feet and let go of the rope when you were hauling me in from the river, Frieda thought but of course was unable to say. Or drop me when you were carrying me in from your horse.

Why would Belboz handicap Lawrence is such a way, she wondered. It could surely only make their mission to defeat the dragon even harder than it would otherwise have been. Belboz clearly was a very evil man, as his taking away her voice had also shown, and she wondered how Prasgoth had persuaded him to co-operate at all. But Belboz, rather strangely, actually lived in the dragon caves, and so perhaps it would suit him to see the beast eliminated. But how was that going to happen if she was too weak to lift a sword and Lawrence so clumsy that he might be more of a threat to himself and to her than to the dragon if given a weapon.

Her musing was interrupted by Prasgoth saying: "Lawrence's clumsiness is very unfortunate, but I'm sure that between you you will manage to destroy the wyrm." Frieda suspected that he did not really feel at all confident, and was only saying that to try to boost their morale.

"We must see about equipping and arming the pair of you," the wizard went on. "I have acquired a large dagger that might suit Frieda as a sword. As for her clothing:

1. "I can magically shrink some armour to fit her and that shouldn't be too heavy."
2. "I'm afraid I don't have anything to fit her, so she's stuck with that rather unsuitable and very muddy dress." (The dried mud was a legacy of Lawrence having dragged her up the river bank when rescuing her from the river.)
3. "I can get hold of some children's clothes to fit her very petite size, but not armour I'm afraid."

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