Astra's Shadow

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 16571

One of the green-robed man's guards, dressed in plain clothes to avoid notice, had obeyed his orders and followed the red-haired woman out of the Goat's Head. She was a strange one, and no mistake, he thought. She stood close to six foot tall, a height which very few of the local men reached, let alone the women. Even odder, she appeared to be a warrior, for there was a sword at her side and a shield on her back. This was a woman with enough confidence in her own ability to risk being conspicuous so long as it meant that she would be able to give a good account of herself in the event of a fight. Both the sword and the shield glowed faintly, which made the guard feel uneasy. He had also seen how the woman had handled the barman, so he was glad that he was only required to shadow her and not to confront her.


As Astra walked away from the Goat's Head and down Tailor Street, she found her thoughts returning to her need to atone to Artemis for her sin. On her return home, she would have to see the High Priestess, who would decide what form her atonement should take. She knew that the High Priestess had a great deal of discretion in such matters. If she felt that Astra was blameless (something which Astra herself found hard to accept), or that her time as a demifox was penance enough, then she could tell her that the slate was clean. At the other extreme, she might be ordered to renounce her royal status and spend a number of years as a slave, for hard work was a recognised path back to a state of grace.

Astra was aroused from her musing by a strong feeling that she was being watched. She knew better than to turn round, for that might alert the watcher that she knew of his presence. Instead she continued on her way until she reached the next inn on her circuit, the Wolf and Lamb. There, she took a stool at the bar and facing the door, in the hope that whoever had been tailing her would follow her in.

  1. A minute or so later, a man came in. Astra could not be absolutely sure that he was her shadower, of course, though he had the look of a fighting man.
  2. Astra was to be disappointed. Whoever was following her was apparently too shrewd to come into the inn. Presumably he would wait until she left and then resume tailing her.

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JH

7/16/2001 1:48:38 PM

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