Welcoming Committee

Recent events have been interesting, to say the least. I had got Sir Guy's permission to admininster the "booster" spell to all of his men. Not long after I had completed that, and less than two hours after that strange conversation I had had with Andrea - as I must get used to thinking of her - and Cederik, there was a great commotion outside my tent. First I heard a loud but non-human sounding voice cry out: "Annafrid!" Then men started shouting and even screaming in panic.

Pulling back my tent-flap, I saw a scene of utter chaos. Most of Sir Guy's men were running away from the camp in terror, and it would clearly be some time - if ever - before they could be reassembled into an effective fighting force. The cause of their fear was obvious, as gliding down into the clear area in the middle of the camp was a great black dragon!

It was an awesome sight. For all the protection that being a sorceress gave me, it required quite an effort of will to remain calm myself. At first I thought the dragon must be Minestus, and that he wasn't dead after all. But that couldn't be so, else Cederik would not be free. Anyway, how would Minestus have known the codeword? Unlikely as it seemed, Cederik and Andrea, and whoever was allied with them, must have a dragon of their own.

The dragon landed barely five yards away from where I was standing in the entrance to my tent. There was nothing to stop him landing wherever he chose, for none of those few who hadn't fled were prepared to come anywhere near him.

"Care for a lift, my lady?" he said. (I assumed that the dragon was male.) The voice was different from that of a human, but was surprisingly pleasant. I even thought I could detect an undertone of humour in it.

"I don't seem to have much choice," I said, with as much dignity as I could muster. I had gathered from my conversation with Andrea that something was going to happen, even though I hadn't known what, so fortunately I had swapped my long gown for a pair of leather trousers and a jerkin. I was glad not to have to try riding a dragon "side-saddle" style. That would have been somewhat precarious.

I clambered aboard, if "aboard" is the right term, and the dragon took off. The flight only took a couple of minutes, but even nervous as I was I found it exhilarating. We landed outside the village inn. The men - and several women too, I noticed - were obviously much better prepared against dragon-fright. Or perhaps the dragon could switch the effect on and off whenever he chose? There seemed to be a welcoming committee of eight or so waiting for us.

Back on terra firma, I brushed back a lock of hair from my eyes with my hand, for my long hair had blown all over the place. That was when a male satyr - of all unlikely creatures - said: "Welcome." The voice sounded strangely familiar. Surely I had heard that voice at court, not all that long ago. Looking at him closely, I realised that I recognised the face behind the beard. "Frederigo D'Honaire," I gasped. "Whatever happened to you?!"

Fred:

The Princess's face is a picture of astonishment. She must be pretty sharp to have recognised me so quickly, though. Apparently she's less blinded by her preconceptions than are most people.

"Yes, it's really me, Princess," I say. "And the other satyr is Princess Astra of Aqualaria, whom you may also have met at one time or another. You already know Prince Cederik and Andrea, of course. The other redhead is also called Astra - we'll explain later. The very buxom blonde is Annafrid, and the Oriental-looking woman is Joan. Over there is Jarlath, another mage. Next to him is Lord Rodney, who holds this region for my father; I don't know whether you've ever met him. And the dragon is Synizn. Like the late Minestus, he's also a mage, but unlike Minestus he's one of the good guys. I think that's everyone."

Not for the first time recently, Cederik looks taken aback.

1. "You might have told me," he mutters reproachfully to Synizn, who just chuckles.

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