The New Message

"Never mind him," Fred said, taking out the scroll that was in the bottle. "This could be important." He read aloud:

To Lord Fred: Sorry for calling you "Sir Fred" in the last message. Just a slip of the pen.

The dragon's mate has been killed by Sir Pozzo, so there's now no need for you to hurry back from wherever this finds you. Take your time. Your debriefing can wait.

Fred scowled. He liked Sir Pozzo even less than Sir John. As for hurrying back, he only wished that he could. But Astra had referred to their current location as the "island Demetri", [12912] so it seemed that they were little better off now than when they had been on their original island. Probably worse off, in fact, given that this much larger island seemed to be full of strange dangers.

"Is that all the message says?" Astra asked.

"No, there's more." Fred read out the remainder of the message:

1. Princess Astra and Prince Alex have gone missing on a mission to rescue their great-aunt from the wizard Zerm. The Aqualarians are offering a large reward for any news of them.
2. By the way, Allaria and Aqualaria are now at war.
3. Last minute news: the kingdom has been overrun by a plague of evil harpies, so we need you back here quickly after all.
4. The outlaw Robert Billingsley has been pardoned by the King, following the death of his uncle Sir Robert Cecil and his inheritance of the Cecil millions.
5. Seriously though, take the scenic routes home...

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