Lake-side Encounter
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 23065
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Fred waited for his clothes to dry, enjoying the warm sun on his bare
skin. He had no idea of where he was or how he had got here, but
nevertheless he was happy. He had completed his quest, was safely out of
the dark caves, and it was a beautiful day. Life seemed good.
He was startled when, seemingly out of nowhere, someone plunged into the lake from above. The person bobbed back to the surface, looked around in understandable bewilderment for a moment, then spotted Fred and swam towards where he stood on the shore. Fred realised that he recognised her. Her height and evident strength, yet combined with great beauty, not to mention her mane of red hair, left no room for doubt. It was Princess Astra of Aqualaria! Fred scrambled for his clothes. "Please don't get dressed on my account," the princess said, climbing out of the lake. "I can see that your things are still sopping wet. As are mine." To Fred's alarm, she started unconcernedly stripping off her own wet clothes and laying them out to dry next to his. As she undressed, she said: "You look familiar. Haven't I seen you before somewhere?" "I'm Lord Frederigo D'Honaire, Your Highness," Fred replied. "We danced together once." "Ah, yes, I remember you now. You kept treading on my toes. They were bruised for several days afterwards." "I'm sorry about that, Your Highness." "I was only teasing. And please just call me 'Astra'. This doesn't seem the right occasion for formality. I hope you won't mind if I call you 'Fred'. Perhaps you can tell me where we are? It seems like a beautiful spot." "I'm afraid that I've no idea, Y- Astra." And Fred told the story of how he came to be there. When he had finished, Astra said: "That's quite a story! Congratulations on killing the dragon. And please accept my thanks from all of us in Aqualaria, for we too have suffered at its hands - er, paws. I suppose that I ought to tell you how I got here. It's a far shorter and less exciting tale than yours, though. I was walking along a corridor in the palace when I saw a red door that I was sure had not been there before. I opened it, walked though, and found myself here." "That makes me think that it was not just chance that brought us both here. Somebody wanted us here." "But who? And why?"
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JH
12/21/2002 6:35:15 AM
Extending Enabled
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