They've got to fail if we're to succeed....

Astra 9a

"Princess Astra!" a voice (female) calls out. "You’re alive!"

"Yes?" both I and the male centaur respond out of reflex, tensing a little at the unexpected shout. Glancing back at the source of the call, both Zeliseth and I see…

Frell (to use a popular term that one gray girl, Chiana, would use)! You've gotta be kidding me! Why do I and my sister, Astra 9, keep on running into analogs of these rangers?! I mean, surely I could have been safe enough to walk around with . . .

Nevermind! Time for a bit of dodging with lashings of truthfulness.

"If you only knew how many times in my life I'd been called that," I begin. "If I had a shilling for every time . . . .Why! I could buy the Aqualarian throne from the royals, I could!

"The name's Aynine and you have the wrong woman," I add. "Still have to yet feel my 19th birthday, I do! From what other tell me, after they recognize the mistake, is that Princess Astra (may the Heavens hold her in it's arms) is in her twenties, not her late teens. I wish I could give you better news in these times but I fear that you're mistaken and the woman you're looking for shall not be found here, fellow travelers. Sorry."

Notice how everything I just said isn't an out and out lie. Point in fact, it is perfectly true! Which is good because . . .

....

Heh, well, like so many of my sisters of the Astra clan I'm prone to scratching my nose if I tell out and out lies!

Anyway, of course at first these Aqualarian rangers in disguise (they make laughable merchants but then again I salute them for trying) don't appear to believe that. After all, they must have been scouring the former Great Kingdom for any sign of their lost princess (the now male centaur behind me), all the while being careful to avoid detection by the twitchy non-human citizens. But they're familiar enough with their highness to know the difference. The native Princess Astra (had) been in her early twenties while I appear to be in my late teens (thanks to the fact I ceased to age at age eighteen because of being a Champion). There are other differences (minor) that swings their views my way.

Frustrated and sad, they accept my hearty wishes of fair well. I know that their quest is doomed and that here and now was the closest that they shall ever come to finding their lost princess (who's technically now a prince) was here and now. I know that if they had identified the male centaur as their lost royal and forced him to come with them (i.e. we allowed it) it would have killed him (remember that he needs to win Frieda's heart else he'd die).

After they're gone and out of sight I note the . . . rather large sword (a centaur sized bastard sword) he's allowing the other examine.

"Good Lord," I mutter. "The blasted things eight feet long if that!"

1. And where did it come from? He'd been bare of all equipment (weaponry and otherwise) after his final transformation!

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