Astra's Negotiations Do Not Go Well

As a princess of Aqualaria, Astra had taken part in diplomatic negotiations with neighbouring countries on a couple of occasions. But she had always had wise advisors to help her, and anyway those negotiations had never been as desperate, nor those with whom she was negotiating as ruthless, as was the case here. She felt rather at a loss, but she knew that she could not afford to show any weakness.

"You speak of surrender," she said. "There is no question of that. But we might perhaps be able to come to an agreement. We have nothing that is of much value to you, for my hoard is still very small by dragon standards. But it is still not too late for you to co-operate with us. That would be much more to your benefit than your current ill-advised hostility."

Astra was deliberately not specific about what this benefit might be, as she was finding it hard to think of anything of value that she could offer them. They would surely only laugh if she promised them riches at some future date. She could make further threats, of course, but the pirates had obviously realised that these would be no more than bluff, since if she sank the ship it would doom her companions to death, as well as sending her hoard to the bottom of the sea.

Could she use the silent speech to neutralise Charlie, as he must have done with Sartoma? Though as a dragon she could probably call on more mental power than any human mage, she doubted that she had enough expertise with it as yet, especially when her opponent would clearly be a formidable one. Besides, at this stage putting him out of commission would not really help. Could she perhaps control him rather than neutralise him, so that he told the pirates things that were untrue and to her advantage? But to control him would be even harder than to neutralise him.

1. But she could think of nothing else to try.
2. Could she use the silent speech to talk to Fred without the mage realising?
3. Fred spoke.
4. The mate said: "If it helps you to decide, Charlie asked me to say that he knows a spell that would trap you in your human form for as long as he chooses." Astra thought that he was probably bluffing, but she couldn't be wholly sure.
5. Primed with what Charlie had found in Sartoma's mind, the mate said: "Perhaps your possessions are not worth much, but there are people in your party who are very valuable. Chief amongst them being you yourself, Princess Astra."

Add New Option

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree