Will the Ruse Work?

"And once she's been sold, what happens is no longer our concern," the Captain said. "Besides, anyone who buys her surely ought already to know about such dragon lore. The Captain of the Stony Brook is a friend, and I will warn him if I can, but the odds are against our being able to do so in time to be of any use. Even if we had sufficient speed to intercept them before they made port, which we don't, finding them in the open ocean would be like finding a needle in a haystack."

"Don't you have a mage aboard who could contact them?" Fred asked.

The Captain smiled. "Don't let the Gold Coast fool you into thinking that having a mage is common. They can afford a magic user, but most ships cannot. Neither we nor the Stony Brook have one."

Fred frowned. It seemed unlikely that his ruse was going to help. Poor Astra. He hoped that she wasn't feeling too ill.

Meanwhile the Captain of the Stony Brook had received a report from the sailor who had escorted Astra for her exercise on deck. He had said that she semed very listless and lethargic, and that the minimal amount of exercise that she had managed seemed to tire her further rather than help her.

That was bad news. If the potential buyer could see that the dragoness was unwell, then the price that they could get for her would be much reduced. They might even not be able to sell her at all.

He went below decks to see Astra. He found her lying on her bunk, her eyes half closed. "What ails you, lady?" he asked. "Are you sick?"

1. Astra tells him the true reason for her malaise, and asks if he can spare any valuables with which she might begin a new hoard.
2. Astra pretends that the anklets are the cause, and asks him to remove them. But even if she can persuade him, she is far from sure that she can summon enough energy to change back into her dragon form.

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