Just the Facts, Khanomam

"Your assumption is wrong. I did not murder those two guards."

"Then why dye your hair? Why escape into the wilds of Tenge, when the main road between Corona and the northern dominions was open to you?"

Astra stared at him dumbly. How could she even begin to relay all that had happened to her?

"What I am about to tell you is true, insofar as I have any sanity left. Somebody, somewhere, is doing things that I cannot explain." She paused again. She wanted to tell someone everything that happened, just so she could sort it all out herself. She was prepared to have the davar mock her, and point out obviously unlikely things about her story. But it was an unlikely story.

The davar merely said, "I will be the judge of that. Please go on."

"I will start on the first. That was the last normal day that I had in my life. I suspect that you will hold this against me, but I am an Aqualarian." The davar sat passively, listening to Astra. She thought to herself, If he does not believe this story, that is his problem. She continued, "I was obligated to attend a reception for the new ambassador from Allaria, Baron Michael. I was at the long table, seated between the merchant of Wiffex and Lady Ceres, a friend of mine. We were chatting about nothing in particular - I think we were talking about horses, and I had turned to Ceres to ask about Baron Michael's wife, when suddenly things got very bright. I found myself on a beautiful beach, with a knight in shining armour."

"This knight's name was Lord Fred of Suffex-in-Allaria. He told me that I was the most beautiful woman in the world, and that it was he that brought me here."

Astra paused again. The davar sat stone faced, showing no signs of encouragement, but none of disapproval either. She plunged ahead.

"My life since then has been bewildering. I ... nothing here works like it should. There are problems with wizards, or alchemists, or whatever."

The davar spoke, "After you found this Fred on the beach, what happened?"

Astra returned to her narrative. "Some officials of Governor Gilder found us, and took us in. I was worried that I would be badly treated because I am an Aqualarian, and have no good reason to be in Hespan. So Fred and I lied. But the scoundrel changed his story, and said that I was his property, and Gilder offered to buy me. I was angry, and drew a knife on Fred. I saw that I was outnumbered by the palace guard, and so I decided to back down."

The davar said, "And so you show your gratitude to Gilder by escaping?"

"All I wanted to do is leave. I was like a mouse being played with by a cat before the cat gets bored and puts it out of its misery. He offered 'marriage.' But whispers get around. Gilder offers 'marriage' to many, but none of them last long. And there were guards everywhere, always watching me."

"But the one thing that I could do was to distract him by telling stories. I was able to last until the night of the seventh, but I started running out of ideas. I was able to lull him to sleep with a story, and managed to escape through an open window into the garden."

"At this point, I saw the most bizarre thing. I saw two guards in between me and freedom. I had no weapon. But they fell out - apparently there had been a feud between them. There was a cry about robbery, I remember that. The guards argued, and then duelled. I remember that they did not seem into their right mind, almost as if they had eaten some poisoned mushrooms." Or like they had drank an alchemical potion from the Tenge. If that were the case, how widespread was the use of secret alchemy in Hespan?

She did not share this thought with the davar. She continued, "While I have not murdered anybody, I have stolen a number of things, trying to get home. In this case, I stole a guard's clothes, boots, and sword. I managed to climb and leap over the outside wall of the palace, and made it to the stables. I took a horse named Folly, and rode out of town."

"I did not get any sleep that night. I rode a long time without stopping, until I got to a lake. I was tired and sore from riding, so I decided to take a swim. A baliff of the diocese of Polabi saw me and brought me to the courthouse."

The davar said, "Diocese?"

Astra replied, "It is an area of land in Aqualaria. I saw a satrap. What do they administer?"

"A satrapy."

"My mistake. I saw the satrap, who asked me not to swim in the lakes, and offered to transport me to Corona. I could not complain of the verdict, and I even got some new clothes. But I could not go back to Corona! So while riding back under an escort, Folly and I bolted. I found a raft, and floated down the river. I had not had any sleep for two days, so I fell asleep quickly and floated down the river for quite some time."

"I woke up on the ninth. I had floated out to sea, and had to swim to shore. The flies and gnats were horrible. There was pools of waxy tar over much of the beach, and so I covered myself with it to keep the bugs away. I walked upstream, and found the village of Golabi."

"I got washed with a strong soap to get that sticky tar off me. It turned my hair white. I made up another story, about how I was from a land nowhere near Aqualaria. The villagers were welcoming, and invited me to a picnic. Only the old woman that runs the store in the village seemed to be wary of me. I finally got to sleep in a normal room."

"The next day, on the tenth, I was in the company of one of the women of the town. I found a flask of a yellow liquid that put me to sleep. There is a group here called the alchemists that I had never heard of before I came here that brewed that liquid."

"That night one of the young men of the village, Hesht, offered to escort me to Petrona, where I could find a ship and go home. I accepted, because I thought that would be only chance to get home."

The davar said, "Interesting. Did he say why he made the offer?"

Astra replied, "He was going there anyway, to make a delivery of something. And I think that somebody that he does business with wanted to meet me."

"Go on."

"We went west, and slept that night in an old stone building of some sort. The next day was the eleventh. I remember that it rained as heavily as I ever saw rain. We had to make our bridge to get over a large canyon. It seemed that there was canyon upon canyon. We made it to a busy hacienda, where we were placed in a barn for that night."

"It was now the twelfth, and the man that Hesht wanted me to meet, Doazda, was not there. The next day we were allowed, under watch, to see a couple of places. We went out to the fields to hear some kind of lecture on farming, and seeds for these alchemists. We took advantage of a lack of a watch here to wander through a field and escape."

"Why did you not wait on this man? And why did Hesht change his mind and come with you?"

"I do not know, exactly. He could see that I was suffering and worried, maybe. I let him know how I felt in the stable."

"No motives, such as that of being a lover?"

Astra gave him a sour look, and said, "He had plenty of chances, and he was always courteous. In fact, a lot more noble than men like Fred and Gilder, although of lower birth. Anyway, that evening we crossed a river that was unnaturally warm, and made our legs weary for a time. We met a man who might have been one of those alchemists that I kept hearing about, but Hesht and I got him to go away with a story. We got some broken sleep in the open that night, and continued on."

"So it was now the thirteenth. At first, the omens were good. Weariness had gone from our legs, and we even found a horse that was wandering. And before you ask, no, we had not stolen this one. Then we came to the Old Frontier Road."

At this point in the story, Astra understandably hesitated. Not only was the experience traumatic, but her challenge to the thugs would at best show that her judgment was poor, and at worst tend to support any lies that were told about her enticing them to attack.

1. Astra told the whole story, including her challenge to Gog.
2. Astra tries to gloss over the part where she challenges Gog.

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