Astra's Ploy

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 58971

Governor Gilder was smiling, things were looking up. The papers on his desk, the wax seals from Dukes and Subdukes from the so-called Great Kingdom, the pinewood box with a small sample of the mint...

Hespan had been through some hard times as late due to Peppermint price- fixing by the authorities in Gelda, but that was all about to change. The Great Kingdom, Allaria, was not a traditional partner to Hespan, in fact they had gone to war with each other numerous times in the past, but these days the two kingdoms had found that they each had something the other desired: Hespan needed an affordable supply of peppermint, Allaria needed a buyer.

The Governor smiled, just three days ago he had struck a deal with the Allarian Duchy of Suffex, and once the fullness of his report arrived at his King's demesne, he was sure that all relations with Gelda would be summarily cut off.

Just then the Governor’s Security Advisor burst through the door. “Governor! Spies have been captured. Spies from Gelda, and from Califie!”

Now, it would have been easy for Gilder to just execute the spies, but he wasn’t stupid. This wasn’t worth going into a full-out war. "Send them to me. I shall interrogate them myself."

Before long, two individuals were shuffled into the room. The first was a tall, beautiful woman in a black gown. The second was a short, dull- looking man armored from head-to-toe in the colors and ensignia of... the Duchy of Suffex!

"Identify yourselves!"

Astra spoke up. "I am--"

"Not you, woman!" growled the Governor. "You!" he said pointing a plump finger at Fred.

Fred wasn't sure what to say. He had spent his whole life insulated from these kinds of things. His father paid the best swordsmen to train him, sure, but Fred always took more to the counting arts which seemd tied up not only with the Allarian coin but also with the spindle and thread. He would watch for hours as his mother and her maids counted the thread as it twisted, he saw how the women pulled and tightened at just the right moment, and he marveled at how they created the tapestries of the Royal Accounters. He was shaken out of his reverie by a second fat finger pointed his way.

"Are you ignoring me?" said the incredulous Governor.

Fred couldn't help but think that he wouldn't even be here but for the machinations of men like Duke Zular of Trescent. He was just one of the many political enemies of his father the Duke D'Honaire, the many who wanted him ruined, and what better way than to send the Duke's hapless son into the maws of the Dragon. Yet how could he now speak of his secret shame to a ruler of Hespan, an enemy of his lands?

"Are you mad, son?" cried out the Governor. "I can kill you right here and now! I can order your head crushed, your ribs pulled out of your still- living body one by one, I can have your toes rubbed in olive oil and placed in a cage with starving rodents!"

Astra was groaning inside, she didn’t know this Allarian, she didn’t even know if he was an Allarian! She didn’t know what he would do or say, and she hated not knowing. She would have to take the initiative here, her life was at stake. The nations of Hespan and Aqualaria were on uneasy terms, to say the least. While the Hespans might control the high seas of the Aryn and the shipping lanes of the Tarel by the sheer strength of their armada, it by no means made them invincible. One of the major problems between the two nations, the Barrier of the Queens of Aqualaria; an impassable wall of cascading waves and relentless storms that stretched along the entire coastline of that forsaken land, had plagued the fleets of the Hespan for generations. It effectively cut the Hespan Empire in two, forcing their ships to veer far away from the mainland when making the arduous run from the southern colonies to Havnheim. There was many the nightmarish Hespan mariner's tale of the horrors to be faced when some miserable ship would unknowingly sail into the barrier off Aqualaria's savage shores.

Astra opened her mouth and used her best wiles and acutest understanding of male psychology. "Oh, master," she cooed. "This man came to me on the beach and promised me a good time. Why he told you I was from Califie, I can’t even imagine. I am a visitor but I am here only to experiment in the pleasures of which I have heard so much, of your liquors, your dances, your...men."

The Governor looked at her, he looked her up and down in fact.

"Pretty please," continued Astra. "I was having such a fine time here, I even dressed for a night out and whoa boy, what a night I had! I awoke on the beach, m’lord, I would’ve gotten sunburnt without any of the protecting tonics, would you like to rub some on my back?" Astra hated doing this, she hated the way women treated themselves and were treated by others in the foreign lands, but she needed to make this man think she was nothing but harmless. And as for the gutless man in armor, she didn’t care what happened to him.

  1. The Governor believes Astra...
  2. The Governor does not beleive Astra...
  3. Suddenly Fred speaks...
  4. Meanwhile back in Aqualaria, in the ballroom where Astra had just disappeared....

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5/29/2006 11:31:31 AM

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