The Investigation

Astra answered, "The tackle is a family heirloom. I could not give it up." She tried to read the body language of the captain. There was a very slight nod of the head, as if she were bored. She read that as "this answer would be acceptable."

Then she continued, "As for the horses themselves, they were not stolen." The captain seemed to freeze. There was to be no help here. "There is a small herd of them that roam free in a meadow that I know." This seemed to be a sensible answer to Astra. In the Aqualaria that she knew, there were bands of wild horses roaming in far-flung parts of the kingdom, although explaining how she would be able to break a wild horse might take some involved questioning.

The captain rolled her eyes and cut in, "Oh come now, Astra. Don't insult my intelligence, or it will go the worse for you. You stole them from one of the merchants, didn't you? We can make a quick inquiry to the trading companies of Gana, the Salmonshire, and Hespan, but it would be easier on all of us if you would just come clean."

The Overseer snickered at the sarcasm in the captain's voice, and did not catch the captain's game. But Astra did. She sheepishly said, "Yes, ma'am. I would not dream of taking a horse from the Hespanians." Astra detected a flash of a smirk from the captain before it reverted to a stern expression. Then Astra continued, "I didn't stop to ask, but I think that the peddler was Ganese."

The captain replied, "We will make queries. Mister Bull has the largest Ganese presence in Themyscira. For your sake, those horses better be missing or you will be dismissed from the service." Astra was certain that the horses were missing, or the captain would not have gone that far out on a limb.

The captain then continued, "Did you steal your clothes from the Ganese peddler as well? That is not a style that I have ever seen."

"No, madam. I got those from Allaria some time ago, and my mother liked the style. I wanted to surprise her.

The overseer cut in, "Allaria? When were you there?"

Astra looked at the captain and some of the Hespanians. Among the Hespanians, eyes had widened and backs were leaning forward, as if the conversation had suddenly taken an interesting turn. Astra tried to read the captain. Copernica took charge of the situation by stating,

1. "Overseer, that is an interesting question, but we do need to confine ourselves to the charges for now, as your time is valuable. Of course Astra will be available for questions of that sort later."
2. "Yes, Astra, this something I would like to know. I do not see how you could have gone there in the last five years, unless you have access to a magic carpet or some such nonsense. You have never been gone long enough to go there and back."

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