A Very Generous Offer

She had noted that Radagaisic had referred to the Dragon's Valley. That almost made it sound as though the Dunchovians knew of the place. But it was so isolated by the mountains that ringed it that surely that was impossible? She was probably reading too much into his use of the name, she reflected. She had portrayed the valley in her visions and also shown herself confronting the dragon there, so based on that it was perhaps natural that Radagaisic should call it what he did. She hoped that his people realised that crossing the mountains to enter the valley would not be possible, and that going through the caves would be the only way in. She would need to make that clear.

If she accepted such a generous offer, she felt that she would be honour bound to commit herself to the tribe after that for as long as it took for the quest for the Golden Hind to be successful. Perhaps that would not be such a hardship. She might well fit in better with these people than she would in the Aqualarian court, where she might prove something of an embarrassment. Though she ought to send word to her mother. She wouldn't want her grieving unnecessarily over the presumed death of her daughter.

One possible problem with committing herself to the Dunchovians long term was that they were a nomadic people. Though she was confident that she could keep running at a good pace for prolonged periods, she might still slow down riders on horseback.

1. She decided to accept the offer. She conveyed a vision of herself leading the tribe through the caves, a flaming torch in her hand, followed by another vision, this time of a fight with a rough-looking group of men.
2. She reluctantly decided to reject the offer. It would be better to raise a larger and better equipped force in Aqualaria. She hoped that the Dunchovians would not be offended.

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