Fred and the Princess Astra

Fred observed a rowboat floating nearby. Even in the dim light he could see it had been painted white. On the stern someone had painted in auburn letters in sans serif, Princess Astra. Fred was not familiar with any royalty with that name from Allarian history. He climbed into the Princess Astra, placed the blue potion on the deck, grasped the oars, and slowly rowed toward the tunnel. Many boats clogged the underground canal, but they all appeared to be unoccupied. Fred bumped dozens of boats as he guided the Princess Astra toward the moonlight. The crowd of boats thinned near the mouth of the tunnel, to Fred's relief.

Fred steered the boat to the middle of the waterway. The walls of the tunnel were high. Fred could have stood and raised an oar over his head and he would not have been able to touch the walls. A weird bluish-white light shone from exotic lanterns. These domed lanterns were about a hand's breath across. They were placed in a line that was about two hand's length higher than Fred's head, with a space equal to Fred's height between them.

No other boats floated in this tunnel. Fred glanced at the blue potion. The potion shone of its own will under the strange light. Fred was alone with his thoughts. Thinking was needed, but Fred knew that thinking too deeply could be dangerous. Imagination could conjure up hazards that did not exist, and sap one's courage. Still....

Fred thought of the ghosts. The empty boats. The river to the lower world. The sermons on hell that he nodded through, and the legends of an underground river to the world of the dead. Rowing the boat to this unknown destination suddenly did not seem like a good idea.

1. Fred takes a deep breath and presses on.
2. Fred starts to turn back.
3. Fred is surprised by a steamboat whistle.

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