| "You want me to be an ambassador?" Astra 1 asks Alicia skeptically.
"Me, a warrior princess, that's hardly the type of……"
Alicia, smiles and looks patiently on the young woman before her. Brave
though the Astras are, sometimes even the bravest, most capable and intelligent
of warriors faces something in his or her life that scares the Bejesus
out of them. This Astra still was frightened by all that had a happened,
and apparently was desperate to try to cling to a past…..that could no
longer be hers. Allowances can be made in behavior because of that. Hopefully,
Astra 1 won't storm off, affronted, by what Alicia has to tell her. The
vixen gets the feeling that the warrior princess needs….to be anchored
better in the reality that is now…..
Astra then blinks and then suddenly makes some….rather belated connections.
It isn't like the job will be dull considering who I'll probably
be dealing with out there, Astra chides herself. And after that
stupidity in the conference room…..me complaining about how this job doesn't
agree with my desires…..where anyone else out in this desperate world would
jump at a chance at a position that offered the means for room and board…..a
chance to eat on a regular basis. If nothing else, the Pack sees to the
needs of those who are it's friends….witness them putting me and the others
up without any questions about remuneration or the like. Still…..
"It isn't that I'm not grateful, Alicia," the amazon goes on. "But considering
the…..gaff I did back awhile earlier…….?"
Alicia sighs and motions with a furry hand for Alicia to sit, and then
the vixen's ears twitch before she explains just WHY the Pack wants Astra
1.
"Ah, where to begin," the vixen chuckles mirthlessly. "First, let me
be totally honest in saying……you weren't my or my husbands first choice."
She holds up a cautioning hand as Astra 1 turns red in anger.
"Now here me out, young one," Alicia snaps, clearly wanting no back
talk from the warrior princess. "I'm not saying that you aren't worthy
of the position, but frankly…..several of the other's were of more even
temperament than you. I know as a princess, you at least have the rudiments
of the inner workings of diplomacy…..if only knowing how to handle yourself
in political situations. However……
The red whiskered 5'8" vixen pauses and looks down at Astra with a trace
of….pity?….in her green eyes.
"First, I must be frank in saying that we need a human face for initial
meetings with what is left with human civilization," the vixen sighs. "What
is left of humanity is probably desperate…..fearful people who have pulled
together into groups that would be fearful of anything NOT human….until
the nonhuman proves to them that they have something to offer. The Pack
needs you to open the door….to allow us the chance we can offer them thing
in trade. Dragonsbane, still has some very USEFUL purposes that could make
for wonderful….powerful tools against any supernatural threats beckoning."
"The Pack has grown to like the….comforts of what humanity can make
and offer….and the things that trade…..finished goods……raw materials……things
we'd have difficulty making by ourselves." Alicia continues. "As I said,
we need you to open the door so trade can be established for this….and
perhaps aid in the future for our more….friendly partners if the need arises.
Who knows what these interesting times will bring……"
"The second reason comes up because of something about YOU, dear Astra,"
Alicia says sadly.
"The one thing that struck me as more than a little odd,….'princess'
is the fact that one of your high station would go forth adventuring in
the first place," the vixen says in a dead…flat voice. "Yes, you went forth
to do battle with the 'Dragon of the Northern Cavern.' But you did it for
the wrong reasons. You did it for the glory…..the adrenal rush…..of the
thought of mortal combat with the lizard…..what it would do for you. That
was…..poor policy, Astra 1. A princess is born with vast privileges….but
with vast responsibilities. The only reason why I was out 'adventuring'
was I was on a quest to retrieve the Glibson Cross…..a holy relic that
supposedly would have given the possessor's army a decided edge in battle.
Well, it turned out that the relic was a hoax planted by Minestus, who
promptly fell upon me and changed me into the lovely shape before you now.
If I had been captured by say, the Muslims that had surrounded my beloved
homeland, what do you think could have happened….considering that I…..was…..
a princess?"
"You could have been used possibly in an attempt to get your father
to surrender……or tortured to reveal what you may know…..what secrets you
may reveal….like how to sneak in and out of the palace?" Astra 1 asks quietly…..getting
a sinking sensation on where this conversation is going. "You're hinting
at that I was…..being irresponsible by trying to kill the dragon by myself?!"
As much as she wanted to scream denial, a small voice inside her…..said
it was true. Aqualaria was not at war with her neighbors like Alicia's
Ethiopia had been….but there were still those in other lands who would
just LOVE to have gotten their hands on her….for the political and strategic
and tactical value she represented…..
-
 "So….what would YOU have
done in my position?" Astra 1 spits out, angered and uncomfortable at what
was happening here.
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