| Astra wondered to what he had been referring. Some threat to the kingdom,
clearly. What had been the main threat fifteen years ago? And what did
she know about the deeds of Charles D'Honaire. She tried to remember, not
helped by the fact that her own land was fairly remote from this one. Wasn't
the main threat then, as fifteen years later, the dragon? If so, and Charles'
mission was to destroy it, then that seemed to imply that he was doomed
to fail. Would he die in the attempt? Frustratingly, Astra could not dredge
anything about his fate out of her memory. Frederigo had never mentioned
it.
She decided that she must be here for a reason, and that could only be to aid Charles, though what help she could give him as a ten year-old child was not clear even to her. As he rode off, Astra attempted to follow him at a distance at which she would not be seen. She soon realised that keeping up with a rider on horseback, which would be hard enough for an adult, was impossible for her. Her stride was just too short. Fortunately she spotted a horse grazing in a field beside the road. Well, it was more of a pony really, but that was just as well, since she might have had difficulty in controlling a full-sized horse given her reduced size, especially without bridle and saddle. She opened the gate and let it out of the field. Wearing the velvet dress would have restricted her to riding side-saddle, not practical with neither saddle nor bridle. She tried tearing the seams of the skirt so she could ride astride, but she was not strong enough to do so. That only left her with one option, so she took off the dress. Underneath it she found she wore a silk chemise. Vaulting onto the pony, she headed after Lord D'Honaire, who was by now out of sight.
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