| Astra realised that she was inevitably going to fall behind Lord Charles
again, for her pony was no match for his big horse on a prolonged ride,
so she tried to think of an alternative plan. Before long an idea came
to her. If this was some fifteen years ago, wouldn't Myrddin still be living?
He was sage, seer and magician, famous throughout all the lands, and if
anyone could help her he could.
Whilst she was far from her homeland, she assumed that she must be in
the Dukedom of the D'Honaires, somewhere on the road from the Duke's fortress
to the southern caverns. In that case, that isolated peak she could see
a few miles to the left of the road must be Beacon Mountain, on the lower
slopes of which Myrddin had his abode. Urging her pony off the road, she
headed cross-country towards it.
After two hours travelling, and a further hour searching for Myrddin's
dwelling, Astra found the white cottage that she thought must be the right
place. After all, she had seen no other dwellings. After tying her pony's
reins to the branch of a nearby tree, she knocked on the front door. An
old man with a long white beard, looking every inch a sage, answered it.
He looked surprised when he saw her. "Who are you, child? And what are
you doing so far away from home, and in your underwear at that?" Astra
had hoped that Myrddin's ability as a seer would have told him who she
was and why she was here without his needing to ask, but apparently that
was beyond even his ability. "I am Princess Astra of Aqualaria, and I need
your help," she said. Myrddin, assuming it was he, blinked in surprise.
"You'd better come in, then," he said.
-
 Astra did so.
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