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‘Yes,’ said Garovel, ‘but if nothing else, then at least YOU could come, Mehlsanz, and give them a look.’

‘Mm, perhaps. But I’m a busy girl, too, you know. And besides, I don’t think Helen values my opinion that much.’

The Queen gave her a flat look, now.

‘Heh, well, if that’s true, then maybe she’s right to not care about your opinion,’ said Garovel.

‘Excuse me?’ said Mehlsanz dryly, though Hector heard a hint of amusement in her voice.

‘You can’t just revive someone and then expect them to treat you like a sophisticated intellectual,’ said Garovel. ‘I know I make it look easy, being this obviously smart all the time, but trust me, it’s a whole ordeal unto itself.’

‘Careful,’ said Mehlsanz. ‘You and I are old friends, but not THAT old.’

Garovel just chuckled.

“This fugitive from Sai-hee,” said the Queen, apparently wanting to get the conversation back on track, “tell me about him. You said that you did not think these Rainlords will be a problem but that you think someone else will. You were referring to this man?”

“Oh,” said Hector, “ah... yeah. He’s... well, his name’s Leo. He seems to trust me, but... ah... he might be under the impression that I’m... one of the oldest servants in the world.”

The Queen expression remained blank, and she just stared at Hector for a time.

Hector and Garovel did their best to bring the Queen up to speed with regard to what had happened with Leo in the Undercrust. It ended up drifting all the way back into what happened at Dunehall and even into Marshrock, and by the end it, Helen and Mehlsanz were looking more bewildered than ever. Even Lynn was eyeing him as if he was suddenly a different person or something. It was always tough to tell what was going through her head, though.

‘But anyway, enough about us,’ said Garovel at the protracted silence. ‘Tell us about what’s going on with you. We’d like to help, if we can.’

‘It sounds like you already have your hands full,’ said Mehlsanz.

‘Yeah, well, if we can help you with your problems, then maybe you wouldn’t mind helping us with ours.’

“I am not certain how I could help with this Leo character,” said Helen. “He sounds rather unstable. Do you have a particular tactic in mind?”

‘We have a few,’ said Garovel, though Hector wasn’t sure if that was a lie or not. ‘But for the moment, I don’t think we’ll need your help in dealing with him. The way Hector talked about the man was a bit foreboding--and not unduly so, perhaps--but as for me, I’m optimistic about our relationship with him. I think Hector and I will be able to bring him around and count him as another valuable ally and protector of Atreya.’