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((Triple Wednesday -- Page 1 of 3))
“You definitely do seem like you’ve gotten stronger, though,” Lynn went on. “How about a sparring match later on? I’ll gauge your progress.”

“Uh--sure,” said Hector unthinkingly. “Oh, but, uh... I’m not sure we’ll have time for that...”

She glanced across the banquet hall. The myriad of guests were all talking amongst themselves at the moment, but there was little doubt that they would all be wanting attention from the Queen shortly. “You’re probably right.” Her smile turned faintly more mischievous. “Maybe we should just fight right here and make the news.”

Hector gave her a look. He was only mostly sure that she was joking. “We’ve been in the news enough already, I think.”

“Heh. Maybe you have. I wouldn’t mind being in the news a little more.”

“Really?” said Hector. “You want to become even more famous than you already are?”

She sat up more rigidly in her chair. “Oh, I don’t want anything. I serve at the pleasure of the Queen. I have no desires of my own.”

Hector just kind of blinked at her.

“Aside from this salmon here.” She reached over to Hector’s plate with her fork and skewered a piece for herself. “You don’t mind, do you? This looks really good.”

That made him laugh, and he scooted the plate closer to her. “Go crazy.”

She took a bite. “Mm! Yeah, that’s great. Here, you want some of mine? It’s only fair, right?” She pushed her plate toward him now.

Oh geez. This was getting kinda--

Wait, what the hell was that on her plate? Octopus? Squid? Slimy, whatever it was. Covered in a white sauce and squishy yellow vegetables. Squash, maybe.

Ugh. He’d always hated squash.