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((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 2 of 2))
"...Supporting the Queen," said Hector.

Well, that was something at least, but Lynnette was still confused. "What?"

"...Staying here. He's supporting the Queen. Is what he told me."

"Okaaay... but how does that work, exactly? How is him staying here supporting Her Highness?"

Again, Hector was silent.

Lynnette just waited this time. She felt like he was probably trying to tell her. He would manage to do it, eventually.

Hopefully.

"...The King said... that he has more freedom than the Queen, right now. Because she's so, er, busy. Everyone's watching her every move. Trying to, uh, read her intentions. Politically."

As she considered what she'd just been told, Lynnette turned back to the sight of King William sitting there, smiling and laughing in the middle of a bunch of Rainlords.

She felt like she understood. It was true that the media's interest in King William was significantly less than that of the Queen. It wasn't nonexistent, of course, but comparatively speaking, he definitely had more flexibility. With only a little bit of cloak and dagger, they'd managed to make it all the way here to Warrenhold without alerting any reporters.

But Lynnette had to wonder if Hector didn't have something to do with that, too. His relationship with the media was probably just as volatile as the Queen's, if not even more so--especially with that new bank of his attracting so much attention.

Unlike the Queen, however, the Lord Darksteel of Warrenhold never gave interviews.

And Lynnette could practically taste the saltiness of the media over that fact.

As much as they loved him, they also seemed to resent him. Lynnette remembered a few months ago--before she and Hector had gone off to Sair with Prince Meriwether--the reporters had been crawling all over this place. But now, they were all gone. They'd all given up by now.