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((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 1 of 2))
"To be very frank with you," said Stoutamire, "I feared the Queen would blankly refuse us."

Hector allowed himself to frown.

"You are highly valued by your nation," the ambassador went on. "This much is obvious. My concern was that the Queen would flatly tell me no and then never even inform you of this request in this first place. I know this may cause you to think me a duplicitous snake, but the matter is grave enough that I felt I had to appeal to you in person. Please, Lord Goffe, I only ask that you hear me out. Innocent people are dying."

Holy hell. At the start of that little speech, the guy hadn't been emoting much at all, but by the end of it, his passion could be heard in every word. It was still a bit subdued compared to most people, perhaps, but it was there.

The Queen wouldn't be happy to hear most of what the man had just said, Hector figured, but she'd also expected that Stoutamire had been lying to her. What would she want him to do in this situation?

Hmm.

She'd probably want him to do whatever he thought was right, wouldn't she? Reflecting on what she'd told him of this meeting, that was the impression that he was now getting.

Stoutamire seemed to be growing uncomfortable with the protracted silence.

Hector finally sat down in the chair next to him. "What exactly is the problem?"

Stoutamire followed suit and sat down as well. There was no table between them, but the window in the ceiling allowed a solid beam of light to pour into the middle of the chamber where a small table might go. "It is a monster. A savage beast. It has slain over fifty citizens of Lorent in the last six months, and the frequency of the killings has only increased."