stone floor, and the dog moved over to it to sniff at its spilled contents.
      "I do not seek your approval, my dear Thora!!" he roared, almost as if in challenge.
      "Then you will not, most likely, receive it. My lord." She spoke calmly and clearly, adding the last almost in afterthought.
      Outraged, he jumped to his feet and pounded his fist on the table. "I most certainly will have that which I have paid for – loyalty and obedience!!" His lower lip trembled a-fury.
     She continued to meet his gaze with her own for a few moments more, then she bowed her head. "Your will is my law, my lord." she said, keeping her eyes lowered. "There is a time and place for bravery and insolent disobedience, but this is not it," she told herself.
      Somewhat taken aback, and yet appeased by the same token, Sieghard blinked, then sat back down, once again brandishing a haughty air as if it were a weapon.
      "Well and done, then," he said, dismissing her with a wave. "See to your affairs. I'll speak

 
 
to you again in the morning, at Terce."
      Thora got to her feet, bowed her head again, and resisted the urge to curl her lip. "My lord." She quickly exited the hall and made for her chambers, holding her arms straight down at her sides, unaware that her hands had turned into tightly-clenched snow-capped fists.

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