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[color=6E8E67]Location:[/color] Winton[/center][hr][hr]

She was glad to leave the black jeweled male far behind them.  The further away they got, the less she thought about him.  And having the child and dog underfoot was a lovely and welcome distraction.  Words could not do justice to the relief she felt in their being with her.  She did her best to spoil and dote on the pair, perhaps overcompensating a bit for having considered their deaths as a viable option.

She spared no glance for the haughty Queen.  To do so would be to acknowledge that she too had felt the spark of contention.  Instead, she kept her mind on the little dog which trotted at her heels.  She hadn't been allowed a dog growing up.  Dogs were working creatures, tools to protect and guide the sheep.  A Queen could not be seen with a tool of the common man.  Fatima especially loved that she could talk to Dunny.  His delightful conversation kept her from wallowing in self-loathing.  He helped her see the brighter things in life.

They made it to the inn without incident and she was grateful.  For once in her life, she was behaving.  She did everything she was told to do for her Queenly protection and did not even attempt to sneak off once.  Nor did she whine or gripe about Xandar going off and having fun without her.  Nope, she had learned her lesson, for the time being, after her stupidity in Sharon.  

Fatima looked over the cards in her hand.  She had nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  She glanced at the other players in the group, considering her options before heaving a sigh and laying down the cards.  [color=6E8E67]"Fold,"[/color] she said airly.  She disliked losing and it would seem luck was not on her side this day.  Had it ever been, she thought with sarcasm.  She leaned back to watch how the round would play out.  Denny lay in her lap and Fatima was bolstered by this fact.  She couldn't be too sad when there was a puppy to pet.  She scratched him behind his ears and bent down to kiss the top of his head.