Introductions

Being turned into a dog had not affected Velus's appreciation of the female form, and he noticed that Berenice was almost the equal of Astra in beauty. "Come on then," he said to Morgana. "Let's go over and get her attention. Then we can lead her to Astra. Astra's the sleeping redhead."

The two dogs went over to Berenice, who was sitting down and who appeared bored, and barked at her. It was obvious that the dogs wanted something, and perhaps it would relieve the tedium of waiting she thought. So she said to the next girl in line: "Please keep my place for me. I'll be back." Then she climbed to her feet and followed Velus and Morgana the eight places back down the line to where Astra was dozing.

"You want me to talk to this girl?" she asked Morgana. The dog barked once, hoping that it would be interpreted as a "yes". "I assume that she's the owner of your new-found friend." Velus did not like being referred to as "owned", but he let it pass.

"Yes, that's her dog," Helen - still awake - put in. "Her name's Astra, and I'm Helen."

"I'm Berenice. Do you think that she'd mind if I woke her? I think that the two dogs want me to talk to her, for some reason."

"No need to wake me," Astra said, opening her eyes. "Your conversation has done that. A warrior needs to get rest when she can, but has to be a light sleeper in case of danger approaching."

"So you're a warrior too?" Berenice said.

"I am. Most Aqualarian noblewomen are."

1. "Aqualarian? You're not the Astra, by any chance? The famous warrior princess?" "I'm flattered that you've heard of me."
2. "Aqualarian? Your country and mine are sworn enemies."
3. "Hey," Helen interrupted, "the line has started moving at last!"

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