"Oh, there was no goading--I asked him his purpose, he offered a fight nobly as you please, and I accepted. He's good; he might even have a thing or two to teach me, if I can swing him right. And then I offered him an alliance, and he said he'd have to speak to his Master." She reports it calmly, as though she hasn't in any way betrayed her Master's authority by making the offer on her own. "That's a good idea, I thought. I thought I'd speak to mine, too. Would you like to have Lancer sharing his information and his strength with us, until we've culled the field a bit?"