“I can't believe you.” Sylvana said as we left the main part of the Protection tree. “Why would you ask for a bed sister?”

“I didn't ask, actually.” I said. “I asked the guard how old she was, then said I would have asked her to cuddle if she hadn't been of child bearing age.”

Sylvana huffed loudly and led me over to the stable. “Stay here until I get the others.” She ordered me, then she stared at me until I nodded. She stalked off and I stood there and waited.

Pretty hair.

Handsome.

That can't really be a man, can it?

Men are loathsome.

I'm picking up random people's stray thoughts. I thought in surprise.

I should talk to him. No, I shouldn't. He was with the Princess. He's not hers, though. He can't be. She's not of age yet. Yes, I'll do it. I can do it. I'm going to do it!

I almost laughed as the woman gathered up the courage to approach me. I could see her halfway across the stable and she turned towards me. I added a few more layers of protection around my mind and stopped other people's thoughts from bombarding me. I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be able to talk to her and not let what I was 'hearing' from her mind affect what I was saying.

“You're not with the princess are you?” She asked, hesitantly.

“She and some of her squad are my escorts.”

“E-escorts!” The woman gasped. “Wh-who are you? How can you... the princess is your escort?!?”

Her poor mind must be reeling. I thought and chuckled. “Well, she had been here before and I needed to come here, so...”

The woman visibly relaxed and nodded. I could sense that she was happy that I wasn't important enough to command the princess, yet important enough to accompany her. It was an odd sensation to feel and understand someone else's motives without actively trying to find it out.

“What kind of clothing is that?” She asked, and her hand moved to touch it. “May I?”

I nodded lifted my forearm in front of myself for her to touch. “It's actually a special leather and cloth mixture with metal plates incorporated into the surface.” I said and her fingers rubbed along the black metal. “It's only really effective if weapons impact the metal. If they hit the cloth, well, it's just thick cloth and leather.”

“Fascinating.” She said, almost in a purr. “I really should ask you how old you are.” She said and took in a deep breath. “I don't care about that, though.”

“You don't?” I asked, a little surprised.

“I felt the power of your sleep compulsion.” She said, and she stopped rubbing the metal on my sleeve and moved her hand up my arm to my shoulder. “I must say... it's a rare talent.”

“One that your children should have?” I asked.

“Oh, yes.” She said and stopped herself before she touched my bare skin. “Even without the guarantee that they would inherit it, I am willing to pay handsomely for your services.”

Did I hear that right? I blinked my eyes for a moment. “Did you say pay? I thought all that was needed were petitions and my acceptance.”

The woman laughed. “That is the common way.” She said. “For those of us with better means, we can bypass the fertility council and pick the man we want for services.”

“I... did not know that.” I said. No wonder the queen and her daughters were upset about me flirting with Unodae. “Thank you for telling me. I will be more vigilant of advances in the future.”

“Thanks are not necessary.” She said and looked into my eyes. “Will you consent?”

“I must admit that I am tempted.” I said. Who wouldn't be? Women of all kinds practically throwing themselves all over me? I smiled. “Unfortunately, I am going to be busy saving the elves from the creatures that appear randomly.”

The woman chuckled. “You will be?” She asked, and I didn't need my abilities to feel the absurdity she felt. “How exactly can you save us all?”

I was about to respond when Sylvana and the guards came into the stable. “It looks like my escorts are here.” I said and the woman sighed and let my shoulder go.

“What, may I ask, are you doing?” Sylvana said as she approached us. The woman started to explain and Sylvana ignored her and looked right at me.

“This bold woman offered to buy my services.” I said honestly, and the sheer look of hatred on all of faces of the guards told me that the woman had done something very bad in their eyes.

“Discretion was not a part of your learning, apparently.” The woman sighed and looked me over. “Perhaps it wasn't meant to be.” She said and nodded to the princess, then walked away.

“I can't leave you alone for a minute.” Sylvana said.

“I never moved from this spot, just as you ordered.” I said and pointed down. “She approached me.”

“Prepare the horses.” The captain of the guard said and all of the guards went to their horses and started to equip them. I went to my horse and Sylvana went to hers.

“I should have ordered you to stay quiet, too.” Sylvana whispered.

I think being the strong silent type might have been too much for that woman to resist. I thought with a smile and finished equipping the horse and made sure everything was secured. We led the horses out to the main area and the guard I knew held a hand out to me. I took it and gave it a little squeeze, then placed it on the horse. She cast the speed boost and I added my new Presence to it. Both her hand and the horse glowed blue and not green like it was supposed to. Everyone stared at me and I moved her hand to her own horse and we did it again.

Without a word, the guard beside her held a hand out to me, and I nodded and took her hand and touched her horse. It glowed blue and she marvelled at the change. Of course, the other six guards wanted theirs done as well, so I helped them boost their mounts. The captain of the guard thought about saying no, then relented and held a hand out to me.

“Does this mean I'm growing on you?” I asked and took her hand and boosted her horse.

“It means I don't want to be the only one that has to stop every three hours to replenish their horse.”

I chuckled and turned to princess Sylvana and held my hand out to her. She sighed and took my hand, and we boosted her horse. I had intentionally not let them feel the thrill of having my Presence run through them, and Sylvana looked at her hand and then at me.

So, you know it should tingle. I thought and went back to my horse and climbed on.

No one asked why we were travelling so late in the day, probably because they all knew why. They all mounted up and we rode the horses out of the city. They didn't bother with anything fancy and concentrated on just controlling the horses. They were twice as fast as they used to be and we were back at the previous city where I felt the compulsion, less than fifteen minutes later. I asked everyone to slow down and we came to a stop in the middle of the city.

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I let some of my mental shields fade and I felt a distinct need to go in a certain direction, so I told Sylvana and the captain. After talking about it, we decided that I should follow the feeling to its source. We dropped off the horses and the guards came with us as I followed the compulsion. It seemed fleeting and strong at the same time, as if it was a subconscious suggestion, and the feeling led us to the Protection tree.

My face lost its professional detachment as I looked down into the bowels of the tree to where the cells were, and I saw a woman was being held there. She was not in good shape.

I turned and looked at Sylvana with a frown on my face. “Go inside and get me an explanation about their prisoner, before I tear open the tree and rescue her.”

“How dare you order me.” Sylvana said, her own repressed anger coming forth.

I stared into her eyes as I held a hand out towards the doors of the Protection tree and tore them off, to the surprise of the guards and the people around us. I held the massive doors in mid-air, then slowly closed my hand. The wood splintered and cracked as it was compressed. Snapping sounds filled the area and made a lot of them wince. When I had made a fist, the large doors had become a round pile of crushed wood. I dropped it off to the side and the ground shook slightly from the weight and left an indentation.

“Never mind.” I said and walked up the steps.

“You can't just barge in and...”

“You had your chance.” I said to her and the two guards stepped in front of the open space. “Step aside. I need to visit your prisoner.”

“We don't have... YIP!” The guard let out a girlish scream as I picked her up with a Presence Hand and moved her aside. The other guard was just as easily moved aside and I walked by them and into the lobby of the tree.

“Hunter, you can't do this!” Sylvana exclaimed. “There are rules to follow and...”

“I'm not an elf.” I said and walked up the main stairs to the third floor. “Your rules mean less than nothing to me.” I walked over to the elder's central chamber. The two guards there looked openly hostile, so I covered their mouths with Presence and held them against the wall with Presence Hands.

“Hunter!” Sylvana reached for my arm and it met a solid Presence barrier. “Stop!”

“I will have answers.” I said and knocked on the chamber door. “Open up or I will ask the tree to open up permanently!”

“Please, stop.” Sylvana pleaded with me as the door opened and the group of elders stood there.

“Don't bother telling me that you don't have to answer because I have no authority.” I said and pointed down through the floor to where they kept the prisoner. “Explain.”

“She is an outsider and...” One of them started to say.

“So, she's a criminal that you can torture because of that?” I asked and cut her off. “What did you ask her? Did you ask her anything?” I said angrily. “What use is any information she could tell you?”

The elder closed her mouth and didn't say anything.

“You know, I was actually starting to like your people.” I said and took a deep breath to calm down. “I had forgotten how horribly you treat people, and you will never know how much I regret that mistake.” I turned away from them. “Thanks for the reminder.”

No one said anything and I walked down the hallway and went down the stairs. Sylvana and the captain of the guard followed me. I was tempted to create a Presence Wall and stop them, then decided it was better that they saw this. I walked down to the cell that was similar to the one that I had been held in and I touched the tree.

Open. I thought and the tree opened the hidden door. I felt Sylvana's and the captain's surprise and ignored them as I stepped into the room. The smell was quite pungent and I used Presence to push it away, then I walked over to the bed the woman was chained to. She wore a basic cloth dress and I could see her wrists and ankles were worn away from the form-fitted bindings.

I looked at her sleeping face and it looked pained and hollowed out from what I suspect was under-nourishment. Her short dark hair was thin and stringy and looked like neither it nor her had been washed in weeks. I turned to Sylvana and saw the look on her face before she could hide it. She knew she had lost me as an ally, so I looked at the captain of the guard instead.

“Get her things.” I commanded her. She didn't hesitate and left the room at a fast walk. I turned back to the woman on the bed and knew the next few minutes were going to be very difficult for her. I took off my blast shield and my uniform coat, and stored both into my bag of holding. I also made sure that my ponytail was still tied up and out of the way.

“Sylvana, go stand by the door.” I said.

Sylvana looked like she was going to say no, so I used a Presence Hand to pick her up and put her over by the door and held her there. She was very angry that I would do that to her, so I covered her mouth to stop her rant before it started.

I reached down and lightly touched the prisoner on the shoulder. “Miss.” I said. “Miss, wake up.”

“No...” The woman moaned and tried to roll over. Her bindings stopped her from doing that, though. “...stop... don't... don't hurt me...” She whispered as tears formed at the corners of her eyes. “...no... I told you... I don't know anything...”

“Miss.” I said with authority and her body stiffened. “Miss, wake up.”

The woman slowly opened her watery eyes and looked at me. “No. No, it's not real!”

“I'm real, and a man.” I said and pat my pectoral muscles. “Look, no breasts.”

Her eyes looked at my chest and then she looked back at my face. “H-h-how?”

“I have safe passage in the elves lands.” I said. “When I passed by here, I felt you calling out to me.”

“Wh-what?” The woman blinked her eyes. “I didn't... I mean... I asked for help, but... I've been praying for weeks... and nothing.”

“Who did you pray to?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“Black Laura.” The woman said, her voice a bit more sure of itself, then she started to tremble. “You're really here to rescue me? It's not an illusion, is it?”

I moved my hand from her shoulder to her wrist and touched the cuff. Open. I thought and the shackle formed the latch and hinge and opened. She stared at me as I did the same to her other wrist and then both of her ankles. She tried to pull her arms and legs in to huddle into a ball, and she screamed as her muscles rebelled from moving.

“Don't move.” I said in a soothing voice. “Let me heal you first.”

“You're a healer?” She asked, surprised.

“No, I just have the ability.” I said. “What about you?”

“I'm... a knight.” She said and I felt the Presence waver a minuscule amount. “From the Second Choutia Kingdom.”

“May I touch you?” I asked and held my hands with the palms towards her.

She looked at my hands for a few seconds and nodded. I sat down on the side of the bed and took her hand. It was thin and frail and I could feel the bones. I was actually nervous about holding it, and that was saying something. I felt the captain of the guard come back down the stairs and enter the room.

“You're not quite a knight, are you?” I asked.

The woman's face turned a little red. “I'm actually in training.”

“How did you get inside the magical barrier?” I asked.

“A miscast Teleportation spell.” The woman said, her voice full of disgust. “I warned...” She stopped talking for a moment. “It doesn't matter. He's dead. So are the other two that were in my group.”

“Did the elves...” I started to ask, and she shook her head.

“They were crushed inside the magical barrier.” She said. “I don't know why I survived.”

“She was right at the edge of the circle.” The captain of the guard said and held up a half-dissolved piece of armor and the hilt of a sword. “Her armor and weapons weren't so lucky.”

“They lied.” The woman said. “The elves did that to my things.”

“Why would...” The captain sighed.

“They removed the threat before it became a threat.” I said and shook my head. “No wonder people on the outside hate the elves.”

“I always thought it was just hyped up.” The woman said, then her eyes filled with tears. “I never wanted proof that they were evil incarnate! I didn't!” She exclaimed, almost hysterically.

“Shh.” I said and touched her with my Presence.

She gasped as I made a connection between us, then I used a mental technique on her to calm her.

“Unfortunately, they see outsiders as less than them and treat us accordingly.” I said. “I've tried to talk to the queen about it, and it has apparently fallen on deaf ears if this is still going on.”

“When did you encounter this?” The woman asked.

“It's been a year since I was trapped in here.” I said. “I escaped a week later, earned safe passage, and the queen herself let me out through the barrier.”

“But... but... you're here.” The woman stared at me.

“I had to come back to see someone important.” I said. “How do you feel?”

The woman took a deep breath and let it out. “I feel... wait. How...”

“I've been healing you since I took your hand.” I said with a smile. “I'm just about done.”

She looked down at our clasp hands and she saw that the large red welts from the shackles around her wrists were now gone.

“I've got some food on me, so if you like, we can have supper before we leave.”

“Are... are you serious?” The woman asked, clearly surprised. “I'm a prisoner and they tortured me! I'm not staying here to eat with these monsters!”

I chuckled. “I meant with me. The others will wait outside.”

“HM! Hmm hmm mhm!” Sylvana mumbled.

I used Presence to move her away from the wall and put her out into the hallway and stuck her to the wall. “Captain, can you give us some privacy?”

The captain nodded and put the ruined armor and weapon on the floor, then she left through the door. She touched the wall and the door closed and disappeared.

“N-no... not... don't lock me in!”

“It's all right.” I said and gave her hand a pat. “I can open the door anytime I want.”

“You can? How?”

“Don't worry about it.” I said and used Presence to drag over the table and chairs at the side of the room. “Do you like chicken?”

“Ch-chicken?” The woman asked and her eyes widened as I quickly set up a picnic with several dishes of food. She caught her breath when I took out one of the chicken legs that were the size of my forearm.

“It's quite delicious.” I said and put it on a plate, then I held her chair out for her. “Miss, would you do me the honor of joining me for dinner?”

“I must be dreaming.” The woman said and climbed off of the bed. Her muscles worked fine now and didn't pain her, so she sat down on the chair with relief clear on her face. “You can stop calling me miss. My name is Dawn. Dawn Sherwood.”

“Hi, Dawn. I'm Hunter.” I said and took her hand for a brief moment and shook it, then I sat down across from her. “Help yourself.” I said and took out my own chicken leg and started to eat. She watched me for almost a full minute, then she couldn't resist the smell any longer. She picked up the chicken leg and tore into it with her teeth.