The chirping of an early morning bird threatens to wake me from my sleep. Scrunching up my eyes and tucking my head down, I try to fight off the world telling me to wake up.

“Sarge, go find that fucker and kill it.” I grumble turning my head back into my pillow. The one under my head needs replaced as it feels like I’m laying on a rock. However, the one my face is buried in is extremely soft and smells amazing in the early morning . Sarge is going to have to stay off the bed though. I can feel his hair getting in my mouth from the pillow. Behind me, I feel Sarge get up and walk off, leaving me alone in the bed.

My hand is jammed into the pillow kinda deep. It's actually very warm, almost hot. My other arm is asleep where I rolled onto my side last night, but it's not bothering me enough to move right now though. Trying to pull my hand free of the pillow proves impossible, something is holding it in place.

“That’s weird.” I mumble as my pinky rubs across something hard. Frowning, I rub my finger back over the spot, feeling the nub get harder and bigger.

“What?” Opening one eye, I realize that I’m not in my bed at my house. There is a mass of blonde hair shoved into my face instead of Sarge’s usual mass of black hair. Blinking quickly and looking around, I see the rack of drying meat with the rams hide stretched over it.

Memories of the day before hit me in a rush then, causing me to shake my head and make sure my rifle and pistol are still where I left them. Looking back down, I realize Thea and I must have shifted a lot in our sleep. The reason my right arm has gone numb is Thea has moved herself into the little spoon position, her head laying on my elbow. Trying to move my left hand again, I realize she is gripping it in both her hands to her chest.

“Great, now what?” I ask myself. I don't want to wake her if there isn't a need to, but one arm is completely numb and the other is being pulled into her chest. I try to remove my hand from her grip again which causes Thea to groan and wiggle back closer to me. Her ass grinding back into my crotch causing someone to stand at attention and start begging. This is going to get bad if I don't think of something quick. Looking up, I see Sarge has returned from wherever he went too, with a red feathered bird in his mouth.

“Any ideas boy?” I ask Sarge, causing him to tilt his head. Dropping the bird at his feet, Sarge starts to huff deep in his chest as if he’s laughing at me. “Oh real mature.” I say with a huff of my own. I try to back away from the sleeping woman in my arms, but it does no good. The blanket has ended up wrapped around us at some point in the night leaving me no room to escape. Thea starts to mumble in her sleep, shaking her head a little before burying her face back into my arm.

I try and extract my hand again, pulling it down this time instead of trying to just pull it away. As my hand runs down the valley of her chest, Thea lets it slip from her grip, but at the same time wiggling closer to me. I can feel the edge of my shirt rise above her ass from her movements causing me to freeze with my hand resting around her midriff. Where I had been standing at attention before now, I feel like I’m about to rip through my jeans. Her ass is grinding into my cock now moving up and down the length of me through my jeans.

Trying to hold back a moan, I look around trying to find a way out of this situation. Locking eyes with Sarge, I mouth “Help me.” causing the big dog to walk over and immediately lay down between us and the fire. “Traitor” I hiss causing Thea to grumble in her sleep in my arms.

“Mmmm morning.” Says Thea turning in my arms to face me. Her hair is falling over her eyes making it look like she's looking at me through a veil. “Have you been up long?” She asks in a sleepy voice.

“No, not long.” I say trying to make as much room between Thea and I as possible. Unfortunately, she saw that as an invitation to move closer to me rubbing her face in my bare chest.

“You are so warm.” she says sliding one hand up my chest while the other wraps around my waist. “I can't remember the last time I was warm when I slept. I like it.” Her voice was low and full of sleep as she mumbled into my chest.

“Yeah, my body tends to run hot when I’m asleep. My ex used to call me a furnace, right before she stuck her cold feet on my back.” I replied with a chuckle at one of the few happy memories from that dumpster fire of a relationship.

“I don't want to get up. Can't we just stay here where it's warm?” Thea asks somehow moving even closer to me than she was before. As her hips meet mine, she seems to notice my hard-on for the first time. “Seems someone likes the idea of staying here.” She says her hand moving down towards my cock.

“Yeah, but he doesn't get a vote.” I say grabbing her wandering hand in my one free hand. Looking up at the sky and seeing the sun already clear of the horizon causes me to frown. “We need to get up. We’re wasting a lot of time this morning laying here.” Looking down, I see Thea frowning and looking up at the sky herself.

“Stupid sun ruining all my fun.” She grumbles throwing the blankets off both of us. As Thea stands up, my eyes lock onto her perfect ass currently uncovered by my shirt bunched around her waist. She starts to wiggle her ass as she pulls the hem of my shirt down over it before turning to look at me. A mischievous look fills her eyes as she opens her mouth to speak while I scramble to my feet. “You know if you wanted a peek you could have just said so.”

“That's not what that was about!” I say feeling heat rising up my neck. “We need to get a move on though. We can't just lay around all day.” I say as I manage to reach my feet without tripping over the blanket.

“I know, it's just fun to tease you. Your reactions are fun to watch.” She says sticking out her tongue at me as she walks around the fire.

“I’ll show you funny here in a minute.” I mutter shaking the blanket free of dirt and other debris. After it’s mostly clear of anything big, I quickly fold it and stow it back in its bag for safekeeping.

“What was that?” Asks Thea walking back to the fire. Now, she’s back to wearing her blue robes my shirt folded over her arm.

“Nothing.” I reply as she tosses my shirt to me. Pulling it over my head, I'm surrounded by her scent once again. Vanilla and cinnamon are fast becoming my new favorite combination. “Can you give me a hand with this?” I ask pulling on the edge of the rams hide where its secured to the drying rack.

We work together as we manage to pull the hide off the rack where it constricted during the night. The combination of heat and smoke dry the skin and make it a tight fit on the rack. Spreading it down on the ground, I take stock of the hide itself. It's bigger than I remember it being, probably just a combination of stress from yesterday. Aside from the entry and exit holes from my shot, the hide is still in great shape.

“I’m going to clear the jerky from the racks and then carve up the ram.” Thea says from behind me. “Are you going to do something with that hide or just look at it?”

“I figured I could start on something.” I say not turning around. “Might not be able to do much, but you never know what can happen.” I say pulling out my pocket knife as I kneel beside the hide. Trimming off the excess hide takes longer than I thought it would. Now that the hide has dried, it's tough to pull my blade through. I lean back on my heels as I finish looking over my work. Where before there were sections for the legs and neck, now it’s trimmed into a rough rectangular shape somewhere around six feet by four feet.

There is the layer of fat still bound to the inside of the hide to take care of. Most animals I had dealt with back on earth have a layer of fat between the hide and muscle. It was slightly comforting to see that the same seems to be standard here. Back home, I would have just taken this hide to a taxidermist and been done with it, but that's not an option. Running my nails across the very edge of the hide, I feel the fat start to seperate. I pull on it and I’m impressed at how well it easily comes off of the hide it was just bound too.

Of course, it doesn't come off in one piece as that would be too easy right. Still, large sections of the fat are coming off with each pull. The heat from the fire has dried the fat, and shrunk the skin slightly causing most of it to break loose. By the time Thea walks up to me with a plate of meat and a single tharin fruit, I’m finished flaying the hide.

“You have done that before.” She remarks handing me the metal plate.

“Yeah, but I prefer not to do it this way.” I say shoving a slice of meat into my mouth. As I chew and swallow the meat quickly, I continue. “In my world, we used to tack the hides up on the side of the barn to dry. When they dried out, we would go flay them out then oil them up. It was an easy way to make a few bucks as a teen. I figured the fire would do the same thing as the sun did, and quicker. Looks like I was right.” I say standing up.

Holding my plate in one hand, I wrap my other around Thea’s shoulder as we walk back to our seats by the fire. Thea slips down onto one of the rocks and takes a seat across from me, grabbing a plate of food for herself. Glancing over, I see Sarge happily working his way through his own plate of food as well.

“I do have a question though.” Says Thea between bites. Seeing my raised eyebrow and a full mouth, she continues. “Where did the chockatill come from?” Pointing at the red feathered bird now laying beside the pile of ram bones abandoned last night.

“It was making noise this morning.” I say swallowing quickly. “I was half asleep and told Sarge to find it and kill it. I’m guessing he listened.” I say finishing my plate and setting it down next to the fire. Feeling like there is an itch under the skin on the back of my neck, I turn around to start down the road behind the truck.

“What is it? I didn't hear anything?” Thea asks seeing me turn in my seat.

“It’s probably nothing to be honest. I just feel exposed sitting here in the open. The little voice in my head is yelling at me to get up, run, and keep moving.” I say turning back to face Thea.

“Do you feel like someone is there now, or like they are coming?” She asks setting her own plate down beside mine.

“What does it matter, it's just a feeling” I say standing and walking back over to the hide. Folding the hide in half and rolling it leaves me with a compact little bundle. The woolen hair of the ram compressing tightly to leave a fuzzy feeling roll in my hands.

“I’ve learned over the years to trust a human when they get jumpy. Your kind seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to danger.” Thea says gathering up the plates and taking them to the river to wash them.

Stashing the hide behind the seat of the truck next to my AR, I mull over Thea’s words. Could I really be picking up on something following us, or is it just nerves? Either way we need to move and move quickly. Taking one of the ten gallon fuel cans from the truck bed, I start to fill the truck while thinking. While Thea seems to have a basic idea of where we are, I am completely lost.

I need a good map of the area, and a reference point to use with it. We need a better plan than just run the fuck away and shoot everything. We need supplies badly, water we are good on for a few days. Meat we will be ok, but man wasn't meant to survive on meat and water alone. Map, supplies, cooking gear, and a way out that's what we needed immediately. Not all of it has a quick answer to solve, but a town would help a lot of it.

Looking at the cab of the truck, I remember the bags of coins stowed under the seat. I need a quick lesson on the money here while I’m thinking of it. We could have all the gold in the kingdom, but it doesn't do us any good if I can't figure out what a coin is worth. Hearing the tank bubble and start to overflow, I tilt the can back, collapse the nozzle, and secure the cap. I close the gas cap on the truck as well and shake the jerry can. Less than a gallon if I was guessing.

Just another problem to worry about in the future. For now, one step at a time. Let's try and focus on the problems I can actually solve. Starting with a town, and somewhere to leave the truck while going into town. There is no way I can just drive the truck into town and expect everything to just work out. Even if this world doesn't have a long distance communication method, the truck stands out way too much.

Better off to stash the truck outside of town somewhere and walk the rest of the way in. Maybe leave Sarge behind to guard it as he tends to stick out in people’s minds more than I do. As I make up my mind on a course of action, I stow the gas can back in the truck. Walking around and hopping up into the bed, I start to dig out all the excess gear in my toolbox. Sorting through the collection of belts, holsters, and harnesses till I find what I’m looking for.

I toss the rest back into the toolbox which is now a complete mess. I’m left holding a slim leather belt, adjustable length holster, and two generic mag pouches. The holster and mag pouches are not a perfect fit for any gun or magazine. They fit all of them well enough to get by, at least for a while. Opening the jobsite box, I grab the bag of magazines as well as one of the pistols. I shut the lid and pull the bags over my head in a criss cross pattern before hopping out of the truck.

I sit back on my rock and drop the bags to begin to work on my plate carrier. First, I switch out the Ar-15 magazines and pouches for the M1a’s. The M1a has a bigger round and it's proven already that it has a better chance of dropping something quickly. I check and see Thea still has the knife from my shoulder sheath somewhere on her person. Looking around, I see her still bent over the river washing the plates. From here, the curve of her ass has pulled the fabric of her robe tight. It's almost as good of a view as the one when she first stood up.

No stop it, time to focus, I think to myself. Back to the truck I go, sorting through the pile of weapons scavenged yesterday. Finding several daggers in well made leather sheaths, I weigh the options. Finally, I decide on the shorter of my two choices and walk back to the fire. Thea has returned from the river now, sitting on her seat looking at the bags around mine.

“What is all that for?” She asks pointing at the bags at my feet.

“Getting my gear in order, and figuring out a loadout for you.” I say as I begin to dig through the bags at my feet. I eye Thea as I secure the sheath for the dagger on the left side of the belt. “Let me see your hand.” I tell her holding out my own for her. She raises one of her eyebrows, but quietly lays her hand in mine. I run my hand over hers, taking note of the size and shape of her fingers. Her hands are quite a bit smaller than mine and I notice how narrow her fingers are.

“Seeing how big you would look in my hands?” Thea asks with a grin. Covering up a snort of laughter with a cough, I go back to digging through the bags. Choosing not to respond because I’m sure she would just come up with something else to say. Looking over my weapons, I realize I’m basically stuck with two options.

“Here, wrap your hand around this.” I say pulling my Sig from my belt holster. I drop the magazine and eject the round in the chamber. Thea raises her eyebrow again, but accepts the pistol from me. Her hand wrapping awkwardly around the grip of the unfamiliar weapon.

“How am I supposed to hold this?” She asks, moving the gun around, but not flagging me with it. Well, at least she seems to remember what I told her yesterday about which end is the dangerous end.

“Here, let me show you.” I say standing and pulling her to her feet. Turning her till her back is to me, I begin to show her how to properly hold the gun. I help her move her fingers and hands to rest on the proper position on the pistol. I use my feet to position hers where they are shoulder length apart. “This is a classic shooting stance.” I say mouth near her ear as I continue to adjust her movements.

“When you are looking down the sights here, you want to line up the front sight in between the two on the back.” I say pointing to each sight. “The front should be level with the back and the rear sight should be just slightly out of focus. Then what you rest the front blade on is where the bullet goes.” I say pulling my hand back.

“You never want to put your finger on the trigger till you are ready to shoot. It’s too easy to have an accidental discharge and possibly shoot yourself. When you pull the trigger, you squeeze it. You don't jerk it.” Thea nods along, repeating back everything I’m telling her. “When you pull the trigger, it's going to kick so make sure you hold onto it tight.” I say moving to the side to stare in her eyes.

“The kick is called recoil. Don't be afraid of it. It's perfectly manageable by people smaller than you are. It's going to cause the front of the gun to rise, so you will have to bring it back down onto target when it does.” I say pulling the barrel up to demonstrate.

“Why are you showing me this now?” Thea asks letting the pistol drop to her side.

“Judging from your hand size, that pistol is the best fit for you. If something happens, I want you to have the best chance you can at getting away. That includes knowing how to use my gear and how to handle the truck. I don't want to shoot today unless we have to, but I want you to be familiar with the gun. I’m going to have you carry it to get used to the weight and feel of it.” I say motioning for her to sit back down again.

“So you’re going to actually trust me with your weapon.” Thea says raising her eyebrow again.

“Well, it's not like it’s my only one.” I say with a laugh pulling the Steyr M9 from the bag.

“Sarge, come here boy, change of load.” I say slapping my leg. Sarge walks over, wagging his tail as he sits down beside me. Moving quickly, I replace the Beretta in Sarge’s harness for the M9. I check that it has a round in the chamber before sliding it home, and secure the strap on the grip. The magazines on the other side are swapped out just as fast, and soon I’m shooing Sarge away.

I stand and fasten my gun belt back on my waist, securing the holster to my upper thighs. Sliding the Beretta home in the holster, I pull it out and reset it to get the feel of its weight again. Even though I carry the Sig most of the time, the Beretta had been my primary carry gun as soon as I turned twenty-one. After trading out the Sig mags from their pouches for Beretta mags, I sit down again. I slide the Sig mags into the pouches of the belt from the truck and hand it to Thea.

“Here, put this on.” I tell her smiling at the surprised look in her eyes. She stands, accepting the belt with one hand and sheathing the Sig in the holster. She wrapped the belt around her waist and fumbles with the buckle, looking up at me with her big green eyes.

“A little help?” She asks confused by the buckle.

“Let me show you.” I say standing and closing the distance between us. “See you feed the belt through here, then pull it tight.” I say showing her how you feed the belt in. “When it’s tight, you flip this over and it locks into one of these holes.”

“It’s weird.” She says eyes staring at the buckle.

“Why? How do belts work here?” I ask looking up into her eyes.

“On one end, there are two rings. You feed the leather through them and it pulls it tight. You then wrap the short end over the belt and tuck it down.” Says Thea still looking over the buckle. “I think I like this design better though.” She says with a smile.

“We have some like that too, but this style is far more popular.” I say stepping back to check the fit. Thea walks around, feeling how the weight is going to ride on the belt. Seemingly happy with it, she sits back down and removes the pistol from its holster to look at it again.

“What does this button do?” She asks pointing at the mag release. Squatting down beside her, I start to go over the functions and parts of the gun. I show her how to rack the slide, and make her do it over and over again. After that, I have her seat the magazine and release it over and over until it became easy and smooth. I had her continually rack the slide and pull the trigger on the empty gun to get used to the break. While she practiced her movements, I explained the ammunition to her.

“So each of those boxes hold seventeen rounds, then they are empty.” Thea says holding the full mag up to her face.

“That's right, so on the one in your hand, it’s seventeen rounds plus one in the chamber.” I say focusing on the project in my hands. After I was sure she had the basics down, I had started braiding paracord from the spool. Using two long lengths, I doubled them up working on making a tight four strand round braid.

“What is that for?” Thea asks seating the magazine home in the grip. She racks the slide and ejects the magazine. She then thumbs in the extra round before seating it again.

“I don't have a lot of time to teach you how to move in a combat situation. Sarge already knows.” I say not looking up. At the sound of his name, Sarge walks over to sit next to me. Rubbing one hand over his head, I smile before getting back to the task at hand. “So I’m building a harness for you. If something happens you, grab onto Sarge and he will take you where I need you to be.” I say glancing up.

“So you’re going to train me like a dog?” Thea asks with a grin. “Should I sit up and beg too?”

“No need for all that.” I reply finishing the braid and attaching either end of the loop to Sarge’s harness. “I just want to give us the best chance at surviving.”

“Speaking of, do you have a plan?” Thea ask me all traces of her humorous actions gone.

“We need supplies, and information about what's around here.” I say looking around the clearing again. “You seemed to have an idea about where we were going yesterday. I'm hoping you have some idea about what's nearby.” I say causing Thea to wince.

“Honestly, when we got off the main road heading south, I lost track of where we were. I was brought up the main road so I knew that way. I've never been here though.” She says lowering her head.

“That's fine.” I say blowing out a breath through my nose. “Just means we will have to be careful about where we go. First things first though, before we get to a town, I need to know how money works in this world.”

“You don't use coins in your world?” Thea asks raising an eyebrow.

“Not your kind.” I reply reaching into my pocket and pulling out a couple of singles and coins. “We use these slips mostly, and the coins are just worth part of the slip.” I say handing Thea the dollars and change. “We don't use gold coins anymore, and even our silver isn’t even silver anymore. I need a crash course on what's what.”

“Such strange looking currency.” Mumbles Thea as she holds one of the dollars up to the light. “Well you saw what our’s look like yesterday. Most of the world agrees and uses the same kind of coins. That makes traveling between countries easier because there isn't a different currency for each kingdom.” Thea says handing the dollars back to me. As she continues talking, I look down at the dollar and eventually put it back into my pocket.

The lesson about money somehow ended up as a history lesson on the world as a whole. The reason most of the kingdoms used the same coin was because they used to be one big empire. Hundreds of years ago, they were all vassals under the banner of one king. He had risen to power young, from all accounts he was a master tactician and warrior. He took his country's small standing army and invaded his neighbor quietly and quickly. In less than three years, he had conquered all his nearby neighbors and absorbed their armies into his own. From there, he had spread out. Soon, the whole continent was under his rule.

Those that surrendered were spared the harshness of the battlefield. While the countries that stood against them paid dearly. He never harmed the peasants in his campaign though, no he went for the nobles. After his armies had destroyed the opposition, they drug all the nobles out into the public eye. From there, it's said the king himself would execute them for standing against him.

After he rose to power, he set forth the standards of currency and coinage in his empire. First, were the specification for each coin, which were expected to be followed to the letter. Gone was the royals hiding their wealth behind banks and treasuries pumping out coins of tin and bronze. Gold coins had to be actual gold, containing less than five percent other metals. Silver and copper coins were the same way, forcing the empire to adhere to the standard.

However, there was no royal mint pumping out the coins for each lord to distribute. Instead, there was a guild of coiners now spreading throughout the country. They were taking in gold, silver, and copper and pumping out coins for those who could pay. They took in raw materials as well as old coins or anything else as long as the metals were pure. Thus, as long as a country could lay hands on gold or silver, they had a way to make more coins.

Because each coin was only worth what the materials cost to make them, there was no worry of inflation. Soon, the vassals of the king saw the reasoning behind the king's ideas. Even after the king passed away without an heir, the now kingless vassals decided to keep the coins the same. Over time, one vassal fought another trying to claim the empire's throne as their own. Eventually, after years of infighting, they came to a decision. Instead of one empire, they divided the country into fourths.

Eventually, there was more splits and kingdoms fell and rose with the times. That is how they ended up in the way they are today. The only major point of interest was almost all of the kingdoms elected to keep using the same imperial currency. Here's where Thea’s knowledge got a little shaky. She knew for sure that there are nine kingdoms on the northern continent ruled by men. However, the only ones she had any direct knowledge of were Dolus and Rathenk, the two most southern kingdoms.

Dolus had declared war on her home country of Winsdor, the northernmost kingdom of the southern continent. She pushed man after man into the country in an attempt to create a permanent beachhead for their forces. The southern continent I learned, was separated from the north by a shallow canal a short one mile wide. Dolus had handled the canal by erecting a gigantic stone bridge across the canal years before they attacked. They had said the bridge was to increase commerce between the two countries. Two years later, they marched their army across in the dead of night.

Rathenk was a slight mystery to Thea, she knew they bordered Dolus on three sides. Yet, they were neither its ally or its enemy. When Dolus invaded, they sold goods to both Dolus and Winsdor openly. Where Dolus enslaved anyone not human, Rathenk did not enslave anyone. They did purchase slaves from both countries to use inside Rathenk. However, they didn't care if the slave was human, elf, beastkin or dwarf. They didn't make slaves of their own except for certain criminals, but they didnt free those bought from other countries.

“How the fuck did we go from explaining money to a history leasson?” I ask shaking my head. Yes, the history had been interesting and yes, it was information I needed. It wasn’t what we were supposed to be talking about nor do we have the time.

“Sorry.” Thea says with a slight blush. “Let me try again. So since they all use the same coins, there can be fluctuations with prices from country to country. Most of the time, they are fairly close. A copper coin is worth the least, followed by silver, gold, than platinum. Ten copper coins equal one silver coin. Twenty silver coins equal a gold coin. Fifty gold coins equal a single platinum coin.” Thea stops taking a breath. She looked into my eyes to make sure I was following along as she continues.

“A copper coin will usually buy you a meal, or at least a loaf of bread wherever you are. While a silver will get you a room and a meal at most inns or taverns. A house with some land and a well could cost as much as a hundred gold coins in the country. Nobles were expected to spend several platinum coins to build their estates.”

“So what you're saying is, just in the bags we have alone, we could be set for a long time?” I say staring into Thea’s eyes.

“Ummm, yes. See the knight’s order is paid by the king. Working for the king comes at a price no matter where you are. A single knight can make the same as some generals or even mayors in mid sized towns.”

“Now I’m starting to wonder about letting that one go. If they make that kind of money, he should have been able to set his mother and family up already.”

“Not necessarily.” Thea says shaking her head. “There is a standard for equipment and mounts in the knight’s order. He could have been a man at arms that showed promise and was recruited into the order. So all his money would have been going to better and better equipment until he was at an acceptable level. You having him leave his arms and armor behind probably set him back more than anything else.”

“You sure seem to know a lot about this kind of thing.” I say looking into Thea’s eyes. She starts to look away, speaking quickly at the same time.

“I was held captive in the capital for a long time. You pick up on lots of things when you are forced to attend council meetings.”

“I can't imagine why they would want to let a slave attend a council meeting.” I say reaching up to scratch my chin. I feel the rough stubble growing on my face, realizing I definitely need a shave soon.

“I was forced to attend because I was Magnus’s personal plaything.” Thea says. Looking over, I see she's pulled her legs up to her chest and slid onto the ground. “I didn't want to tell you.” She says her voice getting quiet as she speaks. “I wanted to just forget it and try to move on, but I can't do that now.”

“Why not?” I ask sliding out of my seat to sit next to her. Wrapping my arm around her, I pull her in close and try to comfort the now crying elf. “What's wrong? Please tell me. I won't order you to, but please talk to me.”

“I like teasing you. I like how you held me in your arms last night. I feel safe with you, and I don't want to hide anything from you. I know we just met yesterday, but I trust you. I trusted you from the moment I met you.” She says crying. As I sat there listening to her talk, I pull her into my lap, wrapping both arms around her.

“You have been nothing but nice to me and you didn't know the first thing about me. When you wake up, you were close enough you could have had your way with me, but you didn't. I wouldn’t have been able to stop you with this collar on, but you didn't. Not even when I forced myself back on you while pretending to sleep.” She sobbed hard with her body quaking in my hands.

“That's when I knew that I could trust you completely. That you wouldn't force me to do anything I didn't want to.”

“I would never force you to do anything.” I say stroking one hand down her head and back. I rock her gently in my lap and continue rubbing her back, trying to comfort her.

“I know that now, that's why I didn't want to tell you what Magnus used me for. I couldn't lie to you though, it wouldn't have been right.” She says face buried in my chest, tears soaking my shirt. “I wanted to tell you that I was just a healer for him, that I followed him around in case he was injured. That's not the truth though.”

“Shh, shh. It's ok Thea.You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to.” I tell her as she continues to shake in my arms. I already know what she’s talking about. I’m far from stupid. The way she broke down when she tried to talk about it, calling herself a plaything for Magnus infuriated me. I pull her tighter to me wishing I could go back and kill that bastard again.

Thea continues to cry as I hold her in my arms, sobs rocking her thin frame. Sarge walks over at one point, sniffing the two of us and looking at me. Shaking my head at him, he lays down, eyes watching down the road. Finally, Thea seems to cry herself out, wiping her eyes and apologizing.

“I’m sorry. I didn't mean to fall apart like that.” She says trying to squirm out of my lap.

“Nope, you’re not going anywhere yet.” I say holding her close. “I need you to listen, and pay attention. I don't care about what happened to you before. I mean, I wish I could kill that bastard again, but I don't hold anything against you. You have tried to help me since I got here. Even after I shoved a gun in your face and threatened you. You still helped Sarge. I wouldn't have made it this far without you. If it wasn't for you, I’d probably be captured by now. I doubt I would have pulled myself together and got up off the road.”

“So if you want to continue teasing me, I’m going to let you. If you want to be serious and talk, I’ll listen. I won't force you into anything you don't want to do if I can help it. I won't hold what you couldn't control against you, that's not how I am. Understand?” I ask her pulling her head up to look into my eyes. Our foreheads are just touching, and her scent is wrapping itself around me again. Her eyes are still rimmed in red, but she smiles and nods to me.

“What if I want to do something, but don't have your permission?” She asks staring into my eyes.

“Take this as me giving you permission to do whatever you want. Starting now and running as long as we are traveling together. Ok?” I tell her smiling and brushing a strand of her hair away from her face. Leaning up, Thea brushes her lips against mine gently before lowering her head back to my chest.

“I did that because I wanted to.” She says. I'm not sure if she is talking to me or herself. So I just remain silent, letting Thea rest her head on my chest. “So what do we do now?” She asks not lifting her head.

“We should probably find the nearest town. Try to get a map and a load of supplies. Then come up with a plan to get out of Dolus.” I say leaning my head back and looking around. Seeing Sarge standing and looking across the river, I follow his gaze. I try to see what has caught his attention.

“How are we going to find a town? We are lost remember.” Thea mumbles from my chest.

“I figure we can ask them.” I say raising my arm to point across the river. Thea turns her head following my finger to look at the people across the river on the bank.

On the opposite side of the river, just on the edge of the bank, stands a man and boy. Fishing poles are gripped in their right hands, with a wooden bucket in the man’s left. Both of them are barefoot, wearing simple green pants and loose fitting brown shirts. The boy has a stocking cap pulled down over his head. While the man is sporting a wide brimmed straw hat to block the sun.

Thea stiffens in my lap at the sight of them. Pulling in close to me, she starts to whisper, as if she's afraid they will hear her.

“What do we do?” Looking across the river, then down at Thea, I shrug.

“Wave and hope they are friendly.” I say waving my hand in the air to the two across the river.

“And if they aren't?” She asks sliding off my lap and climbing to her feet. I stand quickly, still waving to the figures across the way. I start to relax slightly when the man begins to raise his hand to wave back. I slap a smile on my face that I don't truly feel and answer Thea.

“Then I’ll kill them both and toss their bodies in the woods.” Even as the violent words leave my mouth, my smile doesn't slip. This world is harder than the one I was forced to leave behind. I’m going to have to adapt to it because I don't think I can force it to fall in line with my way of thinking.