“I'll take your ankle restraints off because it’s slippery out there, but the wrists stay on, I'm afraid.” Lephas put his bag down and knelt to roll up the thin travel mattress.
“Seriously?” The faerie huffed.
“Sorry, Princess. Rules are rules.” Lephas smiled apologetically.
“I guess.” She sighed. “Can you at least take them off me for two minutes whilst I... Well, I need to pee.”
“Ah, uh...” Lephas rubbed the back of his neck. “You can't go unsupervised.”
“What?! Some kind of perv, are you?”
“Of course not! I just–” Lephas blushed. He strapped the mattress onto his pack with more force than was strictly necessary.
“I'm kidding, commander. I get it. I might run away whilst my pants are down. It's just as well I'm not shy, isn't it? Though I have a feeling you might be. You're looking a bit pink all of a sudden,” she teased.
“You're the one who–Ugh, just shut up!” Lephas growled, his face heating even more. He got to his feet, slinging the pack over his shoulder. “Come on.”
Lori ran a finger across her lips, miming her silence.
Lephasstood aside, allowing her to walk in front of him into the corridor. He gave the room a quick look over for forgotten items and triple-checked that the fire was well and truly extinguished before following the girlout of the bedroom. Stood behind her, Lephas realised just how tiny the faerie was. He was a good head and shoulders taller than her and at least three times her weight – maybe more.
She carefully shuffled into the main living space, focussing intently on not tripping over her manacles. The rest of his soldiers were packed up and waiting for them.
“Hi, boys.” Lori greeted the others with a seductive smile. She glanced at Haros, shooting him an especially bright smile.
Lephas felt his mood darken.
“Our guest needs to use the latrine.” Lephas caught the eye of one of his men. “Give her privacy, but don't leave her unattended.”
“Wh– Me?!” the boy spluttered.
“Am I looking at anyone else?” Lephas snapped.
“You mean you're not coming with me?” Lori asked, turning to face him.
“I have things I need to tie up here. Make it snappy; we need to leave.”
Lori stuck her bottom lip out playfully but obediently started shuffling towards the door, followed closely by a nervous-looking soldier. He picked up the hinge-less door and moved it aside for the princess.
“Ugh, it's cold out here,” Lephas heard the faerie complain, just before the door was put back in place behind them.
“You going to keep her in those chains all day?” Haros asked.
Lephas shook his head “No, she'll slow us down. Once she's back, I'll take her ankle restraints off. I'm keeping her wrists bound but I might attach her to one of us. That'll free her arms up, but will make sure she can't run.”
“She wouldn't get far,” Haros argued.
“No, but faeries are crafty. She wouldn't need to get far to be able to hide from us. I don't believe she knows any offensive majick but she's trained in defence. Masking her scent would be easy and even Karn wouldn't be able to find her then.”
“True. Any takers for faerie babysitter?” Haros addressed the remaining three soldiers. They all hurriedly shook their heads.
Haros looked at Lephas.
“Me?” He frowned.
“It was your idea to keep her in chains. I'm not having her slowing me down.”
“I thought you two were the best of friends now?” Lephas tried to sound playful, but it came out forced.
