Sir Jeffrey Trailson, Knight Errant, was waiting in Breanne's tower when Narlissa returned through the door the next morning. She was clutching a brown sack, and her eyes widened when she saw him, quickly hiding it behind her back.
"Don't hide it," Jeffrey laughed. "Breanne told me what you were doing."
Narlissa rolled her eyes as she placed the sack on the floor. "She did? I suppose I should have expected that. Did you get what you came for?"
Sir Jeffrey nodded, then smiled. "And more, of course."
"Of course," Narlissa grinned.
"The reason I have stayed, Narlissa, is that I wanted to ask you for help. Breanne gave me a map to where the Axe of the Mists should be located, but I would be much quicker were I to have a guide through the wilderness and you seem utterly at home in these forests."
Narlissa stared at him a moment. "Are you asking my help again, Jeffrey?"
"If you are willing to give it. I am afraid I can offer you very little now, but if we find the Axe and I become a fully-fledged Knight I will have riches with which to repay you."
"Oh, Sir Jeffrey, there are other ways you can repay me... you know that." She grinned at him with a glint in her eyes, before picking the brown sack off the floor again. "I accept your offer, but I must take these to Breanne. They will do as payment for the next time that I wish to stay here."
Jeffrey waited a few minutes until Narlissa returned, and the half-elf smiled at him. "Shall we go now?"
He nodded, and they both head outside. He quickly got Swift prepared and mounted his steed, watching as Narlissa did the same. Moving over beside her, he passed her the map that Breanne had given him.
"Does this make any sense to you?" he asked as she took it.
She studied it a moment, before nodding. "Yes, I think I know where this is. Let's go."
She rode out of the clearing and Sir Jeffrey followed, delighted that he was not only getting closer and closer to the axe, but that he had such excellent company for the journey.
They rode for hours through the forest, passing pleasant conversation between them. Jeffrey learned that Narlissa's mother, who was an elf, had been killed when she was very young in a raiding party, and her human father had deserted her when she was a teenager to join the army. She had been taken in by an orphanage, where she learnt to steal on the streets, but had moved away from the city when she was old enough. She preferred the countryside and smaller towns to the hustle and bustle of a city.
Sir Jeffrey agreed with that, and as they walked through the green forest he couldn't help but appreciate how beautiful it was. The sun was hanging high still in the mid-afternoon and his stomach was beginning to rumble with hunger.
"Narlissa?" he said, smiling as the half-elf glanced up from Breanne's map. "Shall we stop for food soon?"
"That does sound like a good idea," she replied. "I will find us somewhere."
They rode for a few more minutes, reaching another small clearing. Narlissa seemed expert at picking them out, and Sir Jeffrey eagerly dismounted. He opened his pack and pulled some food from it, turning to offer some to Narlissa. She took it eagerly, and they sat together beneath a tall oak eating for a short while.