The next morning Will rose early and thought about everything that had happened since the last time he was in the Gob’Ran. He remembered how he had left the Gob’Ran last time with rage in his heart. How he had vowed to kill the King and how he had planned to kill the entire royal family. 

“Oh, how things changed. And how fast they changed!” Will thought to himself as a sleepy-looking princess emerged from her room and nodded blearily to Will. 

Will nodded to her and followed her until she stopped. “Will,” Ilicia said, her tone carrying a note of exhaustion, “please show me where I can bathe. I just realized I don’t know where that might be.” 

Will smiled and took the lead, walking down the stairs and out the front door. Ilicia hesitated and then followed him outside, still in her nightgown. A female Drethi seemed to materialize next to Ilicia. “Let me take that for you, princess.” She said in a tone mirroring the princesses in regards to sleepiness. 

“Thank you.” the princess said, handing the woman her bathing things. 

They continued walking, and Ilicia noticed there were a goodly number of people all heading the same way. When they got to the supposed destination, Ilicia froze.

“What is this?” Ilicia asked watching men and women alike go into a low building. 

“It is a bath house.” Will said making to follow everyone in, but stopped when Ilicia placed a hand on his arm.

“Can you please explain?” Ilicia said, confused as she had only ever used the castle baths. 

“You and Mila here will go into the women’s side, and I will go into the men's side, and you will relax and enjoy your bath as you normally do.” Will said and gave her a gentle push to follow after Mila before turning and disappearing into a separate door that only men were entering.

An hour later, Will sat patiently waiting outside the bathhouse and Ilicia and Mila approached. Ilicia looked strangely refreshed and drained at the same time. “Ilicia, what happened?” 

“We ran into…” Ilicia started and was cut off by an orcish woman stepping in between Will and Ilicia and firmly planting her lips on Will’s.

She pulled back after a few moments of assaulting Will’s tongue with her own. “It’s good to see you again, Will.”  

“Agrana, it's good to see you as well.” Will said stiffly, gently pushing the female orc away. “If you will excuse us, we have business to attend to.” 

“Why,” Agrana said, placing her body, loosely wrapped in a towel, firmly against Will’s body, “maybe if you ditch the princess here, we can find some real fun?” Her hand slid under the loosened strings of Will’s pants and gently caressed his manhood. 

Will saw Ilicia’s face turning a bright red. While he was not opposed to what Agrana was suggesting, he did not approve of how Agrana was trying to use this against Ilicia. And deep down, something had been repulsed when Agrana suggested he ditch the princess. “While I appreciate your offer, I am not interested. Have a good day.” 

Will turned and followed Ilicia, who had been urged forward by Mila. Without turning back, she began speaking to Will in a smooth flowing language that Ilicia could only assume was the Drethi tongue.

“Hmm.” Will said in a tone Ilicia could only call disapproving. “So you have met my Ogdeshi, and she was apparently quite rude.” 

“Yes, quite.” Ilicia said, thinking back to the rude woman and how she had introduced herself and immediately began mocking the apparently soft-mannered princess.

Will and Ilicia spent the remainder of the morning getting food and setting people to gather supplies for the trip to the north. By about mid-day, all the required supplies had been gathered, and Sir Balefor was once again voicing his opposition to Will and Ilicia traveling alone.

“Princess, I still do not think that the two of you traveling alone is a wise idea. If I could jus…” Sir Balefor said and was cut off.

“Sir Balefor, as we have already discussed ten times today, you will remain here to train under an Ogdeshi while Will and I travel to make contact as we have been requested to do.” The princess outlined this and walked away, finding Will packing the supplies into a large sack. Once they were all inside the sack, he pulled the drawstring and as the mouth of the sack closed it shrank down to the size of a large coin purse. 

Ilicia was stunned, and quietly Yilan laughed gently next to her. “Its quite amazing what we produce here in the Gob’Ran isn’t it?” 

“It is.” Ilicia said and felt Yilan press a small stone into her hand. “What is it Yilan?” 

“Think of it as a safety measure. If things should go wrong, throw that stone as hard as you can into the ground, and you will find yourself protected by a strong barrier for a day.” Yilan smiled at Ilicia, “I hope you do not have to use it, but if you need it, do not hesitate.” 

Yilan left Ilicia to think and then moved to say her goodbyes to Will. They departed quickly, heading deeper and deeper into the dimly lit woods. They seemed to travel for hours, and not once did they see any beasts or monsters. When the last rays of light faded to a point that Ilicia felt that she would begin tripping over herself, Will called for a halt.

“Let’s rest here for the night.” Will said and quickly set about starting a fire and getting a tent set up. 

Ilicia was nervous. Never before had she shared sleeping quarters with a man who was not family. She knew that Will would most likely not start anything, but she was having difficulty deciding if she wanted to start things herself. 

These thoughts continued until Will finally handed her a plate of smoked venison, and some fire-grilled vegetables. Will sat next to her, chewing his food and finally speaking. “So, what has you so worked up?” 

“Nothing,” Ilicia said, thinking quickly, “just about your Ogdeshi, and if Sir Balefor will be all right.” 

Will laughed and nodded. “It is a worry, but if anything, I think we might want to worry about him acquiring a tast for his Ogdeshi, or his Ogdeshi acquiring a taste for him.”

“You would know about that.” Ilicia said and then what Will had said sank in. “Wait are Ogdeshi expected to sleep with their students?” 

“No,” Will said, taking a bite of vegies, “but among the Orcish culture, sex and combat are almost synonymous with each other. It is the reason that strong fighters tend to have their pick of partners.” 

Ilicia’s mind ran. “That explains why Agrana was so mad. To her you picked weak little me.” 

Will nodded in silence as he continued eating. A thought seemed to cross his face as he spoke again. “You know there is nothing wrong with it.” 

“Nothing wrong with what?” Ilicia said, confusion permeating her voice.

“Nothing wrong with being you.” Will said. “You may see it as weak, but I am sure there are situations you could handle with ease while both Agrana and I would flounder with them.” 

Ilicia felt the blood rush to her cheeks. “Thank you, Will.” 

Will smiled and stood up, walking to the pot for more food. “Not a problem at all, princess. It's just what I believe.” 

Ilicia thought for a moment. “You have a lot of strange beliefs. What was the thing you said to my father? ‘Walk like the king or..’” she trailed off. 

Will laughed. “Walk like you are the king, or like you don’t give a fuck who is.” He smiled, remembering his father attempting to explain Earth’s strange history to a child who would have never been born there.

“I think I understand that one, but what are some of the other things that your father taught you?” Ilicia asked, working on her first bowl. She was waiting for a response and looked up to see Will staring absent-mindedly into his second bowl of soup. She realized that she may have crossed a line. “Will, I’m sorry. I didn’t think…”

“It’s fine. It really is. I just forget sometimes that he isn’t coming back.” Will said and then laughed harshly. “You would think that as a grown man, I could remember these things… I just really miss him.” 

Ilicia was silent, as was Will. After several minutes, Will finally spoke again. “He was funny. Not like a jester or anyone who is funny professionally, but in a way that would make you groan. I believe he called them dad jokes. He taught me a lot, more than I had a right to learn. He used to tell me ‘If you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at.’”

“That seems kind of harsh.” Ilicia said.

“When I first heard it, I thought so too.” Will said. “But honestly, I think I get it now. He was telling me I need to be able to laugh at myself, laugh at the mistakes I make, as well as laugh with my friends and family at the mistakes they make, the mistakes I make, and the mistakes we make together.” 

Ilicia mulled that thought over as she finished her food and Will went for thirds. “He sounds like a very intelligent man.” She said finally, staring somewhat in awe of the sheer amount of food Will was shoveling into his mouth. 

Will nodded and swallowed, taking a sip of water from his skin. “He firmly believed every mistake, every memory, every experience had something to teach us. And now I am older, I appreciate how he was trying to prepare me for a world that he actually knew very little about.” 

Ilicia looked at the giant sitting across from her. She liked Will, he was everything he had just described in his father, and he was kind and incredibly capable. And because of that, the pained look on his face hurt her down to her very soul. “I know I never knew your father, but I think he would be proud of you Will.” 

Ilicia surprised herself and Will then by standing up and walking over to Will, and giving him a hug. She had never been so bold and was panicking. She panicked, even more when Will let out a pained chuckle and hugged her back. Squeezing her to him, she could feel the ripple of his muscles and knew that if he chose to, he could crush her with little effort, but she also felt a tender gentleness which made her feel safe and protected. 

They held each other for a moment. Will accepted the unspoken support Ilicia was offering, and Ilicia floated on a cloud of bliss, wrapped in the blanket of muscle that was Will’s embrace. Will finally stepped back from her. “Thank you, Ilicia, I needed that. While Elves and Orcs are more than happy to comfort me in other ways, they do little to fulfill the human need for  basic contact and support.”

Ilicia laughed at this and nodded, smiling up into Wills's eyes. “Well, anytime that you need it you let me know.” 

They sat for a while longer, talking of many things, until Will finally banked the fire and stood. “We should get some rest, we still have a long ways to go, and it will only be longer if we get a late start.” 

Ilicia nodded and stood, walking with Will to the small tent. She recognized that if she were to be sleeping in the tent alone, it would be quite spacious, but Will’s massive frame quickly ate the available space.

She watched Will take two long knives and stick them under his pillow, one handle sticking out from either side. Then he looked up at her and stepped back outside. “Please go ahead and get changed. I will wait outside.” 

Ilicia thanked him and did just that. When she was changed, she pulled the flap of the tent back and admitted a now shirtless Will. “I hope you don’t mind,” he said, “I have difficulty sleeping with a shirt on.”

“Not at all!” Ilicia said, the blood rushing to her face. She really didn’t mind, but she also was doing everything in her power to keep her eyes from roaming across the vast expanse of his chest. She shook herself mentally. “Well, goodnight Will.”

“Good night Ilicia.” Will said, closing the tent flap and laying down on his back next to her. 

Ilicia closed her eyes, she could quite literally feel the heat that radiated from Will, and she wondered if she would be able to sleep. In moments she had drifted off to sleep, and Will found that he quite liked it when Ilicia snuggled into the side of his body.