For the next couple of hours Maxine continued to drink the ale, one cup after another. Each time she finished one she demanded Charles to buy her another. It was draining the precious gold that they had left and he was close to refusing her. Not because he had the courage to but simply because they were out of gold.

One thing that he was surprised with was simply how much she was drinking. He was sure that she had drunk enough to kill a man or at the very least make them pass out. She had drunk all that and was not only conscious but showed little signs that she was even drinking. Her words were still stable and to the point and she didn't even stagger about at all. He would have thought that she was simply throwing it away if he had of seen her actually drink the ale himself.

Charles guessed that Maxine's large body allowed her to tolerate alcohol much more than an average person. He wanted to ask about it but he knew better than to say anything to her, she was still extremely annoyed by both being the victim of robbery the night before and the high-born insulting her size, family and gender. It was more than she could handle and, in her mind, drinking was the best option she had.

"Get me another," said Maxine as she placed her large cup down. She looked at her squire who sat across from her. For the last couple of hours, he had gotten up and bought her ale every time she had asked for more. But this time he remained seated. "Why are you still here? I told you to get me another ale."

"But ma'am I can't," replied Charles. He was afraid about what she was going to do to him but he knew that it needed to be said. "We just spent the last of our gold, we don't even have enough for any supper."

"Damn it!" She slammed her hand on the table so hard that it drew the attention of almost everyone in the inn. They looked at her for several moments but she didn't care. She just sat there and most of the patrons simply went back to what they had been doing. "Why didn't you stop me?" Her voice was quieter and somewhat calmer than it had been a few seconds before.

"I didn't think it was good for my health to tell you no." He felt like he had done wrong. "Please forgive me ma'am."

"No." She then gave a sigh. "It's my fault, I should have known better. High borns are nothing but trouble and yet I need one."

"Why would you say that ma'am?"

"Because only a member of the royal family or a Lord can knight someone. My father was knighted by Lord Tyrone Howlet."

"Isn't he a little young to have knighted your father? He would have only been around your age now."

"No not him that one, his father before him. But right now, more importantly I want you to write down the name of Laurence Brees."

"Why would you want me to do that?" He thought that it was an odd request but he also thought that he might be asking too many questions.

"Because of his insults. I don't care that he insulted my size and gender, but he also insulted my family. That's not just me or my father but also my mother, brothers, sisters and anyone with the Martel name. That is something that I can't forgive, I don't care if it takes me twenty years I'm going to ensure that he pays for those insults one way or another."

"A-As you wish ma'am." He knew now more than ever that truly bringing out Maxine's wrath was to insult her family. It didn't take much wisdom for him to know that doing so would likely end in a bloodbath for him.

Just then the door to the inn opened and for a moment they thought that Laurence was returning. Instead they saw the familiar face of Gregory entering the inn, this was a relief for them both as they had been waiting a good while for him to come. He had a smile on his face as he spotted the large woman sitting at the table with her squire. He didn't waste any time in walking toward them. The other patrons had not really noticed him as he sat down right next to Maxine.

He did feel small in comparison to her and it was something that he would likely never get used to but he knew that if he wanted to complete his next job that he would need her assistance. He could see that she had a slightly annoyed look on her face so he knew not to do anything that would make her angry.

"Hey there Maxine," said Gregory. "I take it that you're here to take up my offer?" There was a small amount of happiness in his voice. He hoped that it would be enough to lift her spirits.

"I am here aren't I," replied Maxine who didn't seem to have any time for his games. He wasn't close enough for her to consider him as a friend but they were more than simply colleagues.

"Indeed, you are, you're pretty hard woman to miss." He chuckled a little but all he saw was her scowl. He knew to stop laughing at that moment and to get down to business. "Moving on, like I mentioned before there's a job that I've been hired for that I need your help with. A nearby town has a bandit problem, the mayor is hiring myself and other would be knights to rid them of said bandits. The pay is good and with enough of us the bandits shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"If you don't think that it's that much of a problem then it's not worth my time." She would have taken another sip of ale if she had any left over. This still annoyed her as she felt that she hadn't had enough.

"Ok, so maybe I was telling a lie there. The situation is more dangerous than I originally stated. These bandits are crafty bastards to say the least, they rob from you blind and then lurk back into the shadows before you can even get a clear view of them. Several people have already tried to stop them but they normally end up buried in the ground. Local militias, law enforcement. So far nothing has worked, hiring people like us is their last resort."

"And how many people like us are on the job already?" She didn't like his word use all that much but she wouldn't correct him.

"If I'm able to recruit you we'll have five. If your squire there plans to fight then it'll be six." Charles began to listen more intensely when he realised that he had been mentioned, the thought of fighting bandits did scare him.

"My squire will do no such thing. His responsibility is to assist me in whatever way I see fit. Put him in a battlefield and he wouldn't last thirty seconds."

"I'm right here," replied Charles. He didn't particular like the fact that they were talking about him without acknowledging that he was even there.

"I'm well aware of that." Her look was nothing more of a glance and the tone of her voice indicated that she wanted him to stay quiet. She genuinely scared her squire when she was like this and he began to wonder if asking to become her squire was the biggest mistake of his life.

"That's too bad," said Gregory. He mostly ignored the brief conversation between Maxine and Charles. Instead he focused on the job and nothing else. "An extra pair of hands would be some help, but if they aren't trained then they will only be a hindrance than anything else. Less people to worry about."

"Indeed, and how many bandits are we dealing with here?"

"We're not one hundred percent sure. Estimates are at around fifteen but it is likely that there are more. We've never been able to keep them all in one place long enough for us to count them."

"That's not good, there could be a thousand of them for all we know. But still would we be paid per bandit or as a lump sum?"

"Unfortunately, it's as a lump sum, prevents any greedy knights from just lopping off someone's head and then claiming them to be a bandit."

"Out how much exactly would I be getting for this job?"

"Around five thousand gold each person who participates. It would be more with less people but then again the chances of success would be cut."

"Very well, I will help but we will move in the morning. It is too late to start travelling right now."

"Wise as ever I see. I take it that you've booked yourself a room in this lovely establishment?"

"No, we're out of gold and will be sleeping outside tonight. Most likely underneath a bush of some kind."

"Hmm, I thought that you were going to make plenty of gold after the last job that you did." He could see the scowl on her face and he quickly backtracked his words. "But of course, whatever you do with your gold is fine by me. I on the other hand will be enjoying a warm bed tonight, I would invite you as well but you understand why I can't."

"Unfortunately, I do."

She knew that quite a lot of inns had small rooms and her overall size made things difficult, especially if there was someone else inside as well. It was something that she had become use to with her size, it had many benefits when it came to combat and intimidation but it also had many drawbacks.

Maxine and Gregory continued to talk about the job for a bit longer while Charles sat there and simply listened. He was writing a few things down which he felt was important to the job, this was going beyond the notice of both armour-clad figures. One thing that he noticed was that she hadn't told Gregory about Laurence and what had happened shortly before his arrival. He simply figured that it was information that didn't need to be said, he certainly wasn't going to tell Gregory.

Eventually night did set in and both Maxine and her friend decided that it was best to head off to bed as they had a lot of travelling to do in the morning. Gregory headed toward a room that he had booked during his stay while Maxine ducked out of the inn with her squire walking behind her.

The pair walked for around a minute while they tried to spot a decent place in order to get some sleep. Eventually they did find one underneath a large tree that would give them a small amount of shelter if it decided to rain. Charles didn't particularly like sleeping on the hard ground but in this circumstance, he had no other option. He was somewhat afraid of being attacked while he slept but he did feel some safety while he was with Maxine. Despite the fact that she was annoyed with him he knew that she wouldn't allow any harm to come to him.

Maxine remained quiet throughout and she felt alone with her thoughts. Her mind began to wander as she contemplated what had happened that day. It was definitely one that she would prefer to forget as she had lost all of her gold either due to theft or her own alcoholism. She and her family had also been insulted and she hadn't been able to correct this person of her mistake.

A part of her thought that she was being a little too harsh on her squire. But she had her pride to consider and it had been hurt that day. She just slowly closed her eyes and hoped that the next day would be better. She felt a little hungry as she hadn't eaten any supper that night, her body needed more food than a normal person and if she went without eating for too long she would run into trouble. A normal person could survive a few weeks without food, she could barely survive a few days.

Even though Charles was still intimidated by Maxine he still slept close to her. He couldn't help but feel safe around her as memories flooded of when they first met. She had taken down three capable men as if they were disobedient children it was the most surreal thing that he had ever seen and it had changed his life forever.

Eventually both of them were asleep but come dawn Maxine was awoken by something wet that struck her forehead. She tried to ignore it but then she felt another, then another and another. Slowly she opened her eyes and when she looked up she felt another wet drop strike her eye. This caused her to sit up and she rubbed her eyes, thankfully it was just water so there was no danger of permanent damage.

As her vision returned she could see that although it was light the clouds above were grey. Rain was falling down on the world below and it was likely going to last for the entire day. This made her grunt as she wasn't a fan of rain, she knew that it was necessary but it didn't mean that she couldn't dislike it.

Maxine allowed Charles to sleep for a little longer while she just sat there and watched the rain. The tree above had absorbed some of the water but there was still enough falling down to prevent her from going back to sleep. Her stomach growled for food but as she had spent their remaining gold on ale the night before there was nothing that she could do for the time being to satisfy herself.

Her thoughts even drifted to her home in Morgan where her family were living. She imagined that her brothers and sisters were still likely in bed. She thought about the food that was there as well, right now she would eat it. Even if the food was cooked by her mother she would still eat it. She knew that one day she would return to them and she hoped that she would have made her father proud by that time.

"Charles wake up," said Maxine as she shoved him a little with her hand. This didn't seem to get anything out of him and he remained asleep. She shoved him a little harder and this got a small reaction but still not enough to wake him up. She resorted to striking him in the forehead but it wasn't to hurt him, just to awaken him.

"Five more minutes," replied Charles sleeplessly. He didn't remember exactly where he was as he had been awoken from a dream. The dream was still fading from his mind as reality set in.

"Now Charles!" Her voice was a little sterner but it didn't sound threatening at all. She slowly stood up and stretched herself a little. Her back was in a small amount of discomfort since she had slept in her armour.

When he realised who he was talking to he quickly woke up properly and slowly got back to his feet. He felt like he could have slept for longer but he didn't think it was best to go against what she said. Like her he too was hungry but he said nothing about it, instead he simply looked up at her as he expected her to command him to do something. He also noticed the weather and it seemed bleak.

One thing that Charles did consider doing was trying to find some edible mushrooms. He remembered reading a guide a few months back about which mushrooms were edible and which ones were not. There was one in particular that he had read about that caused hallucinations. He had wondered what they were like but he had yet to find any in order to experiment with them.

"Is there anything you require ma'am?" asked Charles. He didn't want to go off and do anything by himself just in case there was a particular task that she wanted him to do. The last thing he wanted to do was anger her.

"We're going back to the inn, at this time in the morning there will be someone there operating it," replied Maxine. She did look down at him and her look didn't seem threatening. She still looked tired but she was too awake to attempt to get back to sleep. "There might be some wolf meat left for us to eat something."

"As you wish ma'am."

At a slower pace than usual the pair made their way back toward the inn, it was obvious to anyone who looked on that they weren't fully rested. Charles staggered a little and even placed his hand on Maxine to steady himself. This was noticed by the tall woman but she did nothing to react to this, instead she just kept walking forward. Her armour felt unusually heavy and she would have liked nothing more than to take it off. But she couldn't do such a thing as her armour showed that she wasn't just some maiden but instead a warrior.

Eventually they reached the inn and went inside where they saw someone else running it who wasn't the regular innkeeper. This man was her nephew and often ran the inn during the early hours so that his aunt could have a decent rest. Unlike her he had never seen Maxine before so seeing this gigantic, armoured woman made him very nervous as she walked toward the counter. Charles had sat himself down at a nearby table and was doing all he could to prevent himself from going back to sleep.

"Last night I bought a wolf here and he was made into pies," said Maxine. Her voice sounded intimidating even though it was not her intent. "Do you still have any of that meat left?"

"I-I'm afraid not sir," replied the Man. He saw her eye twitch for a moment and he realised that he had just basically called her a man. She said nothing and he feared that she would strike him down.

"Then do you at least have some water? We spent our last coin here last night so maybe some complimentary water would be acceptable?"

"I-I'll go get you that now."

"And one for my squire as well."

"Very well, please take a seat."

Maxine was sure to thank him before she sat down at the same table as Charles. They could hear the rain outside becoming worse and they found it daunting. They knew that they would be walking in it soon so they wanted to enjoy being dry for as long as they could. Even if it was a short while.

They weren't the only ones present as a few other travellers had stopped and most were having a drink and some breakfast. Maxine could smell the bacon and eggs and it made her mouth water. She was seriously regretting drinking all of the ale that she had the night before and leaving them both in this predicament. Her hunger only caused her stomach to growl even louder and for anyone close by it would sound like some kind of creature from a nightmare.

After around an hour they watched Gregory slowly walk down the stairs that led to the rooms. He yawned loudly and stretched his arms and was still wearing his armour, he spotted the pair sitting at the table and he didn't waste any time in going toward them. He seemed happy that they were up and ready, he didn't realise that they were still tired and hungry. He gave them a smile as he sat himself next to Charles this time.

"Nice to see you up bright and early," said Gregory. "I was thinking that I might have to go out and find you both." He chuckled to himself. "But now I don't have to, so what do you say about some breakfast before we go?"
"We would but we lack the gold," replied Maxine. "We will have to pass on it this time around." She seemed disappointed by this and despite her hunger she was going to have to deal with it for now.

"Oh, don't worry about it, I'll tell you what. I'll loan you the gold for the time being and then you simply pay it back when we've been paid for the job. That way you don't go hungry and we can all enjoy some breakfast."

Maxine wanted to turn down the offer again but the loud growling of her stomach prevented her from doing this. She accepted and Gregory ordered a cooked breakfast for the large armour-clad woman. He was sure to buy one for Charles as well, it would increase the debt but they wouldn't be leaving him out. He too was hungry but had mainly kept quiet about it for the time being.

It was a short wait before the breakfast was finally brought to them. As expected Maxine's was much larger than her squires but they both wolfed it down in almost record time. The breakfast consisted of sausages, eggs, bacon and a few other items. Even Gregory sat and watched in a small amount of amazement. He knew that she could put a lot of food away but it was always a sight to behold when it happened.

As expected she finished her breakfast before the others, her hunger had been satisfied for now but it was likely not to last. She would be fine for a while but eventually she would become hungry again and the entire cycle would repeat itself. Not a single crumb was left but there was no food around her mouth either. It was almost like it had simply disappeared.

"You never cease to amaze me Maxine," said Gregory as he saw the empty plate that was once stacked with food. "I think it would have taken two, or maybe even three men to eat as much as you just did."

"I've heard that more than once," replied Maxine. "But it's quite simple when you stop to think about it, big people need more food. Now if you don't mind as soon as we're done here we can be on our way."

Charles continued to eat and he couldn't help but feel nervous about the job that they were going to. He knew that Maxine was more than capable of looking after herself but there was always that chance that she would meet a skilled opponent or someone who just got a lucky strike. Her strength and armour made her a difficult opponent but she was far from being invincible.