An additional hour went by and Maxine continued to drink more and more of the ale that was on sale. The Tavern Keeper was more than happy to continually give her more and more ale as long as she paid for them. He was simply amazed with how much she was able to drink, even though she was a very large woman she had drunk enough to kill a man several times over.

On a couple of occasions, he even considered that he might accidentally filled the cups up with water instead of ale. This was a foolish thought as he knew that it was actually ale that had filled the cups and because of this all he could do was continue to watch in amazement as she continued to drink more and more.

There was one thing that Charles did notice and that was the fact that Maxine was beginning to sway a little as she continued to drink. This would be normal for anyone as alcohol did have that effect on people but there was something odd about it all. He had seen her down more alcohol than he thought was humanly possible and still be perfectly fine. Now she was swaying a little and he was sure if he spoke to her that she would probably not be able to speak all that well.

One thing that he didn't notice was that several of the patrons around had fallen unconscious. They were sitting in their seats or slumped across the table, there were even a few who were lying on the ground.

Regardless of this Charles tried to make sense of what was happening to Maxine. He couldn't help but be worried as she continued to drink more and become even more incoherent as she drank even more. This would be normal for any regular person but that was something that just wasn't true for her.

"Ma'am," said Charles. He could see Maxine struggling to keep her balance where she was. It also seemed like she hadn't heard what he had said. "Ma'am." Again, she didn't register what he had said and simply seemed to stagger a little, even though she was sitting down. "Ms Maxine!" This seemed to catch her attention as she looked over to him, even though she had a look in her eye that she was going to fall asleep.

"Oh, there you are Chuck," replied Maxine. She had a smile on her face which was unusual for her to show. "I didn't see you there."

"Chuck?" He had to pause for a moment as he needed to fully register what she had just said. "Did you just call me Chuck?"

"Yeah, I thought that it would be a better name than Charles. What do you think? Maybe I should start calling you that from now on."

"If it's all the same to you I'd prefer the name Charles." He didn't like the name Chuck and the fact that she had called him this only made him feel like she had more than enough ale for one night. "Ma'am, you're looking tired. I think it's best that we call it a day, don't you think so?"

"Bed, but I'm not even that tired." She chuckled for a moment and it seemed like she was acting a little like a child.

"Now, now ma'am. You said yourself that we need to make an early start tonight and I believe that a larger bed has been found out for you."

"Come on, just one more drink?"

"Best not to." He then stood up from his seat and went over to her. He then placed his head underneath her arm and tried to help her stand up. It was only now he realised how fruitless this was as she was much too heavy for him to move by himself. No matter how much he tried he couldn't force the tall, armoured woman to move at all. Rather than being angry at this Maxine simple chuckled again and even smiled down at him.

"Am I too heavy for you?"

"I-I wouldn't say that ma'am." He chuckled but he soon felt her beginning to get up by her own power. Not only that but her large arm was able lift around him and with ease she was able to lift him off his feet. "What are you doing?"

"Well you tried to carry me so I'm going to carry you instead. You're lighter than I thought you'd be. I can't even feel your weight." She found all of this hilarious as Charles struggled a little to escape her grasp. Unfortunately for him this was a fruitless task as she was simply too strong for him.

It was around this time that the Tavern Keeper finally showed up. However rather than instructing Maxine to put her squire down he instead was merely there to take them to their room. Although she didn't like hearing the news, he wasn't able to prepare them a room with a large and small bed. Instead it was merely a large bed but to Maxine this wasn't too important.

The journey to the room was a little embarrassing for Charles as he was carried almost like he was a piece of luggage. But as soon as he was inside of the room he was placed back down onto the ground. He was able to look up at the drunk tall woman who was still staggering, he had never seen her in this state before. Even when she had drunk the same amount of ale that she had done tonight.

Charles wanted to berate her for what she had done but ultimately decided not to risk it. From his time working in a tavern he knew that when it came to interacting with intoxicated people that he would need to tread carefully. They could be cheerful and happy one moment but in the blink of an eye they could turn violent. With the state that she was in Maxine was simply too unpredictable to truly do anything with besides putting her to bed and allowing her to sleep off the effects of the alcohol.

To start this Charles began to help her take her armour off which was a much greater task than it had been before. She wasn't being very helpful and with the sheer weight of the armour it made things difficult for the squire to complete. Each part came off individually and a task that should have only taken close to five minutes now took around half an hour. By then Maxine was down to her normal clothing that she wore beneath the armour. Most of this had to come off as well if she was going to bed.

Normally this was another task that would have been done by Maxine herself. In her state she was unfit to do so which meant that Charles needed to do this as well. Carefully he took off each part of her clothing and a couple of times he accidentally felt the muscle on her body. There was something about it that he couldn't help but notice, although they felt firm there was also a softness to them. They also felt warm and the sheer size of them took his breath away. Even without her height she was still the most muscular woman that he had ever seen. He even doubted that there were any other women in Angleland who had the same amount of muscle as her.

"There we go ma'am," said Charles after the task was finished. By then Maxine was down to her undergarments and was ready for bed.

"Thank you, Chuck," replied the still drunk Maxine. She chuckled again as she lay on the bed. Although it was a double bed it still seemed to be too small for her. Her legs were over the edge of the bed. It was to the point where she could bend her knees and the soles of her feet touched the floor. The bed had also groaned under her weight.

"Now if you don't mind, I'm going to see if the Tavern Keeper can give me some blankets to make my own bed on the floor." He went to walk away but suddenly felt a large hand grab onto his wrist.

"Why do that when you've got a perfectly good bed here." With little effort she was able to pull him towards her and he was pulled into the bed with her. "There we go, you can sleep with Mommy Maxine tonight."

"Ma'am, I'd strongly advise against this." Like before he tried to get out of his predicament but he couldn't escape from her grip.

"Oh don't, let me keep you warm tonight." She giggled again which was completely unlike her. During their time together he had never known her giggle like she had done tonight. "You're safe with me little man."

"Maxine can you please let me go?"

This time Charles didn't get any kind of response from Maxine. Instead all he could hear was loud snoring and when he looked up at her he could see that she was fast asleep. This caught him a little by surprise but he knew that it was best for her to sleep off all the alcohol that she had consumed.

Even so he couldn't help but think that this was all odd. He had seen her consume a huge amount of alcohol in the past and she had never acted like this. If she had been sober, she would most likely be very embarrassed with the way that she acted. Her stern demeanour would view her actions as a complete betrayal of herself.

One thing that Charles did have going for him was the fact that now Maxine was asleep that her grip around him had loosened. But he did have to admit that lying with her like this was very nice, he felt warm in his arms and if he placed his ear on her chest, he would have been able to hear her heartbeat.

With some care Charles began to lift the arms off of him and slowly he moved out of the bed. He did fear that he might wake her up but as he looked at her, he thought that this was likely impossible. Maxine was completely knocked out and she was snoring very loudly, he thought that two knights could have a sword fight right next to her and she would sleep through it.

There was some fear that she might not wake up so he decided to gently grab her wrist and then check her pulse. It seemed a little weaker than normal but still strong enough to make his worry slip away. But as he stepped out of the bed he was faced with a new problem. He could feel nature calling to him and he quickly slipped out of the room so that he could find a suitable toilet.

It didn't take him long before he found what he was looking for and did what needed to be done. It was a relief for him but before he stepped out, he couldn't help but hear a few footsteps coming from outside the door. He thought that it would be fine to simply walk out but something inside of him told him that he should wait for a few minutes as something just didn't seem right.

"They're all asleep," said a voice. Charles recognised this as the voice of the Tavern Keeper. "Good, I was beginning to worry that I hadn't done my job properly."

"It took longer than we expected but it'll do," replied another voice. This one was unfamiliar to Charles but he still listened on. "But shouldn't we keep our voices down, someone could hear."

"Let them, with how much they drank they won't be hearing anything for a good long while. Especially that giant woman, I knew that I had been putting enough stuff in her drink to put her to sleep. But even I'm surprised with how much it took, I swear I must have put enough in her drinks to kill a horse."

"Don't fret about it, it's done now and with everyone asleep it's time to start with what's important. Gather the family and meet me in the basement in half an hour. We'll start gathering our patrons and take them down."

"As you wish."

With that the pair had stepped down a flight of stairs and out of the sight from Charles. Carefully he stepped out of where he was hiding and quickly, he moved towards the room that he was sharing with Maxine. Even though he was moving with haste he also needed to make sure that he didn't make a sound. If his location was discovered then he feared that it might very well cost him his life.

Upon entering the room, he wasn't surprised to see the very tall and muscular woman to still be asleep in bed. Her snores were still very loud and even shook the room a little each time she breathed in. Quickly he went over to her and began to shake her body as much as he could in an attempt to wake her up.

"Maxine," said Charles with some haste in his voice. He did make sure that his voice wasn't too loud as he didn't want anyone outside of the room hearing him. Unfortunately for him his efforts seemed to be for naught as Maxine remained asleep. If anything, she had only begun to snore even louder. "I don't want to do this but..." After taking a deep breath he raised his hand and then slapped her across the face as hard as he could. He knew that if he did this to her normally that he would most likely lose a hand because of it. This effort was a fruitless as the previous one as Maxine remained asleep. "Damn, no good."

It was around this time that Charles realised that he was going to deal with the situation himself. Maxine was down for the count and it seemed like she wasn't going to wake up until she was good and ready. This was very bad for him as whatever nefarious plans that the people running the tavern were would have likely been crushed by her sheer might. With her taken out of the picture he felt like his chances of survival were close to none.

One idea that did pop into his mind was using Maxine's sword as a weapon. These thoughts were dashed when he thought through a few things. On more than one occasion she has tasked him with maintaining her sword and whenever he handled it, he had noticed how heavy it was. Although he didn't want to admit it, he was weaker than the average man but even then, it was extremely difficult to wield. He had seen her use it as if it was just any normal sword, in his mind this was just another indication about just how strong the woman lying in the bed truly was.

Charles knew that until he discovered exactly what was happening, he could decide on his next course of action. This meant leaving the room and Maxine to continue to sleep off the combination of alcohol and sedatives that she had drank. A part of him feared that neither of them would survive the night, this was something that he couldn't dwell on as he stepped out of the room.

Nervousness did begin to overcome him as he knew that his safety net had been taken away. This wasn't the first dangerous situation that he had found himself in since he met Maxine but it would be the first that he would have to deal with all by himself. In the past he knew that whatever trouble came his way that she would be able stop it from harming him. Tonight, wasn't the case as she was completely knocked out. It was likely that she wouldn't wake up until the following morning.

With some care he did step out into the hallway of the tavern and he stood on his tiptoes. This was so that the sound that he made while walking around was minimum but he was also making sure that no one saw him. Thankfully his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, he could see better than he had a few minutes before but he didn't think that it would be too much of a help.

Whatever was happening in this tavern seemed to be taking place mostly in the basement. Right now, that was his best way of finding answers but he also knew that it was the riskiest as well. That was where the people running the tavern were meeting up and whatever unspeakable horrors might happen.

Despite the danger Charles still pushed forward as he made sure to make himself as quiet and hidden as possible. It seemed that his smaller frame was actually an advantage to him, for someone larger than him, moving around quietly and undetected would be difficult if not close to impossible. For him, it was much easier but he did feel like he was still risky. For one was the fact that he didn't have any kind of weapon with him. Even something such as a knife would be better than being completely unarmed. This was something else that he would have to look out for.

Carefully he made his way towards the stairs that went down to the ground floor. There was still some light as he could see some people moving around. That was something that he was expecting but for the entire time he remained quiet and he was able to get himself into a position where he could see what was going on but it was difficult to actually be seen by anyone else.

As he looked down, he could see two men picking up the unconscious bodies of the other patrons that had been drinking there that night. None of them had the same tolerance level as Maxine did to the drug that was used. Because of this it was much easier to knock them out then it was with her.

The men who were carrying the unconscious patrons were not being gentle with them. Not much care was being taken which gave Charles a sense of dread, in his mind it meant that it was unlikely that they would survive the night. If their survival was intended then some care would be taken into their wellbeing. Since there wasn't, it likely meant that their survival was not the intention of these men.

Not only that but the men in question were not speaking to one another at all, they were just picking up the patrons one by one and then taking them through a door. This was where Charles figured the way to the basement was located but to get down there would be dangerous.

He would have wanted nothing more than to simply flee the place and forget all about it. However, he couldn't bring himself to abandon Maxine. She was completely defenceless right now and it would be simple for someone to plunge a dagger into her heart and kill her with ease. This was something that he couldn't allow to happen and he also thought that if the situation was reversed that she would not abandon him either.

Just then one of the men accidentally kicked the leg of one of the tables and stubbed his toe. This caused him to give a shriek of pain and even jump around a little on one leg. Charles could see this right now and if not for the seriousness of the situation he would have likely laughed at this.

"Oh, bloody hell!" shouted the Man who had just stubbed his toe. He was a relatively short man, probably only a little taller than Charles. He did look to be quite muscular as well which helped him to pick up people larger than himself.

"What is it?" replied the Other Man. This man was taller but not as muscular, he looked to be over six feet tall and was having a harder time moving the unconscious patrons from the floor and their seats.

"I stubbed by bloody toe!" His voice was loud and it was obvious that he was still in some pain.

"That's it, grow a pair why don't you?"

"Hey, it bloody hurts! I'd like to see you stay quiet after stubbing your toe you lanky bastard."

"Shut up alright, tonight's a busy night and we need to get our friends downstairs before anything else happens."

"Fine, whatever."

With that the pair continued what they were doing. They were completely unaware that Charles was watching every movement that they made. There was something about this that to him was just odd in many ways. Although this was likely to be a life and death situation there was a bit of a funny side to it as well. In a way it made things seem more normal than they actually were.

On the ground floor Charles did notice some large barrels that he thought were perfect to hide behind. All he did was wait for the two men to go through the door before he quickly moved down the stairs completely and hid behind them. Although he moved quickly, he also made sure that he was as quiet as possible.

Just as he reached them, one of the two men returned but by then he was already out of sight. For both of the men who were picking up the patrons they had yet to spot Charles at all. He would wait until they were gone before getting closer to the door and finding somewhere else to hide. This was difficult for him but he did creep closer and closer towards his destination.

It wasn't long before all of patrons that were unconscious had been taken down into the basement. For both the men they knew that this wasn't all of them, there were a few more upstairs who were asleep. This led them to quickly make their way up the stairs and begin the process all over again.

For Charles this was the opportunity that he had been waiting for. With both of them out of the way for a short time he quickly made his way towards the door. It only took him a few moments to reach it and with some care he began to make his way down the stairs. Even though he was in a small hurry he still wanted to remain as quiet as possible. If he was discovered he'd likely be dead.

The first thing that greeted him as he walked down the stairs was a strong odour that caught him by surprise. It was a foul stench that made him want to throw up anything that was left in his stomach.

It was definitely one of the foulest smells that he had ever experienced and it was enough to even make his eyes water. It also added to his fear about what he was going to find down there. His heartbeat increased with each step that he took and without Maxine watching his back he knew that he was all alone. His fear kept him alert and the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end. There was no doubt in his mind that something truly horrific was taking place down there.