Chapter 77 It would appear luck was actually on my side in all this

Soon the group arrived at the Forest Inn whereby they all entered inside before heading upstairs towards the room that Fayeth Elvaris was staying in.

Upon entering they found Fayeth talking happily with Merno and Jue.

As they heard people entering their room the two humans and one elf woman turned and was surprised to see so many people arrive.

"Your majesty queen Tinen Etria." Merino said in surprise before standing and offering a small bow.

Jue and Tue were surprised to see their mothers actions before quickly copying them, Tue was especially surprised since she had been traveling with Tinen without realizing who she was.

Upon hearing the name however Fayeth showed concern and panic before quickly masking it.

"You don't have to be so concerned." Tinen said to Fayeth, "I have no intention of informing my stupid nephew that you're here." 

"I'm afraid I don't understand." Fayeth replied with perfect calmness.

"You have learnt to mask your feelings well, as a true ruler should." Tinen said in approval. "My daughter still has much to learn in that regard."

"Mother." Chelna replied slightly embarrassed.

"I am only speaking the truth my daughter, and if you want to form strong alliances with other royals and nobles in the future, then truth is always the best approach, don't you agree Princess Fayeth Elvaris." Tinen replied with a smile.

Merino and Jue showed surprised expressions when they heard this before turning to look at Fayeth.

Fayeth sighed before asking, "How did you know, we have never met as far as I am aware."

"That would be my fault." Tommy said. 

"Oh, might you be the Tommy that saved me and I have heard so much about?" Fayeth asked.

"That really depends on what it is they told you." Tommy replied with a chuckle.

"Only good things surprisingly, it is hard to meet a man who women only speak good things about." Fayeth replied.

"That's because they are blind since I helped them in the past. I have tried to warn them all that I am not a good man, however they won't listen to me." Tommy replied with a sigh.

"And we never will listen or believe that." Merino replied with a smile while Jue and Tue nodded in agreement.

"See." Tommy said with another sigh.

"And what makes you such a bad human man if I might ask?" Fayeth asked.

"I'm a killer, plain and simple, it's what I'm best at and it's what I do." Tommy replied honestly.

"And will you kill anyone?" Fayeth asked.

"Why do I feel like I'm being tested?" Tommy replied.

"Because you are Mr Tommy." Fayeth replied with a smile. "I'm in enemy territory and I need to know who I can trust that will help me return to my home and people."

"If you want to hire me for that then I am willing to consider it if you pay enough." Tommy replied before continuing. "I guarantee my assistance in helping you return home and to you people as long as you don't lie about the details or betray me."

When they heard this all the women suddenly got sad and worried looks.

"However I'm currently deciding if I am going to accept another job I have just been offered and if I accept it I'm afraid you will have to wait until that job is complete." Tommy replied.

"That's fine, this inn seems like a nice enough place to stay as long as Merno and her daughters don't mind." Fayeth replied.

"Of course not sweetie." Merino replied.

"Yeah it will be fun to have a friend staying with us." Jue said.

"Humph, I guess not." Tue pouted.

"I will be happy to pay for her stay along with my own while she is here." Tommy said towards Merno.

"Don't be silly Tommy, I already told you that you can stay here as long as you want without worrying about having to pay after what you did for my daughters." Merino replied.

"What did he do?" Fayeth and Tirma asked curiously.

"He saved them from a serial rapist." Merino replied in an angry tone.

Fayeth and Tirma both looked at Tommy with respect and appreciation before Fayeth said, "You didn't answer my question, My Tommy."

"No I didn't," Tommy replied before adding, "And that should tell you everything you need to know." 

"I see." Fayeth said with a frown. "Do you regularly go around killing innocents?"

"I don't like to make a hobby out of it, however sometimes I have to send a message so that people understand that I'm not one of their servants." Tommy replied while shooting a look at Tinen and Chelna.

"I see, then why did you rescue me?" Fayeth finally asked the question she was most interested in.

"By saving you I figured I will be able to form connections with the elven race giving me access to their towns and cities should I need to go there for work or any other reason." Tommy replied.

"You saved me for that reason alone?" Fayeth asked in surprise.

"What other reason should there be, I'm afraid I'm no white knight who will come to save you just because you need it." Tommy answered.

"That is not what I meant, I was expecting…. Never-mind." Fayeth replied.

"I know what you were expecting and no, I didn't do it for that reason." Tommy suddenly said, surprising Fayeth.

((Not that we don't want that from a sexy elf like you, we just can't.))

"I see." Fayeth replied slowly as she studied Tommy for a while.

"I take it Merno here has explained how you came to be here?" Tommy asked to change the subject.

"Indeed." Fayeth nodded. "It would seem that after saving a fellow party member and being poisoned by the monster black widow in the process my party members did not return me to the Orelnore after I entered a self induced coma but some slave traders found me."

"Orelnore?" Tommy asked.

"The elvin capital city where my father rules as king of all elf kind." Fayeth replied.

"How was the battle progressing against the monster black widows when you were poisoned?" Tommy asked.

"Very well, we were actually on the verge of victory when one of the younger party members made a mistake." Fayeth said with a frown.

"I'm sure I don't have to say what I'm thinking." Tommy said.

"No you don't, it would seem that I was betrayed by my fellow elves." Fayeth said with a sigh.

"It's a common enough occurrence." Tommy said simply.

"Not among elf kind, we are not as cunning or treacherous as humans." Fayeth said before realizing something and adding with embarrassment. "No offense."

"None taken, you're correct, the human race is a cunning and treacherous race, we have to watch our backs against everyone, including our own loved ones." Tommy replied, causing the human women to frown though they could not say anything as they knew it was true.

"Are you saying that elves never betray their own kind?" Tommy asked.

"While I wont say it never happens, it is a very rare occurrence and the punishment the betrayer receives is death." Fayeth replied. "The elven race as a whole is a lot closer with each other than humans for the simple fact that elves are not born anywhere near as often as humans and the other races."

"As I explained to Jue earlier, since we can essentially live forever, the elven race can go centuries without a baby being born, the only reason our race has similar numbers as the others is because we don't die by natural causes."

"Well I'm afraid it would seem that this is one of those rare occasions, though I don't understand why they didn't just kill you." Tommy replied.

"Because they can't unless they want my father to know who killed me." Fayeth replied and seeing the confused look on everyone's face except Tinen and Merno she decided to explain. "It would seem only Merno and Queen Tinen are aware of this but elf royalty and nobility have a special magic cast on them at birth by their parents."

"This marker only activates when that elf dies, it then transmits back the information of how they died and who killed them along with the last moments they witnessed before death."

"Wow." The young women all said in surprise.

"So you're saying that this group couldn't kill you because the king would find out about it, so instead they planned to let the monster black widow poison slowly kill you?" Tommy asked.

"Most likely." Gareth confirmed.

"Then it's possible that they never intended for slave traders to find you." Tinen suddenly remarked.

"I agree." Fayeth replied. "While slave traders do operate in our lands capturing my kin, they tend to stay far away from Orelnore because of the patrols and the kill on sight order, I'm guessing they never anticipated me being found by slave traders, let alone being transported to the Etria continent."

"It would appear luck was actually on my side in all this."