Despite everything that had happened, the group had no choice but to keep moving forward. The deceased and injured bandits were left where they were as they didn't have time to treat them or bury them. Maxine in particular didn't think that they were worth the kindness of such a thing.

At one point in time, she looked down at the woman who had held a knife to Charles's neck. If she hadn't already been killed, it was likely that she would have killed her herself. Even if it did mean that she was breaking the promise that she had made to her mother. In her mind, trying to murder Charles was the most unforgivable thing that anyone could do.

Hours went by as the group travelled with little incident. They still had their food and although they had lost a lot of money, they still had the money that Charles had on his person. It wasn't much but it was better than having nothing at all. The group was constantly on edge as they feared that someone else would try to attack or rob them. Because of this, Maxine in particular was very protective of her squire.

At no point in time did she allow him to be more than three feet away from her. At every incident that seemed remotely suspicious, she would step in front of him and ensure that it wasn't a threat. Normally it was merely an animal in the bushes and there was no need for alarm.

Unfortunately, when night fell, the group was still too far from a settlement for them to find and inn. Because of this, they had no choice but to set up camp near a lake where they just happened to be travelling by. At least with it, they had a fresh source of water which meant that they wouldn't have to buy any.

Some firewood was collected, and a fire was started so that they could cook some of the food that they still had on their person. All five of them sat around the fire and Charles was staying close to Maxine, she had brought her arm down onto him and brought him closer to her. Her protective instincts were kicking in and she wanted to ensure his safety. Even if she was beginning to go a little overboard.

Asla did notice this, and she did wanted to speak to her but didn't know how exactly to do it. What she wanted to say to the armoured giantess was meant to be in private, but she knew that Maxine wouldn't want to be anywhere without Charles. This did cause a dilemma and although she did have an idea, she wasn't entirely sure that Maxine would go along with it or decline.

"Ms Martel," said Asla. Her tone was very respectful, and this did get the attention of Maxine who looked over to her.

"Yes, is there something that you need?" replied Maxine. There was a small hint of impatience in her voice. She was still staying close to Charles and even glanced at him as he was eating some vegetables.

"I was just thinking, we've been through a lot in the past few days, and we haven't had an opportunity to wash ourselves. Why don't we take a dip in the lake and clean ourselves off? It'll be nice to freshen up."

"I'm fine thank you; Charles still needs me here and I don't plan on leaving his side any time soon."

"He is more than safe with my companions. Besides we wouldn't be long." She smiled at her, but this did little to convince her.

"That is generous, but I must decline."

"Maxine," said Charles. The armoured giantess looked down at the man sitting next to her. She was a little confused with what he was doing as she hadn't expected him to speak up. "I'll be fine, you go and have a bath if you wish. Besides, it gives me a little guy time with the others."

"C-Charles." Everything in her mind was telling her that she should stay where she was and protect him. But she couldn't ignore the look on his face and the words that he had spoken. Because of this, all she could do was nod at him. "Ok, I'll go." Slowly, the colossal woman stood up to her feet but before she did, she looked over to Taiyun and Jaxin who were still sitting there and looking up at her. "And if anything happens to him, I swear that I'll kill you both where you sit."

"Maxine, that wasn't necessary." There was a slight hint of annoyance in his voice when it was clear that he wasn't happy with what she had just said.

"I'm sorry." She gave a sigh as she knew that she was in the wrong and she didn't want him to be upset with her. "Just please keep him safe." She watched as the two foreign men nodded to her in agreement. With that, she and Asla stepped away as the men remained where they were sitting. It didn't seem like there would be much that could be spoken between Charles and the others, but he was sure to be polite to them.

The two women stepped towards the lake and took their time stripping off of their clothes. They made sure no one was around to see them and even in the darkness, they could still see each other clearly. One thing that Maxine couldn't help but see was how beautiful Asla's naked body actually was.

Despite her short stature, she was beautiful in every way and there didn't seem to be anything that Maxine could point out as being out of place. In a way, she was a little jealous as she couldn't help but wonder what her own life would have been like if she were average. Most likely it would have been unremarkable, and she would have married someone and started a family.

In turn the Asla couldn't help but be impressed with Maxine's naked body as well. Although she had seen the muscular giantess in her mere undergarments, seeing her completely naked was another thing entirely. She could see every aspect of her muscles and to her, it was not surprising that Maxine was so strong. It was also still hard to believe that a woman could have such a physique and that she as even able to get clothes that fit her.

With them both completely naked now, they stepped into the water of the lake and although it was quite cool, it still wasn't freezing. There was a small groan as they felt the cool water on their skin and the sound of the water being displaced upon their entry. It wasn't the first time that either had bathed in a lake but definitely the first time with each other.

Asla sat nearer to the bank as the water was shallower there while Maxine had moved herself slightly outwards. For them both, their heads and shoulders were above the waterline but everything from the chest down was underwater. Any fish that were present had swam away as they feared for their own safety. The two women weren't there to try and catch them, but they still wanted to ensure that they wouldn't be caught.

"This is nice," said Asla as she rubbed some of the water onto her body. "You should try some of the hot springs of my country. You truly don't know how good they are until you try them yourself."

"I'll remember that if I visit," replied Maxine. She paused for a moment as she thought about what she was going to say next. "I know that I already said this but thank you for saving Charles. If you hadn't of been there, I don't know what I would have done. Right now, I could not be with my sword and armour and yet that was what I preferred rather than losing him."

"You're welcome." She gave the muscular giantess a smile and she continued to look at her. "My apologises as well for not telling you about my royal heritage. Sharing such information would make me a target and of course, at the time, I didn't know you or Charles very well when we first met."

"I admit that I was angered by your deception but if I was in your position, I would have likely done the same thing. But still, if it wasn't for Charles, I would have turned my back on you and left you to your fate."

"Yeah, he is a rare person in this world." As she looked at Maxine, he could see her beginning to blush slightly and look away. If anything, this only confirmed something that that she had been suspecting for quite a while. "You love him, don't you?"

"What?" The suddenness of the question caught Maxine completely off guard as she couldn't gather her thoughts for a moment.

"I've seen how you look at him and act around him." A sly smile appeared on the face of the smaller woman and in a figurative sense, it was as if she had the giantess in an iron like bear hug.

"I-I don't love him; I merely respect him." There wasn't much conviction in her voice as it sounded as if she was trying to convince herself more than she was attempting to convince Asla.

"It might have started like that, but I've seen what you've been doing. You've been fiercely protecting him like a mother bear watching over her cub. Respect goes so far but from what I see, it's love. To tell you the truth, I'm not surprised that you've fallen for him, he's a perfect match for you."

"I told you that I don't love him!" There was further conviction in her voice, but she couldn't help the fact that she was still blushing. This was noticed by Asla who more or less moved in for the kill.

"And yet your face is bright red, and I can imagine that your heart rate has increased now. You might be able to lie to me, but you can't lie to yourself."

"I-I…" Maxine looked down at the water as many different thoughts went through her mind. She wanted to deny everything that Asla was saying but found herself unable to. It was true that in recent times, Charles had become the most important person in her life, and she had many different thoughts about him during their time together. "I-It's true." Her voice was so quiet that it was hard for the smaller woman to hear her.

"What was that?"

"I said it's true!" Her voice was louder and was almost loud enough for the men sitting at the fire to hear. This caused her to blush again but this time it was in embarrassment. "I admit it, I love him." Her voice was quieter this time, but she could be heard clearly by Asla who was still sitting close by.

"There we go, do you feel better now admitting to it. It's wonderful to think that you found someone that you truly love."

"I wish I could say the same." Her voice didn't sound as though she was very happy and even had a hint of sadness to it.

"Why not, Charles is a wonderful man and I'm sure that he feels the same way about you." She continued to smile at her, but it seemed that this didn't do anything to make the giantess feel any better.

"I don't know if he does. Why would he see me as anything more than some huge woman who can swing a sword?" She knew that Charles thought more of her than that, but she still didn't think that he would be interested in her as a romantic partner.

"What makes you say that?" She was intrigued and crossed her arms when she asked this as she wanted to hear an honest answer.

"Look at me." Maxine stood up from the water when she stated this so that Asla could see her completely. "I'm nine feet tall and made of muscle, what kind of man would want a woman like me? Men want smaller women who they feel like they can protect who have to step up to their tip toes to catch them. Not someone like me, his shoulder barely comes up to my hips. How can he love a woman like me?"

"To be honest, I don't think he cares about that. Deep down I know he cares about you for you. Besides, if you think that you'll only be suitable for a man who is larger than yourself, then you're going to be waiting a very, very long time."

"I know, I know." She gave a sigh as she sat herself back into the water. "It's stupid I know for thinking that, but I always thought that he would prefer to be with a woman closer to his height."

"Well, having a couple where the woman is taller isn't something that's unheard of. In my country, I knew a lord and lady where there was a foot height difference between them. They knew that people chuckled about them behind their backs, but they didn't care. They loved each other."

"I-I guess that's true. My own parents are unusual to say the least. My father is a man of average stature while my mother is half a foot shorter than me. It's from her that I'm the height I am today."

"And does your father not care about your mother because she's so much taller than him?" She was still curious as she was more or less leading Maxine into making the decision that would make her the happiest.

"Of course not. My father loves my mother dearly and she loves him. They had been friends since they were children and when they grew up, they married and have a very large family. I have four younger sisters and two younger brothers." She had to pause for a moment as she made a quick realisation. "Wait, I have five younger sisters now." She had forgotten at first to include her newest sister, Rina.

"That sounds lovely. As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter what size and shape a partner comes in. As long as they love each other, that's what matters. Personally, I wouldn't care what my partner looked like. He could be a giant like you or be as tall as my leg. All that matters is that you love him, and he loves you. Do you think Charles loves you?"

"I-I don't know." Maxine had never been asked such a difficult question in her life and although she leaned one particular way, she just wasn't sure about the answer. "I just don't know."

"Well, you can always ask him."

"And say what?" There was a slight hint of annoyance in her voice when she spoke. "Oh, hey Charles, do you love me? What if I asked him and he rejects me? That would put our friendship in a very strange place. Probably one that will never recover."

"But what would you do if he said yes?"

"I-If he said yes?" There were a few moments of uncertainty from the muscular giantess as she had never considered such a thing. As far as she was concerned, she was sure that Charles wouldn't be romantically interested in her. "I don't know, besides my father, he's the only man that I've truly respected. If I knew that he loved me, it would probably make me feel happier. But I wouldn't know what to do."

"Well, sometimes there can be no easy answers to some of lives problems. Love isn't something that can be simple or straight forward. It's something that's built upon over time and needs both sides to co-operate. I'm sure that if he does love you, that he'll do what he can to make things work. Do you agree?"

"I guess so." She was still a little unsure and she couldn't help but cower a little in the water. It almost seemed funny to see a woman as large as her seem so fearful over something many considered to be trivial.

"And of course, if you do want to tell him how you feel, do so at your own pace. If you are not comfortable with telling him straight away, simply wait until you feel ready and then let him know."

"I-I'll try." She gave a small sigh as she could see that there was far more to this woman than she first realised. When she found out that Asla was royalty, she ultimately assumed that she wouldn't care about a common person such as herself and merely looked down at her from a figurative standpoint. Now she could see that Asla did truly care about her and of Charles. "Thank you again, this is the second time today that you've helped me out immeasurably."

"You're welcome and you don't need to thank me. You and Charles have already done a great deal for both myself and my companions. This is the least I can do to repay you for your kindness."

Maxine thought about correcting her as she didn't think that she had showed the foreign princess any kindness. But she thought that it would spoil the mood and simply nodded to her. This was probably the most intense conversation that she ever had with another woman who wasn't a member of her family. Even then, it was normally between herself and her mother Jessica.

This gave her a new point of view on things as she truly accepted what she had been feeling for some time now. That she had romantic feelings for Charles, but she still feared that he might reject her. Long ago when she realised just how much bigger and stronger, she was in comparison to normal people, she thought that she was doomed to live alone. Now she did have some hopes that she had found a person who would love her regardless of her size and she might even be able to do something that she never thought that she would. That was to start a family.

The two women continued to talk about a few different things which included their journey and some details about Asla's country. It wasn't exactly the political climate that they were talking about but just the culture and beauty of it. Asla even told her about a plant that was long and thin which grew extremely quickly and could easily outgrow the tallest trees in Angleland. There was even mention of a bear that was black and white which specialised in eating such plants.

To Maxine such a thing sounded comical and yet she couldn't help but believe that it was true. There were bears in Angleland and they tended to be omnivores. However, like this particular bear, they could still be dangerous, and it was best to stay well clear of them whenever it was around.

After a short while, both women eventually stepped out of the water and dried themselves off using some clothes that they had with them. Unfortunately for Maxine, her cloth was too small for her body, and this meant that drying herself off was more difficult and time consuming than she had expected. Despite this, it was still nice for her to be able to wash herself and have her chat with Asla. It had given her a lot to think about and she still wasn't sure exactly what she was going to do.

Eventually, the muscular giantess did return to the campfire where the men were waiting for her. It seemed that they too had been talking to each other, but the subject of their conversation was unknown to her. Also, rather than putting her armour back on, she remained in her regular clothing as it was more comfortable to sleep like that. Especially since she would be sleeping on the ground.

Quickly Maxine saw Charles who was still sitting where he had been before. Without too much effort, he turned to her and gave her a wave and she couldn't help but pause for a moment. She thought about her own confession that she had made a short time earlier and she still wasn't sure how she was going to approach this situation.

There were many thoughts going through her mind, and she wanted nothing more than to stand there and shout how she felt about him. However, she knew that it was a terrible idea and instead stayed quiet for the moment. It did take her a moment to walk back over to him and sit down where she had been sitting before.

Asla did the same as she sat down next to Taiyun. She too was wearing the same clothing that she had before and although she would love to have a different outfit, she knew that it was impractical to be carrying several pieces of clothing. They only took what they needed and that way they could travel faster and hopefully evade their enemies.

"Ah Maxine," said Charles. He seemed quite cheerful upon her arrival, and it seemed that he hadn't been afraid while she had been gone. "Did you have a nice bath?"

"Y-Yeah it was nice," replied Maxine. She was able to hide the fact that she was blushing and answered his question.

"You seemed to be having a long conversation with Asla. Guess you two really hit it off. I knew that you would."

"What?" This caused Maxine to panic for a moment internally, but she was able to remain calm on the outside. "Did you hear anything?"

"Not really, I was too busy talking to Taiyun and Jaxin. There's been a lot that we've been discussing. I know that we should have informed you first, but we've decided that we should always have someone on guard. If there is anyone planning on harming Asla, we should hopefully be able to spot them. We're planning to sleep for around eight hours with each person being on guard for a couple of hours. I've volunteered to take the first shift, but we were wondering if you could take one of them as well."

"Y-Yeah sure, I don't mind which one." There was another wave of panic as she couldn't help but imagine Charles being awake and keeping guard while she was asleep. As far as she was concerned, this was a good as him being unprotected as an intruder could kill him quietly while everyone else slept. This caused her a great amount of anxiety, and she tried her best to remain as calm as possible.

"Ok that's good. Which shift did you want to take?"

"I'll go after you." In her mind, this was when she was sure that he would be the safest as he could possibly be.

"I thought that would be the case. Now it is simply between Taiyun and Jaxin which of those will have what shift."

Maxine did look towards the two men and when it came to Jaxin in particular, she still didn't trust him. It wasn't too hard for her to forget that just a few nights earlier that he had tried to assassinate Asla and was willing to kill Charles in order to do this. As far as she was concerned, this made him completely untrustworthy. If it were up to her, she would never have allowed him to come along with them.

However, this was something that she had no say in and she could do nothing but make sure that her squire was safe. Now all she could do was hope that nothing eventful happened during the night. After everything that had happened, a good night's sleep was exactly what everyone needed.