Leana

"I am Ren. I am really grateful to you for saving my life. If you hadn't taken me to the healing center, I would certainly be dead. I owe you my life."

"No no, it's not that big a deal." Leana replied while feeling a bit embarrassed.

"We need to talk with you about something. Is there anywhere we can sit. My neck is starting to hurt having to look up at you all the time… haha"

"Oh I am so sorry! Yes let's go in here. It's a small barack we have. I am not really on the shift but I decided to come here since Daren told me that you were going to return in the evening."

We entered the barack and found that it was just a break room. There was no one else there.

We sat around and Leana asked "What did you want to talk about?"

I described the events that had happened today focussing on Alan, Tina and Ginny. I told her what Tina had told us and how they had made a deal with the cook of the barack.

"That vile vile man! Why does he not leave me alone? I said no to him so many times. Now he wants drug me to make me submit to his will? Will he stop at nothing? I .. I don't know what I to do now ..."

"Why don't you go to a different city? He won't come to a different city just look for you." Turek thought of a solution.

"Leave this city? But this is where I grew up! My father was also a city guard here. I wanted to follow in his footsteps, so I joined the guards too. This is where my home is. How can I leave just like that?"

"Is your father still a guard?" I asked.

"No… he died when I was young. He was the strongest of the guards and very brave. He lost his life during a fire where he went in to save a kid."

"I am sorry" I apologized for bringing it up.

"No no its ok. It was a long time ago."

"How about you take a leave of absence and hide in the city. Don't go to your home but don't let anyone find out. Maybe that pervert Alan will lose interest in you. After all we did feed him the Lichen drug. He might have forgotten you already" said Cleo.

"I don't know.. I don't have a lot of money saved up. I don't know for how long I can take a leave for."

"Don't worry about the money. We can give you some of the money that we took from that pervert. It would serve him right if we use his money to beat him"

"No no.. how can I take that money? You earned it by defeating him. It's your money."

"Why don't you try talking with your captain? Maybe he can find some way?"

"I already did. He tried to ask the Viscount but even he is helpless against the Earl. The most he could do it not force me to marry the Earl's son."

No matter what solution we came up with it seemed like there was always something that didn't work.

I sighed in frustration. I wanted to help her since she had saved my life but I was just too useless.

Then a thought came in my mind and I said to Leana

"How about you join our party?"