The following couple days went by quickly for Richard, despite how busy he had become. After returning from his session with Starfire, he had spent almost half the afternoon convincing Sir Devon, then the Adviser, then the king himself that continued sessions with her would be a good idea.

"The Tamaranian destroyed an entire cell by itself!" Alder had shrieked, protesting the most out of the three men.

"He does have a point" the king had added calmly from his seat in the adviser's office. "The creature is incredibly dangerous".

Richard sighed. "St—the Tamaranian, is our only source of information so far. Try as you may to hide it," Richard pointed to the adviser "you have no idea what you are talking about when it comes to the Forest."

Alder's jaw hung open from Richard's audacity. Richard took this moment of silence to continue his argument. "The Tamaranian is the only thing in this castle that has even stepped near the Forest, let alone been inside it. She is the only thing able to provide us insight into any manner of goings-on within it. We can either take this opportunity and shed at least some light on the situation, or waste it and spend the next months looking again for another lead like this while the kingdom wilts under its own weight."

The room was silent. The adviser appeared to have gathered his jaw from the floor, and was now skeptically glaring at Richard. "And how" he asserted "are you supposed to get the Tamaranian to talk, hmm?"

"He was able to get it talking for half of an hour" Devon interjected. "None of my men could pry a word from that guttural tongue all day, but the second he walks in, it's as if she suddenly remember English" the knight added. Richard pointed a silent smile in the knight's direction.

"And what did you learn in this hour that was so important it justified risking the King's Guard?" the adviser demanded.

Richard stood quiet for a moment. The adviser continued to glare. "Exactly what I thought. This whole thing is a wild goose chase. My king we should re—"

"Gordanians" Richard interrupted.

"Excuse me?" Alder dared, turning back to Richard.

" The Gordanians. I'm assuming you've never heard of them, since they aren't in any of your encyclopedias or maps of the Forest". He waited for the adviser to try and mutter his way into a rebuttal, but when nothing came, he continued. "She was with them before the King's Guard found her. From what I've gathered, they held her for a lengthy period of time, and the experience was...less than pleasant. I didn't have time to press further, but if I had to guess, I would say that they had been running her through some kind of torture. If I had more time I have no doubt that I could get every detail."

"We aren't in charge of the goings-on in the Forest", the adviser objected. "What happens in there, however depraved, is not our responsibility. And yet here you propose that we should spend our time delineating how creatures from the middle of the Forest have decided to loosen tongues?" the adviser objected.

Richard sighed. "No at all. I am simply saying that I was able to get her to tell me that much in half of hour today. Imagine how much more I can information I can obtain if you let me continue to meet with her."

For a moment, all three men were wordless. The king finally interrupted the silence. "You shall have these sessions with the Tamaranian, but you are to come to me and Alder with new information as it becomes available to you. Understood?"

"Of course", Richard bowed, "thank you your highness".

Richard internally cringed as Starfire shifted yet again to try and find a more comfortable position on the cold stone floor. After a moment of fidgeting she settled again with her legs crossed and resting her hand restraints on the floor. He noticed her near constant movement after only the second day, at first chalking it up to potential claustrophobia—but now after nearly a fortnight he could not ignore how often she tried to reposition the metal noose around her neck or welded metal on her wrists. He would never admit it out loud, but thinking about the sores that he knew would start forming around her restraints bothered him.

Richard had never had a problem with restraining prisoners when necessary. He had never hesitated to cuff a thief to a wall or fasten tight rope around a traitor—but continually watching Starfire shift under the weigh of the chains to try and find a position to finally bring relief felt….different. He knew without a doubt that those he had helped capture and cage before were deserving of it. But with Starfire it was different. It felt…unfair somehow.

"You should stop twisting your arms like that" he cautioned, "it will make them bruise."

She sighed, stilling herself. "I know" she admitted quietly.

It was little comments like those that were going to slowly undue him if he didn't keep himself in check.

While she continued to be vague about her time with the Gordanians when they talked, a small detail would slip out of her mouth on occasion if she began thinking too hard about how phrase something. Richard never commented on it, but had compiled them in his mind to form at least a general idea of the horrors she had endured.

He felt the sudden urge to console her in anyway he could. A hug, a word of reassurance—anything to provide a sliver of comfort.

Instead, he offered her a sympathetic look before changing the subject again to the Forest.

This of course, brought him back to a more pressing problem. It became obvious to him fairly quickly into their talks that she knew nothing.

Tamaranian fairies were native to the kingdom of Tamaran—which although technically located in the Forest, was almost one thousand leagues away from the border with Jump Village. Although the Gordanians had kept her much closer to the border, she was kept under lock and key and had no way of gaining any information about the arcane activity in the area. She had a vague memory of the geography of the area, but other than that, there was nothing to report back to the king or Alder.

Richard had no idea why, but during his meetings with them, he had begun adding in snips of information he had gained about the Forest through the encyclopedias he had nearly memorized in the royal library, and say she had told him such things.

It's because you want to keep seeing her. Richard tried to deny it, but deep down he knew the reason was because the second Alder thought that Starfire had stopped being useful he would be pulled away. Richard would be tasked with continuing whatever other leads they may have developed, and never see her again.

He sighed at the thought. He knew that these little talks were getting him no where, but he couldn't bear to just leave her to rot in the dungeon for however long the guards deemed fit.

This is the best lead I have, he lied to himself again.

He nudged the conversation back into the direction of Tamaran. Again they discussed the distance, and fell the room fell silent.

"I know this may seem like a silly question" Richard started, "but I have noticed from the damage you did before that you are…well, strong. Are all Tamaranians as strong as you?"

She giggled. "We are an able people, yes."

He smiled at her before considering if he really wanted to ask the next question. After a moment, he spoke. "So if you really are as…able…as I perceive you to be, how are they still keeping you here?"

She gave him a very confused look before gesturing to her chains and then shaking them to further clarify.

"Well, you are chained obviously," he tried to explain himself, "but I looked a little closer at the first cell you were in, and well…those chains shouldn't be able to hold you. If I estimated correctly, with a little effort, you could pull them off the wall one by one."

She tilted her head in confusion. "Did they…not tell you?"

"Tell me what?" he asked honestly.

She stared at him, perplexed, before holding out the restraints that covered all the way up to her elbows. "Look" she volunteered. He squinted at the chains before getting up and taking a torch from one of the walls and bringing it back to examine the chains.

Under the new light he could see tiny inscriptions in the metal connecting her wrists. Multiple symbols were carved on the welded portion connecting her arms, what appeared to be mostly loops and swirls to Richard.

"What…" he paused, moving the torch from one angle to another to try and better see the markings.

"An enchantment. Or I think that is what it is. I am not very…learned—is that the word?—in written forms of magic. My people use strength and skill, not spells."

"Here, watch", she offered after Richard's face contorted in confusion.

She pulled on the chains, but although it was obvious that she was applying a sufficient amount of force, they remained rooted to the ground. Richard suddenly gasped.

"What is it?" she asked, letting the chain go slack again.

"Was that…here, wait", he stated before placing the torch back on the wall. "Can you do that again?" he requested after returning to his spot in front of her.

She pulled again on the chain connecting her to the ground. To his amazement, the markings in the metal glowed dimly, now visible without the light of the torch.

"Can you pull harder?" he asked, never taking his eyes off of the symbols.

Starfire took in a breath before yanking at the chains with much more effort. The symbols again began to glow a soft yellow, like the light from a candle, only this time a little brighter. It almost seemed to pulse as she added more and more force, getting brighter as she did.

"May I stop now?" she asked quietly after a few moments, ripping Richard's focus away from the markings.

"Oh, um, yes. Thank you."

They both sat back down. "Sorry I just find this very intriguing is all" he added sheepishly.

"So they…they did not tell you?"

"No they did not. Why do you ask?" he looked her directly in the eye.

"Oh, it's just…" she looked away. "I just thought…"

"Thought what?" he asked patiently.

"Well I just thought that the reason you were so comfortable conversing with me was because they had assured you I could not escape my restraints" she explained.

Richard waited until she looked him in the eyes again. "I trust you Starfire."

She smiled genuinely. "I trust you too Richard."

"Where did the Tamaranian's restraints come from?"

Alder just looked up from whatever volume he was reading. "What do you mean?"

"Where did you obtain them from? How were they manufactured? They are not regular chains. I saw the symbols" Richard added.

"Oh. Well…" Alder faded off.

"For prisoners from the Forest, we consult the royal blacksmith to help us contain them, whatever their magic may be", the king finally stated after Alder didn't speak up again.

"I wish to see him."

"Why?" the adviser quipped.

"I would like to become more familiar with the enchantment on the chain, and anymore he has knowledge of", Richard explained.

"This is not a classroom boy" Alder proclaimed. "If I had known you would spend so much time sticking your nose in books—"

"Any man with a sword can fight, but knowledge is the only thing that can truly prepare you for a battle, and the reason I have been doing so much research is to try and make up for your lack of it" Richard countered.

"Know your place, boy!" the adviser sneered at him.

"Alder!" The king barked.

The adviser slowly sank back into his chair.

"Just arrange for Richard to see him", the king ordered calmly, his eyes looking tired. "He is right that we know little about the Forest, despite our proximity" he sighed. "Any knowledge he gains could be useful. There is no harm in letting him try."

Slowly, the adviser took out a new piece of parchment and began scribbling. "I will notify him that you are will be coming tomorrow morning."

"I would like to take the Tamaranian with me" Richard stated confidently, hoping they wouldn't ask questions.

Alder narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

After watching the king's eyebrows raise questioningly as well, Richard thought on his feet. "So that way he can show me various enchantments with a live being from the Forest. I do believe that would provide more insight than if he simply showed me symbols of which I know not the meaning." Richard smiled internally at his quick response. He thanked Bruce for showing him how to lie properly.

"That…makes sense. Put it in the letter Alder, so he can prepare himself accordingly", the king ordered, rising from his chair and moving to the door. "And please, do try to get along you two. I do believe the kingdom would better benefit if my counsel was actually working together instead of bickering amongst themselves" he added before leaving the room.