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"Yes, and he wants you to hug him too. He doesn't want me hugging you to myself," Astrid let out the truth and Snow had no choice but to glare at her through their mind link.

"Master!" 

"Ahh, then shouldn't we grant him his request, hmm?"

He moved Astrid away from him a bit and bent down a bit. The pain at his ribs was screaming in his mind, but he ignored it and picked the little white tiger phoenix beast up.

"Hey, little Snow." He knew how much he had made this two worry and right now he was also happy they were okay. That was why irrespective of his pains, he only cared about holding them.

Snow purred at him and Astrid let out a soft chuckle. Jareth looked up at her and arched a brow up, silently asking her the reason for her laughter.

"You called it little Snow. Let's just say he isn't particular about being called little.

"My bad."

As they chatted away the tension, several men rushed into the arena with a wooden like stretcher and ran passed Astrid and Jareth, only to stop beside Brad.

Apparently, while they were having their moment, Brad signalled for some men to come to carry their leader to the infirmary.

In the village, they were lucky enough to have two of the ladies gifted with medicinal knowledge, so they ran the small infirmary in the village.

Noticing the situation on the ground, Astrid lead Jareth out of the arena with him still holding the little beast.

By the time they got to where the ropes were, Astrid took Snow from Jareth, so that he would be able to pass without much difficulty. By the time they were out, they met three women blocking their path and staring charmingly at them.

The women were pretty in their own way with varying heights. Astrid's gaze shifted to the lady by their left. She had a black long wavy hair that reached her at her waist. She wasn't fat or chubby, she was just average in size and height.

The lady on their right was a red-haired. Her too was wavy but which more curls than the first. She was a little bit chubby and the shortest among them, that she was reaching the other lady at her neck.

Finally, Astrid's gaze landed at the woman who stood at their centre, a brown-haired lady. She was slim, tall and blessed with a nice body shape. Her fair skin glistened in the afternoon sun, making her look like a maiden kissed by the sun itself.

To say the least, she was pretty.

The brown-haired woman spoke first as she watched Astrid's wandering gaze access them.

"Come, I would show you to your rooms and where you can have a bath and a change of clothes, hmm." She had a nice cool air around her and she was not like the other ladies who gave off the jealousy vibe from their stares.

"Okay." That was all Astrid could think of uttering as she hesitated a bit. The brown-haired woman noticed her slight hesitation and only gave her a half-smile.

"It is okay young one. You can calm down now. My name is Sabrina, this is Elena," she pointed to the lady at her right, Astrid's left and then pointed to her left, which was Astrid's right and introduced her as well. "And this is Katrina."

Astrid nodded at them again, showing she understood while in her mind, she replayed their names.

'Sabrina, Elena and Katrina.'

She did wonder while all their names seemed to have ended with the same syllable… 'Na,' but shrugged it off.

"May I know your names please?" Sabrina asked politely, her cute smile never leaving her face.

With the way she was beautiful, it only made Astrid wonder why Clive never went for this lady and chose her, who was young and just coming or was it that he already had her and wanted another collection for himself?

"Astrid." There was no harm in telling her name, right? Since no one knew who she was here. Not only that, even in the whole human kingdom, her aunt never let her mix or mingle and kept her a secret, far away from everyone's eyes.

So it was safe to mention her name, so she thought. On second thought, her aunt did lie about her name to the soldiers. Now she was thinking she may have made a mistake in revealing her name to them, but they were outlaws…what harm could come from them knowing her real name?

She turned to Jareth to ask for clearance before she spoke and he gave her a nod, signifying his permission. "His name is Jareth, nice to meet you," she introduced.

Even with all the hardship and commotion she had been through, it didn't make her lose her manners. She was sure if her aunt was here, she would have felt proud of her.

"Lovely names. Come along now," Sabrina said and turned around. The other women did same, following behind her as they headed towards one of the paths leading to the arena.

They were both shown different places to take their bath and told that each house there had one, but for now, theirs was in construction behind their new house.

By the time they were done, they were offered a change of clothes and Jareth was asked to go to the infirmary straight, where his wounds would be treated.

He was quick with all he did and visited the infirmary.

By the time he got there, he saw Clive laying still on one of the wooden beds in the infirmary. He also saw the shorter woman from earlier on, Elena standing above him and cleaning his upper body with a soaked towel and a bowl of water by her side.

He was ushered in by another lady, who was taller than Elena, not too fat or slim either with similar red coloured hair. On closer look, he saw that this woman had similar looks to the former.

His wound was treated and he thanked them before leaving.

~~~~~~