"Nathan, I want you to wait until I'm hired to stop being my body guard. Dhiren has already told me that he will have you paid from his account from Frosnak's counting house here."

Nathan shakes his head, "No, Jessa, I signed on to be your body guard and I'll stay that way."

"But you will be more than likely in a fight that can't be won." Jessa argues with him.

Nathan smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "I know. I have many acquaintances, Jessa. A few that I really like spending time with. Some of which have already been killed. If you are killed then there is no one that I have to live for. You are my family as well as my friend. I have no one else. If you die there is little reason for me to stay alive as well. I will live in guilt thinking that if I had gone with you that there is a possibility that I might have helped you somehow, some way and you would have survived. I might not make a difference, but then again I might. Please, you don't have the right to end this, if you don't wish for me to continue then I will end it, but I will do my best to make sure that I end up in the same caravan as you. 

"Besides you don't know which master is known as the biggest ass to work for. I do."

Jessa is less than pleased by his words, but she takes a breath and nods reluctantly. She would feel the same, it's the reason she allowed Dhiren to hire Nathan as her bodyguard in the first place. It kept him out of the pass until she had the chance to deal with the bandits herself.

It doesn't take them long to find lodgings and store their things before heading to Frosnak's counting house. While Jessa makes her deposit Nathan asks for some of the magic paper so that he can send the message as Dhiren had requested of him.

The clerk doesn't question him, they had all been instructed by Frosnak to help both Jessa and the human friend in all ways.

For the rest of the day they wander through the market looking at the items for sale. They hear the rumors of the dangers of attempting to return to Castlerock. Many of the masters find them and knowing that they recently came from there demand answers.

They shake their heads, "We came through Silva, we are unaware of the true conditions of the pass, although I have heard that there has been a call for the bandits to concentrate on the pass. The call has been sent out to bandits from other countries and locals."

Some of the masters scoff at Jessa's words, "how would you know?"

"I heard a group of them before I dealt with them. They were unable to join in with the other bandits once I finished with them."

"Yeah, where did you hear them speaking?"

"About a day's ride from Silva," Jessa says before ignoring the humans that doubt her.

The human sneers at her, "Why were you that close to Silva, the elves don't care for humans going that near their territory."

Jessa sneers right back at the master, "Because I have a writ of passage through Silva. The prince and I are friends and he wanted me to have a safe passage for when I work. He has allowed me to take caravans through if I feel that they are worthy to do so."

The humans that are listening roar with laughter, at least some of them do. "The elves would never favor a human like that." Is heard more than once. Jessa and Nathan merely stand there listening to their mockery.

Yet not all the humans are laughing, there are some that are looking at Jessa in speculation. "I have heard that there is a human that has a writ. One of the masters was lamenting that one Jessa Brightblade, a human with an elvish name, was unavailable since she has a writ of passage."

"Yeah, which master is that?" One of the other humans manages to get out in between bouts of laughter.

"Josnick. Claims that Jessa and the prince have both invested in his business on his last trip out of here and they will continue to be his partners for as long as he wishes to continue the partnership." That was enough to stop their laughing. Josnick was a well respected merchant and they all heard how his partner absconded with his money. That somehow he managed to pick up new partners, but they hadn't heard who the new partners were.

They look at the two guards before them, laughter long gone from them. "Are you Jessa Brightblade by any chance?" The one to first scoff at her asks almost scared to hear her answer.

Jessa sneers at the master and refuses to answer him. Nathan speaks up on her behalf, "She is and she does indeed have a writ of passage through Silva, but she isn't going that way this time. She is looking to take on a job through the pass."

The masters all look at them like she is crazy and Nathan as well since he seems determined to stay with her. "Haven't you heard, none of the caravans that have left Castlerock have made it through the pass. Just one caravan has come in since, Josnick's caravan..." realization strikes the men at those words.

"Yes, I am aware. I am the one that informed Josnick last time that the bandits were congregating at the pass. He passed it on to the officials at Castlerock, but they were uninterested in taking care of the problem. The king remained uninterested when Prince Dhiren informed him of the problem and told him that if the king doesn't take care of it that he and the elves will and it will become part of Silva," Jessa smiles nastily as the humans get a sick look on their faces. 

If the elves take over the pass they will either be denied passage or there will be a toll assessed to their passage making the trip much more expensive or impossible to carry through.

"The king refused?" One of the other masters dares to speak but his words are said in a hoarse voice.

"Told Prince Dhiren to do what he wanted and then practically kicked him out of the palace."

This causes the men to widen their eyes. They might not care much for the elves, but they know enough to not show such disrespect to their prince.

"When will he deal with the problem?" One of the other men dares to question Jessa.

Jessa smiles brightly, "I'm dealing with it for him. I don't wish any of the elves to pay the price for the lazy ass human king."

This shocks all of the humans before her until they start laughing once more. "How can one person take on what is sure to be a small army of bandits?"

"She has bested the prince in fighting. He even admits that she is the best fighter that he's ever gone against." Nathan tells the men before him and they shut up at his words beyond shocked. Jessa just rolls her eyes as she continues onwards towards the bakery and the sweet rolls she's been thinking about since she left Silva. One of the things she's been focusing on rather than her parting from Dhiren and her parents and the up coming fight.

Nathan is snickering at their reaction even as they enter the bakery.

He is no longer snickering when they encounter one of the worse known masters as they exit the bakery. "Master Culeb," Nathan nods to him and tries to go around the master. He steps in front of the two and doesn't let them pass.

"I heard that you are free and that this young lady is a good fighter. I would like to hire the two of you to lead my caravan back to Castlerock." Culeb says arrogantly. 

Nathan looks at Jessa pleadingly. He despises Culeb and wants nothing to do with him, but he sighs as he realizes that this is exactly the kind of master that Jessa is looking for. The problem will be that the more experienced guards won't accept work with him. Only the new and inexperienced ones and the desperate will. That means that Jessa and he will be the ones to truly fight the bandits.

In that moment, Nathan starts praying to Jethro harder than he's ever prayed before.

"I will accept, but I don't speak for Nathan," Nathan hears Jessa say and he loses his appetite for the sweet roll he'd been so looking forward to eating.

He looks to Jessa and she smiles at him, letting him know that he doesn't have to take the job offer if he doesn't wish to.

Nathan sighs and reluctantly accepts the offer. Once Culeb gives them the information of where and when to meet he arrogantly moves off into the late afternoon crowd.

"You didn't have to come, Nathan, in fact it likely would have been better for you to not have done so."

"I told you before, Jessa, I couldn't live with myself if I didn't go and something happened to you. You have no need to feel responsible for my decision, if you should live and I not make it, I want you to know, that this is my choice, my decision. I would rather die fighting by your side than live and you die."

Jessa shakes her head sadly, "You might just get your wish, Nathan. I will do my best to make sure you and the others are safe, but I wouldn't mind if that ass were to be killed."

"Even if you do survive, we survive," Nathan is quick to amend at Jessa's dirty look, "Culeb is known for not paying those that guard for him. For that reason only those that are new or are desperate are willing to hire on with him."

Jessa shrugs, "If I survive, I will insure that he will pay those that work for him."

Nathan smirks, he has no doubt that Jessa will and will do it with style at that. Likely terrifying the man until he pays those that survive the coming hell. Just the thought of what is ahead of him makes him sick.

He wishes one last time that the bitch that had his child hadn't moved away so that he could see his son one last time before he leaves for his last job. He will do his best to survive, but the chances aren't very good, even with Jessa being the one to take on the most of the bandits. She will have to get through the death trap to get to the point where she will be able to go to the top of the cliffs and then she will have to kill the archers and fighters that will be stationed on both sides of the pass. 

None of the guards will be able to help her until the archers are dealt with.

Nathan looks gloomily at the sunny day and wonders why the weather isn't as gloomy as he is. They walk through the market until it closes before returning to their inn.

They go to sleep early since they are leaving in the morning.

At least he knows that the elves will finish off the job if Jessa is unable to. He hopes that Jessa at least will survive. He hates the thought that the prince and her won't be together. They are so different, but look right together. Almost like they were made for each other.

Nathan shakes his head at his fanciful thoughts and does his best to get to sleep. It will be a long week and there is no guarantee that he'll live to see the end of it.