"I need a sword," Alexander looked to Artemis to magically produce one for him. The men chasing the young woman had swords of their own.
Artemis looked around her body for the sword he was asking for. "Where do you see a sword here? Your face should be enough to help her. You're the legendary Alexander Mclane."
"I still need a sword. Wait," Alexander said when the woman ran into him and hugged him for protection.
"Alexander? Please protect me. I was walking home and they tried to kidnap me to sell me somewhere," the young woman sobbed terrified from running for so long but not seeing a guard in sight. She was thankful to see a man who looked like Alexander walking around. "Why are there no guards on the roads?"
"They're lazy and aren't doing their jobs. What?" Artemis shrugged when Alexander looked at her. It became funnier day by day to see the kingdom the king preached about being so safe had all of these dangers. "They're here. Hurry up and save her."
"Pass the girl over if you want to keep your life," the leader painted, pointing his sword to Alexander.
"Hey boss, isn't that Alexander Mclane? He locked you up a while back and you had to act like you changed to get out."
The boss recognized Alexander now that one of his men pointed it out but he didn't see the need to blabber about him pretending to change. He was in need of a young girl to sell off for some money and hit the jackpot when he saw the young woman walking alone. "Alexander, how have you been? I know how bad this seems since the last thing you and I saw each other. If I sell this young woman, I'll get enough money to never have to kidnap another person for the rest of the month."
"Not in a mood for jokes? Today it's just one of you and two women I can take for double the price. Tell you what, I can make a deal for you and your lady friend to walk away without being harmed. All you have to do is ignore this Alexander. It wouldn't be the first time one of the palace guards has turned blind eye to what I do," Hayden, the boss, laughed, nudging the man beside him. People like to act like saints when they aren't. It was unfair for the people who show their true colors to be the only ones getting locked up.
"You should kill them after that boring speech," Artemis told Alexander. Humans really were dumb with their choices. From the moment these men showed up till now, Alexander had not entertained the nonsense they were doing. However, she believed him about other guards turning blind eye to what they were doing.
"I plan to," Alexander pulled the young lady's hand off of him and gently pushed her to Artemis's side. There was not much he could do with her holding on to him so tightly. "Hayden was it? Do you know how much it upsets me when I vouch for people to be released and then you turn around to do things like this? How did you go from stealing to kidnapping and who are you trying to sell her to?"
"You can't expect me to reveal who my customer is. Why are you still acting all high and mighty when your men are not here to give you back up? People speak so mighty of you like you're a God-"
Artemis snorting interrupted the man because it was such a foolish thing to say Alexander was like a God. "Go on with your little villain speech little man," she waved him off. What was it with humans and thinking the best way to compliment someone was to refer to them as being like a God? The very same beings they hated? "How ignorant."
"I-Ignorant," Hayden stuttered, flabbergasted that a woman had the nerve to call him such a thing. "I am certainly not ignorant. I have been leading this crew for years and thanks to my good knowledge, I have brought them many rewards. I'm going to make sure I sell you for calling me that. I am respected in my line of work."
"You can't be that good if Alexander locked you up in the past. And your way of escaping was by pretending to be changed? It would have been cool in my eyes had you broken out of the prison and escaped the palace successfully. You were probably in prison ratting out the other people to save your ass. Isn't there a code of conduct among people like you to never rat out your fellow men?" Artemis wasn't impressed by the man and his little sword. "This is wasting my time."
She could already feel a burning sensation in her chest as she was meant to return to the forest. "Kill them Alexander before I do."
"Listen here little lady, are you blind? There's four of us and one of him. He might be known as a good fighter but he can't keep an eye on all of us."
"Actually, he can boss. They say he went up against ten men at once and came out on top. He dragged the leader's body all the way back to the palace to show his victory," one of Hayden's men informed him. It wouldn't be the first time Alexander would be outnumbered in a fight but still found a way to win.
"Don't tell me you're scared. Grab the girl and the bitch who called me ignorant."
"Bitch?" Artemis exclaimed, hearing the foul word. It was one of the many words she hated being referred to as. She wasn't referring to him being ignorant but he assumed she was. "Run away," Artemis told the girl beside her. There wasn't a need for a witness with what was about to happen next. Forget all of the talking, she planned to kill all of them herself.