"Ladies..." William stammered, bowing with a flourish. On his way back upright, he caught Bodicea's withering glance and his face turned crimson.""I have brought my prisoners," Bodicea said, her voice almost even enough to cover the annoyance she must have felt at William's chivalrous machinations.
"Prisoners, Bodicea?"
William smiled at the Faerie women as he said this, hoping to curry their favor. The one with the auburn hair let the ghost of a smile flicker around the corners of her mouth, but it quickly disappeared.
"Prisoners." Her tone brooked no argument. "I have won their service in battle-"
"Really?" William chimed in, his eyebrows raised in interest. "What kind of service, did you say? I've been thinking we really should have a few more girls �round the old hearth and home-"
