[center][h2][i][color=6ecff6]Ethelred[/color][/i][/h2][/center]

[color=6ecff6][i]So, someone hired her.  Most curious,[/i][/color]  Ethelred thought as this Cecilia woman rejected his offer to depart peacefully.  He was not someone who reveled in killing, so it was a bit displeasing that they decided to fight, but a part of him knew that it was necessary.  It was a sad fact that many bandits weren't going to give up their ways just even if they were offered an opportunity to live an honest life without worrying about going hungry.  It was something he had seen all too often even back before having been frozen, and human nature had not changed one bit in the century since then.

Thus, Ethelred was going to have to kill them.  Or rather, he would have to kill most of them- with the revelation that Cecilia had been hired, it would be wise to leave at least one of them alive to be questioned.

As soon as the woman mentioned that she had been paid and it was evident that the other bandits weren't going to walk away, Ethelred took the brief reprieve before combat resumed to begin dismounting from his horse.  Given his opponent and the area they were in, this skirmish was one that he'd rather fight on foot, alongside his mount instead of atop it.

As the bandits advanced on Ethelred, it was clear that Cecilia was the biggest threat, with that bow of hers.  He didn't want to test if it could get through his armor or find a path through his helmet slits- he needed to stop her from firing that arrow.  He deflected the archer's poorly aimed arrow with his shield, then stepped towards the bandit with the axe.  With speed and finesse that few would anticipate from a cavalry polearm, he thrust his lance forward, intent on skewering the man on its shaft.  It went without saying that the knights wouldn't get a chance to question this particular bandit.

The gruesome impalement, assuming it succeeded, had another purpose.  Summoning a bit more strength due to the weight of the still impaled on it, Ethelred would thrust forward and upward, freeing the probably not-quite-dead bandit from its tip and sending him flying right towards Cecilia, this unusual attack being meant to prevent her from getting a clear shot at the knight.  He then then sprinted towards Cecilia, trusting in his horse to deal with the spear-wielding bandit trying to flank them. That bow of hers was bad news, and he needed to deal with her as quickly as possible.

[@Rune_Alchemist]