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

This turn of events was quite amusing for Ethelred, and he couldn't help but crack a smile beneath his helmet.  It appeared he wasn't the only one who had taken an interest in the fairy, whom he could clearly see had the inhuman features of an Unseelie- a cat had managed to catch her and her cries for help had alerted a few guards.

[i][color=6ecff6]An unseelie crying to humans for help?  Irony abound.  Scourges of humans, bringers of many vile curses, and prey to common cats.[/color]
[/i]
The guards weren't sure what to do, not wanting to get involved with a malevolent fey- after all, they were cruel enough that even helping them might not discourage them afflicting their helper with a curse.  Of course, earning one's ire by standing by might just incite even crueler acts.  That was assuming, of course, that the fairy wasn't so cruel that her acts ingratitude would be of the same rock-bottom depravity as acts of revenge.

There was little doubt that the fairy probably deserved this...yet it wasn't Ethelred's duty to judge who is worthy of saving and who isn't.  He had good personal reasons to dislike the Unseelie, but the fact remained that this was not the one that had cursed him.  As distasteful as it was, this little fey was crying for help, and he felt it was a knight's duty to help.  Not for a reward, but because helping others in need was the right thing to do.  Besides, he didn't have to worry too much about curses, as he was already cursed.

[color=6ecff6]"I'll take it from here, men,"[/color] Ethelred spoke to the guards as he dismounted.  He approached the fairy, knelt down and gently shooed the cat off of the fairy, not wanting to hurt this very good feline.

[color=6ecff6]"Are you hurt?"[/color] he asked the fey.  [color=6ecff6]"Are your wings intact enough to fly?"[/color]