They didn't even leave him a name.

Liraeth could not believe it, the level callous disregard for someone's personhood that you could strip them of their birth name and leave them thinking of themselves as a number. It was more than just the stealing of their agency, it was the erasure of whoever they had been before. This Knight had been someone's son, part of a family somewhere, and now they were a number instead. It sickened him to the core of his being. 

But he could not say that to the poor Knight's face. He could not bring himself to spell out the horror of what had been done to him so bluntly. The Knight seemed so fragile still, despite all his obvious strength. That would just be cruel, and Liraeth did not want to be that, especially to this Knight.

So instead he smiled at him, and used the name that his abusers had given him, trying not let his stomach turn as the words left his mouth. 

"Then Tenth you shall be."

He did not linger in the moment, he turned away and starting walking off into the forest again quickly, lest the Knight catch sight of tears Liraeth could feel forming at the corner of his eyes.

Following the sound of the water, eventually they came to a mossy riverbank. The dark trees of the forest hung back away from the water's edge, leaving a patch of open ground beside the running water. There was soft grass here to rest upon, wood from the forest, clean water from the river and stones from its bed with which to line a campfire. It was as good as spot as they were like to find.

It was then that the Knight said something that froze him in place and made his blood run cold. He asked Liraeth to give him an order, that he would be easier if he just... told him to do make a fire. The thought of doing so had not even crossed his mind, the idea that the Knight might want him to do so... He found it unsettling. But even if he had no personal objections to do doing so, he did not want to activate the spells laid over Knight purely out of his concern for his wellbeing. Something was damaging Tenth's mind beyond controlling his will, until he had a better idea of what exactly was causing that, he would not risk using the Geas in any way.

"Tenth, I'm not sure if you fully understand what you are asking me to do. I will try to explain it to you as best I can, but for now I do not wish to order you to do anything... I do not think it wise." 

Liraeth left the fire to Tenth, and went into the woods to see if he could forage anything for their supper. He had some day old bread, a little hard cheese and some dried apples with him, but there should be mushrooms and wild greens to be had this time of year, maybe some edible nuts and berries if they were lucky.