She would have fought, but for the magic of the moment stealing away her ability to self-protect. Here was a spot where none could harm her and therefore a man come to her so quickly, knees in the moss beside the small stream must be no mere mortal but a prince, a fae lord, a forgotten viscount far from his lands. She held herself still, his hand upon her mouth, the palm of which was soft and smooth leather gloving well used and cared for. A smell of forest came with him and underlying it, something more clean than the drunken farmers and less heavy than that of the captain whose arm she had taken but one day before. Around her waist, his arm was like iron and he held her firmly enough to make any struggle, had she wished to, improbable. Not impossible,mind, for Bess had a way with rope, with boys' arms, and grasping fingers of those men well into their cups. One simple arm would not have held her overly long. 

His warmth spread across the chill of morning on her back and she took in a short breath which she held as he spoke. Hunters? Was he hart to some Wild Hunt? 

Her body tense at his speaking so openly of the safety of her maidenhead, let alone daring to pretense that she might be a lover even to one as he, she forced her head slightly to the side and twisted as she attempted to look at him, to see his eyes. He was in shadow, under the wood overhead and the waking sky as well as the wide brimmed hat. He could be troll or ogre, something even worse, perhaps! She felt a thrill stir through her at the thought of her moment broken by some man of another surreal land who promised a hunt and adventure. 

Even as her mind raced, she could hear his hunters closing in and taken by the romantic promise of more to her life than drudgery and wash pails, she gave a short nod. Still, she supposed, she could scream if he looked like he might devour her, or if his hunters seemed reasonable. With a gasp, she pulled a scant inch from him and stared up at the darkness which was his face. Another nod as she assured him she would comply. He had not threatened her with violence – instead, he'd merely made promise of her safety. She only had to concern herself with her reputation then.