"I don't care if she has horns and a pitchfork, so fangs and a pasty complexion don't matter to me." Mercury managed to spit out in a hushed tone, mentally thanking her father for all those lessons on how to keep her composure when surprised. She subconsciously moved to better keep herself between the new arrival and the wounded vampire. "She's in no condition to do much of anything. Besides that, she just told me where we can find the ring leader's base."

"As for the king, I bow to no lord or lady- I'm a free woman. The only things that bind me are my words, and I just gave my word that in exchange for that information, I'd get her out of here safely." Her stance relaxed when she noticed the smaller woman was allowing her to speak in her own defense. She still kept ready to run or defend herself if the need arose.

"Now, forgive me for being blunt, but the way I see it you have two options here. You could draw attention to us, in which case I run and get caught, and you're down a valuable fighter AND the hours you could have saved searching for the location of their base, because I won't talk if you make a liar out of me by keeping me from my end of the bargain." She paused to tilt her head for emphasis.

"Or, you can let one, measly little girl who is barely able to STAND let alone fight go free. In exchange, you get another warm body on the front line, one that has proven capable of thriving over poor odds, and have the chance to strike the enemy long before they've regrouped." Mercury widened her smile, if that was even possible, to be as reassuring as she could. Mentally, she was kicking herself for trying to play the chivalrous knight again. When am I gonna learn it's nothing but trouble? Old coot was right, I'm too obsessive for my own good.