A/N: Alrighty then, I am back with yet another chapter. Just so that everyone knows I am going based on the elven societies created by Tolkien. In his creation of the elves they have a six day week. Just a heads up. On to some reviews then the chapter.

Debby: That was the idea behind the chapter. I was hoping it came off that way, plus it kind of shows Gail is growing and instead of pushing everyone away she is finally letting people in.

dareu12: I'm glad you like it and I hope you keep liking it and keep reviewing.

tinq: RIGHT?! It took me so long to decide how to portray him, and I'm so glad that you like him because I definitely do.

The next day Gail woke up with the sun. She quickly dressed for her first official day protecting Holly. She was not required to wear her dress uniform so she pulled on a pair of black leather pants, a loose fitting short sleeved green t-shirt, and her black combat boots. Her quiver of arrows and bow were strapped to her back and her swords were secured in their sheath at her waist. Leaving her house she walked along the path to the spot where she and Hayden had agreed to meet. Within a minute Hayden arrived as well. She wore the same clothes as Gail, but her shirt was sleeveless. Gail smirked as she saw the brunette jogging over. "Trying to show off?" Hayden chuckled and pushed Gail's shoulder lightly. "What's wrong with sharing my perfect physique with the world?" She joked flexing. Gail bent at the waist making fake gagging noises. Hayden dropped her arms and glared at Gail. She pushed the blond to the ground where Gail fell into an uncontrollable laughing fit. Hayden began to walk away so Gail calmed down a little and pulled herself to her feet unable to hold in a few chuckles as she caught up to the other warrior.

By the time they arrived to the palace there was no hint of their joking. Both of them had adopted serious facial expressions. They arrived at the door and were immediately joined by another guard. He inspected them quickly and silently before sending them down to Holly's room.

At the door to the room Hayden raised her arm and knocked. The door was answered by Holly in shorts and a t-shirt with her hair pulled back into a ponytail. The pair bowed briefly. Holly sighed; she had asked them not to bow formally, dropping to one knee until she told them to stand, unless they were in a more public or more formal setting, so they had come up with a bent at the waist bow, and Holly still did not like it at all. She stepped out of the doorway to let them into the room.

"Princess, what is on your schedule for today?" Gail asked standing in front of the window. She was facing out checking for any threats. She did not want the events of the previous day to happen again even if the threat before had not been real. "I will be going on a jog around the city this morning like I try to do every day. It gives me exercise and a chance to talk to many of my subjects." Gail spun around to face Holly "Your Majesty, I must advise against this. By going for this run you put yourself in the open making yourself vulnerable." She said. "Which is why I waited so that you can accompany me." Holly spoke like it was obvious, which in her mind it was. "Nope, exercise and I are not friends." Gail said crossing her arms and standing her ground. She thought this was a horrible idea and was going to do everything in her power to stop Holly from putting herself in danger like this. "I watched you run five miles in just over half an hour!" Holly shouted incredulously. "I only run when I have to" Gail insisted back feeling her annoyance grow.

Hayden stepped up, "I'll go with you Princess. Gail can remain here to make sure that the palace stays secure." Gail clenched her teeth, this was a bad idea she knew it. She also knew no matter what she would not win this argument. Holly may not realize it yet, but she could just order Gail to go with her then the blond would have to go despite her reservations about it. Or she could take her chances with being charged with the highest form of insubordination: also known as treason. Gritting her teeth Gail nodded, but both brunettes could see that she did not actually agree. As a final display of her distaste for the plan Gail bowed, bending at the waist, low and dropped her head down, but instead of standing back up straight right away she waited until Hayden and Holly had left to straighten up.

When they realized Gail wouldn't budge from her bow until they were gone Hayden grabbed Holly's hand and led her to the front entrance of the palace. From there they set out with Hayden slightly behind Holly so that she could scan the sides of the streets for threats, and she would be able to see Holly at all times.

They ran in silence along the streets of the city. Holly kept a good pace, but Hayden had no trouble keeping up. They reached the border to the Southern woods and Hayden began to turn around, but she stopped when she realized Holly was still moving forward. She grabbed Holly's wrist pulling her to a stop. "I'd like to keep going" Holly stated like she expected Hayden to agree with no problem. She tried to move forward again, but Hayden held tight to her wrist "Holly that's really not a good idea." Hayden warned. "If I show fear to enter these woods, which need I remind you are neutral territory, then my people will always be afraid as well." Reluctantly Hayden let go of Holly's wrist.

As they began to run again Hayden sent a message through the wind to Gail. That was a skill that all warriors were taught, whispering through the wind. Elven warriors would often find themselves spread out and on their own with no way to communicate. One warrior found a way to send a message through the wind to the rest of the army and they had been using it ever since.

Gail had been pacing the floor in Holly's room anxiously waiting for the two to get back. She was muttering under her breath about a "reckless princess" and a "no good rotten pushover partner." That's when she heard it. There was a slight breeze through the window and like a whisper Hayden's voice sounded in her ears, "Southern woods, enter by bakery, headed southwest, keep hidden." As soon as the message was over Gail ran as fast as she could out of the palace towards the Southern woods. When she got there she jumped into a tree and began to run along the branches. This was another skill all elves were taught, because stealth was such a big part of their fighting style, and Gail was exceptional at it. She quickly caught up to Holly and Hayden. She stepped heavily on the next branch causing the leaves on it to shake, to alert Hayden that she was there.

Hayden had made Holly slow down so that Gail would have time to catch up before they got too far in. When a branch above them shook loudly Holly jumped and mumbled something about "damn squirrels" which made Hayden chuckle under her breath. "Come on Princess let's speed it up. I want to get out of these woods as soon as possible." Holly looked back with a smirk before setting off as fast as she could. Hayden sped up behind her whispering a new message for Gail.

"Let's see what you got Peck" came a whisper as Gail watched the two below her speed up. With a growl she sped up so that she was in line with her counterparts on the ground.

Hayden and Holly continued to run in silence. They reached a small clearing and decided to turn around.

They were reaching the edge of the woods when a figure dropped out of the trees in front of them just outside of the tree line. Holly screamed for all she was worth until she realized the figure was Gail. They got closer and saw Gail bent at the waist with her hands on her knees breathing heavily. Then she leaned backwards and flopped to the ground with her arms lying haphazardly above her head. "Why do you assholes have to run so fast?" She asked through giant gulps of air too tired to remember her manners. Hayden chuckled, "Aw too much food last night?" She taunted causing Gail to glare up at her.

Holly was stood next to Hayden completely confused. "Gail? What are you doing here?" She asked. "I told her to come when I realized we were going into the woods." Hayden confessed. "Why?" Holly was still very confused. "Princess these woods may be supposedly neutral ground, but the humans walk around and hunt there like it's their land." Hayden told her. Breathing better Gail pulled herself to her feet. "Excuse my interruption, but I think we should head back to the palace to have this discussion." The blond suggested.

The three began to run back to the palace taking the straight path Gail had used rather than the side streets Hayden and Holly had used. Holly looked over at Hayden then turned her head the other way to look at Gail. Except Gail had somehow disappeared. Holly began to look around causing Hayden to smirk. "She's good at that isn't she?" Holly asked. "The best" was Hayden's reply.

Nothing else was said between them as the palace came into view. They went directly to Holly's room where Gail was leaning against the doorframe. "Hallway and bedroom clear" she said nodding to Hayden who lead Holly inside. Holly decided to have a quick shower before they talked.

While she was showering Gail and Hayden decided it was best to tell Holly the truth.

When Holly came out of the bathroom she offers to let her two guards shower, but they both declined since neither of them had extra clothes to put on anyway.

"Now, what did you mean back there about the humans?" She demanded sitting down on her bed and starting to brush out her hair. "There have been more than a handful of elves that ended up dead in those woods by human weapons." Hayden spoke gently as she moved to sit down next to Holly while Gail leaned against the wall opposite them. Hayden continued in a soft voice that she would use to tell Thalin bad news, "at the beginning of the treaty elves went into the woods like they had before. Within the first week they found two elves dead, they had been shot by human weapons. The elves became more cautious only going into the woods when necessary and with a group. Until a whole group of five were found shot too. Then the elves stopped going into the woods altogether." Holly spoke up, "how can you be sure that they were human weapons that killed them?" Then it was Gail's turn, "As part of the treaty we were given a couple of human weapons. We shot dead pigs with both weapons. The wounds were similar, but very distinct. The wounds on the dead elves definitely came from human weapons. (A/N: Yay forensics! I had to, OK sorry keep reading) Holly was shocked and also fascinated. "I'll have to bring this up when I meet with the human king next week." She thought out loud.

"Princess there is nothing more you can do right now. But you must continue on as you have been. Your bravery is inspiring your people." Gail said. Holly looked up at her and brown eyes met blue and the two women froze staring at each other. Hayden looked back and forth between them and couldn't help but smirk at the obvious attraction they had for each other. The smirk fell from her face when she realized that attraction could be a problem for her and Gail's mission. She would have to talk to Gail about it later. For now she cleared her throat bringing them back to reality.

The rest of the day was pretty boring. Holly was in and out of meetings all day. She had one with her father where they discussed the threat the humans posed. Then she had a meeting to discuss her schedule for the next week. The warrior academy graduation was in the middle of the week and her birthday was at the end of the week so there was a grand ball planned to celebrate.

As dinner time rolled around the king came up to Gail and Hayden. "One of you may go home now. The other will stay until midnight when you will switch until 6am when you are both back on duty. This is your schedule until Holly is safe." He told them. "Do you understand?" The two nodded. As he went to leave the two bowed formally until he was out of the room.

"Go on; spend time with your family. Tell them I say 'hello' and enjoy your dinner. Don't be late coming back or I'll kick your ass." Gail threatens. Hayden gives Gail a wide smile before taking off to get home as soon as possible.

"That was really nice of you." Holly said entering her room from her last meeting of the day. "She has family waiting for her, I don't." She moved to the door. She was halfway out when she leaned her upper body back in. "Get some sleep; I'll be right outside the door if you need anything." Holly smiled at her. "Gail, thank you for everything." Gail gave her a genuine smile before completely leaving the room and closing the door until it was ajar.

A/N: Da da-da! What do y'all think? Let me know in a review. Flames welcome if you really didn't like it. And if you have any ideas please let me know in either a review or a PM and if I can I will do my best to work it into the plot.

Until next time
Hold The Line and Don't Look Back