Ash slid his arm around her waist and let his hand rest on her hip noting the warmth her body radiated and her now familiar scent. He marvelled that this woman a mere few hours ago had the look of a wild cat about her, and now she had relaxed enough to show such a beautiful feminine side that it was hard not to look like some slack jawed fool as he looked at her. He sensed the battle going on inside her, to trust him or not and he resolved to do all he could to make her feel at ease.

He smiled at her eagerness to begin the tour and chuckled as she pulled him toward the stairs "easy girl there will be no tour if we both wind up at the bottom of the stairs in a crumpled heap."

They headed downstairs and began to wander about the manor with Ash pointing out various features and explaining the history of the house as told to him by his friend. There was much laughter and teasing going on as they went. They took in the conservatory, the ballroom, the library proper, the kitchen, the training room till all that was left to see was the wine cellar and the dungeon. As they walked towards the stairs to the wine cellar Ash reflected again on how good she made him feel and said "Ahhh Khaera you make me feel like a teenager again. I'm so glad you took up the offer to come to the house. I hate to think what may have been your fate had those slavers had their way although I'm sure more than a few would have been speaking to their gods had they tangled with you."

They reached the top of the stairs and Ash grabbed a flaming torch for the walk down the stairs. "Now for the most important place in the house, the wine cellar, watch your step down the stairs the manor plumbing is fed from a hot spring and we get a bit of water seepage through the walls the stairs can get slippery." They began their descent to the cellar that also led to the cavern that was the dungeon.........