Wil narrowed his eyes upon hearing that there was more yet to come, but when Greggory spoke he turned, a surprised look on his face.  “No, no, you misunderstand me.  Although neither of us wish to be in this situation, I have been entrusted with your life, and that is a responsibility that I will not ignore.  I was not referring to you specifically with my earlier statement, and I am sorry if I was not as precise as I could have been; I bear no ill will toward you, personally, and I believe that you are a generally good person, but those that you serve have shown no such decency.  I will not kill those in my way if I do not have to, but if I have no other choice I will not hesitate if it will free me from this prison.  I appreciate your help, honestly, but there are some things you need to know about me, and I hope that you appreciate what I am doing by telling you this, for there are few others who know what I am about to tell you.”<br/><br/>“First, when I say that I am a master fighter and tactician, it is not an idle boast; if you tallied the number of years you have lived, they would not even begin to equal the number of<span style="font-style: italic">centuries</span>that I have spent serving my master.  I say this not to impress or belittle you in any way; its simple truth.  I know how useful someone of your skills can be, especially against opponents like those we have already fought here, but I also know that I would not be able to draw their attention like I would a human foe; they would have ignored me, and with their numbers I wouldn’t have been able to defend you for more than a few seconds.”<br/><br/>“Second, the reason I am here is because of a very similar situation to the one we are currently in.  I was charged with defending someone, and in order for him to escape attack I deliberately exposed myself to our attackers to buy him time, knowing full well that I would likely die if the ruse worked.  It wasn’t until after they had completely surrounded me and ignored my companion that I realized that they were after me, and not him.  It cost your masters dearly, but even I can be worn down and overwhelmed.  I do not work alone by choice, but often is the time when I am all that is needed to ensure someone’s well-being.”<br/><br/>“Third, and perhaps most important, is that I will not be able to perform my duty to you if you will not trust me to do what I think is best.  I have not, and will not simply dismiss your ideas out of hand, but neither will I let you run headlong towards your doom.  I am prepared to do everything necessary to protect you, even lay down my life to guard yours, but I cannot do so if you will not extend a measure of trust to me in return.”  At this, Wil held out his hand, “So I ask you again, do you trust me?”