When Marcia awoke, she was in the satyr village. She had been there a couple of times, so she recognized it easily. She felt tired, groggy and his mind seemed atrociously foggy. Dirty, too. He should have been concerned about meeting his friends again but he was too exhausted to feel concerned about this, which was staying something. People clustered near the knight. Patrick was someone well-appreciated in the satyr town, apparently. He demanded to see the council elders, got off his horse and guided Marcia to the largest hut. The elders met him there and Marcia kept his eyes down, staring at the ground and not the other people around. He simply say on the ground once inside the council hut, wanting nothing more than to sleep and forget he even existed. He did not want to talk or answer any questions. Besides, revealing his identity might make things worse. Did he REALLY have to return to Amphibio? To explain everything for him, lay more eggs and go back to being male? What of the six future satyrs that he was carrying? Should he simply tell the truth?
Meanwhile, Patrick was explaining things to the elders. How he had found Marcia being violently abused by satyrs and how he'd brought her here because it was the closest settlement and as the vile culprits were satyrs, they might know what to do. Maybe she could find a good mate as the babies would be satyrs, at least partially. Or maybe there was a potion that could stop her from conceiving and she could then be mated to a good kind-hearted husband that would make her happy. A potion to stop any consequences of hat horrible even? That sounded good to Mark. But he also wanted snort loudly. A mate? True, this world had no social security, no state help, and no modern recourses he had before. Yet they tried to help each other. Unfortunately, for women this meant the security of male family members, or much more powerful, stronger or richer females than themselves. Unless they possessed specific skills and talents, which Mark or Marcia had none of. So of course to help her they thought of mating her. If he'd had a real choice, he'd like leaving with Patrick but she was a lower-class woman - clearly - that just been raped and impregnated. What interest would he have in her? But what should he do? Tell the truth? Or lie? Or say nothing to see what would occur? Should he still try being male again?