She glanced at him, offering a small smile as his hand rested briefly on her arm, though it quickly faded as she shook her head, a bitter laugh escaping her lips. "I know, Sage," she murmured softly. She could feel the warmth of his concern, the sincerity in his eyes, but she couldn’t quite believe it. She couldn’t believe he truly cared. His family should be his priority, and he was nearly a stranger to her now. She wondered if the only reason he kept coming around was because he felt he owed her something. After all, she'd taken him in. Without her, he wouldn’t even be alive, she was certain of it. "I don’t know how I’m going to manage without my mother," she whispered, her voice heavy with resignation.

Sage let out a soft sigh in response to the girls comments, nodding along. It would be hard without her mother...he knew how much she relied on her. Loved her. "I know," he noted softly, squeezing her arm gently. "But everything will wind up working out," he noted simply. "I won't tell you it'll be easy, but it's certainly not worth giving up the good things because the bad things happen," he added with a small smile. "I can tell you from experience giving up isn't all it's cracked out to be," he snorted.

Anya looked up at him after a moment, the light squeeze on her arm enough to make her roll her eyes. She hadn't meant to - but he just seemed to be trying to comfort someone he didn't fully understand. Saying not to give up? "Yeah, no shit Sage," she muttered. She didn't even have that choice. If she did give up, it would be a selfish choice. She didn't even really have anything good to give up. She pulled back for a moment, flopping back on her bed with her hand over her face. It seemed so hopeless. She could run a kingdom, but god she was going to be miserable. There just didn't seem to be anyone left for her now. She'd already greived the death of her mother, and the woman hadn't even died yet.

Sage sort of frowned when Anya half snapped at him, trying not to let it bug him. Her words stung though...he knew she wasn't trying to be rude, that she was just upset but ...he was doing his best to help. He really didn't know what he was doing, but he knew what it was like to feel so hopeless. And he really didn't want that for the girl. "You've gotta let yourself be happy," he mused after a moment. "Find someone who you like. Can enjoy their company. Can share your burdens." It was a simple statement, but one she'd need to hear all the same. And he couldn't help run the kingdom...he could give her insight of war came and he was needed but....all he could do was offer friendship and hope she took it. She'd need someone else though ...someone to form a good relationship with, and run a kingdom. Someone as good to her as Luther had been.

The woman pinched her brows together at his comment, letting out a small chuckle, though it was laced with frustration. He was speaking like she hadn't already tried to find someone, anyone, and she found herself silently questioning why she even had to try. She shouldn’t have to—she’d had Luther. Luther had understood her in a way no one else could. He knew exactly what she was feeling, why she was feeling it—he knew her like no one else had. Yet now, here she was, still grappling with her emotions, and she couldn't understand why Sage kept coming over. Sure, he helped to an extent, just by being there and talking with her, but his insistence that she needed to "let herself get happy" just didn’t sit right. It was almost like he didn't see the bigger picture, the weight of what she was carrying. She had met countless people, people who wanted to understand her the way Luther had, but she couldn’t bring herself to let them in. She didn’t know why, but she couldn’t. She sighed deeply, shaking her head as she looked at him, her voice softer now. "Sage, I've already tried all this..." she muttered, her words a quiet surrender to the exhaustion of it all.