Aria crossed her arms and huffed softly. She pursed her lips and looked back at Sage. "I would fight if I had to." She laughed quietly. The girl soft of, tilted her head to the side as Sage wandered into space. She giggled when he finally nodded. "I would say, that's way better." She smiled.

Sage shrugged. "I don't doubt that," he hummed. "But there's a difference between fighting in defense or to survive and massacreing an entire kingdom because they're not acting the way the king and queen want them to." The king and queen were technically his parents, but they didn't feel like it. Not at all.

Aria nodded. "I guess. I might need to work on defense then." She giggled. "What does the castle look like?" Aria asked curiously. "I've alwayed admired it." The girl said. "I'm gonna have to go in a little bit." She said meeting Sage's eyes.

Sage chuckled. "I mean...I'd be happy to teach you. Gives me a reason to get out of the castle one in a while." He shrugged at her comment. "It loud. Extravagant. Full of dumb people who care more about their outfit than their families." It was a pretty good description, if he thought so himself.

Aria smiled. "Yeah... I would love that." She said happily. The girl wanted to hug him and show him how greatful she was to have a ... friend? "I guess that's a good way to put it." Aria said looking at the castle. A small laugh escaped her. "Well, I should be going." Aria said looking back at Sage.

Sage felt himself smile for the first time in a while and then nodded to the girl, backing away again. "I'll be back then," he hummed. "If i don't show up one night it's because my dad decided to chain me to a wall somewhere," he half joked. It was a joke, but it also wasn't far from the truth....and if his father found out he'd been sneaking out, a chain was the best thing that would happen to him.

Aria nodded. "If you want, I can meet you up at the castle tomorrow?" She said with a slightly tilted head. The girl smiled and walked backwards a little. "Well, I hope your dad doesn't do that." She laughed. "See you tomorrow, Sage." Aria said walking towards the small cottage. She looked over her shoulder at Sage and grinned softly before heading inside.

Sage nodded in agreement with the girl. "Me too," he chuckled. He was almost out of sight before he called back "just don't be seen," and then wandered off. He scaled the wall and slipped back into his room with a relieved sigh...he hadn't been caught. Thank goodness. And ...he may have just made a friend. That certainly wasn't a bad thing.

Aria went to her room after taking a quick shower. She laid down on her bed. Sage came to her mind. The girl smiled to herself and blushed slightly. She started to relax, as her eyes shut, and she drifted to sleep.

...

The next morning, Aria slid out of bed. Her eyes were still sleepy. She slid on a dress (thinking it would be good to wear when she headed up to the castle). It was just a plain pale pink dress, but Aria loved it. It was her mother's dress. The girl effortlessly slid her shoes on and headed out. She took her time walking up the hill, hoping Sage was already awake.

Sage had woken up with the sun, and he'd decided he should just go gets him chores done so he could do something later. He'd already made breakfast for the cooks, cleaned his room and the hallway outside it, fed the horses, and now he was chopping firewood. He'd taken his shirt off, not really willing to get it sweaty since he didn't have a lot of outfits. He was rather enjoying throwing things around though....imagining the wood as something his father liked was nice when he cut it apart.