Anya found a slight smile tugging at her lips when he agreed. Of course, she rolled her eyes a little when he laid out his one condition. "Alright then. I suppose I can do that." She nodded lightly, her smile growing a little. She looked at him with a slightly raised brow. The boy looked so surprised that had asked. It was his idea was it not? It only seemed fair to ask. Anya gave a small inward chuckle, shaking her head slightly. "Where do you want me to meet you? Here?" She asked lightly. She seemed all giddy - like she was excited to have any company at all. She wandered over to the door and waited for a reply. She really had to be going, sooner rather than later. "Oh, and do you want cash in hand or money sent to you?"

He grunted and shrugged. "Here is fine." He paused thinking about that. Cash in hand could be dangerous, but then again so was everything else. "Cash is fine. You don't want to send anyone to deliver it to where I live. My dad will probably get mad cause he's drunk and try to pull something stupid," he snorted. He had to admit, he was excited about this...Anya seemed to like him, at least enough to be slightly friendly towards him. It seemed odd and strange, but it was good to just talk to someone. And as another added bonus, he would actually get to sleep a decent amount and he was getting paid to wander around town talking with her. Things seemed to be getting brighter, a tiny bit, instead of darker for once.

Anya nodded lightly, glancing back to the door. She couldn't understand why he put up with having an alcoholic in the house, especially considering he had a little sister around. It wasn't Anya's place to put an opinion in though. "Right, I'll have some ready for you." She murmured as she opened the door. Bright yellow morning light filled the dark tavern, making the space seem slightly smaller. She squinted with a groan, "See you," She grumbled before waddling out into the streets. Everything seemed so still. It was bright enough to be midday, so the ambiance was strange - eerie almost. Like some abandoned town. She found her way back through the tunnel, not too far into a little woodland surrounding the palace walls.

Sage watched the girl leave, thoughts rubbing through his head a million miles an hour. He didn't have much time to think, though, before customers started arriving and he got to work. It was another busy day...the morning after the festival people were all hung over and wanted to drown their pain with more drinking. The tavern started getting busy around noon, when people woke up and staggered into the tavern hoping to get relief. Sage bustled around, cursing his shaking legs and arms. He grit his teeth and kept walking though...he couldn't afford to stop and rest. His load lessened a bit when the other two workers came in, but as they too had been drinking the night before they were only so much help. Once they left sage was running around without time to even wipe the sweat and hair out of his eyes. It was like that until around eleven, when it was dark out. The tavern closed and sage changed out if the uniform and into his usual clothes...a simple v neck tunic with short sleeves and black pants that weren't super loose but also not too tight. He told the tavern owner he wouldn't be working that night, and he seemed to take it pretty well. Of course, he was drinking, but Sage took the yes and slipped out of the tavern and sat down in the shadow of a nearby tree to wait for Anya.

Anya found herself rushing through the halls of the castle, trying to circumvent any of the early-rising maids - or even any of her cousins. As young as they were, they'd be the first to rat her out. You could say that they were sort of... well, demons. Eventually, she made it back to her room, where she was met by an assortment of gowns and outfits, all laid out for her. On her side table was a scribbled-out timetable directing her to a rather... tasteless day. She let out an agitated grumble before picking up a dark green dress, lined with silver stitching. The girl looked it over with a tilted head before swiftly swapping into it. A soft knock rattled the door, followed by a small, rather timid voice, calling her to make sure she was awake. "Uh-uh," She huffed out, keeping her speech to a minimum. Though the schedule didn't have very much on it, she ended up being dragged off to view the affairs of the country. From where there were issues concerning war with neighboring countries to matters as simple as lords having an argument. Though it would be a long while until she really had to concern herself with such issues, it was seen as good practice to know the goings on of the kingdom. The day dragged on, but eventually, she found herself wandering around her room at night until the coast was clear. She went through her drawers, finding all the cash she could and shoving it into an envelope. Anya slipped out of the castle tunnels and out towards the town, finding herself more excited to have some company than anything else. She paused towards the tavern, taking a glance around before spotting the boy sitting under a tree. "Hey," She murmured from a distance before waddling over.

Sage grunted a hello and waved slightly. He stood up and walked over to her, stopping about two feet away. "What do you want to see," he muttered. He looked up at the sky and squinted. "We have about five hours before sunrise. I have a feeling you aren't exactly supposed to be out here." He raised an eyebrow at the girl, a slight smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. He hadn't had this kind of free time in a very long time, and while he was exhausted, he was excited at being able to just walk around with someone who at least somewhat enjoyed his company. Even he was technically her servant or whatever. He looked around the streets, taking in everything around them. There were drunks and junkies milling about here and there, but he didn't see anything that looked dangerous yet. He was sure something would happen at some point but the girl understood that there were risks being out here so he didn't feel the need to warn her again. She understood the first time.

She squinted her eyes at him as she pondered on what she actually wanted to see. She completely forgot to figure that out. "Yeah, well, you know the place better than I do. Take me wherever you think is interesting," She shrugged tilting her head slightly. She quite obviously didn't know the place - not like the locals did at least - but surely there was more to it than taverns and farmers. If there was, the Sage would surely know about it. The girl gave a shallow smile, furrowing her brows slightly. "You'd be right about that. I'm not really meant to be out," She paused, chewing her lip in an anxious manner, "Which is why before we go anywhere, I need you to know that we really do need to be careful. Not of dangers per say, but if I get caught it would get you into quite some trouble." She grumbled. If she got caught, there wouldn't be anything more than a telling-off for her, but she knew perfectly well that it wouldn't be the same for the boy.

Sage glanced over at her and gave her a corooked grin. "I know. I figured that much based off of how anxious you got once it got light out." He thought for a second and jerked his head in the direction he wanted to go. "We can walk through some of the village on the way to the lake. A lot of people enjoy going there, and it only gets more fun at night." He shrugged. "You get sightseeing and a way to relax a bit after having to be on guard for a while." He tossed her a small dirk knife she could hide somewhere. "It shouldn't come to it but I want you to be armed just in case. It's always smart to be able to defend yourself. If you're in danger you learn how to stab someone pretty quickly." He started walking down the trail, hands in his pants pockets.

Anya stared at the knife for a moment, almost glaring at it before tucking it away. She couldn't see herself using it, and was more likely to hurt herself with it than save herself, but she somewhat trusted Sage's word. She paused for a moment as she grabbed an envelope out of her pocket. "Can I give you this now?" She asked as she offered it to him, "It's probably safer with you than me." She grumbled, speeding up her pace a little to keep up. "You go to the lake a lot then?" She asked with a tilted head. It was a silly question really. He mentioned he worked a lot - so she doubted he would have the time to do anything else.

(Sorry, short ;-;)

(lol it's all good)

He shrugged and took the envelope, knowing she was probably right. He tilted his head up and tapped his lips thoughtfully. "I go down there every now and then. I spend most of my time with my sister down there since our house isn't the best place to have fun at." A soft smile tugged at his lips when he mentioned his sister. "Lizzie likes to swim, and she's a lot like you so...I figured I would show it to you." It was true...Lizzie was a lot like Anya, and he wanted to introduce them sometime...he had a feeling they would get along pretty well.