Anya nodded in understanding. Well, understanding as much as she could. "She'll do fine with you around. You're doing all you can for her. Giving her the best chance at life, better than most around here." Anya gave a shallow smile as she thought, "You work yourself so hard for her. I'm sure she knows that." The girl glanced between the two. It was nice to see they had both calmed down a little. Even though they really had no reason to be calm. The men could storm in at any moment. "Do they stay for long... The traders?"

Sage shook his head. "They'll leave in time for you to get back before dawn. They never stay long. They pop in, grab what they can, and leave again." He realized he had just referred to the people of his rank as objects, and hoped Anya wouldn't notice. He didn't think that all the time but when you're told that all day every day, one starts to believe it.

Anya tilted hear head, wincing as another screech filled the air. She doubted the vesil the noise came from would be as lucky as Sage and Lizzie. "Whatever?" She repeated with a raised brow. She knew he was refering to the towns folk, she knew so much, but had he really just said that? Still, she tried not to comment on it too much. She had no right. "It'll be carnage tomorrow - when parents find their kids missing." She murmured, almost as an after thought.

Sage winced. "Actually, most of them will be somewhat ok with it. Less mouths to feed." He made a face and looked in the direction of the windows. "the ones who try to keep their kids usually end up dead " He decided not to comment on the 'whatever' since he didn't really have a good response to that.

Anya wrinkled her nose at the thought. The royal family normally tried to have as many children as possible - and keep them alive - just encase something happened to the heir. The idea of parents being fine with the disappearance of their children was unheard of where Anya came from. "God I'm glad I don't live here." She huffed, completely ignoring how awful that sounded, "Doubt I'd last very long." The girl murmured, resting her cheek back on her hands.

Sage shrugged. "If you lived here you would know how to survive," he pointed out. He chuckled slightly at her previous comment. "That's what everyone says. And I completely see why." He looked over at Anya and raised an eyebrow. "Although everyone should know some self defense." He should teach her how to use the knife he had given her the first night they walked around...he would feel better knowing she could get out of a less than good situation.

"You said you'd teach me a thing or two," she murmured with a pout, "I don't think you're in any state to do very much, but we're gonna be stuck here for a while. If you're up for it, you could teach me how to use this." She paused, pulling out the little pocket knife and dangling it between her fingers with a mockingly disgusted look on her face.

Sage chuckled. "For starters, maybe try holding it with more than two fingers," he teased lightly. He stood up and walked over to her and picked it up, holding it in the way he wanted her to hold it. "It's meant for defense, not offense, so you'd mainly be using it to poke, not slash." He handed it back to her with a grin. "Copy what I do." He pulled out his own dagger and waved it slightly.

Anya nodded, puffing her cheeks up as she fiddled with the knife until she held it up the way he had instructed. "Alright." She murmured with a smile. She still eyed it as though it was going to jump at her because heaven forbid she nicked her thumb. She arose from her seat and started copying his movements - just with less emphasis on her own. Even so, when the day came when she wouldn't have anyone to walk with, it would bring her comfort being able to defend herself, even if it was just a little.

Sage was slightly amused at her heasitation. "You can't get cut by your own knife," he laughed. He reached over and grabbed the blade. "See? It's not super sharp since youre using it more for defense. You need more force to cut." He held the tip of the blade to give it back to her a slight grin on his face. Then he poked her forehead lightly. "And guard yourself. We're going for defense not offense."