Mari smiled at the boy as he told her about what had happened. In truth, she didn't expect that of the princess - everyone seemed to have known that the girl snuck out at night, but it was all selfish... she only left for herself. The only reason she paid the boy would have been so that she could walk around and not worry about being jumped. Though, by the sounds of things that hadn't worked too well. "We all knew about her leaving," she chuckled lightly before shaking her head. "It drove the queen crazy, but the princess never seemed to listen," Maria told him with a soft sigh. She moved her hand to the foals withers and started to king of lightly tickle away at them... soon the sleepy filly had started to wiggle her little lips as she rested there but make an attempt to move. It definitely amused the girl, though. She then looked at the boy with a cocked head when he mentioned leaving. She knew he'd gone at some point, but she couldn't quite figure out why exactly. "Why did you leave?" She asked after a moment... she did

have a fair few other questions, too... but that one had been bugging her for a couple of days now.

Sage chuckled and nodded. "I always wondered if anyone knew," he hummed. "I couldn't see her ever being very... secretive." He was rather amused by both that and the foals antics, and he let out a chuckle, patting the foals side gently. "Youre a silly baby," he cooed at the horse, who reached her head up to huff a breath into his face before putting her head back down onto his lap again, which tore a silly giggled from Sage. He looked back at the girl's question and sighed. "Anya and I got...close. too close. Luther got jealous, we started yelling, and I took off." He shook his head slightly, fiddling with the foals mane. "I thought it would be better that way, but now I'm not sure," he murmured. "At least it turned out well enough for Att. Though, looking at things now I seem to bring death wherever I go," he spat, really hating himself for doing all of this.

Mari gave a bit of a nod when the boy told her why let left, and she had to say she wasn't surprised. She hadn't noticed herself, but gossip around the castle... it spread. She had to say, though, she was a little disappointed in the other girl - Luther was dead now, so it didn't particularly matter, but when if the boy had pulled his proposal from the girl at the time, because of how Anya and Sage got 'too close'? That would be awful for the kingdoms name... they'd loose all kinds of allies, and it could cause wars and riots and... well, the kingdom already wasn't in the best of places, both with money and the way people were living. It was selfish... not of Sage, but more of Anya - she should have known better. She was raised to have known better, and Luther had been so good to her. Still - she remembered the queen telling her about how upset her daughter had been for a long while after the boy had left. She thought he should know - know that he had been missed, at least a little. "It never would have lasted long anyway," she murmured with a small sigh. "But the queen told me that the princess had been so upset once you'd gone," she told him in an almost reassuring manner. "And it wasn't your fault about what happened to during the raid, if that was what you're talking about. It would have happened if you were here or not," she shrugged after a moment and tried another light smile. "And if you weren't here then this little thing would have never made it. Snowball, neither," she told him in a slightly more upbeat tone.

Sage hummed and sighed. "I know. I never should have let her make a move, but..." He trailed off then with a sort of helpless shrug. He didn't really know how to finish the sentence. Then he bit his lower lip and shook his head. "The thing is, it very well could be...I mean, the person leading the rebellion...it's my dad," he muttered, wincing at the thought of his father. "He's tried to drag me back before, since I'm his money maker but Anya wouldn't let me leave." He shuddered slightly at the thought of what had happened the last time he left with his father. Could he tell the girl that? What would she think? She didn't know his ranking...would that affect the relationship they had so far?

Mari nodded lightly to the boy in a type of understanding. After being along for so long, she kind of guessed you'd take any glimpse of affection in a heartbeat. Taverns were physical, but it wasn't genuine care or affection. A lot of it was quite scary, and she supposed if the princess had made a move then most people would just... go with it. Well, she didn't particularly care now. She did, however, look a bit surprised when the boy told her about his father kinda sorta being the ringleader of the whole thing. She just king of stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. For some reason, she wasn't overly surprised - rather just curious, if she was being honest. "Really? Your father?" She asked with a bit of a frown. "Have... have you been involved in any of the rebellion?" She asked in an almost nervous tone. "I take it you don't get along with him if you're here... but have you? At all in the past?" She didn't think much could sway her... he'd said he'd done some awful things, but so had she... so had everyone outside the castle walls. But she didn't think she could stomach it if he'd been involved with the attacks.

Sage nodded at her first question and then shook his head. "I've only fought for the castle," he promised. "Well...I've fought for Anya, Luther, Att, the doctor, and the horses. Everyone else I could care less about." He threw a sheepish glance at the girl. "I hadn't met you yet," he sort of explained. He frowned slightly and nodded again when she mentioned them not getting along. "You have no idea how much I hate the man," he murmured, something flickering in his eyes as he reached up to touch his chest where his father had branded him before blinking and returning his face to normal, dropping his hand to wind his fingers around the fuzzy mane in his lap.

The girl nodded gently at the boy... she now found herself a little concerned that the boy could have been involved, but he said he hadn't... and she needed to trust him. She rather fond of him, so she had to be at least a little trusting of him. Mari couldn't help but feel bad for him, though. The doctor had mentioned his sister had passed, and she hadn't heard anything about his mother, so she took it that was gone too... so the only person he had left was his father. She'd never know what that was like. Her whole family were pretty wonderful people, so she did feel for him... she really did. She looked at him for a moment with a slightly cocked head. "You said Anya wanted you to stay. Are you going to? Or do you want to leave?" She asked quietly as she went to look up at the boy again.

Sage hummed in thought before sighing. "I'll probably stay, unless the queen decides she'd had enough of me and kicks me out." He shrugged slightly and chuckled dryly. "The only people I like are here, and so are these guys," he noted, looking fondly down at the horses, stroking the foals soft fur as she lay there, breathing softly. "Besides, I'll do anything to stay away from dad," he murmured. "He's... I'd work until I collapsed so I wouldn't have to go home with him, if that tells you anything," he told the girl softly. Then he took a deep breath a forced a smile onto his face. "But enough about that," he chirped. "You don't want to hear my whole sob story."

The girl shook her head when the boy told her he'd leave if the queen kicked him out. In truth, she thought the woman liked the boy... well, she didn't like him, but she didn't hate him. Not as much as the boy seemed to think. She remembered the woman singing his praises once when he saved her... well, that was a few years ago now, and she didn't think that the woman would ever admit it. "Well, she'll be gone for a little while. So I'd say you're safe for the time being. I'm gonna have to pick up another job, though," she told him with a soft smile. She did find a sort of pity for the boy... like a tightness in her chest when he said that he'd work until she dropped. She didn't even want to know what that felt like... he was still young, and yet she was sure he'd been through more than what most would in a lifetime. The girl gave a bit of a heavy sigh when he finished, though his light smile and chirpy tone admittedly caught her a bit off guard, especially considering what he'd just been talking about. She looked back to the little filly who was still resting in the boy's lap before going to tickle her withers again. "I want to find out who this girls sire is... she needs a name," she told the boy with a bit of a laugh.

Sage hummed and nodded, chest still aching from their conversation but glad to move on and talk about the horses. "Well, she's always acted like in the most despicable person in the entire castle," he chuckled. "I just stay away from her and don't make a mess of anything and I'm alright." Then he looked down at the foal with a cocked head. "Yeah....who's your daddy, baby," he cooed with a light giggle. The filly flicked a curious eat back, though her lip wiggled in response to Mari's tickles. "Why don't we go look at all the stallions," he suggested. "I already ruled chaos out I think ..the foal would be black if it was him."