Anya stared at him for a moment, meeting his eyes with a slightly confused look, taking in and holding a shallow breath. Was he seriously asking if she was alright? They had barely touched her. It was likely that she would bruise around her waist, she bruised easily anyway and it wasn't anything particularly bad. Sage, on the other hand, had just been rolling about on the ground with some brute... well, he had been brawling with four of them. The girl glanced over his features for a moment before letting go of her breath. "I'm fine," she murmured softly. Her heart was still going, and for whatever reason was taking a while to slow down again. She met his gaze again, gently placing a hand on his cheek, lightly turning his head to take a look at his little cut. "I'm fine, but are you?" She repeated quietly with a slightly tilted head. He wasn't exactly keeling over in pain, so she took that to be a good thing. "You didn't have to do any of that, you know," the girl murmured, almost in a whisper. She was thankful, of course, but couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

He was surprised when she put her hand on his face and automatically tensed up, not used to a gentle touch. He didn't think she would hit him, but it was just habit. He relaxed after a moment though, and shook his head. "Just scrapes and bruises," he whispered. "I'll be fine." He looked at her curiously. What did she mean he didn't have to? Of course he did. She was his friend. Well, actually, it seemed like she was a bit more than that by now, but he wasn't sure what that meant exactly. "Of course I did. I did it because I wanted to. I'd rather it be me taking the hit than you," he murmured, almost shyly. He could take a hit like that and keep fighting. Anya on the other hand would have been out cold, most likely with a concussion. He didn't want that happening to her. He wanted to protect her, to keep her safe. And if it meant getting hurt, so be it. "Lizzie isn't my entire world, you know...you've been part of it too." Mainly because she was the only other person to ever treat him like he was something more than a street rat. He didn't understand why she did it, but he didn't care. He just liked it.

Anya nodded shortly, glancing back down again. A barely visible pink flushed over her cheeks as Sage spoke, not quite sure what to make of it. They were friends, of course, but she never expected him to take a hit of any sort for her, not ever. Nor had she expected to stay a part of his life for so long, never mind becoming someone mildly important. But was that all it was? Were they just friends? It made Anya wonder for a moment. Even if there was something there, nothing could ever become of it, rules, although unspoken, were there for a reason. The girl sat back a little before looking down. She was a little embarrassed that she had needed the help at all... and that she had tried to leave him there while he was having his brawl. If the fourth guy hadn't shown up, she would have left him there to look after herself... and there Sage was, trying to protect her, saying that she was a part of his little circle. It made her heart drop. She kept on telling herself that she cared about him and that she wanted to keep him safe, but if the time came when she had to do something, she wasn't sure if she trusted herself enough to do so. While she wanted him to trust her, she also wanted him to know what was going through her head in the moments prior. "Sage..." She sighed slightly, starting to fiddle with her nails, "Even if they had managed to nab me, people would notice if I went missing. I would be taken care of no matter what happened." She murmured, knowing full well that it didn't make much sense. "And you do know I was going to leave you? I was going to run off and look after myself." She murmured, biting her bottom lip sheepishly.

Sage chuckled and patted the hand that was still on his cheek. "I know. And I would have expected you to get out of there. It would be the safest option, considering you can't fight. I left you so you could do that. If I had stayed by you you'd have been surrounded right away." It was true, he knew, that people would have gone looking for her. He knew that. But he also knew what would have happened to her in the meantime, and there was no way he was letting that happen to her. "You know what they would do. Youve already had two experiences out here with crazy guys trying to take advantage of you. By the time anyone found you, you'd be used and probably dead," he pointed out. "Or wishing you had been killed instead of..uh..you know what." If she didn't, that was even better, because he didn't even want to think of her body being used for something like that. Not like him. Not like the tavern.

Anya shrugged a little, moving her hand from his cheek and crossing her arms tightly around herself. She wasn't stupid... she knew exactly what would have happened if Sage hadn't gotten rid of them or if they had managed to get ahold of her. The thought made her feel sick... she wouldn't be able to do anything about it if she were alone. She would have no control over anything that would have happened to her, and that thought terrified the girl. "I think they were watching me for a while... since I started seeing you, perhaps. Hiding out in the woods outside the tunnel." She murmured, taking her gaze from the ground and back towards Sage. "I'm glad that I had you with me today... or else things could have gone very wrong." The girl murmured, her voice dropping quietly again as she looked back up, trying to give a small smile.

Sage sighed and nodded. "It's been about a week. They were pretty secretive about it...I needed them to make a move and show themselves so I could get rid of them." He made a face and sat down next to her. "I hate to put you on the spot like that but I couldn't tell how many were there or where exactly they were and I didn't want to leave you alone to go find them." He did feel guilty about using her like that ... She could have been hurt. But she would have been hurt if he left, too, so he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to have done. He did what he would have done with Lizzie, but Anya was no Lizzie. Lizzie could at least make herself scratch and bite and stab someone in a somewhat bad spot for them. Anya wasnt used to this....she didn't know how to react. "You did stab him though. You're learning. And you'll keep learning, I'm sure." He smiled over at her. "You hired me to show you around, and I'm including protection in that. You're not going to get hurt, not while I'm here with you." It was true ..he'd die for the girl. Woah, that was an extreme thought. True though. The only other person he'd die for was Lizzie. Did that mean ..... No. No, no, no. Out of the question. Impossible. There was the social difference, the rules, Luther....he refused to think about that. It couldn't happen, so he wasn't going to admit that he could have those feelings towards the girl.

Anya gave a small smile before shaking her head slightly. "Well, I'm glad you're here, either way. I don't think that anyone else would have done for me what you did tonight, no matter how much I was paying them." She noted with a dry chuckle. Though, Anya had a feeling that it had nothing to do with how much he was getting paid... more to do with the fact that they genuinely got along. She had looked after him the best she could for him while he was in the castle... but was that because she cared about him, or was it because she pitied him? She liked Sage, truly, she liked how hardy he was and brave he was, and that was patient with her training and he always had something sweet to say... how much he cared for his sister and how easily he could fluster with a few teasing words. Sage was fun... but was that it? Or was there more there? The girl took a short glance around at the bodies... there was so much blood. She found herself sickened by it before looking back to Sage. "Once I get over this whole blood and gore thing, being able to use this knife you gave me should become so much easier." She murmured thoughtfully, trying to keep her eyes on Sage rather than the bodies. "Saying that, can we go somewhere else... you know, somewhere less... gruesome?" She asked teasingly.

Sage chuckled and nodded. "I should have thought about that before we sat down and started talking," he muttered, amused. He stood up and offered her a hand up. "I'll clean this up later. We can take a stroll through the woods for now if you want. I don't think you'll want anymore activity if we go into town," he chuckled lightly. He forced his thoughts about Anya aside and instead focused on scanning their surroundings for. ...really nothing. Nothing was out there. He just had to focus on something else. Or, rather, he didn't know what he felt, and he was actually kind of scared about it. He couldn't like her any more than a friend...she was the princess and would be a queen, and she had a family and Luther would be her husband. So whatever it was that he felt, he had to keep it down. Friend. She was a friend. That was all she could be. He hugged out a breath, all the thinking was giving him a head ache.

Anya smiled slightly and took his hand, and pulled herself up. "Well, I never actually sat down. Someone... not naming anyone... chucked me on the ground." She teased lightly before letting his hand go again, probably after a holding on little longer than she should have. She had been strangely aware of it... and for whatever reason, was slightly reluctant to let him go again. God, something was wrong with her. She had duties... a role to fulfill, and here she was crushing on some tavern boy. Was she even crushing on him? It wasn't like they were ten. There were feelings there... but Anya herself didn't even know what they were. It shouldn't even matter... she had Luther, and she should be content with that. She had everything she could ever want, so why would she want to add someone like Sage to an empty list. The girl let out a shallow breath before starting down a little track through the woods. She didn't mind where they ended up... she was just thankful that Sage was there with her.