Alissa breathed heavily not only because of her still-contained anger, which she could no longer vent out on Tannin, but because of her frustration and confusion on the mysterious man that appear to be following her. She tried acting indifferent in attempt to hide the fact that she had noticed his presence; after all, she didn’t know who he was. He could be another assassin after her head or a thief for all that she knew. Either way, she did not want to stay to figure out what he was after. She tried calming herself down and to look less obvious by reading more into the book that Tannin had gifted her not so long ago. She read the words on the pages carefully which, had she not thought that a murderer was after her she would have definitely gotten herself absorbed into the story, which so far had Alissa hooked on. Finally, after reading but a few pages, she could hear someone move closer to her.
All her façade of calmness had vanished as soon as she heard footsteps coming near her. She almost jumped out of her seat when someone gently tapped her shoulder and almost yelled in surprise in response to the sudden approach. However, she was able to somehow regain some composure as soon as she noticed it was none other than the young girl that had brought them their food earlier. She tried breathing less agitatedly as the young girl explained herself, "I'm sorry to bother you Miss, but your companion asked that I inform you when your meal was ready. I was getting ready to take it upstairs to your room." the girl said calmly. Alissa did not say anything in reply but felt relieved that the young girl had somehow presented her an opportunity to make a triumphant scape back to the room without hurting her pride along the way. She made a small comparison between her few option it was either going back to Tannin whom she was still extremely angry at or this other new unidentified threat that could possibly be after her neck after all.
The young girl noticed that she had startled Alissa and she did not take long to try to make amendments for it, "Well, sorry again. I'll be leaving it upstairs for you.". Alissa nodded in response expressionless as she stood up and moved away from her seat. She grabbed a napkin as a bookmark to remind her where she had left off and she moved towards the stairs. She discretely turned her heard on the main entrance but the shadow-like figure banished just like he had done before in the window. There was no sing that he had even been at the place, which to some would have been a relief but not to Alissa, it simply meant that he would most likely appear again when she least expect it as he had done twice now.
Before heading back though, she moved towards the girl and stopped her just before she headed back to her other duties. ”Wait…” she managed to say, ”I have a favor to ask of you” she continued sounding a bit demanding, after all the young princess was certainly not used to asking for favors. ”If I could only get a change of clothes… After realizing how bold her petition had been and at the face of the girl who seemed to be confused she continued talking ”I can’t repay you right now but I promise I will repay you as soon as I can! she said a bit embarrassed but determinate and full with promise. It didn’t take long for the young girl to answer to her petition and she handed her a small change of clothes. Alissa wanted nothing more but to take a hot shower to clean herself from the small journey that have had so far, besides who knew how long would it take for her to take a shower again.
After receiving the small change of clothes, she walked in a slow pace trying to calm herself down before she was Tannin again. Once she had walked up the stairs, and when she thought that she might have been out from the unknown man, she moved much faster towards their room where she expected to be safe from harms way. Just as she was about to enter their room she saw that Tannin was also barely coming back , she remembered that harsh words that she had muttered before and for a split second she felt awful about ever saying them. Even so, that did not mean that she was apologetic or that she regretted it, not just yet anyways. Her anger was just at a boiling point and knowing her own hot temper she knew it would be better not to talk with Tannin, at least for the rest of the night.
After seeing Tannin, she remained quiet and simply let herself in into their room. She left the door open and did not say anything, she had barely taken a step away from the door when suddenly she stopped herself. She opened her lips to try and say something… anything really, she wondered if she should tell Tannin about what she had seen, to see if he could make any sense into what or who that man could be. At the end, she simply stayed motionless at the door and after a few seconds of her failed attempt to say anything she simply stepped inside and made her way into the bathroom closing the door firmly after she was in. She had her book on her left hand and the clothes on the right.
It didn’t take long for her to realize that taking a shower at such weather was probably not the brightest idea but maybe the shower could help her be at ease. She gently took off her cloak and hanged it nearby; piece-by-piece of clothing she was finally left with nothing but her boots. She took her boots off and upon noticing the knife she felt a shiver, it was most definite that Tannin had not been the one who had given her the knife, if not him then who? She placed the knife near the sink and finally, she let the hot shower cover her slim body. She wished that the water could wash away all her troubled thoughts, she tried cleaning her body from any uncleanness as best as she could. She could only hope that she could trust Tannin again, after all, her life depended on it.