It was no surprise to her when Tannin had initially rejected her request, she knew heâd no allow it mainly because of what he had said before; the same words which now echoed on her head. âI did not like feeling useless" Tannin said in reply to her own annoyance in feeling helpless. Unable to look at his face being seated in front of him did no allow her to see what he thought of her request, she could only guess he the mere request had bothered him.
She also fell silent after Tannin had asked her not to speak of the matter again; in truth she was looking for another way to convince the young man. She wouldnât allow herself to listen to his own demand and had he not spoken before her, she surely would have kept insisting until he allowed her to take the reins.
Still, Alissa allowed Tannin to ride Daeroch for a bit longer before she even thought about trying to convince him to allow her to take over. She felt Tanninâs arm shiver, surely in pain she thought, before he decided to speak to her again. He first apologized about how he had treated her earlier that day and shortly added, âI think..that if you still wish it..that I'll allow you to continue leading Daeroch for the remainder of the day." Tannin wouldnât have been able to see it but Alissa couldnât hide her smile, she was thankful that he trusted her enough and that he had allowed her to help.
Without hesitation she took the reins when he handed them, she grabbed them firmly but before she did she gently touched Daerochâs crest, almost as if asking the beautiful horse permission for her to ride him, something she always did with her own. What Tannin did afterwards was enough for her to almost accidentally drop the reins; to say she was taken by surprise when Tannin leaned himself against her and wrapped his firm arms around her would not do her feelings justice. Even so, she was able to calm herself down realizing they had to keep moving.
Tanninâs body close to hers gave her warmth just like it had a few nights before when she cuddled herself against his chest. Alissa enjoyed having him close, perhaps more than she allowed herself admit to. Even so, she didnât want to get too carried away, so her thoughts shifted to what mattered the most, his health. It was obvious that he was in pain, riding in horse was not the best place to get rest, "We'll stay here for the night. This mountain is treacherous in winter and there is only one way that Daeroch can take."
Alissa then signaled Daeroch to come to halt, she had made sure to stop in a place where they could not been seen from afar and somewhere where it would be easy to set camp. Once they stopped Tannin slid off the horse taking his arms off the young girl. He tried helping her down but this time she gently refused, she could not risk him getting even more hurt. Tannin now stayed besides Daeroch, âDo you think that you could begin gathering wood for the fire and perhaps take care of Daeroch for me? I do not think that I'll be able to untack him myself."
Alissa smiled at Tannin not wanting for him to feel burdened and proceeded to untack the horse, as soon as she did she carefully placed the saddle in a fallen tree nearby, along with the saddle she also placed most if not all of their belongings they were carrying. Of course, she first allowed Tannin to take all the things they needed to set the tent.
Finally, Alissa was off her way to collect wood for the fire they were going to set. She made sure not to get too far away from their camp but it was somewhat difficult to find wood in the mountain. It took her some time before she was satisfied with the wood she had managed to collect, she would probably have to collect more before they left again but she didnât want to spend too much time away from Tannin.
As soon as she came back she noticed that Tannin had already gotten their tent up. Before she did anything else she managed to make the fire, it took her more tries than she would have liked but she was finally able to make the flames be big enough to keep her and Tannin warm for the next few hours. She then saw Tannin join her quietly, sitting next to her and looking at the newborn flames. "Thank you, Alissa. For your help." he said to which she smiled kindly, âand thank you, for letting me and for believing in meâ she said most sincerely.
She then turned her eyes to him and noticed him pulling his hood and mask down. He told her he needed to lay down and Alissa could only hope he could get more rest. âJust..promise me that you'll stay close by?" he added. âIâm not going anywhere without youâ she said with a smile, a few days ago the remark would have made her laugh, now it was simply stating the truth.
She did no follow after him when he went back to the tent, instead she remained nearby the fire. She thought he could perhaps have more rest if she were not around gazing at him in concern. She remembered what he had said about were she to get hungry there were more supplied on the bags that were attached into Daerochâs saddle. Alissa was not hungry but that didnât mean that Tannin wouldnât, she moved closer to where their things stood first picking the pot and then moving to the other bags. Once again picked a few ingredients where she could fix them up a decent meal, to the right of the ingredients she grabbed the two bowls.
She moved closer to the fire and after placing the right ingredients inside the pot managed to cook another meal. It took her less time than she would have expected to get the supper ready, she carefully divided the food equally in the bowls and she was glad she wouldnât have to keep Tannin waiting longer than needed. Once inside she noticed Tannin lying down, she sat down nearby with the two bowls in hand.
She placed the bowls to her side with a reasonable distance, Tannin must have not noticed as he asked her if she had eaten anything. He smiled at her with a tired smile and Alissa smiled gently back while shocking her head, ânot yetâ she said. Tannin informed her that they wouldnât have much longer before they arrived. âLet me ask you something..have you ever been to Axijan before?" he asked. Alissa smiled a bit saddened looking back at her life she had never really gotten much out, she felt as if she had never really done much with her life for that matter.
âIâm afraid not. I was lucky enough whenever I got outside the castle really, my father⊠the kingâ she paused remembering what her father had done, âwas a very strict and somewhat harsh man who wanted nothing for me but to gain him favor with other kingdoms, in return I was somewhat of a prisoner at my own home.â Once again she took another pause, she had never told anyone such things, somehow saying it outloud had managed to take some weight off her chest.
Not knowing if Tannin would understand she spoke again,âdonât get me wrong, there were times in which I could leave the castle. Whenever and as long as I was accompanied with AlexanderâŠâ she took an even longer pause trying to find the right words, âheâs my fatherâs choice for my âhusband-to-beâ but thatâs just another word for his attempt to gain more favor in the kingdoms.â
Knowing she had spoken more than she had to and that the supper would probably get cold if she were to speak more she took the two bowls from the side and offered one to Tannin, âanyways, I had not eaten yet as I was waiting for you to wake upâ she said with a smile. âI promise itâs not poisoned.â Alissa added with a playful smile. She didnât know if he would ask her more of her life as a daughter of a king but if he were she would have answered to her best abilities. Not too long after she told him of her âadventuresâ outside the castle and what she had found while being away from the castle, that her father was a man with many flaws, one of them being his sovereignty over Irisu.