He had always been an excellent judge of character, but had been learning the hard way that nobility, or a royal, was a completely different breed. He had freed her, but he had received very little gratitude. He had tried being gentle to her, cooking for her, comforting her, and she had met that with coldness. And when he had been more direct and straight up with her, her coldness turned into a block of ice. It felt to him as if the princess had no idea about her ordeal, as if it was a mere blip in time, perhaps a nightmare and that she would wake up soon enough and all would be back to normal.<br/><br/>He took a second bottle from his provisions bag, pouring himself a large serving of very heavy, home-brewn liquor. He needed it before he would speak to her again. 'Look, girl, t'is good y'try. But t'king five steps and falling and hurting yerself? We're 200 miles from t'city. T'bit of strength ye've now, doesn't cut it, y'understand?. If y'want me t'save ye and get y'back to t'city, it'll be on my rules. W'be here for another few days, b'fore y'can do som'distance. W'try ev'ry couple of hours, but together, not y'alone. T'prevent y'from hurting y'relf'<br/><br/>He sighed softly, finishing his drink, pouring another serving, finishing that as well. 'But if y'think y'can sit here sulking, f'ling sorry for y'rself, I can't help. Pushing me away isn't t'solution. We're innit t'gether, for a while longer. We *have* t'do it t'gether'.