"Don't you think that had I any thirst for bloodshed I would have shown it by now? " Alyxander murmured, keeping his voice quiet. "I don't drink human blood, only deer or animals hunted by everyone." His footsteps were very light and cautious, his attention on making as little noise as possible. John was making that hard, with his constant questioning. "I am loyal to those whom have earned my loyalty. I am indebted to your father as much as I am to Kate. If I was a traitor I wouldn't have bother fighting to survive. There's no point in going on with this tormented existence if I have no reason to do so. Besides that, my loyalty to my former master was only in submission to survive. I had no faith in him, I just obeyed most of his commands because otherwise I would have been killed; but I am no longer the helpless slave, he has no power over me."<br/><br/>Alyx turned his head every now and then towards noises, but it was often a small animal or just the wind. He could never be too careful though. "I haven't had much true field training, I was a slave, not a soldier." He answered softly. He shrugged a bit at Johnathan's question about Kate. "I know not what your sister thinks of me. She has been a good friend to me, and I have been so to her. Nothing more, nothing less." He held back the urge to just tell the other boy to be quiet, otherwise they may attract unwanted attention. But the answer to the next question was obvious by his tone. "How much do I hate him, you ask?" He repeated, glancing over his shoulder for once. "As much as anyone else in your father's army does. Perhaps more. How can you not loathe those who torture you? And you? How much do you hate him?" He turned his gaze back on the trail. "I have gone weeks without feeding, though I would not do so unless I had to. It's painful, and puts others in unnecessary risk should my thirst overcome me. Normally a week is my limit. Why? Do you have any intention of starving me?" It was less of an accusation, more of a harmless, meaningless question. "Even in a state of bloodlust, I would rather take my own life than take the blood of a human. I will not be a monster like those who forced me into this cursed being I now am."