Chris looked at Alicia and those eyes that showed they would not waver if he said no. He let out a long sigh and turned to Greg who was standing behind him. "Greg give her your sword.""What!? Your highness! If I give her my sword what if she tries to kill you?" Greg shouted.
"Greg, do it! If she wanted to kill me she already had many chances. Plus, if it will give her peace of mind and allow her to come back with us then it is worth the risk. If I end up getting stabbed then it will most likely be because I deserved it!" Chris would not take no for an answer. He was determined to bring Alicia out of the woods and somewhere safe.
Greg reluctantly detached his sword from his hip and handed it to Chris who then in turn stood up and walked over to Alicia. "To show I mean no harm please take this sword. If I try to do anything to you on the way back feel free to use it to defend yourself."
Alicia looked up at Chris in surprise. She did not think this young man would go this far for her. But this also works out well for her as well. Now she had a sword which was what she was familiar with. The one thing Alicia forgot, was that her current body was very weak and the sword was heavy. But she could still lift it enough to at least defend herself if needed. "Then I will take you up on your offer."
Chris smiled and pulled out a bit of dried meat from his side pouch and handed it to Alicia. "Eat this to gain a bit more strength."
The smell of the dry meat hit Alicia"s nose causing the salvia in her mouth to run wild. Unable to control herself she s.n.a.t.c.hed the dry meat and bit into it, savoring the taste as if it was the best food in the world. A smile formed on her face as she chewed the dry meat. Chris looked at the girl and was stunned. Although she had sunken in cheeks due to malnutrition you could tell she was actually a beauty. Her smile was enough to warm one"s heart just by seeing it.
Even Greg who was disgruntled the entire time, brow eased up after seeing her smile. He realized he had been a bit too cautious with this little girl. Seeing someone eat dried meat so happily, you could tell she had not eaten such a thing in months, maybe even years.
"Once you are done we will head out." Chris smiled and went over to Greg and spoke a few words. Greg nodded and went to ready the horses.
Ten minutes later Alicia finished the dried meat and stood up wiping her mouth with her hands. Chris walked over to her and handed her a flask of water which Alicia had happily accepted. She had only drunk melted snow yesterday from a leaf so she was quite thirsty.
After putting out the fire, Alicia and Chris walked towards the horse. There were only two horses so Alicia figured she would have to walk, which she did not mind doing. But to her surprise, Chris who had just hopped up on to the horse reached down and pulled her up into his arms making her sit side saddle. "Huh!? Chris, I can walk, it"s fine!"
"We are two hours from our main camp and half a day"s ride from the nearest town. How can you walk that far? Or should I say how are you going to keep up with the horses when the boots I lent you barely stay on your feet?" Chris replied to Alicia"s words with multiple questions.
After hearing his words Alicia was not able to argue. Mainly because he was right. Right now, the her, in this Illusion World can not walk that distance to the town and would most likely die on the way. Alicia could only lower her head in resignation and kept quiet. Chris seeing Alicia being obedient smiled brightly and flicked the reins causing his horse to take off.
As Chris said, it took almost two hours to reach his camp. The entire ride Alicia felt very uncomfortable since she was so close to some strange man. In her heart, she was apologizing left and right to Blake for being this close to another man. They had just got engaged and now she was forced to sit side saddle with someone other than Blake.
Luckily this only lasted until they reached the campsite where Alicia clutched the sword in her hand and quickly escaped, backing far away from Chris causing him to let out a laugh. "We will need an hour to camp but we will be taking a carriage back."
Hearing that they would be taking a carriage back, Alicia let out a sigh of relief. Greg who was watching all of Alicia"s reactions was quite surprised to see that there was actually a female that did not want to be close to the Prince. Normally girls are doing this and that just to be close to him. And here was one running away from him. In truth, he found it slightly amusing.
He was not the only one who found Alicia"s action amusing. Chris also found it quite amusing as well. Alicia"s actions only made Chris even more interested in her. Mainly because she acted differently than other girls. But he would wait and see once she became comfortable in her new position to see if she would change.
***
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