People from her city were generally generous and honest.

She had hoped other people of the world would exhibit the same kindness but it was evident that most people, like the one she had the displeasure of crossing paths with, was not kind, nor gallant. Mela had rolled her eyes when he claimed the man would not have run but would have returned for revenge. It's not as though that would have been her problem, it would have been his. She had very little time on her own to give certain people the benefit of the doubt but she would have rather offered mercy and then taken it away should it be rejected, rather than offer downright cruel executions instead. Whoever this man was, was someone she could not respect. He was rash and wild and reminded her a bit too much of her brother. For a moment she felt rather heartbroken, unsure if or when she would even see him again, let alone her home and her parents.

As he offered another nugget of input, he mentioned how far away she was from stitching school and its protection and she let out a dry short laugh. He was funny but not that funny. Nor was he clever but funnily foolish. He was terrible, if anything else but she had cooled off as her words ran out of strong wind. He made another remark, using her name while still denying her his identity. Mela wasn't sure why but she really needed to know who was messing with her. Though her fading silence wasn't due to his threat of sorts, she kept quiet and glanced around, not sure where to go. Backwards would be foolish though she wasn't sure if the man had come from a town or was heading toward one. 

And she was certain he wouldn't divulge anything to her.

For all she knew, he would pass along directions to ensure she walked off the face of the earth.

The man slipped his weapon away slowly and moved closer to surely inspect what the fallen men had to offer on their deathbeds. "They've got nothing to offer." Which was a shame. They died for nothing, just like her, they were looking for anything. The state of the world was truly devastating. "You should at least tell me who you are." She muttered as she stood there, feeling rather lost as well as hungry and tired. He then got off the horse after he gave her another warning while still ignoring her request for his name. Mela decided to give up, a tact she used to employ when her brother would continue to ignore her. She would stop fighting with him and he would soon get bored and leave her alone.

So in this instance, Mela was hoping he would just tell her who he was. Of course his name wouldn't matter if she didn't find refuge soon. A corpse with knowledge was just as foolish as one without knowledge. The princess bent down and carefully removed the arrow from the third dwarf, knowing how useful they were to an archer. If she was armed with her bow and not her sword, she would likely have taken the arrows herself and made a run for the horizon. Sadly this wasn't the case but it at least meant that her sword wasn't limited by how many attacks it could make. Turning, she handed the arrow back to the guy and glanced toward where he had come from. "Are you going somewhere or coming from somewhere?"

Mela needed to know and hoped he'd actually comply and answer at least one of her inquiries. Having used some of her strength to throw sharpened words in his direction was not paying off as she had hoped. Even so, she wasn't about to cry and make a fuss about it. Mela knew that there would be some scattering of villages somewhere. If her mind was still fresh, then studying maps before her departure would pay off. To her knowledge, there were some small villages around the area but fatigue could be disorienting her bearings. She would rather follow her brain and put faith there, than throw everything up in the air and wander aimlessly. If she had even a bit of food in her stomach, protein preferably, she would be more calm and more sure of her surroundings.

Reaching into her pack which was practically empty, she pulled out a carrot, she had one left but she decided to at least give half to the guy who saved her, even if he was a jerk, he still saved her. Since she wasn't willing to offer him anymore ammo, she broke it in half and have him half, tossing it at him before he set off, not caring if he helped her again or not by hinting toward civilization. For all she knew, the wars had knocked small towns and villages down without any struggle. She wanted to hope her journey wasn't in vain. She took a bite of the carrot and decided to give her magic a rest and try again in the morning, by then she should be able to conjure up a handful of water to drink. Slipping the nearly flat pack across her back, she brushed back some of her hair, accidentally revealing her pointed ears.

Usually Mela didn't care who saw or knew but she had the common sense to be more careful outside of Acre.