A bodyguard? He'd found someone in the woods and now the man was his bodyguard? Asbel may have spent his entire present life in the palace, but he still doubted that bumping into someone in the woods was proper form for trusting someone with your life. And what did Frey need a bodyguard for? He had Augustine and Cassius -- and they would have protected him if Frey hadn't screamed at the dragon earlier.

Already confused (and in no small degree concerned) by Frey's new friend, the sudden touch of humility and uncertainty that stole across the prince's face and voice did nothing to settle the phoenix. Apparently the prince was getting better at gratitude, but the kindness still felt strange: it ruffled just as many of Asbel's feathers as his rudeness did, if perhaps for different reasons. [i]I'll try to look out for you, too.[/i] Well... that was a bit of a change. But Frey's generosity last time had also not lasted longer than it took to be rescued, and that would surely be the case this time as well.

But for now, the prince's soft and sleepy voice, if nothing else, eased the tension in Asbel's shoulders, and the phoenix uncurled his hands from anxious fists. "I'll show you the way back to camp, then," he promised, and with a wary glance at Sverre, took the prince's elbow to guide him back through the forest. His glow was enough to guide them over the rough terrain, and after the flare earlier, Augustine would know where he was and would be able to shadow them back to camp; there was no way for Cassius to land with the trees so close together.

So the phoenix began to lead the way back with a careful grip on Frey's arm and an eye on Sverre, who he wanted neither ahead of them or behind. "What were you doing in the woods at this time of night?" he asked the dark elf during one of these last sidelong investigations. "And why is the prince all wet?"