While Ezra carried on with her meal, Zugos stood quietly on the other side of the room, leaning against the table, hands tapping the cane absentmindedly as he lost in his own thoughts. A journey to the castle would take at least a week, if they hurried and on horseback. Yes, mount is a must, since he didn’t want slow them down with his disability. Wouldn’t be hard to get some farmer to sell him one, and the princess had already got hers. She was probably much better at riding that he was, by the look of it. 

 But then, Zugos had to ask himself. Was he really going to go through with this plan? Of course, a royal favor had its uses, but even they couldn’t give him what he truly wanted. Then again, he couldn’t just send her away. He considered himself morally questionable, not heartless. She actually took her time to come all this way, maybe the girl were more than just a snotty, sheltered princess. He chewed on his lower lip, pondering. She could protect herself, right? Not that the roads around these parts were dangerous or anything. The king’s army took care of bandits and wild beasts ages ago. 

 Zugos jerked his head up when the princess suddenly asked for a place to sleep. He stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded. It was reasonable, since she looked pretty much like someone who had gone through hell and back, but there was a small problem. “A bed, huh? It is perfectly appropriate for young women to sleep at strangers’ houses these days, I guess.”-The smile returned to his lips as he stood up and walked over to the princess. “I’m afraid that couch is all I have. You see, I don’t sleep much. Duty calls and all that…Though I can conjure something up. But that would take time…”- He trailed off, one of his rings started to glow again.-“ You should get some sleep, princess. It seemed I have some…visitors.”

 And with that, he nodded at her with a smile, before limping his way to the door.