Ekon's eyes flickered back and forth between Anasuri and the rather delicious smelling pastry. He eyed it warily before finally giving in. "I suppose that I can have one. I-I've just never been offered something like this before by my ward. It's rather uncommon for my own ward to speak to me, much less offer me food. Thank you, for being kind." Princess Anasuri was truly vexing, how was he ever supposed to kill someone so kind and all around sweet?

Anasuri triumphantly handed Ekon the pastry, and grabbed one for herself. She nibbled on the edge for a moment, "You're welcome, Ekon, although I don't think it is so odd to just be kind." The princess was obviously thinking something over by the way her brow furrowed, and she turned to Ekon once more, "Do you wish I had been like your other wards? It might have saved you some trouble," Anasuri said ruefully, pushing open the door to her room and holding it open for Ekon.

The knight thought on this for a moment as he took a tentative bite from the pastry, surprised at the warmth and goodness that came with it. It reminded him of a harder, but better time.

A time where his friends, no, family were still alive.

Ekon blinked away the memories before finally replying. Clearing his throat as to keep the emotions out. "Perhaps it would've, but it has been a delight to serve you m'lady. You treat me better than any ward I've ever had. You treat me like a person and I could not be any more grateful than I already am for the way you treat me." Ekon shrugged, then stopped himself once he realized that that was a highly improper thing to do.

Anasuri smiled, "Well... I've been able to do that because you are the first knight who has ever really made me feel safe. The others were either flaky and didn't care what happened to me, or turned around and attempted to assassinate me themselves." Anasuri paused. Had it really always been that way? She mentally went through the list and realized that, yeah. It had been. Betrayed or forgotten had been the paths presented to her by previous knights, and even other royals in the palace. How odd for her to finally feel safe with one of the most dangerous people she has met.

Ekon had to refrain from widening his eyes. He'd heard all about Princess Anasuri's struggles, but he hadn't realized that probably more than half of them had been given the same offer as he. It made him a little upset, as he did not want to kill Anasuri. Killing had never been in his blood, but as he'd grown older, and his friends were killed, he decided that perhaps it was the best place for him. Granted, Ekon wasn't the strictest of knights, but he made do with what he had.

"I am sad to hear that. I'm sure you've realized that more and more knights are corrupted these days. And I am truly sorry you haven't had better experiences." Ekon said nothing about his own view though, as he was supposed to be killing this woman any day now.

Anasuri still wasn't sure she could trust Ekon, although she wouldn't say it out loud. Yes, he had been the perfect protector so far, and even had almost died for her... and now that she was thinking about it, it was really bad of her to doubt Ekon.

But, Anasuri thought, setting down the basket of pastries and looking at the knight out of the corner of her eye, There was just some... quiet reservation to him. Like he had a lot of regrets. For some reason, she just felt like she couldn't totally trust him yet.

Anasuri hoped she was just being paranoid and worried for no reason. She turned to face the knight after grabbing another sweet treat, "Well!" she said brightly, "That may be true, but I want to still have faith that there are a few good people, right? Hopefully my bad luck will run out, and I'll have some peace for a while."

Ekon did have a lot of regrets, and although he'd learned from many of them, a few he clung onto and hated himself for each and every day. Like not getting to Neima fast enough to save her. Like leaving his friends to think he was dead even though he was anything but that. Not contacting them even now because he knew that they'd hate him for it.

Ekon suddenly tore himself off the dark thoughts, no, he could not be thinking of those things right now. "Well I would hope so, I do not wish to meet the same fate as your other knights, and I am strictly loyal to my higher ups. I don't wish to do you any harm. And there will always be bad people my lady, but the ones with good hearts light up the darkness that others create. It is people like that that give me hope for our future." It was all true, Ekon did not wish to hurt Anasuri despite his assignment. But Neima.. the girl who'd lit up his darkness till he'd forgotten what darkness was. Yet here he was now, only giving off a dim, grey light. It would never get better.

Not without Neima.

Anasuri plopped down in a comfortable chair, and winced, sitting up enough to grab the hairbrush she had just sat on. The princess glanced at her mirror, debating brushing her hair, and decided against it. She set the brush down on her vanity, "Me too, Ekon," Her voice was hardly a whisper, "Me too."
Clearing her voice, Anasuri wiped off her hands on her dress, "People like Madam Sheri, or the beautiful people who work at the orphanage, and the stall vendors who help me give out sweets to those children... And the brave knights that fight for justice, and defend those who cannot defend themselves," Anasuri shrugged, "Like you, for example."

Anasuri grabbed another pastry and stretched, "Feel free to eat as many as you like. I'm going back to work."

Ekon did not agree with Anasuri on this one, he was hardly a knight, quite a few thought he may just go rogue one day and become an assassain. Not that he'd ever do that, but many people didn't think he was cut out to be a knight. He didn't have any sort of notable upbringing, other than being a street rat and orphan. Plus, he was literally planning on killing her, he was in no way a light in this dark world.

He had actually been thinking about maybe asking for another pastry, as he'd already demolished the other one. Fortunately, Anasuri seemed to be reading his mind, and told him he could have more. He wasn't going to push it though, and only grabbed one more. "Ah, should I leave then? I do not wish to disturb you while you work." Ekon supposed that this would be a perfect time to kill her, unfortunately, he was too compassionate to do that. He liked Anasuri, she was kind and had saved his life. He'd kill her sooner or later, but he was going to push it off as long as he could, because he didn't want to kill her.

"Yes... please," Anasuri headed to her secret work room, and paused by the door, "I saw that you had been working on a painting before I interrupted you..." Anasuri pressed her lips together, then nodded her head, like she was encouraging herself to go on, "It looks beautiful. You are very talented."

The princess pushed aside the tapestry and unlocked the door. A wave of smoke came out, and Dava grumbled, "It's alright if you want to stay out here, Dava." The panda shook her head and led the way inside, and Anasuri laughed, "You are as stubborn as me sometimes." With that, Anasuri followed her companion back into her brewing room.