Now Thorn laughed. It was honestly one of the funniest things he had ever encountered. He had never expected to run into such a wonderfully straight-forward princess cliché, strong-willed bullheadedness by royalty, demanding independence and establishing self- when he knew well enough of the terrors that stalked these lands that wouldn't be afraid to pounce on unsuspecting travelers no matter what you were: peasant, noble...or princess. The prospect was so amusing to him that it took him a while to regain himself after the moment passed. Holding the cigar between his vicious teeth, he said, "Now you're right about a few things. For one, you're not a teeny five year old because if you were, you would bug the hell out of me right now. And I'm sure you can very well take care of yourself--when you're by yourself that is."
He paused for a time, taking a puff of the cigar and sitting a considerable distance away from her, crossing his legs negligently. "If what you've said is true, that I'm the only one you've told then you have little to worry about. I'm a rather trustworthy fellow...for the right price. But what will you do when you leave here and then someone else asks you who you are? You tell them and then have to move again, tell a few more people. Before you know it, the news of your secret spreads around faster than you can imagine. Then you'll have to pack your bags and keep on running. Trust me, you'll be quite exhausted by the end of it all, if it ever would end.
"And even if you choose to lie about it, or simply refuse to talk to anyone, there will be those who have certain abilities who could figure you out without even needing to say a word. And those people, more money hungry than I am, would ruthlessly capture you. Hold you hostage until they find some conniving way to contact your parent's people and ship you back to Teraseena, getting rich off of you like produce," Thorn pressed on, trying to think of every possible way to convince Alea to hire him. Not that he cared a thing about her, he had just met her after all. Though he didn't want to admit it, he was desperately in need of some form of pay and he was too proud to clean kitchens. He didn't bring much with him and most of his money was spread thin in banks in various places. It seemed like a good idea to try to get her to hire him... But maybe there was more behind it. Thorn didn't like to seem women of young or old in any kind of potential harm and the thought would have distressed him greatly if he dwelt on it for more than a moment's notice.
"Of course, that's not all that could happen to you, Alea, if you choose to wander alone. There are always wild animals and beasts about that wouldn't hesitate to rip you shreds, excuse the visual. Vampires, demons, (were)wolves, giants, cannibalistic psychos and many other unnameable dreads," he finally finished, taking a final drag on his cigar before putting in out in his uneaten eggs that were now cold. He didn't care anyhow, he hated eggs. "Out of all the things that I just said could happen to you should you decide to pull this out alone, does it really sound like a bad idea to hire me as a bodyguard? I won't ask for much, if you're worried about that as well. I'm more than an adequate defender and could use my mind's eye to detect a potential thread quickly. And besides, it's always better to have some company around when traveling if you still want to leave La'marri. So are you still adverse to my offer?" he asked, cocking up an eyebrow and giving her a friendly smile that spoke faintly with a fair cynicism.