Snippet #2517897

"Please, be careful. I've managed to preserve this to perfection and I really...really don't want to see this place ruined."

Val softened at the Princess' fragile tone. He looked at the clearing and then to the guards that followed them. Their trampling already ruining the calm of the forest. "Halt. Men, that will be far enough. Why don't you wait about 20 steps back while the Princess and I rest here a while. Lord Asher and I will protect the ladies should anything happen and you'll be close enough to hear us call for you. We will meet with you when we are ready to leave."

The head of the guards looked towards the Princess for her permission and at her nod, they followed Val's instructions to step away from the clearing, leaving the four of them.

Val met eyes with Lorraine who immediately fluttered again to Asher's side to distract him, giving Val and Amelie the appearance of privacy. Val went to walk beside the Princess and said, not looking at her but at the beauty of his environment. "This is a beautiful place. Thank you for taking me here." He took a minute to breath in the forest air, so different from the musk of alcohol and sweat of men. The trees were gentle and swayed with the wind, the grass smelled fresh and clean, and the water glistened when the sunshine hit it just right.

"I have a special place like this in Foretiere. My land, like it's name as you can guess, is full of forests. The little place that I like to keep secret is about an hour's ride from the castle to the west where the trees are low and the shrubbery is aplenty." Val took on a dreamy voice and his eyes were far away as if remembering. He looked through the leaves above and into the sunlight, "If you went during the summer time, there would be a couple of bushes of bright red berries you could pick off and eat and they were sweet and tart. But you'd have to be careful they weren't the orange ones because they would make your belly ache for days on end. And when your belly was full you could take a rest under the shade and fall asleep to the sound of birds singing."

"In the winter, I like to walk over where the snow has fallen and the woods have fallen quiet. I leave my footprints and rarely are there any ones next to mine, man or animal. And then I walk over to the lake about a five minute walk from my clearing where the water there has frozen solid. I never walk over it, but I like to imagine I'm as light as a bird and hop over to the other side." Val dips his fingers into the clear water, scaring away a fish in the process.

"The best part is the spring, when the ice thaws and the animals return and everything is new and yet just the same." Val touched the bark on one of the trees and for the first time since coming into the clearing, looked at Amelie boldly in the eye and asked, "What makes your clearing special to you?"