It was almost disturbing how a mere eleven words could bring such furious fear to her heart.

Gloved hands clasping around sun-stained parchment shook, Kendra's breath leaving in stilted rasps. Her eyes lingered on the last part of Cartman's letter, that daunting "Or else" screaming of punishments that she couldn't live with herself if they were brought about. She set the paper down in front of her on the richly stained desk of her room, biting her lip in dread. She could hear each flicker of the preverbal candle's flame as it melted down to signify the end of the day, a threatening timer edging closer and closer to running out of wick.

He was getting impatient with her, was wondering why she hadn't written to him with the news she was supposed to be retrieving. He was making damn sure that she knew that he held all the cards in this tumultuous situation.

She knew that well enough, she just wanted to repress that particular fact.

Kendra placed her chin into her palm, letting out a lengthy, worried sigh. She should've seen this coming, should've known that he wasn't content with letting her stick to the six-month promise and wanting her to get the information as soon as she'd walked into Larnion's walls. She just didn't know how to go about this, he hadn't exactly given her a script on what to say that wouldn't immediately result in her execution.

She rolled her eyes. As though that would matter. She'd be back the next day just to be killed off over and over again until enough time passed she went on her damn own from old age. Days upon days of a damn sword through her neck or arrows through her chest or whatever the Drow did to treasonous spies.

Her eye twitched, wondering who the hell would even oversee such a thing. She knew it varied from kingdom to kingdom. Kupa Keep left it to the captain of the guard, but there were plenty of lands that let the duty fall to the monarch if it so heavily betrayed their country.

God, would Kyle have to be the one to cut her down should it proceed in that direction? A hand came to her throat, feeling the long gulp following along her sheathed adam's apple at the horrifying image of an infuriated elf bringing the sword upon her waiting head.

A quick rap on her door jerked her from her nightmare, nearly falling off her chair at the sudden start. Kendra gulped, quickly snatching the paper from its resting place and folding it over, shoving it under a collection of books she'd stockpiled over the last few weeks and forcing herself to get to her feet. Wobbling legs made for a hell of an obstacle, face dripping into a scowl at her own cowardice as she pressed forward.

She ripped open the door, expecting Craig in his afternoon lunch calling, pleasantly surprised to instead find Kyle standing on the other side with a small smile over his face. She forced down residuals of her darkened terror and plastered on her own grin, giving him an enthusiastic wave.

"Hey," he greeted, "So, Gollum gave me the go-ahead to actually go outside again. I haven't been riding since you got here, you wanna tag along?"

Kendra blinked, gently grasping his hand and bringing him into her room towards her desk, an impish excitement spreading over her cheeks. She sat down with her quill, Kyle leaning against the desk and watching her patiently as he crossed his arms. His eyes drifted towards the books piled on her desk and couldn't help but feel that little worm of appreciation and admiration wriggling its way through his chest yet again. A part of him wished that he could be the in the same kind of position as Kendra, getting to learn his history for the first time and be as enraptured with the tales of their elders and their spirits as he was when he was a child and sat down with his instructors. However, he had a lifetime to learn what Kendra was trying so hard to fit into just a few months. It was beyond commendable, far more than he ever thought a human would attempt to do to understand his culture.

He gave a tiny flinch of surprise at a parchment parading through his thoughts into his face, reading it as it remained in Kendra's hand.

'Why, Prince Kyle! Asking me to take a ride with you? What a thing to ask a girl, but far be it from me to deny you.'

His face fell, Kendra immediately falling into a shaking fit of laughter at the annoyance over his profile. "Walked right into that one, didn't I?" he muttered, shaking his head and unable to stop a half-cocked grin at the pure joy on her face. He lightly flicked her arm. "Are you coming or not?"

Kendra's eyes lit with further inspiration and he immediately grabbed the top of her quill to stop its path, getting a puckish glimmer from sky-blue eyes. "I know where you're going with that," he drawled. "Would you like to take a horse and go with me with accompaniment," he stressed,"out into the forest?"

She gave another small laugh, waving off his specificity. She held up her hand, a silent promise that she was going to be good for now as she crafted her response and handed it off. 'I would love to, but, I haven't been riding in nearly ten years. I would probably slow you down.'

He looked past the parchment at her losing her light expression to a wincing embarrassment and he smiled softly. "We don't have to go galloping," he chuckled. "We'll let you take Ilnea, she'll treat you well and we'll go however you feel comfortable." Kendra gave him a skeptical glance and he held out his hand, grin growing just a tad as she took it. "I promise."

Ilnea was no horse to scoff at as a mare of simple riding stock, despite Kyle's reassurance of her gentle nature. She was bred from war horses, but had somehow missed on their temperaments, Kendra was told. A gleaming pinto coat of brown and white glistened against the sunlight with each thud of her hooves against the dirt. Strong withers and a head held high, beaming with pride as to who she was, the stablemaster had told her.

Kendra knew next to nothing about horses, only that they were large and smelled nearly as toxic as Cartman. But at least they were fairly silent and had no personal vendettas against her.

At least that she was aware of.

Ilnea, however, seemed at ease with Kendra's reluctance, had allowed her a couple failed attempts at hopping into a side saddle before Kyle had managed to help her keep her balance and lift into place. It'd been almost embarrassing, fully suiting itself as such as she'd watched Kyle effortlessly lean back against his own horse's saddle before pushing forward and hoisting himself up to settle down on its back. He was just so much goddamn shorter than her, not to mention still in the throes of recovery. It seemed almost unfair. She settled on blaming her dress for the lack of grace instead of reverting to cursing out her clumsy self.

She had no idea where they were going, trotting down the trail side-by-side with Butters and Stan in front of them, Craig and Christophe bringing up the rear on their own steeds. Kendra glanced around, noting sunlight beaming through leaves in stippled specks, kissing her cheeks with glowing warmth. A deep inhale invaded her lungs, toes curling at the aroma of grass so potent it was nearly overstimulating.

Kyle glanced over, noticing her curious, wandering eye and smiled. "We're almost there," he assured her, getting her attention back on him. A part of him hated the quietness their ride had had to consist of, but he couldn't exactly hold any kind of conversation with her while she had no access to her parchments stashed away in her saddlebag. He sighed to himself, shoulders rolling at the pronounced backache from keeping himself upright on his horse.

Getting Gollum's go-ahead had been a trial all its own, having to beg and plead and jump around to prove that he was healthy enough. He still wasn't back to full capacity, probably wouldn't be for another month or so, but he was feeling so cooped up and restless. Getting to go riding like he always did before this whole diplomatic endeavor started felt like a truly blissful treat. He snuck another shy glance at Kendra as she shifted on her saddle and kept looking around in awe. A part of him had a perhaps devious part in his plan of inviting her to go with him. He just hoped he could let her see that he relaxed out here and wouldn't turn into his goddamn mother and have full-on freak-outs over his health if he spent more time outdoors than just in the kingdom's landscape.

He doubted he had much of a reason to suspect such a reaction from her regardless, but he couldn't help a sliver of paranoia at the idea.

"S-so where are we exactly?" Butters asked from the front of the line. "Is this the sacred forest, Your Highness?"

Kyle caught sight of Stan shaking his head in disapproval and chuckled to himself. "No, the sacred forest is East of the castle, stretching between Larnion and into the barren land leading to Kupa Keep."

Butters looked back with an inquisitive glint over his eyes. "Doesn't it surround Larnion? Ain't… ain't it all the same forest?"

"Obviously not, you dumbass," Craig contributed, eyes routinely snapping over to watch Christophe as he rode behind Kyle.

"Well how do ya tell?"

Kyle smirked, glancing over to see Kendra looking just as curious and offering her another grin. "There are certain revered trees that serve as markers between the different forests. The sacred forest is ih'ara taur, the protector forest. There're two elms that mark the split you can see from the kingdom between their surrounding forests. We call them the glennen."

Kendra cocked her head at him and he shrugged sheepishly, "The soldiers. They were marked with the blood of two warriors slain long ago when there was a siege on Larnion. Their spirits protect us from further invasion."

"Trees do?" Craig asked, brow raising.

Kyle frowned, looking back at him with a sigh. "Obviously the trees aren't going to come alive and attack an invader, but we believe that their spirits do their best to ward off evil in our kingdom and stand as a symbol of Larnion fortitude. It doesn't have to make sense for it to be important to my people." Craig offered him no more than a nod of understanding before switching back into glancing at Christophe with a furrowed brow. Kyle raised his own at his intensity towards the guard, but said nothing and turned back forward, granting his horse a small pet through its mane.

"How come it's the only sacred forest?" Butters pressed, eyes beaming bright with fascination.

Kyle let out a long, mournful sigh, feeling Kendra looking at him in concern but keeping his attention forward. "Because while the glennen only had the blood of two soldiers, most of the other trees in there had the blood of many others. There was a slaughter in that forest hundreds of years ago when humans tried to take the kingdom. They were driven off, since the humans couldn't navigate the forest as well as we can, but there were still hundreds, if not thousands of elves killed in there." He raised his gaze back up, heaving a deep breath. "Disrespecting the resting place of so many of our people and the trees that feed off the life they gave them is one of the worst crimes you could commit in Larnion."

"Which is why we were so pissed when Fatass tried convincing his mother to 'just cut down a few trees' to expand Kupa Keep's reach," Stan muttered. "It was an affront on their sacrifice."

Butters, Kendra, and Craig all cringed into themselves, each feeling a rocket of shame shooting through their spines. After all, they had been in agreement with Cartman, at least on the idea that the elves had overreacted by attacking the men who were "just" trying to trim back the tree line so long ago. They just thought the Larnions wanted to keep a large portion of unused land for themselves just to have it.

Having some context made their anger far more understandable though.

'Bet Fatass even knew that story, I'm sure Gerald and Sheila let Liane know the circumstance of the attack,' Kendra thought with a huff. Not like Cartman would care. He'd happily axe every last tree down himself and make the Broflovskis watch him do it if he could.

"You can't take out trees, you can't harvest, and you can't hunt in ih'ara taur," Kyle continued. "You may only travel through, and an elf may only do so if they offer prayer to the fallen and ask forgiveness for impeding on their rest."

"Gosh," Butters murmured, looking back at him with a sad smile. "You guys really have some respect for each other, huh?"

Kyle snorted, rolling his eyes in good humor. "Don't worry, plenty of us are assholes, too. I'm sure plenty more than a handful of those soldiers would not have been the best of elves to deal with in day-to-day life. But if it weren't for them, Larnion may not still be standing today. They gave their lives, it's only fair we give them a moment of our time and remembrance."

Butters nodded, brown eyes flickering up at the trees beaming down at them so proudly and shifting atop his horse. "So, if we ain't headin' into I-…Ihera…"

"Ih'ara taur," Stan rolled his eyes.

"There," he ducked down, embarrassed, "then where're we headin'?"

"Right up there," Kyle gestured towards an opening in the trees a few yards ahead. "A small glen inside of lena'pae taur, the fawn forest," he shrugged. "It's where does typically have their children, and it's considered bad natured to hunt in the area for their mothers when birthing season rolls around. Stan and I would go there all the time when I got tired of my mother," he chuckled. "It's just nice and away from the palace for a while."

Stan glanced back at him for a moment, heaving a deep sigh. He'd tried to convince Kyle to just give it a couple more weeks before venturing out, but Kyle had threatened to take his usual running-off shenanigans far off palace grounds if he kept pushing him. Besides, Stan reasoned wearily, there were four guards with them and Kyle was no stranger to the woods. He'd probably have more to worry about with Kendra and Butters not knowing how to handle nature than he would any bout of illness from his prince.

He tugged on his horse's rein, directing his stallion and their group to veer towards the right towards the leaved awning. The sound of beaten dirt was replaced with the gentle thud of pressing grass. He couldn't help but admit to himself that he missed these trips to lena'pae taur as much as Kyle probably did. It was just nice to escape the constant shifting tides of humdrum palace life and the threat of politics abound. He also missed the solitude, of just having himself and his prince watching the daylight hours dwindle away and tangling themselves up upon the grass for hours at a time.

The chances of that being today's case were slim to say the least.

His gloved hand came down and patted his horse's neck as they came under a canopy of elm branches. He squinted, the mottled light of the sun hitting just-so on the curve of the river sneaking its way through the back half of the glen and slamming into his pupils.

Kendra and Butters sat straighter, their eyes widening and their heads swiveling as they took in the entirety of the enclave around them.

"Wow," Butters murmured, a smile playing on his lips. "We ain't never had nothin' like this in Kupa Keep."

"Duh," Christophe scoffed, eyes rolling. "You 'umans keel every'zing you touch."

"Christophe," Kyle looked back at him with a slight warning in his tone, the guard nodding abruptly and shutting his mouth. Kyle sighed and shook his head, the group coming up to the foot of the river and finally heeling their horses. Regardless of how long he'd held such a statement to be true himself, he didn't need Christophe sending the humans into even more of a guilt-trip than he could tell he'd already shoved them along. He stood in his stirrups and brought his right leg around, smoothly swiveling out of his saddle and landing with a thud on the dirt. Kyle walked over to Kendra, offering a hand that she took gratefully as she slid from her side-saddle positioning beside him with a wince.

"Your Highness, where should we put the horses?" Butters asked, giving his own a pet along her flank.

Kyle gestured to Stan, "You wanna show 'em?" He turned to Kendra and smiled, "May want to get your bag."

She nodded, hurrying to do as instructed as Craig brought his own steed beside her and grasped Ilnea's reins. Kendra unhooked the leather pouch from Ilnea's saddle and slung it over her shoulder, giving Craig a thankful nod as he began leading the mare off behind Stan and Butters' lead, Christophe on the other side with his and Kyle's horses.

They found themselves alone by the river, Kendra blinking at Kyle holding an intricately carved bow in his slender fingers. She stepped up next to him as he tested the string's tautness, tapping his shoulder and cocking her head inquisitively.

He smiled a bit shyly, rolling his shoulder before placing the strap of his quiver over it. "Do you like fish?"

She nodded briskly, tucking escaped hair behind her ear.

"Well me, too. And I haven't had any in forever," he drawled, pulling an arrow from his quiver and grasping a thin twine rope tied to the grip of his bow. "I don't know if you're squeamish, but I wanted to get 'em myself," he smiled awkwardly.

Kendra grinned, waving off the notion with a playful eyeroll. She watched, fascinated as he moved to carefully wind the running end of the twine around the fletching in a tightly wrapped pattern of crisscrosses. She smirked at his tongue poking between his lips in the slightest as he was lost in concentration, continually tugging at the rope to watch if it held.

Kyle glanced up at her intense stare, blushing in the slightest and clearing his throat. "Have you ever used a bow?"

She shook her head. Not in Kupa Keep, that's for damn sure. Last thing Cartman would want is for her to have any kind of proficiency with a weapon as much as he tended to piss her off.

He hummed, "I'm technically not 'supposed' to," he rolled his eyes, doing a final tug check and nodding approvingly. "My mother is pretty against it, despite so many of our ancestors having used them and swords and staves," he scoffed.

Kendra moved to sit on a large rock near his post and he inched closer to her location as he checked out the water, stretching out his arms and wrists. She pulled a stack of parchment and a corked inkwell from her bag, quickly undoing it and snatching her quill. She handed him a simple query: 'Why?'

Kyle smirked sadly, cracking his elbow with a long sigh. "Well I'm a prince. And a sickly one at that," he mocked. "A boy of my health should only be concerned with speeches and small visits to my people and my studies. Anything else is just needlessly dangerous," he said, watching her shoulders shake with a small, if not a bit sympathetic laughter. Blue eyes watched him as he investigated the slight murkiness of the river with a falling face. "Spirits forbid I learn to defend myself," he muttered, sharp eye catching the glimmer of a fish's scales halfway into the water a bit down the way. He hummed, moving to rip his boots from his feet and throw them behind him. He set his quiver down beside Kendra's legs and slipped off his riding coat, tossing it atop his boots.

"My prince, could you maybe wait?" Stan called as the group headed back towards them, leaving the tied-off horses behind at a spot of land down the way by the river and a patch of dewed grass to snack on.

"I'm fine, Stanley," Kyle rolled his eyes, leaning down and pulling his tight pantlegs up to a little over halfway up his calf and stepping forward to dip a foot into the river. He shivered at the rushing chill but licked over his lips, pressing forward and letting his toes sink into the mud of the basin. He glanced back at Kendra who gave him a supportive, intrigued smile and turned back around, pulling his bow up into position.

Stan hurried beside Kendra's spot, face falling. "Kyle!"

"Stan I am six feet away from you," Kyle snapped. "Go get some wood and make a fire, will you?"

He groaned, rolling his eyes. He glanced to the three awkwardly lingering and seeming not sure if they were supposed to join Kyle's escapades or not. "Will you three get the wood?" he asked tiredly. "One of us needs to watch him."

"No you don't!" Kyle yelled back.

His ranger grimaced, "Yes. We do." He looked back at the others and nodded. "Go."

"You're not my boss," Craig said flatly, flipping him off before turning to head towards the surrounding trees and fulfill the request anyway with the other two in tow.

Kendra laughed, shaking her head at his disposition before turning back to look at Kyle slowly creeping further into the river. Stan stood stock-still in front of her as he dropped his supply bag, eyes never leaving his prince's concentrated form.

Kyle licked over his lips, coming to where the current just barely splashed the edge of his pants and moving to hook the nock into its point on the string. Green eyes stayed focused on the scales moving their way slowly into range against the stream. He twisted his waist, muscles tightening as he exerted enough strength to pull back his string and take aim. A slight tremor ran down his working wrist, a bit too out of practice and still not where it should be in its strength. No better way to fix the problem than to work it back into shape, he surmised.

Kyle waited for another push of movement from his target, revealing the widest breadth of its side and he grunted as he let go of his arrow. The air from the fletching rushed past his finger, brow furrowed as it flew into a slight diagonal line and broke the water's surface. He saw it give a sudden jerk and the rope beginning to move sporadically, sliding the bow around his shoulder and hauling in his line. He grinned at the resistance, seeing a slight bloody trail following his catch and pulling it above the surface in front of his face. He smiled wider at a direct hit along its lateral line and looked back at his audience. "Still got it!" he called, tossing the arrow to Stan with a gentle underhand and watching him snatch it from the air.

"Never said you lost it!" Stan teased, wincing a bit in pity at the fish struggling to find its way back into the river as he gripped around its gills and ripped it off the arrow with a harsh tug. Kendra cringed at the sound of scales ripping and the pieces of organs and flesh that stuck along the arrow head. Stan tossed the flopping victim onto his bag and knelt to clean the arrow off before tossing it back to Kyle, who resumed his focused stance.

He and Kendra watched, enthralled as he immediately let another arrow fly and brought up another catch to be put aside. Stan shook his head, amused and proud in one fell swoop as another fish the length of his head and the width of his broadsword came back his way to deal with.

Kendra locked eyes with Kyle as he waited, giving him a small clap. Kyle blinked, blushing and looking back down at the water, his feet shifting in the rolling mud beneath them.

Stan sighed as he moved to clean off the weapon once again. "Probably only need one more this size for all of us, Kyle!"

"Will do!" he called back, glancing back their way and holding out his hand, Stan lightly tossing the arrow back towards him.

Stan looked at Kendra's impressed face and couldn't help but give a smirk. "He got really good with a bow when we were kids," he said, Kendra sitting up in attention, almost amazed at Stan speaking to her unprompted. He looked back out towards his prince and scratched at his hair. "He got bored one day of studying, snuck out into the armory, and stole one, a target, and a shit-ton of arrows. More than he could carry, so he got me to help," he rolled his eyes with a grin, watching Kyle trekking along a bit looking for another fish to come his way. "He spent hours shooting, and he was great."

Kendra hesitated before jotting down a quick note and passing it to him. 'I'm surprised with as good as he is, he never once mentioned it.'

Stan shrugged, handing her back her paper. "Kyle's not very good at bragging," he winced. "It's like his magic, or his diplomacy skills. No matter how good he is at it, he keeps it to himself until he deems it necessary to bring up. And even then, it's a toss-up," he said. "The bow especially, though. The queen hates that he can use it, the only reason she lets any touch his hand is the captain of the guard convinced her it was a good thing." Kendra raised a brow and he shrugged again. "Made some kind of excuse about keeping his focus sharp, but really he just saw Kyle had a knack for it and it made him happy. Not much does, so why deny him what we can find, right?"

Kendra nodded slowly, flipping her braid over her shoulder and looking back towards Kyle questioningly. Sickness and agitation of the constant coddling aside, he seemed to usually be happy. Maybe she just couldn't read him as well as she thought. Or maybe he was a great actor. She smiled softly as he speared another fish, dragging it up and carefully wading his way back towards them both with his prize.

"River was nice to me today," Kyle smirked as he stepped to the edge of the bank and handed Stan his arrow.

Stan smiled back fondly, "Had to do with your skill as well, My Prince."

He rolled his eyes, untying the twine from the curve of his bow and moving to sit on the grass leading into the water. Kyle set his weapon against the rock with his quiver, reaching down to scrub the mud off the soles of his feet.

Kendra watched Stan take Kyle's catches over towards the other three down the way and their bundle of twigs and rocks as they worked together to try to build a fire, shaking his head at them all the way. She glanced back to the bow beside her, curiosity overtaking her and gently gripping the curved wood to bring up to her face. She ran her gloved fingers over the swirling carvings before her in the pale ash. She dipped down, feeling the curling strand of taut twine and marveling at how it managed to stay in place and not bring the whole bow collapsing into itself from its tightness.

Kyle looked back at her as he managed to finally work the dirt from between his toes, a smile crawling up his face. "Do you wanna try it?" he asked.

She glanced at him, a gulp riding down her throat and her fingers clenching around the ash. She gave him a wincing shrug and he chuckled to himself, twisting and standing up, offering her a hand to do the same. He grabbed his quiver and placed it back over his shoulder, gripping an arrow from its hold.

"Easier without gloves," he suggested. She hesitated still and he gave her a reassuring smile, "I'll show you, it's not hard," he promised. "'Sides, they'll take a while," he gestured back to their guards fighting with sparking rocks and Butters poking at a fish still gasping for water.

Kendra took a long breath and nodded, moving to slip her gloves off, saying a silent thank you to herself for handling the hair along her knuckles a few days prior. She dropped them onto her bag and looked down to see Kyle handing her a red-feathered arrow. Kendra tongued over her lips, gripping it and pulling it towards herself, shuddering at their bare fingers brushing over one another through the transfer.

Kyle shook off his own shiver and cleared his throat, watching her squint at the set up of the nock. He stepped closer. "Okay, so line it up right here at the mark," he pointed to a small, inked line along the twine. She did so, feeling the resistance as the groove slid over the string and slipped into place. Kyle gulped, moving up and grasping around her hand holding the grip. "Move your hand around to the side of it and down just a little," he instructed, guiding her along. He nodded in approval, moving to her other side and double checking before moving to rest the arrow on the top of her hand.

She watched him, skin tingling as he moved his attention to her other hand, pulling one of her fingers to rest atop the fletching.

"You only need three fingers to pull back," he told her, avoiding eye contact and awkwardly shifting his bare feet atop the grass. He glanced across the river, jerking his head towards the mass of trees facing them. "All right, see that huge oak right across from us?" he asked, looking up at her as she took a see for herself and nodded. "Okay, bring it up," he instructed, guiding under her arm. "Keep your supporting arm bent, drawing elbow over your shoulder…" he pressed her right arm up, pouting at how much this seemed to emphasize their height difference.

Kendra noticed as well, looking down at her and wiggling her brows teasingly, laughing at his pout deepening.

"Knock it off," he huffed. "Okay stand facing me straight-on," he said, watching her attempt to twist to his dictation, still angled off slightly. "Um okay a little more uh… you know with your feet…" he stammered, hands twitching to help but unsure of how to proceed.

She rolled her eyes with a grin, fingers along the string releasing their grip and grabbing his hand, pulling it to settle on her waist in permission. Kyle blinked up at her as she pulled her arrow back into place and reassumed her stance, watching him expectantly.

His face couldn't get any fucking warmer, he decided, wondering if he was about to catch fire as his other hand came to the other side of her waist and helped in twisting her into a proper stance. "Point your back foot more towards me, just straight-on," he repeated, reaching up and lightly pushing on her shoulder to straighten her posture. They met stares and she smiled, Kyle returning the expression awkwardly before placing gentle fingers on her covered chin and moving her head to stare down the line to the target.

"Okay," he took a long breath, his hands lingering longer than need-be before he moved to help keep her arm steady. "It's a little rough to pull the first few times but just go ahead and try." He kept his hands out of the arrow's path, aiding her in keeping steady as she winced at the strength needed to keep tugging. "Go until your hand is touching your cheek, you're doing fine," he encouraged. "Look down the arrow, see your target, keep it straight towards it and off your hand."

She bit on her tongue, back muscles straining as she fought to keep it pulled up as instructed. Her elbow felt unnaturally high in the air, the string digging into her three fingers with the bitter need to snap forward.

"You're doing great," he said, helping her keep her drawing arm steady. Her fingers touched her cheek and she gulped, Kyle's supervisory hands leaving her to her own whim. "Keep the bow steady where you have it after you've let it fly so you don't mess up the direction or hurt your arm," he suggested. "If you think you're lined up, just go for it."

A long breath expanded her chest, eyes narrowing as she homed in on the oak across from her. As she exhaled, she unwound her fingers, feeling the sudden snap forward of the rope and a rough recoil she wasn't expecting. The arrow flew, straight and true over the water and landing in a slim crevice of the bark specified.

Kyle smiled widely, looking up at her as she dropped her stance and glanced back down at him for his notes. "Great job!" he said excitedly. "See? I told you it wasn't hard." He reached behind him to grab another arrow and held it out for her. "Go for two?"

She grinned just as brightly, beaming from his proud approval of beginner's luck as she accepted the challenge.

He gnawed on his tongue a bit, finding a slightly slimmer tree off towards the side and pointing at it. "The one with the red flowers in front of it," he said. "Think you can get that one?"

Kendra looked down the way to find it, giving a slight shrug and beginning to move to line herself up. Kyle followed along with her, his hands falling more naturally onto her waist and arms to aid her way. "There ya go…" he said quietly, taking a long, steadying breath of daffodil, moving just a touch closer in front of her as they moved. He gave a quick glance as she automatically fell into the proper stance and nodded, pulling back.

Her back muscles gave a slight twinge and she huffed through her nose, once more letting her arrow fly. The arrowhead slammed into the decided tree. Kendra looked down to see Kyle blinking and a slow grin creeping up his face.

"Holy shit you're a natural," he laughed breathlessly. "Kinda wanna see if you can miss a target."

Kendra's eyes lit up with devious inspiration and she held up her finger, handing him the bow and making way to her parchment. Kyle watched her for a moment, seeing her on a bit of a writing tirade and he laughed to himself, snagging his own arrow out of the quiver and lining up towards her first tree. He gave his neck a short crack and let loose, smirking as it landed just slightly under and to the left of her own hit.

This was great. If she was good at it, maybe she'd want to go out riding and shooting, too. He would tell the bowyer to craft her a weapon of her own once they got back to the kingdom, they could go out and spend whole days just lost in friendly competition and he could relax. Not to mention, his mother sure as shit couldn't raise too much of a fuss about it if he was spending time with his betrothed engaged in some sort of mutual hobby.

This could not have gone better for him.

He broke from his happy wanderings as Kendra waved a sheet in front of him excitedly, his eyebrow raising suspiciously as he took it from her fingers.

'I propose a wager, just to make this even more fun. Let's see if I can miss when I have something to really shoot for. If I hit whatever target you specify, you owe me a real kiss.'

His face erupted back into color, looking up at her and finding himself staring at a half-lidded stare and a suggestive brow. "I… I…" he didn't know how to approach this. A part of him wanted someone to come over and give him the damn proper response to such a bold request.

He blinked. Well. Was it really bold at this point anymore? They'd been courting for nearly two and a half months. He knew well enough from stories from other elven royalty his age that he and Kendra were advancing at a snail's pace in comparison. The days of hand-kissing only until the marriage night were long gone, had died out before even his parents' seasons. But still.

Kyle gulped, looking up at her expectant face and trying to stop his anxious tremble. "Um… okay." He said, not aware until the words had already tumbled out that he had any intention of agreeing.

Even Kendra looked shocked at his easy acceptance of her terms before her eyes glistened with excitement, taking the bow back and snatching an arrow. She gestured dramatically around for him to choose his target.

The urge to save face rolled down his spine and he cleared his throat. "You realize that with that kind of term, I'm gonna make it difficult and not help you," he said, barely managing to stifle a hitching breath. She nodded, a sly smirk hiding under her scarf. He bristled, looking across the river with squinted eyes for some form of challenge. He found a spot that stood out and nodded, raising his arm to point a good eighty yards down the way. "Okay, see down there? The tree with the broken branch that's dipping into the river?"

Kendra nodded, scoffing playfully at the simplicity of the large target before he put his hand up.

"Oh no, not just the tree," he clarified, his own eyes sparking with a mischief that sent Kendra into an unprepared stir. "The little patch of moss down towards the bottom of it."

Kendra looked back, barely seeing the green crawling up the side in a little blotch and blinking. She took a deep breath. Well. She was the one who wasn't fuckin' specific with size, she supposed. But, she nodded nonetheless, trying to find the right place to line up. She stepped to the side trying to find her angle and found herself at the edge of the riverbank. A frown hit her face and she reached down, prying off her heels and tossing them by Kyle's feet, sliding her leg down into the river and shivering.

"Shit, Kendra you don't have to-" he tried, stopped by her hand held up as she continued moving both feet into the muck, her skirt caught in the rushing current and dragging behind her in a warbling dance of silk. She paid it and the mud between her toes no mind, eyes narrowed as she finally found herself parallel to the patch of moss.

She rolled her shoulders, easily moving her arms into line and keeping herself steadily standing against the water pressing past her chilled calves. She took a long, heavy breath as she raised the secured arrow off her clenched hand and slowly drew the string back. A noticeable tremor racked through her stabilizing arm and she closed her eyes, forcing it to calm itself before allowing herself to see once again. Her fingers pressed against her cheek, the moss lined up right down the straight line of her arrow.

'Come on, I've goddamn earned this,' she thought with a huff, letting go and both watching with unwavering intensity as it flew forward. They saw it hit the tree, eyes squinting at the location of it relative to the moss. Kyle came back into the river to hurry beside her and look from a better angle. They both gulped, seeing it right against where the moss ended, it could have landed on either goddamn edge. Kendra frowned, pulling the bow over her shoulder and hiking up her skirt to go inspect for herself, to see if she hit even just a tiny patch for it to count.

"Whaddya know," Kyle said softly and stopped her, Kendra barely hearing him over the water underneath them as she looked down to see him staring at her. "You hit it."

She blinked in shock before gradually breaking into a smile and laughing to herself as she leaned down and bumped his shoulder. They stood in a tense silence for a few moments before Kendra finally allowed herself an indulgence she'd yet to partake in, putting a hand on the back of his head, bare fingers buried in his curls. They were just as soft as she'd imagined, and she was entranced, letting the copper tendrils spiral loosely around her nails, feeling his shiver with each slight tug and brush against his scalp.

Kyle nearly fell back from the intensity of her stare as she played in his hair, heart pounding wildly as he found himself lost in an endless sea of blue eyes. He couldn't feel the cold of the river, didn't notice the pieces of dirt and rock slipping past their feet. He swallowed hard.

A bet was a bet.

A gentle, nervous hand raised up to touch her cheek, feeling her reciprocating as his thumb lightly trailed the edge of the scarf over her mouth. He guided her down, standing on his toes to lessen the distance between them. Neither of them could seem to breathe the crisp glen air anymore, completely lost in the heavy, homey scent of one another. Their heads tediously tilted to the side opposite each other's, Kyle's thumb finally hooking into her scarf and moving to smoothly drag it from its space, to destroy the barrier between them as their lips edged so close to one another's. Her fingers trailed back up lightly to wind through the plush field of curls, Kyle's free hand fell comfortably onto her waist, and their eyes slipped shut as the heat between their faces became nearly unbearable.

"Your Highnesses!" a loud, cheerful voice called to them, both jerking back in shock before Kendra's scarf even had the chance to fully slip from her mouth, the river splashing in agitation around their stumbling flinches. They clutched at their chests, heaving breaths of terror and alarm as they looked to see Butters standing at the bank waving to them. "Your Highnesses, the fish are almost ready!"

"Thanks, Butters," Kyle croaked out through a dry gulp, waving him away.

He grinned at them and gave a small bow as he turned and headed back towards the group around the fire debating the proper way to check if the fish were done.

Kyle and Kendra looked at each other, laughing nervously and still trying to calm their racing hearts. "Um let's… get out of the river," Kyle suggested, getting a nod in return and holding out his hand for her to grasp. They waded back through the water together, not quite able to look at one another and their matching red faces. Kyle helped her step out before following suit, taking his bow back as Kendra handed it to him and she went to her parchment.

He watched her for a moment, fingers curling around his bow and sinking into himself. He didn't know how to feel. Relieved? Disappointed? Annoyed? Embarrassed? Maybe it was all of those, he couldn't tell. His head was pounding, the air was nothing but the overwhelming scent of daffodils and sap, his stomach was so twisted in on itself that he felt like he was suffering through his hunger pains after his sickness bout yet again.

Kendra couldn't say she was feeling much different, her heart aflutter and her mind screaming her down for risking so much just because a few feelings took hold before she could control them. She knew better, knew that her scarf coming off carried huge possible consequences. Damn it all if she could have stopped herself anyway.

She straightened herself up and took a steadying breath, nearly nauseous with the engulfing aroma of grass and bark. Had to act the part, though. She finished writing her note and handed it to the flustered prince with an exaggerated wink before all-but-forcing herself to walk away towards their guards.

Kyle watched after her and the trail of water her dress left in its wake, muddled green eyes slipping down to penmanship shakier than he was used to seeing out of the princess.

'You're safe for now it seems. But you owe me. I can wait for whenever you're ready, though, My Prince,' it read, Kyle gulping at an inked heart plastered on the end of it like its own form of punctuation. He glanced up to see her with a smile on her face, not giving him another look and leaving him to his own devices. Kyle bit his lip, setting his bow down back by the rock and stealing another glance at the scripted heart. He carefully folded the note, sliding it delicately into his pocket before making himself walk towards the waiting group and take a seat beside her.

She shifted closer towards him, their thighs lightly pressed against one another's as they watched their guards arguing over the proper way to stoke their small fire and Butters unsuccessfully trying to mediate. Kyle looked down as a soft, ungloved hand came to clench around his own, feeling the smug smile leaking from her face and forcing a stuttering breath to even itself out. He turned his hand, smoothly interlocking in her fingers as their eyes remained forward.

A slight squeeze sent his heart racing, his eyes closing for a moment before returning the simple gesture. He felt a mirroring shudder race through her arm and gave a small, smug smile of his own.

Whenever he was ready.