“I see. Then I had better think about what to ask then.”
“Indeed.”
He rubbed a hand over his chin and made a face like he was thinking, over exaggerated, and it made her giggle. He looked over at her again and said, “Okay, what is your favorite pastime?”
“Hmm, there are so many, I don’t think I could pick just one.”
“Very well, just give me the first one that pops into your head. Then give them to me, in random order if you want.”
“Alright. I enjoy walking in the gardens. When I was very little, my mother taught me the names of all the flowers planted there. We would walk through and I would name one, lean over to sniff it, and tell her what I thought the smell reminded me of.”
“Really? Every flower?”
“Yes. I could tell you every flower that’s growing in your gardens as well. I will show you sometime if you’d like.”
“I would like that very much.”
“Hmm, what else. Okay, I also enjoy riding through the countryside, over the hills and through the fields of wild flowers. I like to ride hard, so the wind is in my face and the smells come and go so fast I can’t separate them. This is one of the reasons I wear clothes such as these. I don’t like to feel confined. I ride like the wind itself, so I can be one with it.”
“More.”
She laughed. “I enjoy swimming in the watering hole in the summer. It’s down in the far glade behind the orchard. I like to feel the sun on my face and the cool water on my skin. On a hot day, the water refreshes me, makes me feel renewed. Sometimes I watch as the loons come out to drink or take a bath. I will sit as still as a stone and peek at them from behind the reeds. They dip their heads and then lift their necks high into the sky and gargle the water, then sing their high pitched song.”
He suddenly had a vision of her swimming in the watering hole, the sun glistening off her soft pale skin, and he longed to be there too. He shook the thought away, reminding himself again that he promised Alek he would not go down that road, or anywhere near it. If she knew what he was thinking, she’d stop talking and he didn’t want that. He was enthralled with her. He watched her speak, enraptured by every word that came out of her delicate mouth. She spoke like a woman, but with a passion of a child, mesmerized by the smallest detail of life. He was excited just listening to her describing what most people would find ordinary, passionate about things that grown people have forgotten about.
She saw him staring at her, and she stopped and looked at him. “What now?”
“I don’t know. I find your excitement at the littlest detail fascinating. You speak about mundane things as if they were life altering.”
“Well.. have you ever really spent the time looking at things, experiencing things in a different way?”
“Not since I was a boy poking sticks at the pond frogs in the garden.”
“Well then how can you ever expect to feel anything passionately if you don’t see things bigger than they are? This world is very large, and everything in it has a purpose. We may not know what that purpose is but that doesn’t mean it should be brushed off as unimportant. Life needs to be experienced. You cannot sit on the sidelines and watch it all go by and then expect to feel passion for it.”
He smiled even bigger now. He was looking into her eyes, once again getting lost in the emerald green pools. She decided to turn the attention on him now. They had talked too much about her, and she was getting uncomfortable revealing too much about herself. Although he seemed genuinely interested, she refused to tell him everything just yet. He would have to earn it. She turned the conversation to him.
“May I ask you a question, Your Majesty?”
“Of course, but it’s Dain.”
“Yes, of course, Dain. You’re the king, yet you have no vassals or attendants.”
“Is there a question in there?”
“I guess the question would be why?”
“I suppose it’s because I’m an independent king.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that like you, I’m perfectly capable of dressing myself.”
“I see.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“Yes, and no.”
“It’s true. Common sense would dictate that if you are waking in the morning and need to dress for the day, it’s safe to assume it means you have somewhere to go, or something to do. If that’s true, then I prefer to get on with my day. I can dress quicker by myself. Attendants tend to get under my feet.”
“I guess I understand that.”
“They handle the household and the many visitors that seem to come and go like the ebb and flow of the ocean.” He shook his head. “There are usually so many faces in and out that I seem to forget their names and titles even though I have known many of them since childhood. Although, while you are under my roof there will be none of that. Just in case.” He paused and smiled at her. “See, you and I are not so different.”