Ekon gave Princess Anasuri a broad smile and gently took her hand into his. His own hand was rather calloused, and he held her's as if it were a feather. As he took his first step into the water, a smaller smile formed on his face, he looked content. He supposed that his love of the wild came from his Wood Elf blood, but he liked to believe that a little bit came from his own mind, even if he was just lying to himself.

Ekon helped Princess Anasuri with ease, and listened to her intently. He had no experience with dresses and the like, and often wondered how constricting they were for women. Princess Anasuri's words added to the pile of negatives that dresses brought with them. Once she finished speaking, Ekon looked up at her, his eyes the same warm honey in color, and spoke. "Well then I suppose it is a good thing I am here after all." Ekon flashed her another bright grin before looking at his feet again, being careful not to trip and fall like an idiot.

"Of course it is a good thing," Anasuri said easily, like it was obvious, "I trust you."

Although there had been problems and issues, Anasuri did find herself being thankful for Ekon's presence. He seemed like he could truly be a good friend - and that meant something.

At the same time, Anasuri couldn't help but wonder if she was being too trusting. Ekon had, after all, attempted to kill her. Even if she had understood his reasoning behind it, there were times that the princess felt she had shrugged it off too easily.

Logic told Anasuri to be careful, and to be wary, and to find a new guard.

Yet.... her gut told her that this was the right choice to make.

Only time would tell if her decision was the right one, and gods above - Anasuri prayed that she had.

Ekon had to look away at Princess Anasuri's admission of trusting him, his cheeks turning a subtle shade lighter. He wasn't quite sure how the princess trusted him after what he'd try to do, but he was very grateful that she did. What he'd tried to do was stupid, and had almost cost her her life, and it was absolutely disgusting that he'd even thought of doing it in the first place. He wasn't quite sure how he'd earned Princess Anasuri's trust back so quickly, but he didn't plan on breaking it any time soon, and if he did then he probably deserved to die.

The water felt cool on Ekon's feet, and the warm sun created the balance in temperature. He couldn't help but smile at his luck, to have a stable job for the rest of his life (however long that may be with his old boss wanting him dead) and a person that he could consider a friend. He was unimaginably lucky, his eyes drifted back up to the princess, realizing that it was all because of her that this was possible.

Anasuri was oblivious to Ekon's eyes on her, focusing more on her foot placement, biting down on her lower lip in concentration. When they reached the other side, Anasuri made the last little leap on her own. "Thank you for the help," she brushed the stray strand of hair out of her face. Her long hair always got in the way of everything, and at that point, Anasuri was about to chop it all off.

Maybe that would be her task when they got back. It would be a pleasant change.

Ekon quickly stopped staring (which was rude to do in the first place) when he let go of her hand, though it lingered a bit more than he thought was necessary. At Princess Anasuri's words, Ekon waved as if brushing the words away. "Don't thank me m'lady, it's the least I could do. Where to next?" Ekon looked at her expectantly, the wind picking up and taking stray strands of his hair with it.

"Hmm..." Anasuri didn't really need to look around to know where to go next, but she wanted to enjoy the scenery for a moment longer, "This way," she said after a while, peacefully breathing by the riverside.

Anasuri led the two of them down a thin, worn trail, her fingertips lightly brushing against the trees as they passed by. Eventually, there was the soft sound of running water, and they walked into a sunny clearing.

"Here we are."

Here included a crystal clear pond, with a small river running into it. There was a lack of trees surrounding it, with tall, thin blades of grass covering the floor. Flowers dotted across the area, like it in the woods, except here they were more colorful and healthy, likely due to their ability to reach the fullness of the sun.

Today was a perfect day - the light breeze ruffling the grass, and creating ripples on the pond surface, while the sun kept everything warm, and great for swimming.

Ekon did not bother with trying to put his shoes back on, the cool grass underfoot was soft enough to just walk on. He followed Princess Anasuri with a smile, taking in the warmth of the sun as his eyes turned a melting brown.

The beauty of the pond and the weather made Ekon release a soft gasp as he stood in awe. He could not remember a time he had seen such a clean pond, or heard the bubbling of a steady, but gentle river. Nature's beauty never failed to shock him, even after years of seeing it. Perhaps it had something to do with his constant urge to be one with it, though he liked to believe that it was his own fascination with nature that made him so in awe of it. Even if his blood claimed otherwise.

"It is beautiful Princess Anasuri, how did you manage to find such a place? It is so rare to find a place that it is untouched by Elves, unbelievably so." Ekon had been to many a place, and never had he seen such a marvel. His eyes skimmed over to the princess, awaiting an answer with brilliant golden eyes.

Anasuri frowned, although it was more contemplative than sad, "It... was my grandmother's safe place. The previous king made a lot of expansions to the palace, but she did something..." her brows furrowed as she tried to grasp onto a memory that wasn't there, "Sorry, I can kind of remember my mother telling me, but that was when I was little. But my mother used to bring me here all of the time, and then after she... left... I'd come with my nanny."

Anasuri shrugged, and some of the tension in her shoulders melted away with the movement, along with the tension in her face, "Then I just kept coming. For some reason, no one else can find the place - not even my nanny, even though she'd been here hundreds of times."

The peaceful clearing had turned into Anasuri's safe place. She'd come out here and just lay in the grass for hours in order to escape the palace, and whatever nonsense the rest of the royal family were up to.

Of course Ekon knew about Princess Anasuri's mother, he knew most things about her life because he'd been briefed on it before coming to be her knight. Still, he had yet to hear her ever talk about her family, so it was a little surprising hearing about her grandmother. Ekon watched as Princess Anasuri seemed to go through quite a few emotions all at once, and immediately felt a little sorry for her. He couldn't quite empathize with having a mother who'd up an disappeared, he'd never had one,but he could see the tension in her body and knew that she wasn't quite comfortable speaking about it.

Ekon waited till Princess Anasuri finished speaking before he even opened his mouth, and even then it took him awhile to gather his thoughts. "Well thank you for sharing it with me, even if I am required to be here because I'm your knight and all. I can tell this space is special to you, and I am honored that you're willing to share it with me even if it is only for the day." Ekon turned to face Princess Anasuri again, his eyes finding hers. "So what is the plan m'lady? Do you want to eat first?"

Anasuri sometimes surprised herself with how easy it was to share a smile with Ekon, "I'm not going to eat quite yet, but if you want to, then feel free. Since no one else knows this place exists, then it's safe, so don't worry about being a guard right now. Just have fun."

Anasuri looked around the clearing for a moment, then turned to Ekon with a small giggle, "Turn around, okay? I have a swimming outfit on underneath, but it's weird to take off my dress with someone else around."

Once Ekon was facing away, Anasuri discarded her long over-dress. Underneath was a skin-tight outfit, made of a smooth and slick material. It was nearly the same rose gold color as Anasuri's hair - only a few shades darker - complementing her warm skin tone. The outfit showed off Anasuri's tattoos as well, which are hardly ever seen from underneath her dresses and formal wear.

"You are good now, Ekon. But anyway - I plan to swim for a bit, then eat later."