"He's scared of losing me. I'm his only daughter, and though he tries to schedule as many lessons a day, the war scared him." She smiled at the butterfly, gently lifting her hand to observe its colors before it flew off. "Colorful little guy. Amazing honestly." She leaned against the trunk of the tree. "I appreciate the company, better then learning swear words from the old guards. I'm half tempted to say them in the castle."

Erik laughs "yeah Ralt is just an angry bull when he gets angry you cant close his mouth. Also i understand your fathers worry my parent worried I would die when I fought in the war I was thier eldest. I havnt seen them since I left for the war im a long ways from home in Hedeby. They think im dead atleast I think so hard to get the money to go home when I work day and night just to stay off the streets and to feed me, I do make decent money but I like helping th less fortunate and end up not having anything to save up with the increase of prices from the war." Erik lets out a sigh.

"Let me help." She asked, looking back to him. "Please, I can write to your family or at least give you a raise in pay. Hells I can tell my damn father to give you time to rest and at least see your family. It'll give you and them a peace of mind." She gasped as an idea came to mind. She eagerly climbed another branch close to his. "As my guard, what if I gave you permission to go? You said yourself I'm tough. There's no harm in you being gone for a tiny moment."

"your father would kill me if I left he would put a bounty on my head I think we should just send a letter." Erik says "and your father would work me to death if i missed a moment, but he lets Ralt take all the vacation time and basically live in the dining hall, no affence to Ralt he is a good man at heart." he turns to face her laying his back against a branch "anyways I dont really want to go back there... we had an argument before I left thats esculated quickly... adults do crazy things when they are drunk."

"You know me, I don't want to go back there either. All my desires tell me to stay here until the stars appear, count as many as I can." She turned to him and said, "But when we do return, tell me what you want to say in your letter and I'll write it. I'll get it sent as soon as I can." She sighed softly, gazing at the higher branches before she stubbornly continued climbing up. She grunted and squeaked as she occasionally stumbled.

Erik tries to go higher as well but the branch under him snaps and he starts to fall but he catches himself on a branch below and he laughs "didnt expect that to happen to me." he says picking a stronger branch to climb "when I was young I wanted to be a king, I wasnt afraid of death. I was foolish... I didnt care about my life... my dad always compared me to my 'god of a brother' he was shown as the better kid because he knew how to make friends and not enemies."

"I can see that in you. You're strong, stubborn and quite determined in the way you present yourself. I think-" She yelped as she tumbled down from her branch, trying to catch herself, yet landed heavily on the ground. She remained stil before she groaned out, "Ow. Hells damn me."

"I try to be like a gentle person but no one cares when you have siblings that are younger" Erik says. "are you alright!" he says as he slid down the tree and held out his hand to help her up. "you have to be more careful watch where you step and move". "shall we head somewhere else?"

She grasped his hand as she pulled herself up to her feet. She gently rested her hands along her back and groaned, "I'll feel it tomorrow morning, but I generally feel okay." She dusted herself off and chuckled, "There's a river not far from here if you wanna go down there." She started to head down the path and called, "Being a gentle man is something valuable, nothing wrong with that. I think if I am meant to be queen, our kingdom deserves a kind and gentle touch."

"I supose your are right you will be queen one day when your father falls and you find someone you fall in love with." Erik says as he follows Sofia through the woods and to the river band his feet sink into the soft sand of the rivers bank "the sand is warm in this cold day winter is at its rear". He sits down in the sand staaring at the river" its curents are a thing of beauty but also a show of grat power, he then grabs a handful of sand and allows it to slowly drain out of his hand.