Elena picked at the loose bark of the tree, watching as the pieces flipped over in the air as they tumbled soundlessly to the floor below.
"Are you ready to come down now?" asked Henry, his hand gripping the tree limb she was perched on, his fingers mere inches from Elena's.
Elena sighed and rested her head against the tree trunk. "I don't know," she said through half-closed eyes.
"Please Princess? I've never told you this, or for that matter I've never told anyone this - but i'm not too fond of heights," he said, his ears turning just the slightest shade of pink.
Elena suppressed a laugh. Instead, she peered down at Henry with a frown. "It hasn't seemed to stop you from climbing up after me, has it?"
"It's not so much the climb Princess - it's the descent that, uh, well, gives me pause."
Elena sighed once more. As tempted as she was to stay up in the tree, it no longer provided her with the peace and quiet she had enjoyed just minutes before Henry's arrival.
"Fine," she said, lowering herself slowly onto the same branch as Henry.
A look of relief washed over Henry's face as he started to follow Elena's descent. Elena dropped easily from branch to branch, always a few ahead of Henry. Finally, she felt the cool, damp grass between her toes as she dropped lightly from the lowest branch. She looked up to see Henry's large muscular legs and arms straining against the forces of gravity. Once again, Elena suppressed a laugh, the absurdity of the situation not lost on her. Such a strong and powerful soldier battling with such an imposing enemy - a tree. Elena walked a few paces, putting a little distance between herself and the tree. She looked up at the moon, it's glow illuminating the castle grounds. Henry dropped heavily to the ground, having chosen to forgo the last branch altogether in order to feel the firm ground beneath his feet.
Henry followed Elena, stopping a few feet behind her.
"What now?" Elena asked, wrapping her slender arms around herself.
"I suggest that we both get some sleep, seeing how late it is."
"That's not what I meant," Elena said, shaking her head. "What I meant is, where do we go from here?"
"Well, in my eyes our arrangement still stands, so next week is a good a time as any - "
Elena frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "Things have changed since we made that arrangement," she said flatly.
"No they haven't - I see no reason for us to postpone anything," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"You don't see any reason?" Elena repeated incredulously, turning around to face Henry.
"No," Henry said firmly, taking a step towards Elena. "I don't really see any difference in our situation to that of a few weeks ago," he said, shrugging his shoulders again.
Elena took a step back in turn, shaking her head. She wasn't sure that Henry grasped the situation in it's entirety. "You don't really mean that, you're just being... oh, I don't know what you're thinking, but this will never work Henry. Too much has happened."
"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't care about what happened, it doesn't matter!" he said, taking another step forward and clutching Elena's arms in his hands.
"It matters to me," Elena said scathingly, wriggling free from his grasp.
Henry, realising his callousness, blushed deeply. "That's not what I meant Princess."
Elena turned her back on Henry, her previous misgivings surfacing once more. Clearly Henry couldn't understand or handle the complexities of their situation.
Henry watched Elena's back, contemplating silently the best way to handle the delicate nature of the conversation.
"I was planning on giving you this as a wedding present," he said slowly, pausing for a moment before continuing. "But seeing how you - well... I guess I may as well give it to you now," he said, pulling a small silk pouch from his pocket, loosening the drawstring around it's opening.
Despite her current state of mind, Elena's curiosity was piqued. She turned slightly towards Henry and watched as he tipped the contents of the small bag onto his large palm. Even in the moonlight, the contents sparkled. Henry lifted the chain, the small golden medallion swinging back and forth as he extended his hand towards Elena.
Elena's eyes followed the swinging of the medallion as though hypnotised. "How - Where did you find it?" she asked weakly as she reached out and accepted the necklace from him. Elena turned the necklace over in her fingers, the medallion unblemished and just as she remembered it.
"I think you were a little, um... overwhelmed, to see that I had picked it up that day. My goldsmith had to replace the chain, but other than that and perhaps a light cleaning, it is still the same."
"I don't... how..." Elena mumbled incoherently as she looked down at the medallion, a single tear leaked from her eye, she sniffed loudly.
"May I?" Henry asked, gently taking the necklace from Elena, stepping behind her. He undid the new clasp and placed it around her neck, his fingers touching her soft skin.
Elena shivered slightly at his touch, her trembling fingers touching the necklace that lay against her chest. Henry's hands moved from her neck in a sweeping movement down to her shoulders.
He gently pulled her back against his chest, whispering in her ear: "I want you Elena. I always have... always will."
Elena shivered in his arms. "I'm not the same girl that you caught in the forest Henry, not so long ago," she said softly.
"That skinny little trembling creature? No, you definitely are not- also, you smell nicer than she ever did," he said, inhaling the intoxicating smell of her hair.
Elena turned around to face Henry. She looked up at him, her face marked once more by tear tracks. "You know what I mean," she said.
Henry wiped away the remnants of her tears. "Yes, I do," he said, with a small, sad smile. "But that doesn't matter to me - I love you for who you are now too."
Elena blushed furiously at his words. Never in her life had anyone told her that they loved her and she couldn't deny how thrilling it felt - it was as if all the blood in her body had suddenly rushed to her head.
"Henry, I -" she started to say before Henry pressed his lips firmly against hers, cutting short her response. Elena broke the long kiss by pushing Henry gently away from her. "Henry, please wait - think for a moment - you are confused," she said, arching her back to prevent Henry from his renewed attempt of kissing her.
"I am not confused Elena," he murmured, tracing her bottom lip with his fingers.
"Of course you are! Henry, how can you claim to love me? You don't even know me!"
"Of course I know you- you are a beautiful, smart, passionate and kind woman. A courageous and loyal princess," Henry said as he cupped Elena's face in his hands. "I adore all of these things - even your stubbornness I find oddly endearing Elena," he said with a laugh. "And it's because I know all these things that I love you Princess," he said, kissing her passionately on the lips.
Elena stood thunderstruck, not only from the shock and intensity of his kiss - Elena had never experienced such a kiss before, but she was shocked to the core from his words. Elena broke the staggering kiss by twisting her head to the side, causing Henry to groan softly in her ear.
"You really love me?" she asked slowly, looking into Henry's eyes once more, which were ablaze with passion.
