Page 53 of The Huntsman's Heart
Even though we make good time, we cannot travel all day and night. When daylight starts to make its way between the thin leaves of the winter canopy, I draw Guinevere into a glade of birch trees. “We will stop here.”
She looks around. “Why?”
“We need rest.” I begin unstrapping my sword, laying it carefully on the ground.
“What for?” The princess places her hands on her hips and glares at me. “Is this some ambush?”
Finding a comfortable spot, I sit, pulling off my boots to shake loose a stone which had worked its way down to my toes. “Hardly. But you need to rest.”
Rather than sit, she squats, without removing her weapons. A moment later she’s up again, pacing the glade. “We are wasting time. The sooner we get to Thornvale, the sooner I can return to the castle.”
Of course she is eager to return to her lovers. That little tug of jealousy is back, and I squash it down in frustration. “Well you need to rest.”
She glares at me. “You killed me, remember? I don’t sleep. I don’t eat.”
“I did not say you needed to sleep or eat. I said rest. Now sit down.”
“No.”
I let out an exasperated sigh. She might have changed in so many ways, but that stubborn streak is rooted deep within her. “Princess, let me give you some advice I learned the hard way. You need to rest. You may not need to sleep, but if you do not rest properly, your mind will force you to. If you have not done so, you will be feeling it already. Tense, restless, unable to still your thoughts?”
This gives her pause. To my surprise, she flings herself down onto the ground with a huff. “Well how am I supposed to rest, then?”
“Start by closing your eyes.”
She continues frowning at me.
I sigh. “Close your eyes, princess.”
Finally she obeys. “Then what?”
“Now we are going to relax. To stop thinking.”
“You say that like you can just banish the thoughts, but that is impossible.”
“Not impossible. It just takes work.”
She opens her eyes and flings her hands up. “This is ridiculous!”
I ignore her. Closing my own eyes, I find the most comfortable position I can with my legs crossed and my hands resting lightly on my thighs. “I like to start by noticing all the things around me. Sounds, sensations, smells.”
She lets out an irritated little noise, but when I peek a moment later, she is sitting like I am with her eyes shut. I smile to myself.
“Notice the way the leaves beneath you crush a little as you move. Notice the sound of my voice, the shifting of trees, the creak of the bark, the water in the stream, the birds.”
“There are no birds.”
“Keep listening. They’re quiet, but they are here.”
“I hear them!”
An irritated squawk rises from a nearby tree.
“Good. Now keep listening. Can you hear a leaf fall from a branch? A worm dig to the surface of the earth?”
“Now you are toying with me.”
“No. I am trying to help you.”
