From there the slow pace around the castle that you were used to turned into something faster, what with all the preparations that had to be made for moving a battalion of troops from here all the way back home. The journey had only taken a day for you and Simon, but you had only been two people, and you had been traveling at a rather fast pace the whole time. It would take at least two days to get the battalion back home - three if problems came up on the road.

It seemed like all of a sudden everyone had a job - the troops had to be gathered, supplies had to be packed, military equipment had to be distributed, there needed to be food and water for the journey - and it all needed to be done in a timely fashion.

Your job? Packing back up everything you had brought with you for your stay - this time without the help of the maids.

The door between yours and Simon's suite was propped open to let the conversation flow as you both packed. Simon was doing a considerably better job than you were - he was used to traveling light though, from his years at sea. For the most part, it was you struggling to pack and Simon laughing.

You struggled to tie a bag shut, using one hand to shove the contents of it inside while the other tightened the strings. In the other room, Simon stopped in the door, amusement clear on his face.

You huffed, turning to him. "If you're done, the least you could do is help me with mine."

"But you're doing such a good job on your own." Simon teased, stepping into the room and coming over to you. He took the bag from your hands and opened it, dumping the poorly packed contents out onto the bed.

"What are you doing?" You said. "I just had that all in-"

"Barely." Simon said. "At that point, it's better to just try again than to force it all in." He began sorting through what you had in that bag, re-folding all the clothes into tighter packed bundles and stacking the smaller items together to save space.

You sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed as you watched him work. "Maybe I shouldn't have even bothered unpacking - the maids had everything so nicely put together."

"We'll get it back in order." Simon said, focused on the task at hand.

You flopped backwards on the bed, staring up at the ceiling of the suite. You had gotten used to this little suite - you had grown fond of it actually. It would be sort of sad, leaving this room behind. You would miss a lot of things about this place - the cherry trees and the winding stone paths and the skylight in the throne room and how there didn't seem to be any panels of unstained glass in the whole place.

"I sort of don't want to leave." You said, not particularly speaking to anyone.

Simon responded anyways, a heavy sigh just under his breath. "I know what you mean."

You propped yourself up on your elbows, looking over at Simon who was still packing your things - much better than you had done. "I assume you've talked to Maven?"

Simon hummed, smoothing the wrinkles from one of your court outfits. "She said that after everything blows over she might come visit - and that I'm always welcome back here of course." He paused. "I just don't know when I'll be able to see her again."

"The war can't least forever." You said.

"But it could last close to it." Simon said, eyes flicking up to meet yours. "Sometimes these things drag on for years, you know."

"You'll get to see her again." You assured, even though you didn't know if it would be true. Simon had had a point when he'd said that wars could last close to forever - and with two sides as evenly matched as Etiennes army and the pillager insurgence there was no telling how long it would be before one side came out victorious.

That was the whole reason you were here though - hopefully with the added boost from Eret, you could Etienne could change the tide and win.

"I hope so." Simon said.

"You will." You said, now more confident. "Eret's support will help us win and the war will be over in no time and before you know it you'll be back here under the cherry blossoms."

Simon smiled, starting to load your things into the bag now, strategically rolling up things that could be rolled and making the most of the space. "That would be nice, wouldn't it?" He said, a wistful sort of tone to his voice now. "Do you think you'll come back here when all this blows over?"

You paused - you hadn't really considered the future past the war, as it was the thing that occupied the most of your mind these days. It would be nice though, to come back here without an agenda and really make the most of the beautiful place it was. And it would always be nice to see Eret again...

You didn't know if you would be able to though. You were still a member of Etienne's court though, and vacation days were few and far between for people that high up on the king's payroll.

"I would like to." You said. "I don't know how realistic that is, but it would be nice."

"Surely you'll get to see him again." Simon said.

"We weren't talking about Eret." You said, slightly bemused.

Simon's eyes glinted as they flicked up to meet yours. "Weren't we though?" He asked, tying the strings on your bag tight. "All done." He said, presenting the neatly packed bag to you.

You took it from him, admiring how he could turn your awful work into something so neat and orderly. "Thank you Simon." You said.

"Of course." Simon returned, a knowing smile on his face.