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Pinot sat beside the water’s edge, lightly dipping her paw in it before raising that paw to daintily lick the drops of water from her toes. She was still upset about the lost night as she sat there. Noir had terrible timing, it seemed. A ruined night, and she hated that. She also hated those looks she saw between Heinrich at Noir. Pinot still believed he would not settle for some common blood female, but he was a prince and could do what he wishes, could he not? It did not make her any less upset, but she certainly would not bring the situation to Heinrich. That would just be a foolish thing to do.

Pinot looked from her paw as she heard the familiar voice, smiling softly towards the leopard approaching. “Prince Heinrich, lovely to see you. Of course you may join me.” She spoke, setting her paw back on the ground. Her previous thoughts on the other night drifted away, more focused on this moment now that the prince had joined her. “It certainly is a fine evening, even better with good company.” She spoke, looking from the sky to Heinrich.

Pinot was a little curious about his question, as it was not the first time he had asked her how she felt about being here, however perhaps it was simply nothing. It could just have been him wanting to make sure she continued to enjoy her time here, and that nothing had gone wrong to make her wish to leave. “My time here has been lovely.” She replied. Though his next question had taken her a bit by surprise she tried not to show it. “Perhaps you may be surprised to find this out, but there is no mate for me to return to, nor any home. It has just been me and my aide for a time, and it is not the kind of life I expected to end up with, and one I shall not miss.” Her reply was true. She hated being out there almost on her own, with only Noir to keep her company. She trusted the black and white leopardess, but she was just used to so much more. Being here with Heinrich, in this camp of his followers, was like getting a bit of her previous life back.

Even more surprised was she of this question. Pinot was upset, sure, though she tried her best not to show it. He was a prince after all, and she was just some unknown leopardess he happened to come across. Whether he had interest in her, like the rumors had said, or otherwise he had to know who was staying with him and his followers. It was likely someone might be out to do harm to him and his, and perhaps he was just trying to protect those under him. It did not make her any less upset, but she attempted to understand why he would ask her such. “Yes, my family were nobles within my old home. I was not direct royalty, but our blood was the closest thing to it.” She paused for a moment, her own gaze set towards the darkening horizons.

“Unfortunately I was unable to stay there. Some half-truths of myself got to the king from some servant. They thought me intent on obtaining a higher rank through violent means, which was preposterous, but their minds could not be changed.” Pinot was not sure what else to say, so she fell into silence. She didn’t want to look at Heinrich though, worried of what he might think, so she kept her gaze ahead of her.

Pinot nodded silently as he spoke. She of course had assumed as much, that it was merely for the safety of him and his followers, however she was shocked as he continued. Not just a prince, but the crown prince! This caught her by surprise, surely, but it was not until his final statement that her surprise was likely fully visible upon her face. Of course the rumors had said he had interest in her, but to know that that interest had all along been from a crown prince was just all the more surprising. Of any female he could have had he had chosen her? It seemed almost too much to take, or to even believe! Her gaze shifted slowly towards the distant mountains. To think, he was prince of a land within sight of them and he wished her to be at his side when he took rule of it. Then she realized that she had been sitting there in stunned silence and turned to look back at him.

“I am..” She paused, unsure of what words to use. “Surprised, to say the least. To think one such as yourself finds me worthy of being a queen? It’s..” Once again words failed her. This surprised and frustrated her. She was used to knowing what to say in a situation, had even been taught to keep her cool, and yet here she was, stumbling over words and not even able to speak a full sentence without pausing to gather her thoughts. “Of course I would be honored and overjoyed to accept.” She could think of nothing else to say. Her thoughts were moving too quickly over what had just happened, and her gaze shifted once more towards those distant mountains.