With a tight grip on a bag that contained his slave papers, all written by Helios and a change of clothes, Snow looked for the last time at Helios carriage traveling away from him.
''Come now child.'' a warm hand on his back startled him enough to drop the bag but he snatched it quickly enough ''-don't be scared of those woods, they are just here to guide us.''
Like a signal, he could see some branches moving out of the way, roots rearranging themselves making a nice, even path to walk on.
Paul smiled at him while Snow eyes widened at the magic display, a sudden breath leaving when the elder man actually helped him walk and even offered to take his bag.
were people always so kind? was something about him not right before? was it...was it his dancing?
The thought alone made him tremble and if it wasn't for Paul grip on him, he would had surely fallen down at this point.
''Easy there.'' Paul voice washed away his thought for the moment ''You did good till now, Master power is the strongest. With a few meals and good sleep you will be immediately better.''
The rest of the walk was made with Paul chattering away about the forest plants, the trees growth and the eager flowers that would open at any drop of sunlight. The old man not being in any way frail like his appearance made him look like. Or maybe Snow was just that weak.
After minutes Snow felt the strangest feeling in his life. He felt like talking as well. Paul calm and kind voice, explaining to him about the nature they were surrounded made him feel like he could join in as well. It was the strangest thought in Snow life.
''Tired?'' Paul asked amused when Snow let out a strangled sound, stopping himself from talking before opening his mouth. ''We should be close already, there's no need to be stubborn.''
Lightheaded, Snow feel the magic around him, steady, warm and strange making the trees move. Right before his eyes, a stone path was made and a huge metal gate was just a few meters from them.
They had arrived at Amortya Manor.
''Stubborn man.'' Paul tsked and for once in his life Snow feel like the insult wasn't mean for him
''This the main entrance.'' a grandiose stairwell that lead to a sturdy wooden door. Before walking there they passed a white paved way with what looked like a garden a little ahead of them. Snow couldn't see the place better but the colors that shined in that place made him curious.
Not enough for him to talk though.
''And this is the entry.''
Looking around him, Snow feel insignificative, he feel small, smaller then usual in the beautiful place he stepped in. He was so so dirty.
He wished they could go to his cell faster.
why are you telling me all this? Snow thought when Paul begin naming each door they passed and even the few items he never saw before. It was a little weird but still calming when Paul talked to him about the forest but the new information he was given now left him more confused then calm.
His legs begin hurting as well, the exercise being too much for him and he could feel his head pounding from an incoming headache.
''We had arrived Snow. You can go to sleep now.'' Paul hand pushed him inside the room making him freeze scared. The only thing his blurry mind could focus on was the big bed with fluffy pale pink pillows and white covers.
This was the wrong room. The wrong place for him. It was just a joke.
''This is the wrong room.'' Snow said once more, out loud this time. There was not enough time to cover his unsettling voice, the shock he feel being too big.
''Oh?'' Paul hummed, a wide smile on his face, looking around the room with an amused air, Snow waiting for the joke to be brought up ''I don't think so. You are exactly where you are suppose to be snow child.'' a few gentle pushes and reassuring words that Snow couldn't hear later.
He fell asleep on a bed for the first time of his life.
~~
Waking up in a bed, on a warm and fluffy surface was scary.
It was scary enough that Snow, right after a few moment of waking up, he scrambled out of the bed that couldn't possible be his own. Falling over, legs tangled in the blanket, he realized that he was still dressed in the rags from the day before.
It means that he fall asleep and Paul didn't want to bother him. It means that Snow saw the fancy, beautiful bed and immediately fall asleep like the dirty animal he is. Poor Paul must have been in troubles as well because of him.
Worried and with shuttered breaths, Snow untangled the blanket and begin wrapping it carefully and meticulously like the old granny from his cell did before. He never actually did this before, never having more than a thin piece of cloth to cover himself but he hoped that he didn't mess up more than he already did.
Trying to calm his nerves, Snow begin looking around the room, not touching anything but looking at everything with wide eyes and amazement.
''So pretty.'' he whispered in the quiet room looking up at the ceiling where intrigue details where painted over a warm colored background. Bright but gentle colors, shiny stones at almost every stand in the room, pots at the windows and a shelf filled with books.
He didn't know how to read or maybe he did but he forget. But every time he come across letters, Snow couldn't help but marvel at how pretty they looked like.
Snow never permitted himself to dream before, the act too far from his reality to happen but he thinks that if he ever dreamed before then this room would be exactly what he would see.