Sania was delighted to have seen halfway through the kingdom of Azeera on a horse ride. Taffi had taken her through several routes and showed her several landmarks.
Of all the places they visited, Sania was most inconvenienced by the market, the number of villagers staring at her was rather uncomfortable, because not many of them knew that Taffi had a new wife.
They had yet to race each other on horses, and Sania had forgotten about it, she had more fun than she had had in years.
"Are you ready to see my favorite spot yet?" Taffi asked her with a smile.
He enjoyed the genuine smile on her face and wanted to make it last forever, and if taking her on a horse ride every day would do that then Taffi was willing to do so until she got tired of him.
"Yes," Sania replied with a smile, she had gone that far, so why not just conclude what they had started?
Leading their horses in a specific direction, Taffi led her toward the woods, leaving Sania to wonder why his favorite spot had to be in the forest.
"I see you had a lot of fun." Once again, Taffi tried to spark a conversation, and he was stunned to see how Sania replied without hesitation.
"I did, thank you, and Charlotte had fun too," Sania replied, but mentioning the name of the horse made Taffi wonder if she was happy because of him or because of the horse.
"So much for the training, I guess this was better instead." Taffi's utterance reminded Sania of the burning question that had been in her mind when he had told her earlier.
"What was the training supposed to be?" She asked as they entered into the woods. The trees in there were thin, but with long branches that spread across the sky like a carpet and with the leaves, the forest was like a canopy against the sun.
"Well," Taffi sighed, and thought about the best way to respond.
"There wasn't supposed to be any training, my love, I just wanted you to meet your horse again, I sent for her to be brought to the castle last night."
Sania was touched by his gesture, she couldn't believe that he did that for her even though he was displeased last night.
"I'm sorry," she apologized quickly.
"For what?" Taffi asked, he didn't anticipate the apology, and couldn't help but wonder why.
"Last night," Sania answered,
"You walked out of the room angrily, and I felt bad about it. Bringing my horse here even after that makes me feel like the worst person...
"No, My love, don't think of it that way." Taffi stopped the horse and Sania turned around to face him since she was in front.
"You don't have to feel bad about anything, I just wanted to make you happy and I'm happy to see that you loved the gift."
Sania sighed, she looked into his eyes just like he always wanted her to, she enjoyed it too for some reason, his face was calm, and his ocean eyes were captivating. As much as her body said no, Sania's mind wanted to jump on him and devour every piece of what she saw in him.
"Can I ask something?" She inquired and Taffi nodded his head in approval.
"Why don't you want to do what your mother wants, if it's causing a lot of fight among you...
"My love," he cut her off,
"I don't want you to think about my family, if this is about Tehila, just tell me if you want her out of the castle and I'll send her packing as soon as we get home. And if my mother tries to stop me, then I'll send both of them together."
"No, you don't have to do that," Sania interjected, and they both continued to lead their horses toward Taffi's favorite spot.
Sania couldn't risk Tehila leaving the castle. How else would she torture her by showering Taffi with pretentious affection in her presence? How else would she watch Tehila attempt to befriend her?
"So what do you want then?" Taffi asked her.
"I want you to be happy, and if anything makes you uncomfortable then I'll get rid of it." He assured her.
Sania remained silent through the rest of their ride, he wanted to know what she was thinking about, he wanted to please her and make her comfortable in his embrace. Whereas she wished to teach Tehila a lesson, nothing else occupied Sania's mind aside from countless plots on what and what not to do after they returned to the castle.
"This is it, my love," Taffi uttered as they both climbed down from their horses simultaneously.
"Hmm?" Sania raised a brow, she saw nothing but tall trees in front of her, but since Taffi tied his horse to one of the trees, Sania did the same to Charlotte because she assumed that they had to walk the rest of the way.
"He couldn't have brought me to the woods just to see these trees that are perfectly lined up in front of one another," she mumbled and secured the knot on the rope.
"Behind these trees is the most beautiful thing you'll ever see," Taffi announced raising Sania's hope.
Her wish was for it to be as beautiful as he said it was, or else she'd be disappointed. Was it an island with mystic creatures, another world entirely? A garden of flowers? Whatever it was, Sania couldn't wait.
Taffi drew near and took her hand in his, Sania still wasn't used to it but did not withdraw from him. She found it amusing that he adjusted very quickly to her new behavior without knowing the reason behind them.
"No," he said, and walked behind Sania. Before the young Queen could wonder what he was up to, Taffi's palm covered her eyes from behind.
"This is better," he said,
"Just follow my lead, and walk slowly, I'll allow you to see it when we get there," he added and slowly led Sania, blindfolded, toward the direction of the place he wanted her to see.