His little smile was clouded under confusion again when she mixed those metaphors at the end; he was just as lost by that as she seemed to be by his explanation. "You asked... A brother came. He led the forest somewhere. Now we're here." In his mind, at least, it was pretty simple, straightforward.

He stepped forward a little more, looking up at the castle behind her, still taking his time. He was curious, sure, but there was no hurry. "Is this your home?"

If she were to look off to the side a little, she'd probably see more of the trees moving around more obviously, one of the little saplings trying to climb up into one of the raised beds for one of those darker rosebushes. A larger tree crept up behind it, one of its lower branches leaning downward, an interception that was so very, very common to so many parents, but played out in slow motion among these plants: no, baby, stay out of that area, it's not a play place.