Duck Lake Through the boughs of the garden

She did her best to answer. Atreus’s lips pulled down further, though he couldn’t put a finger on why he wasn’t satisfied with it. At least her simple question had an easy answer.

I want to live somewhere that’s the opposite of a mountain or a hill, he explained.

He turned back to the ducks for a while, getting lost in his thoughts. They tended to circle around his brother and their most recent conversation. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere…” “Good, ‘cause I’d have to come get you…”

Atreus wondered if there was any real chance of that, though he found himself very skeptical of it. Besides, wouldn’t Ancelin be angry with him for going back on his word? He scuffed a paw in the pebbled dirt lining the water.

Eventually, he turned back to Amalia and said, I think I’m going to stay here for now. I need time to think, now that he wasn’t so hungry he couldn’t think. Thank you for the food.