Gwendolyn nearly tripped in her race towards the center of the maze. She always had liked to prove that she could make it there before him, though the odds were unfairly stacked against her now. She could run for nothing while in the trappings of her dress. But still, she tried. Her ears remained perked for the sounds of him moving through the maze, but as always, he was quiet to her ears while she bumbled and crunched through dead leaves and grass.<br/><br/>“If you are trying to prove for once and for all that you are more stealthy than I... you may be right,” she said, excited and nervous that he might surprise her around any corner. “I only ask that you not startle me too terribly, or I’ll be cross with you!”<br/><br/>That was a lie. They both knew she could never be cross with him— not really.