For a panicked day, Elle had though she d lost the only younger contact from the outside world of the castle (outside was certainly a dirty place if the urchin was any indication), but Elle was pleasantly surprised that Keith returned the next day, and the day after that. He always appeared at the same time each day; the young princess made sure to always walk in the castle gardens to meet with the red head.
As to what they did for an entire hour each day; Elle asked questions, and Keith would try to answer them to the best of his ability, often flustered with his lack of vocabulary to the well spoken princess.
And despite the urchin's often announcements of his love for her, Elle enjoyed Keith's company. She learned quickly that she didn't need to keep properly mannered and soft spoken; she could be as brash and excited as she wanted. Because Keith could match her level, and often surpass it.
It wasn't before long that Elle had run out of questions to ask the red head, or at least questions he could answer, and instead the one wonderful hour would be spent on Keith telling daring stories of what he and his friend had done.
Three weeks had passed with this new routine for the princess and the stable boy.
"And so I jumped on Jessie's back and he bucks me right off!"
"Oh my," Elle gasped and covered her mouth, speaking around her hand, "What did ya do?" Elle was easily impressionable and the first thing she had picked up was Keith's heavy accent.
She used it only with him though.
Keith snorted, rubbing a finger under his nose, "I got back on a'course! Horse didn t know what hit'im!" He lifted his sleeve, revealing a deep bruise, to which Elle gasped once more. "It's how I got this."
As Elle changed dresses, Keith carried different injuries of all kind; it seemed every day he had a new mark, and usually a great story to go along with it. The urchin often brushed off Elle's initial concern, huffing that an injury was a mark of a man.
After three weeks, Elle would be only mildly concerned.
"You need to stay away form horses if they trample you s'much."
"I'm fine!" Keith responded, as always, throwing himself down onto the grass and sighing loudly; his story now finished. "Y'know..." he drawled, eyeing the princess, "I yap all the time, but I dun hear nothin' bout my wife."
The 'w' word got nothing more than a glare, Elle hearing it to often since Keith crashed into her life.
"I'm borin!" she whined, honesty in her tone. There was nothing special about her life. She was a princess sure, but what did it entail? Lessons, training, and then marriage. There were no adventures, no stories to tell.
Unless fighting a stubborn dress this morning counted as one.
"That ain't true now!" Keith grinned, causing Elle to smile instantly, "I bet'chu have lots of stories."
"Yes..." Elle agreed, dropping the faked accent, "I have plenty of stories ..concerning you." She giggled, the light sound encouraging a few chuckles from Keith as well. They laughed together often, something Elle cherished more than anything.
"Ya sure do!" the red head bobbed his head, smug, "Cus I'm amazin!"
"Mhmm," Elle giggled again. Another thing she had learned about the other child; he thought he was the best at everything and anything (which Elle supposed, could be cause for a large number of his injuries) But instead of annoyance, the brunette found his pride endearing, often finding herself encouraging his ego.
Keith grinned wide, and there was hardly a beat of silence before the child sighed, "Time's up, gotta get back to work."
"All right..." Elle smiled gently, standing up form her kneeled position as he stood, dusting her dress off. "Be safe with those horses, ya hear?" Elle grinned.
Keith smiled wide. "Yer getting good with that," the red head huffed a laugh, before stepping close to the princess. "G'bye kiss?"
Elle rolled her eyes, another thing that she had gotten used to since Keith figured he wasn t in danger of death (so long as he wasn't caught): he asked daily for a kiss on the cheek from the princess. After a lot of whining and "Why not?"s Elle relented, gracing Keith s dirtied cheek with a small peck after each of their meetings.
It was the least she could do for all her tells her, right?
So the brunette leaned forward, intending to kiss Keith's cheek as usual, when the red head turned his head at the last moment, planting his lips on hers.
"Eek!" Elle stumbled back, but Keith had not anticipated the action, he leaned forward to crash into Elle, sending them both to the soft grass.
"Ow.." both children groaned, but Elle's whine was more pained; Keith's leg was pushing against a very sensitive part of her body-
The urchin lifted his head, blinking blankly as he rested on Elle's body, his leg pressed between hers. But something was there that shouldn t have been, something that could easily be felt underneath the thin material of the princess's lavender dress.
Keith looked down to where his leg was, then back at Elle, who was nearly whining in pain.
The red head jumped up, eyes wide in shock as Elle slowly recovered to stand up. "Y-you," Keith was at a loss for words, but he soon pointed, shouting, "Girls dun have those!"
Before she could ask what that had meant, the red head had sprinted away.