Chapter 3 – John

"Hello." I replied while dismounting.

"You're amazing," He gaped, "I saw you jump over the fence."

"Thanks." I jumped onto the ground. Although he looks older than me, he is only a bit taller than me, because I'm pretty tall for my age.

"My name is –" I stopped myself, I don't think this boy knows that I'm a princess. I didn't really want him to know anyways. I searched my brain for a name. "D! my name is D, short for Defiance." I blurted out. Now why did I say that, no one calls me that except my family.

He didn't answer. I sighed and tried again, I guess Defiance is a very unusual name. "My name is Elly." I hope he doesn't know the name of the princess of Kyrria.

"But I thought you just said it was D." He looked confused.

"It's really Elly," I stammered, "But I don't like that name, so…"

"How about El, can I call you El?" he asked.

Hmm, El, I tested the name out in my head. It sounds pretty good, simple and not too feminine.

"Sure." I nodded "And you are –"

"John." He smiled. I like his smile, it's genuine and a bit mischievous.

"And this is Lightning." I beckoned towards my horse.

Suddenly two palace guards came up to us and addressed me, "Princess Elly, could you not wander too far from the palace?"

I rolled my eyes, I can never go anywhere without at least one guard following me. I wished I could just get on my horse and escape. But I wanted to talk to John a bit more.

"P-Princess?" John stuttered, his face going red as he bowed low, "F-forgive me Your Highness, I was most rude."

"It's okay." I sighed. I wanted to yell at the guards for revealing my identity but bit my tongue. I just wanted to have a normal conversation with someone, but as soon as they knew I'm royalty, they stopped acting normal.

I waved the guards away and started to lead Lightning back to the palace. I beckoned for John to follow, he was a bit reluctant at first.

"Come, I won't bite."

"I-I didn't, know, you are a p-princess."

"I may be a princess, but I'm still human, not some monster who wants to eat you." I made a face to him. He chuckled.

"Please don't call me 'princess' or 'your highness', call me El, I insist."

"Okay. Um, El." John sounded a bit unsure.

"Sorry, it's my fault for causing you embarrassment. I should've told you in the beginning."

"Who said I was embarrassed?" he surprised me.

I turned to face him, and saw his lips twitch up and his eyes sparkling. I couldn't help but smile back.

"I guess it wasn't embarrassment that made your face look like a tomato then."

We walked in silence for a while. I have so many questions to ask him, like where he's from, how old he is etc. But I didn't want to be rude.

"Do you ride?" I broke the silence.

"I used to. But I don't have a horse."

Then I got an idea. "Why don't you come with me to the stables and I can get you a horse. Then we can ride together."

"I-I can't Your- I mean El"

"Come on, it's still early." I prompted. I could see he's starting to give in, all he needed was one more push. "Or are you afraid I'll laugh at you if you can't ride? Well I won't, so come on."

John gave in and followed me to the royal stables.

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