Ellie carefully crept through the undergrowth to finally be able to visit her favorite spot in the forest again. Unfortunately, she wasn't alone, because she couldn't get rid of her maid again in such a short time. Even if she had seemed a little distracted since the tailor's visit. Shira was hiding something from her, but she didn't want to pressure her to reveal everything about her life. After all, they trusted each other. But even if she were often in her thoughts, no mammoth escaped the big cat. In order to be able to go into the forest again, she had to explain a few things to her friend. That sounded easier than it was done, because even to the princess's ears, the sentence 'I want to meet an unknown man in the forest again' sounded pretty dubious. But how should Ellie explain the feeling she had when she looked this stranger in the eyes in the clearing? At the moment, she should probably be happy that they both agreed to go for a walk together and that she was able to leave the castle at all. Whether with or without an escort shouldn't be important. Yes, it made sense for a princess to be protected, but she didn't want to appear like someone noble. She just wanted to get to know people without them knowing her noble title. It sounds strange that she had to hide such a part of herself, but she had the feeling that she and her brothers didn't have any more friends because most animals were intimidated in their presence. There were no other princes and princesses living nearby that they could make friends with, but there were children of dukes and electors that her mother used to invite to play. Back then, it was still fun. However, today young ladies her age have other things on their minds, like wearing jewels and beautiful dresses. While that was interesting, her life didn't have to revolve exclusively around it.
"See? Your new acquaintance did not show up alone either." Shira accused her, bringing her out of the thoughts. Her friend was already listing a number of things that could happen. But the other two people in the clearing hadn't noticed them yet, because they were arguing a little louder with each other.
"Please just go away! I do not want anyone to assume the wrong thing if they see you here too." The male mammoth said a little annoyed, and Ellie wondered what it could be about.
"I just do not think what you are doing here is right!" The stranger's companion, also a saber-toothed tiger, said back in the same angry tone. The two men stared at each other in silence for a moment, but the larger one seemed to want to stick to his point.
"Very well. If you insist. But I will stay nearby if something unpleasant happens." The strange saber-tooth turned away and left the place through some cut bushes on the other side of the pond. The female mammoth breathed a sigh of relief, because if he had come this way, they would both have had to explain a lot. Nevertheless, she also saw the conflict in the face of the male mammoth, who looked after the other for a moment. She wondered whether the two men had the same bond as she and Shira. She looked at her friend again and whispered to her that she should please keep a low profile. After all, she herself hadn't come here without a weapon. Then she rustled a little in the bushes to make herself noticeable before she stepped closer to the stranger. He turned around immediately. The other man's face brightened noticeably and she was a little happy about it too.
"You really have come back." It was said to Ellie more surprised than expected and she had to smile a little.
"Why so incredulous? Admittedly, I did not promise anything, but I like coming here. I like this place. If you like this place too, I can hardly stop you from visiting it more often." The princess tried to start a casual conversation, because she hadn't really thought about what exactly she should say beforehand. Yesterday Ellenora could only think of today and now that the time had arrived, she couldn't think of anything clever. She also kept thinking about the dream with her grandfather, which didn't make the situation any easier. At mealtimes, when the whole family was at the table, she thought he would scold her again because he had noticed something. But nothing like that happened and so she took a deep breath when she left the castle walls. It almost seemed to her as if the air outside was much fresher. Now she should think about other things than problems and duties that might lie in wait for her in the castle.
"Yes, this place is very... beautiful." She was answered and the man didn't even look around when he said this, but just admired her. She was a little embarrassed if the compliment was meant for her. She looked at him and the mammoth felt the same way. The princess even dared to take a step closer, because up until now she had been standing a little away from him to be safe. But if he wanted to harm her, then it would certainly have happened by now. But her instinct told her that she could trust him. Silence fell and when they both noticed that they were looking at each other, they turned their gaze to the pond almost at the same time. A light wind rustled in the leaves of the trees.
"By the way..." The other lifted his cloak a little and probably wanted to pull something out. He was about to give her something, but when he stretched out his arm to her, long claws got in the way. Her maid pushed herself between them and pointed one of her two weapons at the stranger's trunk. Almost at the same moment, someone else stormed into the clearing and pointed a saber at Shira. What the mammoth just wanted to give Ellie now flew to the ground. It was only a flower.
"Please put your weapons down. Nothing has happened." She pleaded her friend, as well as the strange saber-toothed tiger. Nevertheless, she bent down to pick up the plant, which looked beautiful. A yellow rose that hadn't fully opened yet and the stranger had taken the trouble to remove the thorns. Even though the stem had been shortened a little, the flower was still really beautiful to look at. For a moment she ignored the two big cats and looked at the other mammoth gratefully for the gift. Another brief moment in which she felt something indescribable.
"Apparently I'm not the only one who brought his nanny with him." The strange mammoth didn't seem to think it was that bad and she nodded.
"My friend is just worried because there are supposedly predatory wolves roaming around the forest again." Said the princess, even though to this day it has only been rumors, as none of the subjects reported an attack to the guards.
"Hm, I understand the concern. Even if you apparently know how to handle a sword, no one stands a chance against a group like that alone." The male mammoth spoke as if he had already had experience with such animals.
"What do you mean by apparently? Do you want to challenge me?" With that, Ellie reached for the hilt of her sword in a challenging manner, because even if she didn't want to drive away the new acquaintance, her fingers were already itching to fight someone other than Shira.
"Oh, no... I did not mean to insult you... um..." But the stranger raised his hands defensively. So she left the sword in her place. Maybe another time, she thought to herself.
"He is not used to seeing women with weapons because that does not happen often in his circles. Most women can not handle that either…" The male saber-tooth intervened, looking at Shira for a little while longer, but then just wanted to put his weapon away. Ellie's servant took that as an insult and attacked without further warning. The saber was pulled out again when he saw out of the corner of his eye that an attack was taking place. The first blow was countered.
"What is that supposed to be? I do not fight with women." The strange saber-tooth tiger sounded a little arrogant when he said that. This would soon prove to be his undoing, as her maid noticed that the man was relying too much on the weapon in his paws. So she pushed him to a tree root, causing the stranger to stumble backwards over it. Shira then hit him with her right extended claw, the saber from his paws and with her left she aimed at his face. Ellie was about to intervene when she suddenly felt a gentle tap on her shoulder.
"They are busy. Let us go for a walk somewhere else." The other mammoth whispered to her. The princess looked uncertainly over at the two big cats again, but then nodded and followed the stranger. Now she sneaked away as well. It felt so forbidden and exciting again. They both hurried on until they reached one of the paths that led out of the forest. The young woman slowed down because she wanted to be alone with the strange mammoth, but didn't want to stray too far from her servant. Somehow the atmosphere suddenly felt strange.
"By the way, my name is Ellie." She didn't really know what prompted her to reveal her real name. Probably because she wanted to get to know someone honestly.
"It is really nice to meet you. I'm Manny." Even if he answered her honestly. Or at least the man had said that name several times. She shook her head a little to get her maid's words out of her head. Even if there were some scoundrels out there in the world, not every stranger had to be bad. Now she had a name from the strange mammoth, so it didn't seem quite so strange to her anymore.
"I know, it is not such a special name." The other one said almost apologetically.
"Oh no, I did not mean to offend you. My friend just explained to me very emphatically that some men have no good intentions. Please tell me honestly, why did you come to the pond in the forest?" The princess asked and she slowly tried to walk normally. Without paying attention to every little thing her current companion did.
"Back when I was little, someone showed me this place. It was late spring. Everything was wonderfully green and blooming. I know a man should not be very interested in nature, but I find it reassuring." Manny told this a little cautiously. Almost as if he wasn't allowed to tell her such things.
"I really like nature too." She said with a smile, trying to encourage her conversation partner to chat more with her. But she didn't want to just remain a silent listener either. So they both told each other this and that about their lives. With each word, she lost more and more of her fear that someone would want to harm her. On the contrary, Manny really wanted to spend time with her of his own free will and get to know her better. He had a secret too, because he didn't want to talk about his family situation. He only mentioned in passing that his father was a bitter mammoth who couldn't really trust anyone anymore. The other man looked into the distance as if he would like to have a better relationship with his father.
"I have probably ruined the mood now." The man next to her apologized.
"No, I know the feeling when you actually want to get on better with someone, but the other person does not make it easy for you." When she said these words, she had her grandfather in mind.
"But let us talk about other things. Have you lived in the area for long?" Manny asked her and she thought about the question for a moment.
"Yes, my whole life." Ellie said this a little dejectedly, even though she didn't want to. She had been suffering from wanderlust a lot recently, or maybe because she knew that after a wedding she might be able to travel somewhere else, but not a place of her choosing.
"It sounds like you have never been away very far." Manny stopped and looked at her a little pityingly, but also understandingly.
"Actually, I would like to see a little more of the world .." The princess also stopped on the way and simply broke off her sentence.
"But?" The man next to her asked cautiously.
"I can not do it. I would not have the heart to just run away and disappoint my family." She was a little ashamed to reveal this so openly, because she didn't even talk much with Shira about such topics, because she would have to let her friend down too. She once had a strange dream where she ran away with the saber-toothed tiger. How selfish it would be of her to ask someone for something like that. Embarrassed, she looked away, because what must the other person think of her now, because she was born and raised in a good place, something that not everyone could have and she sounded so ungrateful with her desire to leave it.
"Then you are more honest than I am." When she heard this statement, she turned back to her conversation partner.
"What do you mean?" Ellie looked briefly at the other mammuth, but his face explained everything.
"You just ran away from home?" She asked in disbelief, finding it a little silly but brave at the same time.
"Yes, shame on me! But I'm not ready to enter into marriage and take on the duties of my old man." Manny said angrily, looking away from her. The princess briefly stroked her upper arm with her other hand, because she knew that feeling very well too. Then she held the rose in front of her eyes to distract herself from the oppressive thoughts. A hand that didn't belong to her came into her field of vision and took the plant from her to put the flower in her hair. Ellenora looked up in surprise, because the male mammoth was now standing very close to her, so that he could touch her hair. She had to admit that when the man spoke of his home, he wore grim features that would perhaps scare anyone if they saw him for the first time. But when Manny smiled, as he did at that moment, he seemed like a sincere and friendly gentleman who would never hurt anyone. She couldn't hold back and smiled at him, albeit a little embarrassed. Then, when he pulled his hand back, she saw that two fingers were bandaged. Without thinking too much, she grabbed the hand and took a closer look at the injuries. Apparently the other man even took the trouble to remove the thorns from the rose himself. But he wasn't so lucky. Not only that, the man must have picked it himself, because most of the florists in the area usually offer roses without thorns. It was only a moment later that she realized that she was now touching the hand of a man who was actually a stranger. Her cheeks grew warmer and she looked up cautiously. He looked at her just as shyly and uncertainly. Ellie's heart was beating harder and harder in her chest. She was so confused. On the one hand, this all felt new and exciting. On the other hand, it was also scary because she still didn't know if she was doing the right thing. Unfortunately, as a future queen, she wasn't taught such things.
"I wish the days were easy, like today." Manny whispered now, because they were standing so close together, and looked back at their hands, a little satisfied. He didn't pull away, but it didn't even bother him that she was still touching him. His hand was a little bigger than hers, but also warm.
"Me too." She answered quietly, and for some reason didn't want to let go.
"Manny, Manny!" A strange voice suddenly yelled and they both turned away from each other, embarrassed. It's a shame, Ellie thought to herself, but sooner or later they meet other animals when they wander around on the path to the village. An annoyed sigh reached her ears. A sloth that was pretty out of breath came to them after a moment.
"Why... did you have to... *gasp*... you two... absolutely..." The new stranger took a deep breath and then noticed that there was someone else here. The princess had probably not been seen before, because the male mammoth had immediately placed himself in front of her to protect her.
"Oh, who is the lovely lady here?" The sloth then asked.
"May I tell you your name?" Manny now wanted to know from her and she wasn't quite sure about it. But then she nodded friendly to the smaller animal.
"Oh, of course. If he is a friend of yours, I would like to meet him. My name is Ellie and what is yours, dear sir?" She asked friendly. Although she did not expect to meet several of the strange mammoth's companions today, you cannot choose such things and she was actually happy that she was even allowed to see him again and learn his name.
"Sidney van Sinestan, my very lovely lady." The smaller one bowed, took her hand and kissed her in greeting. Much to the displeasure of the other man with her, who was heard to snort loudly.
"Sid is enough and we are not overdoing it!" The male mammoth said a little grimly to the sloth, who immediately let go of her hand.
"I'm only polite when it comes to ladies." Said the introduced Sidney and then looked a little curiously back and forth between her and his friend.
"That is why you politely left Lady Brooke alone." The tallest man in their group sighed in annoyance and Ellie inadvertently pricked up her ears at the conversation because a woman was mentioned. She wondered if the lady mentioned was the one Manny was supposed to marry.
"It was a little careless of you two to leave us alone in this strange area. Unprotected and lonely." The two friends argued back and forth a little while she just listened in silence. She told herself that it was rude to simply interrupt others. But another reason was that she wanted to find out more about the mammoth and its companions. But at that very moment, not far from them, she saw some of the castle's suppliers. They would certainly spoil Ellie's trip unintentionally because she would be recognized immediately and addressed as your highness. That could only raise questions for her new acquaintances that she didn't really want to answer. At least, she wasn't ready to do that at that moment.
She tried to hide behind the other mammoth for a moment because it was a little bigger. But then she preferred to jump into a bush nearby and quickly climbed up the nearest tree. The sloth stared after her in surprise, but Manny quickly made sure that it looked somewhere else as the small group of suppliers passed by. They greeted each other briefly but friendly. Nevertheless, the princess waited a while up in her hiding place until the castle servants were out of sight before she dared to descend from the tree again. She sighed in relief, but she probably should have done that on the ground, because suddenly a branch cracked under her legs and she slid down faster. She prepared herself for having bruises on her bottom again. Because this wasn't the first time that situations like this had occurred.
"I got you! Are you alright?" She suddenly heard next to her and Manny had actually caught her in his strong arms.
"Yes. Thank you very much." It came from her mouth in a breath, because they were so close again. She wondered when she was last carried by someone. Probably when she was little and her father was still alive. When she always read in cheesy novels how lovers lose themselves in each other's gaze, she never thought that it could happen to her. Nevertheless, she couldn't describe the moment any other way, when they both couldn't take their eyes off each other. Someone cleared their throat in the background.
"It would be very kind of you if you let my friend down now." Shira asked the male mammoth sternly and they immediately did what they were asked. Even if the princess was reluctant to let go of her rescuer, she had to do it. It would be unpleasant if people who know her were watching this. That could only give rise to rumors. The silver-gray tigress also pointed one of her claw weapons in Manny's direction again.
"I'm sorry that we just ran away earlier. But I wanted to talk to him alone." A moment later, Ellenora realized how that must sound to those around her.
"Do not think..." The mammoth next to her tried to explain further, taking a big step away from her, because they were probably both too close to each other for the saber-toothed tiger. Her friend looked almost venomously at her new acquaintance.
"Nothing happened, except that we met another friend. Shira, this is Sidney from..." The princess began to explain carefully, already knowing that she would have a serious conversation with her maid later. After all, there were no signs that the man had any bad intentions, and yet the other lady was acting so hostilely.
"Hm, the sloth from yesterday." When her servant saw the smaller guy, she looked around briefly.
"You already know each other?" Ellie wanted to know, looking back and forth between the two. The sloth didn't seem so excited about the reunion. The male mammoth cleared his throat.
"Fine. I'm Manny. The ladies already know Sid and I do not know if the offended sabertooth behind the tree introduced himself, but this is Diego." The still tallest in the group nodded briefly in the direction of a tree where the sabertooth could be seen emerging from it. It looked a little as if it had been chased through the forest. The princess really must have a word with her servant later, because she had never seen her treat strangers like that. Now that she thought about it, it could have something to do with the fact that Shira is rarely confronted with animals like her.
"You are still underestimating the situation. Of course I'm glad that we are getting to know new people. More or less." Said the man named Diego and gave his maid a quick sideways glance before continuing.
"But you know that you can not run away from your duties forever." This sentence caused tension between the men again. At least between the mammoth and the saber-toothed tiger. The sloth looked as if he was already tired of this topic.
"Do we have to discuss this now?!" Manny asked urgently, obviously not wanting Ellie and her friend to have to listen to such a conversation.
"We should go anyway." Her servant suggested and Ellie briefly looked away a little despondently, because she didn't want to leave her new acquaintances just yet, but unfortunately she wasn't allowed to stay here too long. The other pachyderm, who just now seemed as if he wanted to argue angrily with his companion, now looked in her direction for help. Manny had crossed his arms to underline his position in front of the male saber-tooth. However, the princess gathered her courage and stepped between the two men. She briefly looked at the larger mammoth's face as if that could answer her unasked question. Namely, whether they would see each other again. As she did so, she placed her hand on his forearm. A pleading gesture.
"Will I see you again in the forest the day after tomorrow?" The princess didn't know why she suddenly had such a bad feeling. Is it the fear in her that he might now spurn her? He had been free to leave the whole time. But a true gentleman doesn't just leave a lady standing there. But his smile, albeit hesitant, probably because they weren't alone now, immediately calmed her down.
"Of course."