Her brother’s eyes grew wide, first with shock, then fear, then anger, “Ellie!!” He said in a hushed whisper trying to push her out from behind the brush, “Stop it you’re gonna get us caught!”

She only laughed at his feeble attempts before steadying herself, “Shh shh Michael it’s ok!” She put a hand over his mouth and pointed into the woods they just came from, “Look.”

He begrudgingly tried to shake her off again before settling his gaze on the woods, something was making its way past. At first it looked like the trees themselves lifted from the earth before replanting themselves. They followed the long stalks up towards the canopy, only to see the sculpted figure of a large deer like creature. Horns bloomed from its head with an array of flora dripping off them. It walked with the gentle steadiness of a god to them.

His sister had a smile on her face, her hand finally releasing him, “You see that?” She said refusing to take her eyes off it, “This world is full of creatures like that.”

He scowled at it, trying to bite back his amusement, “It’s dangerous is what it is. We could get hurt this deep into the woods!”

“Not if we’re careful.”

He huffed, “Well mum and dad say not to.”

She thought for a moment, then laughed softly, “Makes it kinda fun huh?” She looked around to make sure they haven’t been found out, “Can I tell you a secret Michael?”

He perked up, “What is it?” He scanned around them as well, worried they’d been spotted.

“I want to travel the world. I want to study all this… magic stuff.” She said floroushing her hands.

He rolled his eyes, settling back into their hiding spot, “El that’s crazy. You know they won’t let you.”

“Aw come on. I figured you would understand!” She fell back onto the brush, gazing up at the golden rays through the tree tops, “It’s just all so.. much. I want to be a great explorer! I want to catalogue every thing I see, and meet fun people, and play all day.” She turned back to him, “And you could too. You don’t have to be a knight like they say you know. Haven’t you ever considered doing what you want to do?”

He crossed his arms, “That is what I wanna do. And you’re supposed to be the next ruler, how are you supposed to rule if you’re traveling? And who am I supposed to protect if you’re not there?” He looked sad at that.

She thought for a moment, “Well, maybe I can rule among my people? It’d be weird to be in charge of people I’ve never met anyway. And I might need protecting out in the world, if you’re really set on protecting me.”

He smiled and put a fist to his chest, “Always m’lady! Besides you wouldn’t last a week.”

“Hey!”

They laughed amongst themselves a moment.

“Just… promise you won’t leave without saying goodbye though?”

She smiled at him, “You can count on it.” She looked back towards the path before standing, “Come on then, mum’ll get worried if we’re out any longer.”

He took her hand before running ahead of her, “Race ya back to the castle!”

She laughed before giving chase, “You know you can’t outrun me!”