Four years had changed her. If before her face held childish spontaneity, now it bore a special pensiveness—that which comes to people who have learned the world is not as simple as it seemed in childhood. Her eyes remained the same—blue as a summer sky before a storm, and just as kind. Her steps were light, almost silent—as if not walking, but floating above the ground. Her hair silver like flowing rain, and in her lived a mystery that beckoned and frightened at once.
"Loyn, we haven't seen each other in so long... It feels like four years since our last meeting," her voice sounded as if those four years were just a long day. Soft as silk, it swept through the garden, making the flowers sway slightly in dance.
Protocol demanded formality. Knightly honor, traditions, respect for royal blood—all those fine things that make life both meaningful and unbearably complicated.
"Yes, Princess! Oh... I mean... Esteemed Princess Eley, it's been just over four years since our last meeting."
The words sounded wooden even to my ears. Irony of fate: the harder you try to be proper, the more unnatural you become.
Eley, as always, rose above conventions.
"Loyn, you can just call me by name. I don't need these formalities... we've been friends since childhood!"
In her words rang sincerity worth more than gold in our world. That light sadness always present in voices of those trying to reclaim what time has taken. A familiar spark flashed in her eyes—the one that in childhood meant the start of some mischief.
How to explain to her that formalities are no longer just words for me, but a way to keep distance? That in four years, I've learned closeness is a risk not everyone can afford?
"To be honest, I want to talk to you informally. But I'm already a little beginning knight. I must honor and respect our kingdom's traditions..."
Even saying these words, I felt their incompleteness. Traditions—a convenient excuse for those afraid to be vulnerable.
"Wait!" Authority born of royal blood rang in her voice, but softened immediately with warmth. "I understand everything, but you're still just a little boy. You haven't finished knight's courses; you're not even sixteen yet."