Seulgi had been whistling a merry tune while tending to the horses assuming that there would be no one coming to the stables; the princes and princesses were all out to have merriment of their own whilst the other maids and guards were busying themselves with other tasks. Seulgi loves to be with the horses because they were giant gentle creatures with many uses. This one that she was tending to at the moment had a healthy, shiny coat and beautiful eyes. Seulgi was so awed with this pretty creature that she took longer time than usual to brush the mare’s luscious full mane and even whispered to it.

If only Seulgi had paid more attention, she would realise that the mare’s belly was fuller than the rest and that there was someone else in the stables. The maid had let out a little scream of surprise when she tripped over a leg and her hand went to her sword.

Little did she expect to awaken a sleeping figure, a prince at that too.

“Gosh… why are you so noisy?” The figure asked lazily as he stretched.

Not knowing that it was Prince Sehun initially, Seulgi’s hand stayed firm on the hilt of her sword.

“Oh? Aren’t you my sister’s palace maid? Why would you have a sword with you? Did my sister force you to practice with her?” Prince Sehun asked teasingly as he got up to his feet.

Upon realising that it was the Mongolian prince, Seulgi panicked immediately and bowed deeply. After a short moment, Seulgi finally regained her speech ability. “Y-Yes, Princess Seungwan gave me the sword and we occasionally practise sword fights with one another.”

Prince Sehun laughed. “As expected of my little sister. Anyway, don’t be so loud. My mare is about to give birth, I do not want you to startle her and her unborn foal.”

At the sound of that, Seulgi’s eyes widened with interest and she asked excitedly. “This pretty mare?”

Prince Sehun produced a slanted smile, one that Seulgi had often seen on Princess Seungwan’s face as well. “Yea… this lady over here. This will be her first foal so I am a little nervous for her.”    

“Yes, look, she is resting now,” Prince Sehun had pointed to the equine and there was fondness in his eyes.

The prince looked so good-natured and charming that it made Seulgi blush. This was the very first time Seulgi had blushed because of a male.

“Are you here to look for an equine to ride? If you are then you can take this mare’s husband over there. He is a gentle giant.”  

Seulgi nodded with a bright smile. “He is so beautiful as well. The foal will be really pretty.”

Prince Sehun gave an easy shrug. “Well… you never know. Our father Khan and late mother were beautiful beings but you saw how Seungwan turned out,” the prince was joking but Seulgi must not have realised.

“Princess Seungwan is really pretty as well! All the princesses in the Bae court are secretly jealous of her and the princes are so taken with her!” Seulgi said agitatedly which surprised Prince Sehun a little.

Seulgi covered when she remembered that she was speaking to a royalty. “I am sorry for the outburst, Prince Sehun. I deserve death.”

Prince Sehun was amused but he pretended to be offended and watched the strange palace maid with a severe expression. Then the palace maid began slapping her own face as punishment. It was then that Prince Sehun laughed and held the palace maid’s sleeves lightly.

“I was just joking. I know my little sister is beautiful and so… as an older brother, I ought to protect her from those jealous princesses in the Bae court,” Prince Sehun said as he puffed out his chest.

The palace maid did not understand what the prince meant but that was fine. No one else should know until time was ripe.

“Come on now, take the husband for a ride. I am itching for the sun and the winds as well. Let me choose a steed and I will go with you. By the way, what is your name? It is not fair since you know mine and I do not know yours.”

“T-That is because you are a prince and I am just a palace maid…” the palace maid muttered.

Prince Sehun brows were knitted and he rubbed his chin as he spoke. “My sister did not treat you as a mere palace maid right?”

The palace maid shook her head rapidly and the prince found her even more adorable.

“Then all the more I will not. You must be special, for her to give you a sword.” Sehun said with a slanted smile.

“I-I am Seulgi. A-Actually… I am Princess Joohyun’s palace maid but I follow Princess Seungwan around more often,” Seulgi felt necessary to add.

“Seulgi… that is a virtuous name. Great, let’s go, I will show you around. Don’t worry about the princesses, I will deal with them if they find trouble with you. Come on.”

**

Joohyun had fallen asleep on Seungwan’s lap. Illuminated by the oil lamp and the glow of the moon, the courtly princess’s sleeping face was such a beautiful sight to behold and Seungwan allowed herself to be occupied with it. Seungwan had made sure that the sleeping princess was covered with enough furs to keep her warm as darkness descended upon them.

Seungwan would not risk Joohyun catching a cold, especially not when they are out in her homeland where the conditions are much harsher than back in the palace. Joohyun had been sleeping soundly for more than an hour now and Seungwan’s leg was growing numb. Yet, Seungwan did not bear to move, even an inch. A night breeze blew by them and Seungwan shut her eyes lightly to savour the sensation of it against her skin.

Home. She was home.

She lifted her head up to look upon the night sky and loosed a breath of contentment. The sleeping presence shifted slightly and her attention veered back to Joohyun. The corner of her lip lifted into a small smile as the ghost of their earlier discussions were etched deeply into Joohyun’s face. The crease between the courtly princess’s brows told Seungwan that Joohyun was likely having a nightmare. Sighing, Seungwan tried to not think too profoundly into it.  

The night scene was another glorious sight to show Joohyun as the individual yurts had lit their torches setting them aglow like fireflies from the distance. A harsh wind roused Joohyun from her sleep and Seungwan helped the princess up while massaging her own legs.

“Look.” Seungwan pointed to a distance and Joohyun blinked, trying to focus her sleepy eyes.

When the view became clear for the princess, she found herself gawking. Were the wonders in this foreign plains never ending? Joohyun must have been thinking because that was what was spelled on her face. As the winds started again, Joohyun’s silky, long hair was blown into Seungwan’s face, tickling her. Seungwan caught a lock of it and took in her scent. It still had the faint scent of the palatial flowers but mixed with it was the scent of earth, grass, and Seungwan’s own furs.

Seungwan loved it so much and she too, wished for such moments to last longer but of course, that was not possible.  

**

Seungwan had the tip of her sword pointed to the hollow of Seulgi’s throat less than a minute of their sparring and the Mongolian princess was growing annoyed.

“Seulgi, why are you so distracted? You don’t normally let up so soon,” Seungwan chided.

Seulgi bit her bottom lip. A look that always softened Seungwan’s heart. Seungwan learnt that Seulgi had gone out horse riding the day before and returned even later than Joohyun and herself. Even though Seungwan was curious where Seulgi had went to, she had asked Joohyun not to ask the palace maid.

“Guess you must be tired trying to familiarise yourself with this terrain. Hand over your chores to the other maids, tell them that I have given you permission to rest.”

Seulgi shook her head stubbornly and raised her sword again. “Princess, again.”  

Seungwan saw the renewed light of energy in Seulgi’s eyes and know that her sparring partner is truly back in focus. “Very well!”

After an hour of relentless practice, Joohyun had come to them with hot towels.

“They sent men to tell us that the competition is starting soon,” Joohyun told them.

“Really?! Have we been practising that long already?”

Seulgi was panting as she nodded sourly, her arms throbbing from all the blocks and s whilst Seungwan seemed entirely unaffected.

“Yes, Princess Seungwan, so please release my palace maid now and get ready to convene with your royal siblings and father Khan.” Joohyun said sternly and Seungwan found herself obeying.

Swathed in black panther’s fur for the competition, Seungwan looked the perfect match to Joohyun who was cloaked in a white fox fur coat on on this eventful day. They had sat beside each other by the dais as they waited for the first round of competition to begin.

To Seungwan’s surprise, Prince Chanyeol had participated in the competition himself, the only royalty to do so. As the prince swept past Seungwan’s table to go up to the stage, he gave her teasing wink and Seungwan replied by sticking out her tongue.

The first segment was as per last year, archery. However, besides hitting stationary board targets, Seungwan knew that there would be something more and she was looking forward to it. The ones who scored most points would move on to continue scoring with live animal targets. Would it be wild rabbits released on the field? Or birds circling the skies? Seungwan wondered.

To Seungwan’s horror, it was neither. They were wild leopards, with feral-looking eyes and snarling, bloodthirsty mouth. Joohyun had recoiled a little in surprise as did a few members of the Bae court. Seungwan wondered if this year’s use of ferocious animals was to impress their vi