Princess Mia Becomes the Wind
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!”
Mia’s high-pitched scream was heard all over the riding grounds. Air slammed into her like a wall, hitting her hard and constantly. It was so strong that it almost squashed her body. It was like galloping right into a storm!
Malong’s big body behind her was the only thing that saved her from flying away. The price of this safety was feeling like a thin paste stuck between two huge slabs, one made of gas and the other of flesh.
The constant wind made her hair whip around in little tornadoes, and she was afraid it would all fall out. She clung desperately to the reins, pushed her body forward, and tightened her muscles to stay on the horse. The tears in her eyes made the world around her go by in blurry streaks.
Everything, including the fence around the grounds and the greenery around it, as well as the people who were watching them, had turned into smudges of colour that lasted only a second before disappearing from her view. She could just barely make out some leaves blowing in the air far away.
The next thing she knew, those leaves made a scary shiiiick sound as it passed through her hair and were gone. She knew what the sound was. It was the same high-pitched sound of the arrows of the Lulu tribe shooting at her.
“Fwaaaaaaaah! Gyaaaaaaaaah!”
She screamed as she started to feel bad about what she had just said.
Aaah, why did I have to go and say something like that? Why…
Going back a little bit…
As soon as Mia and Malong got to the riding grounds, Mia got on the moonhare for her test ride with Malong. They went around the grounds twice, going faster than the first time Mia made her horse run away from her.
The feeling of speed was so strong that it was almost violent, and it didn’t take long for her to let out a muffled, teary squeal.
Malong saw that she was uncomfortable and said, “Well, that was a good warm-up. Do you want to stop for now? There’s no need to hurry. You don’t have to hurry to get used to it.”
Mia had to work hard to turn her head toward him and smile.
Of course, it was a very forced smile.
Get warm? So what you’re saying is that this is just a warm-up?
She thought this, and was secretly scared of what it meant. She should have paid attention to the chicken in her. She should have just told the truth and said she was done for the day. She could have been done after the warm-up…
She hadn’t, though.
“Hah, I have no problem with this. You said this was a warm-up, right? Well, it had better be, because I’m just getting started.”
Her damn ego didn’t let her. Not even after she said a lot of impressive things about how she could ride the horse even if Malong wasn’t with her.
It was already too late to turn back. Worse was that her mouth wouldn’t stop moving.
“This is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Easy peasy. It looks like the speed of the moonhares is just talk,” she said, then put on a smug face and added, “Well then. Now that I’ve seen what this horse can do, I’m not letting you off the hook for today.”
She wanted to use it as a reason to give up and get off this four-legged speed demon, but before she could ask to get off, she noticed something odd.
The horse’s ears were turned at an odd angle, as if it were trying to listen to what they were saying.
Moments later, Kuolan let out a rising whine that sounded like what a spinning machine might make when it starts to move faster.
Behind her, she heard Malong make two sounds that were very scary.
“Uh oh—”
Before she could ask for more information, he yelled, “Hang on, miss! And don’t talk, or you’ll bite your tongue!”
“…Eh?”
His warning came at the same time as a second, stronger neigh.
After a split second, Kuolan shot into action. With a loud boom, fast-moving air hit her eardrums, and she turned into wind.
I really need to stop being so cocky. It’s one of my worst habits for sure…
Kuolan turned into a corner. She almost fell right off its back when it moved. She fought hard to stay on and held on to the reins by sheer force of will. She had to really try to open her eyes, but she did it.
Kuolan’s face was the first thing she saw. He had briefly turned his head toward her to show how his big, horsey lips parted in a wide grin.
The horse is… Is he now making fun of me?! Seriously?! A horse is making fun of me?
Her anger made her forget how scared she was. Her eyes showed that she was ready to take on a challenge.
Okay, you stupid animal, if you think that this is all it will take for me to give up, you are dead wrong. This is nothing compared to the guillotine. Dion wanting your blood is a lot scarier. After that, I… I-I can… I can’t, sorry! I apologise! I lied! Don’t do it! Eeeeek! Release me! I can’t take this anymore!
Mia’s feet didn’t find solid ground again until she had ridden a moonhare more than she could handle. Her legs were shaking so much that they couldn’t support her weight, and she stumbled.
“Whoa, miss, are you okay?”
Malong ran over to help her, but someone else got there first.
“Careful, Mia. Watch where you step.”
“That was a bit out of character for you.”
“…Eh?”
She found two arms on each side of her, and when she looked up, she saw the faces of two princes.
“My… Abel and Sion… What are you doing here, you two?”
“Horse riding practise, of course,” said Sion in a casual tone. “But since we found you speedriding, we decided to watch.”
“I’m glad we caught your moonhare debut,” added Abel.
“How did it go? You don’t look too sure of yourself. Are you okay?”
She almost melted when he smiled at her, but she made her legs stay strong and put on the bravest face she could.
“Hah, like something like that could shake me up. I-It was a total piece of cake.”
She was grateful to the two princes for helping her. Then, she walked over to Kuolan with slow, graceful steps and stroked the tip of its nose.
“You were laughing at me back there, weren’t you?” she asked in a whisper. “You’ve got some nerve, you stupid horse. Do you know who I am?”
“Hm?”
Kuolan took a big breath in, turned its head a little so that its nose was pointed at her head, and then let out a loud hack-a-pchoo.
“Gyaaaah!”
She fell down after being hit by a storm of air, snot, and drool. She looked up in shock at the horse, then down at herself to see what the sneeze had done to her. She could feel the horse snot on her hair, which was stuck to her cheeks. It was wet and slimy on her shirt. It was all pretty gross.
“Oh, just letting you know, miss. Kuolan can understand some of what people say, so you might want to be careful about what you say around him. You don’t want him to think that you’re easy to get along with.”
Kuolan grinned and looked down its nose at Mia, which was almost the same as what Malong had said.
He… He does for sure! This stupid horse thinks I’m a joke!
