First Brother kicked his stallion after the two young ladies. He’d never seen a stunt like that before. He hoped ili was okay with that wild princess on her horse.
Up ahead ili had arrived at the tree that marked the finish line. She pulled Tufei into a canter, then a trot, White Horse keeping pace alongside them.
"You ride well for a Southerner," remarked the princess.
"Thank you, your highness. You ride better than anyone I’ve ever seen," ili complinted her genuinely.
"Don’t call your highness, call Sofya. I can already feel that we’re going to beco good friends," the princess said warmly.
Few things could be more calculated to touch ili’s heart than an offer of friendship from a young lady outside her family compound. This was her first real offer of female friendship, sothing she’d been hoping for for such a long ti.
"Really? I would love that. You can call ili. I’m so excited to make a friend. I was raised in the inner courtyards you see. I’ve only been allowed out for the last few months, so this is very new for , and all my other friends are n, so this is special. Think of all the fun things we can do together? n and won can’t touch so I always have to be careful with my friends who are n. And they can be thoughtless about those rules. Sorry," she laughed, "I’m talking too much. I’m just so happy," she said shyly, glancing across at the princess.
ili lead Tufei to a beautiful stream and the girls dismounted, letting their horses drink.
"Don’t be sorry. I like to talk a lot too, so that’s perfect! There’s lots of n in my life too. Mainly brothers and cousins, not friends. I can’t believe they locked you up for so long. That must have been so difficult for a girl like you. I can tell you love to be free. You love the feel of the wind on your face. You love speed!"
"I do! Exactly. You’re right, it was torture. I longed to be outside the mansion every day. I dread of the forests and the mountains, shopping at the markets, riding Tufei as far as I wanted, inns, restaurants, rivers, streams..."
Sofya stripped off her boots and socks and waded into the clear water, holding her dress clear. ili happily followed suit.
"There are so many things I still want to do. Just like this! I’ve only just started to experience them all. I tried wine for the first ti the other day you know. Sorry, I’m over-sharing."
"No such thing. I’ll help you. We can do lots of new things together. Your brothers will be much less protective of you going out with a friend who’s a girl."
"Is that so?" First Brother rode onto this scene and caught the end of their discussion.
He dismounted and strode up to the two girls.
"What was that stunt I just saw Princess? Are you okay ii?"
"I’m fine, First Brother. The princess and I just rode Tufei together. She’s an amazing rider."
"Be that as it may, standing on a horse and jumping onto the back of your saddle is dangerous..."
First Brother suddenly seed to notice that the princess had no riding pants on, and her legs were bared to the knee as she delicately splashed in the water. Her porcelain white calves and ankles completely distracted him, and he lost his train of thought, his scolding dropping away.
ili and Sofya looked at him expectantly and found his face red while he looked awkwardly at the sky. Sofya and ili giggled naughtily.
"Sorry First Brother i," said Sofya. "We didn’t expect to see you here. We thought it was just us two girls, so we took off our shoes and socks to enjoy the cool water."
"Ahem," he cleared his throat uneasily. "It really would be better if you put your clothes back on and co out of there princess. I’m not a man from your family after all."
She pealed with pretty laughter. "Oh, you’re quite the gentleman aren’t you First Brother i?"
"i Renlong might be a little easier to say," he said to her.
"i Renlong," she said, trying the na out. "I like you too. I can feel this is going to be the start of two great new friendships."
i Renlong was again suffused with red as she said, ’I like you too’, which was not language they would ever use lightly between n and won. He supposed things were less formal in the grasslands and he shouldn’t take it to heart.
It seed the girls were not rushing to hop out of the water, so he sat himself down on a rock, his back to the young ladies.
Sofya giggled. "Is your brother always like this?" she whispered to ili.
"Like what?" she asked.
"A gentleman. Shy with won."
"I can hear you!" he said. "And I’m not shy with won. It’s just not appropriate for to take advantage of the differences in our cultures by watching you bathe while you’re not fully clad."
"I’m not ’bathing’. And ’not fully clad’," she laughed, "you make it sound like I’m naked. I only have my boots and socks off, after all."
First’s ears went bright red at her ntion of being naked, and he did his best not to picture that in this setting.
"Princess, please!" he pleaded.
"Call Sofya. ili is calling by my na."
"Absolutely not. I won’t be doing that, no. ii, you should be calling the princess ’your highness’ or ’princess’, not ’Sofya’."
"There, you said it!" cried Sofya. "It wasn’t that hard, was it?"
He turned his head to argue with her but was greeted with the sight of her elegant bare ankle splashing water onto ili. He quickly turned back around and let it be.
The two girls started a water fight and were chasing each other through the stream, screaming and laughing. He didn’t dare look around again.
It went unnaturally quiet. He was about to turn to check on them, when he received a face full of water from the princess, who had snuck up on him. ili was too much of a scaredy cat with her eldest brother to be the ’doer’, but she was thrilled to back the princess up and enjoy the spectacle.
First jumped to his feet and thundered after the princess, shoes and all. Bare legs be damned! He wasn’t going to take that insult! She was quick, like his ii, but not quick enough, and she was hampered by having to hold her skirt clear of the water.
He tapped her on the ankle and sent her sprawling.
She had been wet before, but now she was completely drenched. She pulled off her pretty shawl that was now dripping into her eyes and wrapped it around her waist. Her light brown hair glinted in the sun, and she looked even more beautiful.
"i Renlong! How dare you. What an overreaction."
She splashed him with a chip to the water from the side of her hand, sending a jet of water his way. He returned the favour, at least five-fold and she squealed.
"If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen," he advised her.
"Just you wait i Renlong!" she splashed after him.
ili enjoyed the happy scene. She sat down on the bank, stretching her bare feet and legs in the dappled sunlight, thinking what an absolutely blissful afternoon this turned out to be. She’d raced Tufei, hunted a pheasant, made a new friend, and now she was playing in a stream with her eldest brother and her new friend, Princess Sofya.
Life didn’t get much better than this. She humd happily to herself.
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