"Go, Erden!" Snow cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted as loudly as she could.

Erden took his position at the starting point, with his bow slung over one shoulder and his arrows at his hip. Snow gnawed on her knuckle. She knew Erden had been training in secret for this event, but she still felt anxious for him.

I know you said this was one of your pet events when you were younger, but that was eleven years ago, Snow thought. After all those wasted years at the Palace, can he still do it?

"Chu!" she heard him shout and his horse broke into a gallop. Erden and his horse came flying down the grass. The sound of his horse's hooves thundering across the track matched the rapid beating of her heart.

Snow told herself that she should be concentrating on Erden, but she could not help being distracted by his horse's shiny mane bouncing in the wind. In fact, both the rider's and the horse's manes look so glossy in the wind, she thought with envy.

As he got closer to the first target, Snow gasped again in amazement: He's not even holding the reins!

With one swift motion, he unslung his bow from his shoulder and pulled an arrow from his quiver at his hip. In a blink of an eye, he nocked the arrow, turned towards the target, drew it back fully and released.

Swoosh! The arrow struck right in the center of the first target.

Without pause, his horse still galloping at full speed, Erden nocked another arrow, aimed at the second target and released.

The crowd cheered. Another bull's-eye!

All the while, he looked like he was floating in his saddle. His confident face was a picture of calm, while his eyes blazed with a cool fire.

Twock! Third bull's-eye!

Come on, Erden, you can do it! Just one more! Snow thought, clasping her hands in front of her mouth.

As he neared the fourth target, he nocked another arrow and drew it back. This time, he paused for a split second, before letting it fly.

Twang! The arrow struck just within the yellow circle in the middle of the target.

"Yes! Erden!" Snow shouted and pumped her fists in the air, as he rode past with his arms wide open to the crowd's delight. She turned to Oktai to find him shaking his head.

"Not good enough. The last one was not dead center."

"Huh? How can that be not good enough?" Snow asked in disbelief. "How can anybody do better than that?"

"Oh, you'll see. Pity though, I was hoping he'd win."

He's such a wet blanket, Snow thought crossly.

"Who's next?"

"The main reason I don't compete."

Shouts arose from the crowd nearest to the first target.

A graceful figure in a maroon deel and riding an auburn horse trotted into view. The moment Snow saw the rider's long flowing hair, strong brow and hawk-like gaze, she thought: Oh, Heavens.

It's Sechen!

If Snow ever wondered what a female version of Erden was like, she just had to look down the field. Erden looked so similar to his older sister that they could easily be mistaken for twins. Between the two though, Snow felt that Sechen was a thousand times more intimidating with her supremely self-assured manner, and light-colored eyes that could bore a hole in someone's head.

When they were younger, Erden had told her that his older sister was an adept archer who could shoot a moving target on a galloping horse. If she could do that then, surely this is small potatoes to her?

"Why do the women know how to shoot arrows?" she had asked Erden under the apple tree in the imperial gardens.

"They joined in the fighting and raiding. With a bow and arrow, your size does not matter," he had replied between bites of his apple.

"You mean the women fought?" Snow's eyes had sparkled in the sunlight filtering through the leaves.

"Yes. Princess Khutulun was an ace horseback archer and undefeated wrestler. They say it's because of her that women are not allowed to wrestle anymore."

"Hah! See! I'm going to tell nanny that princesses can fight!"

Erden chuckled. "Yes, try telling her that. Then there's my great-great-grandmother, Manduhai the Wise Queen. She took to the battlefield to unite scattered tribes into a single nation."

"Did she win?"

"Yes," Erden said, a proud smile slowly creeping upon his lips. "What more, she was pregnant with twins."

Sechen took her position at the starting line, with her quiver and arrows on her back and bow already in hand. The crowd started shouting her name: "Sechen! Go, Sechen!"

"Is she a crowd favorite?" Snow asked, though the answer was obvious to anyone watching.

Oktai nodded. "The favorite. She has won this event over so many years, I've lost count."

"Chu!"

Sechen's horse came sprinting down the track, bearing its mistress who appeared weightless in the saddle.

Oh, Erden was good, but she's making it look effortless, Snow thought. Sechen's movements were fluid and so lightning fast, and so instinctive, it almost seemed like she was shooting arrows in rapid succession without having to look at the targets.

Zip! Zip! Zip! Zip!

The crowd cheered raucously as she thundered past with her arms stretched out like an eagle in mid-flight. For a second, Snow made eye contact with her, and in the sunlight, Sechen's eyes shone brightly like tiger's eye quartz.

My Gods, she's fierce. Like all the warrior queens before her. Snow gulped. She craned her neck to look at all the targets, before turning to stare open-mouthed at Oktai.

"Told you."

֎֎֎֎֎

"I see them!" Erden cried.

"Where?" Snow said with her khuushuur halfway to her mouth. She held a mutton stuffed pancake in one hand and a bowl of hot milk tea in the other, while Oktai carried a plate bearing enough khuushuur for the three of them. Erden had been tilting his head back to suck the juices and grease from his pancake when he saw clouds of dust on the horizon.

"Over there," he said, pointing at three riders that had just appeared over the hill. Umpires in their sky-blue uniforms started heading towards them on their horses to escort them to the finish line.

As expected, Ganzorig was in the lead, and Erhi was racing neck and neck with another older boy.

"Come on!" Snow yelled. Oktai wisely decided to take the bowl out of her hand before any milk spilt onto the grass.

After they celebrated Ganzorig's win and Erhi finishing third place with gulps of fermented mare's milk, Erden moved on to his wrestling matches.

Snow wrung his deel in her hands as she watched him grapple with a burly beefcake of a man who was double his size.

What do they eat? How do these men get so big? she wondered. Erden is all muscle, but these men are ridiculously huge.

Beside her, Oktai's eyes glittered as he watched his older brother get thrashed. It's no wonder he doesn't participate in the wrestling, he'd get flattened like a pancake, she thought.

The spectators around the ring got noisier as the giant lifted Erden off his feet and swung him over his shoulder.

Don't break my husband! she wanted to scream.

Erden was thrown down by his first opponent, followed by his second. Finally, after pushing and pulling against another giant, he swept a leg under his third opponent and knocked him to the ground. Snow gave a shout of jubilation and threw her hands up in the air, narrowly smacking Oktai in the face with Erden's deel.

Back in their yurt that evening, while Erden stripped off his grass-stained trousers, she laid out the cobalt blue and silver brocade deel she had sewn for him. Her fingers skimmed over the silver buttons and the geometric shape she had embroidered on the stiff collar. Her own deel made of peony pink brocade laid next to his.

She poured warm water over Erden's head and back as he sat in a wooden tub by the fire. He moaned as the water eased the soreness of his muscles. When he was done with his bath, he sat on the bed with her while she dried his hair with a cloth.

"Thanks for looking after my brother for me. I know he's not easy to deal with," he said.

"He says he doesn't bother participating because he'll never come in first," she said behind him.

"That's his way of rebelling against Father. And of course, nobody can beat Sechen. I don't blame him for feeling that way. I got my arse kicked today but at least I won one wrestling match."

He turned his head to look over his shoulder at her. "I like it when you cheer for me. I can hear you shouting my name from far away."

"That's what a good wife should do for her husband, no?"

He grinned. "Oktai said that you looked like you were about to roll up your sleeves and barge into the wrestling ring."

"Oh, come now, that's not true," she said with a smile. She saw his eyes flicker over her form before coming back up to her face.

She turned to reach for the wooden comb she had placed nearby when she suddenly felt a strong arm around her waist. The room spun and her head and back landed on the bed. Erden loomed over her with an eager expression on his handsome face.

"Let's make love," he said.

"B-but the celebrations!" Snow squeaked, still holding the comb. Erden took the comb out of her hand and tossed it aside.

"The celebrations can wait." He lowered himself to put his mouth over hers. They kissed hungrily before she put her hands on his bare chest.

"Your parents. . . They're expecting us to be there early," she said breathlessly.

Erden let out a groan and scrunched up his face. "You're right."

With great reluctance, he moved to get off the bed, but then abruptly turned back to kiss her again. "Tonight. Prepare yourself. I won't hold back," he growled with a wolfish glint in his eyes.

"Oooh! Careful now, you have to carry out what you say," she teased, a hot smile forming on her lips.

Author's notes:

For this chapter, I watched a number of videos of Mongolian horseback archers, and they were really amazing. Here's a short 21 second video of a horseback archer in action:

https://youtu.be/er5DrGvaTDw

What do you think of the descriptions of Sechen and Erden competing?

Khutulun (late 13th century) was the great-granddaughter of Genghis Khan and a fearsome warrior princess. What was stated above about Khutulun and Manduhai the wise queen (late 15th century) is not made up!

Things are getting spicier! Tell me if you want more!