Ball of Nothing

When Zero and Queen Leah returned from touring the farm, Priscilla noticed how her queen appeared slightly different. What happened there? Did they make some major progress while strolling the sea wheat farm? A pang of pain startled the head maid. Her queen looked truly happy this time.

Yet, the pufferfish head maid did not forget her role or duty. "The riding clothes are prepared in the carriage. A temporary establishment in the farm's cottage is prepared for the maids and stewards to ȧssist your majesties."

Zero quickly waved and declined the offer. He would change by himself. It would be troubling to have other people help him as usual. Queen Leah simply nodded and let her capable head maid make preparations.

Zero clambered into the carriage to change as Priscilla escorted her queen to the cottage. The farm owner had everyone else wait outside while the servants helpedQueen Leah change into her riding outfit.

Inside the carriage, Zero struggled with the different straps to put over his body. Bob was equally clueless, and they struggled to get his limbs into the right holes without looking too stupid.

There was a tap at the carriage door, and Bob glanced outside. There was nobody here, but the dragon sensed Truen nearby. Sneakily, they opened the carriage shell a little and Truen climbed into it quickly before they shut it again before the servants could see them.

"Truen!" Zero gushed. It had been a little too long since he last saw his best friend.

The wood elf took one look at the messy riding harness and shook his head. "You're supposed to put your leg through this hoop and tighten it with the buckle at the side. No harnesses are worn on the neck, Zero. Who taught you this?"

Bob looked away sheepishly as Zero bore his stare into the all-knowing dragon. With Truen around, Zero finally put on the clothes in the correct order. The wood elf quickly became invisible again, and Bob had to climb onto Truen's shoulder as the riding outfit was too tight for him to hide inside. Did Queen Leah propose sea horse riding to keep stalkers away from intruding on their date? The Eternal Dragon couldn't help but feel that it might be deliberate.

As the top shell opened again, Zero hopped out of it gracefully in his riding outfit. Queen Leah was already waiting for him. Zero checked that his friends had safely gotten off the carriage before he removed that one hand still holding onto the carriage's bottom shell. Truen and Bob made their quick and silent escape as Zero walked towards Queen Leah, offering her his arm.

Priscilla gave the cue for the servants to bring the royal mounts and the footstool. There was a blue and yellow seahorse waiting for them, and Zero wondered which seahorse belonged to Queen Leah.

"Which seahorse do you prefer?" the gracious queen asked, and Zero paused. He didn't really know much about horses, not to mention seahorses.

"D-do they bite?" Zero asked quietly, not wanting to break character in front of so many people.

Queen Leah looked at seahorses and pointed to the yellow one. "She's fast but can be grumpy. Her name is Moonflower, my best mare. He's slower but milder in temper and also Moonflower's mate. His name is Jordan."

Zero nodded. He would rather ride on Jordan than risk getting bitten by a grumpy Moonflower. He wasn't so confident about riding a seahorse and wished Truen would be around to help him saddle up.

Queen Leah had no problems mounting a seahorse. However, Zero struggled visibly, and the royal footman stepped up to help Zero hold his seahorse steady. Jordan snorted at Zero a little and smelled his hair unceremoniously as Moonflower neighed. Priscilla told the servants to tighten her reins in case she went into a wild gallop. The sea queen refused.

"She deserves her freedom. It would be a sin to deny her strong tail freedom in the water. However, I would suggest a stirrup for the consort. He's a land-dweller, and seahorses can be difficult to control."

Zero tried not to blush at that. He honestly did not have the best sense of balance, and Truen was better at it. However, for the sake of giving everyone a very good show, he had to accommodate changes and go with the flow. Queen Leah was already giving him some dignity by not exposing his weakness.

Once they were saddled properly, Queen Leah took the lead and urged her seahorse to hop on its tail to the royal stable where they would go for a slow swim. Zero didn't know how riding a seahorse would work underwater, but the hopping journey on land to the royal stable was a bumpy one. Without stirrups to hold his flailing legs and reins to catch himself from falling backwards, Zero would have been lying in the dust from the second hop.

Once they were there, the magic happened.

Moonflower was fast. She jumped into the open water without hesitation, and Queen Leah didn't even blink. Zero wasn't as mentally prepared for it and nearly shrieked when it was his turn. Jordan neighed once and plunged after his mate, swimming in sporadic movements to catch up with his wild mare.

The aquarium was full of tropical marine life that Zero saw near the shores of the sea otter's village. He learned how corals could only grow in warmer waters, and Indra Seagloo didn't have that kind of water. No wonder Queen Leah wasn't afraid of getting wet, freezing or getting crushed by the tremendous underwater pressure. This was like a merfolk version of an aquarium.

Zero wasn't the best at swimming, but with the help of a seahorse, he found himself zooming through huge coral structures to catch up with Queen Leah, who only spurred Moonflower to gallop faster underwater.

They were a sight to behold, with Zero not giving up and Queen Leah grinning widely. Not many people were capable of matching her speed on a seahorse, Zero was the first, and the fact that he was a land-dweller made it more amazing.

After sailing in the Marrissa for a while, Zero became good at reading underwater currents. He used that to his advantage to catch up to the sea queen even if his mount was slower.

Moonflower was shocked to see Jordan catching up to her quickly and sped up even without her rider's command. Her competitive nature burned, and Queen Leah didn't stop her mare. Instead, she simply tugged on the reins twice to put more distance between them.

For two full hours, they galloped in the coral aquarium without holding back, kicking up sand when they dived and causing a whirlpool in their mad chase. Priscilla had never seen her queen look so happy and so unrestrained before. Unlike all the other sides of the queen, the pufferfish head maid thought that her queen looked the most beautiful when she wasn't acting like a queen. It was a strange thought.