Wind The Farlands

Prologue - A Wind like Atlas

"Ah...there it is again. Can you hear it, Minji?"

The princess who sat on her knees, hands gently cuffed above the curve shook her head vigorously in response. "Of course not. You're saying there are instruments in the air; so ridiculous."

The king, her father, could only laugh in reply. "Instruments in the air, not quite what I was going for. It's more of an orchestra in the wind, my love," he describes, having let the open window blow freshly swept wind inside. The young princess shivered.

"I can't hear an orchestra, daddy. The wind only feels cold."

"That's because you're only using your ears to listen, darling. In order to hear the music in the wind of our home, you have to feel it in all of your many senses," the king continues, moving his hands around as if he were telling a storybook tale. "It's the wind who not only protects us, but will guide us in the future. Our beautiful meadows will flourish, our crops will continue to grow, and our water will flow elegantly."

"And it's all because of the wind?" Minji, big eyed asked her father who couldn't help but to coo toward her expression. "It's because of the people of Hiraeth's love for the wind," he corrected.

"Mmm, I love our home!"

"What is it you love most about it?" her father asked in a gentle voice, carefully braiding her hair. "Is it the butterflies you chase around the palace garden? Or perhaps the kitchen to sneak pastries off of the carts?"

Minji hummed, "I do like those things. But it's not my favorite."

Her father hummed, "and what would your favorite be then?"

"My favorite thing about our home is our people! Mommy, Daddy, Yeji, and Jin...and the towns people!" Minji explained in an excited burst of energy. "And the maids...and the palace kitties!"

Before her father could respond, her mother strutted into the room. As elegant, beautiful, and gentle per usual. "And that is why, my love, you can make an amazing queen."

"Mommy!" Minji sprung up from the floor and ran over to her mother, hugging the Queen's leg so tightly she almost fell over. "Hello, Minji."

Her father slowly rose from the floor, "Harmony, what are you doing here at this hour?"

"I came to put Minji to sleep, it's past her bedtime," Harmony explained, carefully lifting Minji up from the floor and onto her hip, just small enough to fit only slightly. "Something you surely had to have known by asking 'at this hour' right?" she spoke softly, a grin on her face.

"Mommy, daddy was telling me about the wind," Minji tugged on her long gown. "The wind? Atlas, you are keeping our daughter up past midnight for storytelling?"

Atlas didn't reply, only watching as Harmony carried Minji over to her pastel colored bed, with large drapes going from head to toe of the bed frame, covered in stuffed animals sewn from the finest seamstress in all of Hireath.

"You said something....about being queen one day?" Minji asked as her legs were tucked under her sheets. "Mmm, yes. One day, you or your sister will become the ruler of this realm," her mother explained, sitting next to her on the edge of the bed.

"The ruler?"

"Yes, meaning you will take your place with the divine leaders of this plane, the ones who look over the other realms we exist on."

Atlas began to shake his head, "but of course that isn't what life is all about, Min. There is much more games to be played; more adventures to go on before that time comes for you."