“It should feel the same.” Luke shrugged as he checked out the other SUVs from the rearview mirror. A farm truck and a four-wheel drive SUV should run on the same principles – there was a steering wheel, a manual stick shift, the break, clutch, accelerator pedals, and four wheels. How different could it be? 

The SUV was not as luxurious as the cars or hovercrafts that he used to drive in the capital. It was built for utility more than style. Even the interior was basic, containing only a three-inch monitor with a pre-loaded map to their destination, buttons that controlled the temperature inside the vehicle, the gauges, and vents for the air conditioning. The dashboard looked like it was made of cheap but durable black plastic, while the seats were covered in leather of the same color. Luke left his window open, inviting the chilling but fresh scent of the country air.

They would be driving up the mountain ranges with just the pre-loaded map as their guide. The land was damp, some parts even muddy, because of the downpour overnight. Even the air smelled of rain. Most of the trees had shed their leaves to the ground, its branches lifted to the heavens as if asking the sun and the clouds to hasten each day until the leaves bud and bloomed and covered the mountains with its lovely color. It would be a scenic drive around the slopes of the mountain ranges, where one would expect to be greeted with the unique flora and fauna as well as the view of the mountains from a few miles above sea level.  

Luke grabbed on the overhead handrail, bracing himself from the bumpy ride. He had never been to that part of the kingdom because of safety and logistical issues on top of the queen’s apprehension in allowing her heir to venture into the land of the peasants. Even though he was outwardly frowning at the idea of visiting the parts of the kingdom that was seldom noticed by either the press or the nobility, Luke could not deny that a part of him was excited to see something other than the capital’s towering architecture. The SUVs were parked at the base of the mountain, a short distance from the seldom-used runway, but Rhiane wasted no time. Apparently, testing the feel of the foreign vehicle was not her style. The princess elect stepped on it, and she did so with passion that Luke tightened his grip on the handrail as the cold autumn breeze zipped past his cheeks and blew through his hair. “Slow down,” he warned, wondering why she gave her such power.

It was not that he was feeling lazy to drive, but Luke suspected that his fiancee might be an adrenaline junkie. She leapt with him off a cliff even though she admitted that she could not swim. But as if it was not enough, she asked him to promise that he would take her to other more thrilling adventures during or after the tour. Driving a 4x4 SUV, he thought, was one such thrilling adventure. It was especially true because of the steep and winding slopes of the mountain ranges. He thought that she might enjoy it and that he might get some rest. But the way her fiancee was hitting every bump, every fissure, and every cavity on the road made his mind race as quickly as his heart. She didn’t care that there was somebody else in the car with her who had bumped his head and other parts of his body more than once on more than one part of the vehicle. It was not the worst she did, though. Luke thought that what made the ride more traumatizing than his days as a boy in the military training camp was that Rhiane didn’t know that it was necessary to slow down when executing tight turns, especially when the road was narrow, and one side of it was a cliff.

He could not help himself from yelling at the driver, who on the contrary, was enjoying the speed. The words “break” and “slow down” seemed to spit out from his mouth every ten seconds. If she was getting back at him for teasing her in the airplane, then it was working out fine. Luke was helpless. Other than grab the handrail or anything solid he could get his hands on, there was nothing that he could do. He would not grab the wheel, because it might cause the SUV to swerve and fall into the ravine. Although so far, other than the possibility of a heart attack, everything was fine. He could not bring himself to decide if it was that she was a really good driver or that she was crazy to think that her style was safe.

Then Rhiane tackled another difficult curve, but that time the farmer was not as lucky. A large animal, which Luke thought was a big hairy cow, greeted them. Rhiane seemed to freeze in her surprise or perhaps it was an overload of possible actions to take. If he didn’t make a move the animal and themselves might get injured, or worse. The prince did what he thought was the best course of action. Despite his previous resolve to leave his life into her capable hands, he grabbed the wheel and veered the vehicle to the left attempting to safely go around the beast. However, because of the speed, the vehicle's tires skidded and the vehicle swerved. Luke both saw and felt the front wheels bump the road railing, he witnessed how it yielded under the force from the SUV. The car was airborne for a split second, then they were falling. 

The initial impact tipped the balance of the vehicle, flipping it in mid-air before it crashed on its passenger side and continued to tumble down the slope. If not for a fallen trunk of an old tree the car would have continued tumbling down the slope until just the skeleton remained. Fortunately for the couple, although positively wrecked, the SUV landed on its wheels.

Luke was barely conscious. He was confused and his brain signaled pain all over his body. His head was throbbing, his body felt sore and it was painful even to breathe. Blood trickled from a cut on his forehead, right at the hairline. “Rhiane,” he forced his eyes to focus and his body to move, but a sharp pain on his mid-section forced the prince to fall back against the backrest. Could be that he broke a couple of ribs too. And on top of it all, there was a particular sharp edge from the shattered windshield protruding from his right thigh, right above the knee. 

One hand reached for her. “Talk to me. Are you hurt?”