23 September 2023
… no magic circle…”
As I got ready to respond, I noticed one of the other guards chanting under her breath, her eyes locked on Robin. I whipped my pistol out and point it at her right when Elsenaia stepped between everyone, arms outstretched. “Stop! Just, stop.”
Her eyes focused on the chanting guard, whose cheeks burned bright red before she averted her eyes from Elsenaia. I cautiously lowered my gun, but I didn’t return it to my holster.
Another of the guards, a man with forest-green hair, moved next to the blushing guard. “With all due respect, Your Highness, the humans attacked us. Shouldn’t we–”
“As I recall, Goodman Rivlett, it was Captain Darrett attacked first. And provoked or not, for a decorated captain of the guard to lose his composure so easily…” Elsenaia’s smile turned vindictive. “Well, that is quite the embarrassment, isn’t it, Captain Darrett?”
Darrett’s expression was as dark as a power outage on a moonless night, but he said nothing. Adam sidled up next to me, hands on his weapon. “Uh, by any chance, would you mind telling us what the heck is going on?”
“Well, basically, the guards are all freaking out because Robin took out their captain so easily. Especially since she wasn’t using any magic. So Elsenaia–that’s the princess, there–is telling them to knock it off, especially since her captain attacked us first. I think she wants to make peace with us.”
Elsenaia started a bit when I said “without magic”, but she recovered quickly. She turned to us and bowed her head. “That’s correct. I apologize for my rudeness earlier; we… didn’t really know what to expect.”
Adam and Robin remained wary, but I shrugged and waved it off. “It’s fine. I think.”
Adam gestured to Darrett. “I’m not so certain. If you don’t mind me asking, why did he try to attack my brother anyway?”
“Ah, that was probably my fault.” I flashed Adam a cheeky grin. “He was being an asshole, and I called him out on it.”
Robin chuckled while Adam sighed and shook his head. To all of our surprise, Elsenaia let out a loud burst of laughter, before she promptly clapped her hands over her mouth and her cheeks turned scarlet. All eyes, both elven and human, focused on her.
She focused for a moment or two, and then coughed and straightened her outfit. “Right. Well. Back to business.”
Most of the guards snapped themselves out of it, and they began discussing options. Tairsi, however, just watched Elsenaia in shock.