If nothing else, Lexa was glad the Frelian emissary she had to protect insisted on having a drink by the local tavern instead of going straight to the castle. At least he was somewhere safe. She wasn't supposed to be in Grado Keep either, but she wanted to find the prince as soon as possible. And it wasn't even for some selfish reason, like wanting to snoop about the castle to maybe get a glimpse of the king and the grumpyface general. At least not entirely. She volunteered for the envoy mission to Grado for her princess' sake. Natalia had been rather upset as of late and she hoped arranging a visit from her childhood friend would lift her spirits, even just a little.

Perhaps she should have been more pure with her intentions? If she hadn't taken a detour through the foyer to look at the royal portraits, she might have reached the throne room in time and alerted the king of the large number of guests he had.

It took a while, but Lexa eventually realized that this was an invasion. How could such a thing happen? From the quick glimpse she had gotten before she flew deeper into the castle, it would seem they were Jehannan forces, something the myrmidon beside her had affirmed. Had Grado and Jehanna's relationship become this strained already? She heard only whispers in Frelia about the growing dissent among the two nations, but it was something most have dismissed as they had their own arguments to worry about. Lexa was certain word had not yet reached Frelia. Should the king or Captain Mariona know of their circumstance, of how it has escalated to the point of such aggression, surely they would not turn a blind eye to this. Ever the idealist, Lexa still believed they were not the cowards the other nations have come to think they were.

Her nose scrunched in thought as she focused on the situation at hand and tried to properly assess it. Everything was a lot different from when she was sitting in a classroom, discussing hypothetical scenarios. For instance, she didn't learn what to do when enemies were currently staring her down. Wait, were they even enemies? Her first instinct had naturally been to attack, but they showed no sign of aggression beyond the smirks on their faces, and suddenly she wasn't so sure. What if these were Grado soldiers in disguise?

"They're not with you, are they?" she whispered to the myrmidon, who replied with a tentative shake of his head after giving her a slightly disparaging glance. Lexa only smiled gratefully before turning to face them again. "Okay, good. Just checking."

Lexa readied her lance and prepared to strike, but was momentarily distracted when she caught wind of a faint but imposing voice drifting from the throne room. From where she stood, the voice had not been properly audible. But she did pick up certain things, like how General Nero was in there [i]right now[/i], within a couple of feet from her. She distinctly heard his name being called. If she could just retreat a couple of steps, to join the oddly dressed man standing by the door, perhaps she could get a quick peek of the general. Alas, she was currently in a deadlock with the two fighters. They still made no move to attack, but surely she couldn't just leave them be. 

Just as she was about to attack again, a chain of events had unfolded just behind her. Everything happened at a faster pace in Grado, Lexa would learn. 

It started with someone spooking Nightmare, causing him to rear up and almost throw her off his back. He recovered quickly enough, but her pegasus was, in a word, [i]pissed[/i]. Nightmare turned slightly to crane his neck and look at the offending human, an archer clad head to toe in green, and pointedly stomped on a couple of potatoes that have scattered near him in warning. He looked menacing with his fixed stare and he squealed once in annoyance. Lexa would have warned the man about making her pegasus' hit list—it was quite a bit of bad news, as many Frelian can attest to—but then the throne room door swung open and out came a motley band of fighters that burst into action. 

No General Nero, though. Boo.

First out had been the Renais prince, one she had come to know from Natalia's stories. He zoomed by with his steed, causing Nightmare to fly as high up as the ceiling allowed so they would avoid him. He gave a rushed speech, which nonetheless worked on spurring Lexa on, before he attacked the fighter with whom she'd been having a staring contest. Next was a rather intimidating knight who popped out next, then a… serving girl? Mix in the oddly dressed man from earlier who spoke in a strange tongue and the archer (currently the top of Nightmare's hit list) with his consort, and Lexa was reeling. 

Truly, Grado was such a hectic nation. It was sort of exciting!

Lexa flew right behind the Renais prince, lance at the ready. He seemed to have gotten things in control for now, but she spied more soldiers in the northwestern corridor and she was ready to offer assistance where she was needed.