[b]Yue![/b]

"Hm? A sword?" Princess Yin leans forwards in the saddle, and for a moment that blinding light behind her head falls upon Yue like a spotlight. "You hold a sword in [i]my[/i] presence, little dove?"

[i]"Princess Yin!"[/i] hisses the darkling world, [i]"Princess Yin! Win if you dare!"[/i]

Through the fear and the everything, you notice that somehow, somehow, Yin is moving cautiously. Somehow she's taking you, little Yue, and your wooden sword blade seriously. She's not laughing. She's not sneering. She's watching your stance and your motions even as you tremble with radiant black eyes, and oh, isn't that somehow worse than if she laughed? If she laughed at least she wouldn't expect anything from you, if she laughed the worst would be past and you could collapse freely. If she laughed you might have a chance to do something. But she's taking you seriously, acting as though you had hidden training and secret skill and might yet prove her undoing, and if Princess Yin is taking you so very deadly seriously then you're not even small enough to avoid her attention.

One hand hovers near the hilt of her own blade, the other raises to snap her fingers. "Take that from her."

There's a ripple in the air. And stillness. Hyra's hand has come down to wrap around your sword-hand and no further. She grips it but she is as much holding your grip shut as she is on the verge of snatching it from your fingers.

"Oh?" said Princess Yin, straightening in her saddle. "What is this?"

Hyra radiated violet energy, the power of the curse coming off her in waves. The grass is blackening beneath her feet, and here and there it rots away the leathers of her armour to reveal wolf fur growing underneath. Her hands are rippling with wicked strength and power even as they wrap around yours but they do not try to crush you. A low growl begins to build.

Princess Yin slips from the back of the stag and where her feet touch the ground the grass erupts back to life along with a cascading overgrowth of brilliant white flowers. She walks step by step towards you and Hyra even as the girl trembles and shakes against your back. "Do you see this, Yue?" said Princess Yin, shaking her head. "My trusting heart is betrayed yet again. After all the effort I went through to train her, after all the hard work I put in, after letting her know what a big responsibility being let off the leash was. After everything, this is the thanks I get."

Hyra's growling in your ear is wet and animal. Her arms are covered entirely in white fur. Her fingers are contorting into claws and the shape of her is changing against your back.

"I suppose she'll just have to spend a little while longer as a dog, because she obviously doesn't have the discipline needed to be a human," said Princess Yin, smiling with genuine enjoyment. Her free hand coils with radiant magic, the raw power of a Sunshard. "And as for you? Perhaps if you spend some time as a mouse you'll learn something when it comes to respecting a Princess."