[GM Post]

Matilda's sheer bulk alone was intimidating enough close-up, the two idiots very unsubtly had their eyes on her teeth the entire time as they shrunk and shrunk like a pair of shriveled testicles. The claim of being the head of guards and beheading threat simply pushed them past the panic point as their eyes widened, near-synchroniously trying to step back only for her grip to be ironclad and they just rebounded back to the original place. If there's fight or flight instinct raging in their mind, well, it was summarily and handily defeated by the "give up and beg for mercy" instinct. If that's even a real thing.

[i]"L-l-lady- I mean, ma'am- ahmean, Sire-"

"Sire is for men ya dork! Dame, yes? Dame Hilda, ah've heard of yer name, yer' the bestest and strongest knight-"

"Ah saw a fight! Ain't got nothin' ta do with me, I swaer on me mum!"

"Yer mum's dead! B-birk an' Reinhold went for closer look! I ain't dealin' with that shit, I went straight home! Ne'er shot even a rabbit, for real!"[/i]

If they're not held tight by Matilda's iron fist, they probably would've ended up fighting each other to toss the other to the chopping block to save their own skin.