"Ah..."

Their reverie towards the Princesses was difficult to maintain in the face of such information. Of course, as sheltered noble girls, none of them had witnessed first-hand the pain and suffering that could be brought by slavery. But they knew of it.

"My father is a minor knight under the crown, er, if you've heard of a Sir Galfont that's my father! Er..." Angenese paused for a moment, "He tells me stories, at times, never the details but... would you be happy to know he slew a slavery ring's captain, Sir Knight?"

She was uncertain what to say, but it was clear to at least two of the girls that Sir Gerard's mood had darkened as he spoke. While Angenese did love her father, his exploits felt more commonplace compared to that of the Iron Rose Knights. A keeper of the law was someone to be proud of, but the work of knights of legend felt more far away and exotic.

Tenessa remained silent, shifting uncomfortably, uncertain of what to say. Meanwhile, Violette said nothing as well, simply looking away quietly, awkwardly.

Perhaps she'd not had much to say to begin with.

[@HereComesTheSnow]

[hr]

"Ah, my, I didn't expect such a display...!"

Still, the elder princess was clapping. Even if the bout had been short, a duel between two members of the most famous knight orders in all of Thaln was still something to behold. Elisandre had seen more than a few tournaments in her life, and the fights always seemed to last a little longer than that. But even if it seemed a bit brutal for a duel, no-one was seriously harmed, were they?

"Sir Renar, you said?" she continued, "I should like to thank him for his service personally, after I have spoken to your Knight-Captain."

Pausing a moment, she glanced town towards her younger sister, to see how she was doing after witnessing the duel. While her sister was also no stranger to such performances, at the same time she had seen her flinch and become anxious during some of the more intense bouts.

But it seemed Fionn's presence had worked wonders at keeping her young girl distracted.

"Oh, these are... they're the..." Princess Maletha's eyes shone slightly at the sight of candied fruits, "They're, um... I forgot the name, but they're from Ka... Ka... Kashahn, across the sea, right?"

The younger princess knew some exotic preserved fruits and other unfamiliar snacks from the Near East had been delivered recently, but she hadn't gotten to see them until now. Exotic candied fruits from Kashahn, in the south of that distant land, were quite different from the sweets she was used to. Her eyes wandered briefly to the tables, past the knight, before returning to them.

"Um, thank you! Thank you, Sir Fionn!" she nodded excitedly as she spoke, "I-I'll, I'll use your services wisely! You shall be my stalwart ball knight!"

She seemed at least a bit less anxious.

It was only natural that Veilena had observed the duel as well, arms folded and golden eyes narrowed slightly.

"Those knights... hmmm," she cocked her head to one side, her pigtails bobbing as she did, "Curious that it was those two in particular."

"Ah? Why is that, Lady Cazt?" asked Elisandre.

"Nothing in particular, I suppose. At least, nothing important at the moment," the Cazt heir replied with a idle wave of her hand, "You know, your Highness, if I'm not mistaken, the two most senior knights in attendance are there as well."

"Ah...!"

It was only natural that the First Princess would immediately try to approach the vampire and the elf as soon as she spotted them.

[@Creative Chaos][@Raineh Daze][@Rune_Alchemist][@Saiyan][@The Otter][@Crimson Paladin][@Psychic Loser][@Richard Horthy][@VahkiDane][@Psyker Landshark]