Lila felt better enough to follow the two fae strangers to Holn, immediately realizing she had walked into something incredibly awkward. She knew royalty. She had watched Taegan and his own guard walk around together countless times. The guard was always two paces back around the palace, but once they were away from sight, his pace would match that of the prince, letting their shoulders and fingers ‘accidentally’ brush together. 

Okay fine, their bond was a bad example. 

Ranil and his own primary guard then. One stayed two paces behind the other dutifully, hand close to the hilt of her sword, occasionally exchanging light banter. There was a staggering amount of respect between the two of them. Respect, friendship and at least some kind of appreciation. 

Meanwhile, Ezra and Calixa seemed to absolutely despise each other. 

At least Calixa tried to speak to Ezra, who only replied with cold ‘yes your majesty’s. Calixa’s fists eventually balled up, and Ezra kept looking straight ahead of them. He barely acknowledged Lila when she asked him questions like what he was so mad about. After being ignored for a few hours, she made her way to Calixa - there was no way she could be as quiet.

It was odd, standing next to her. Calixa literally radiated warmth, like the sun. She didn’t know how she missed the new, jagged scar at her neck and the bloodstains on her clothes. It looked like she had been healed from something that could have been fatal, quite recently at that. Lila looked back to Ezra who still seemed unable to look at the Queen he guarded. 

Oooh… oh he almost failed his job…

"Do you think they will accept us as we are in this city?"

"I don't know, your highness."

Every time Ezra replied formally to Calixa, she stiffened. Eventually they stopped talking altogether. 

“Well! You two are going to be fun company tonight, aren’t you? If you aren’t going to talk, I will.” 

Lila started telling them about how she ended up on another continent, her travels with the companions she met there. How she was meant to find the two lost princes of Val Lyera, but failed both of them. How she worshiped the Moonmother but seemed to be haunted by not only the Moondark, but also the Arima. How the Arima kept saying it was ‘her turn’ for something which she still hadn’t figured out. How some weird ‘Help Spirit’ found her and brought her back to Evira, but in the middle of nowhere. Talk about help, right?

She didn't care that they both kept ignoring her - at least they didn't tell her to leave. they clearly had issues of their own and needed some kind of privacy.

They arrived in Holn by sunset, waiting in line to be allowed into the city. They almost didn’t let them in pointing at elven traits, until they figured out Calixa’s royal origin. Reluctantly, they let the trio in. One of the guards took Ezra's arm, stopping him.

  "Keep an eye on your friends."

  "I- what?"

  Lila went to him, having heard the whispers, and pulled him away. When they were out of earshot of the guards, she pulled him down to her height.

"They don't like non-humans here. Like, at all. Basically, as long as we are hiding or with you, Calixa and I will only be tolerated at best."

  "Are you from here?"

  Lila laughed out at that. "Oh good Moonmother, no. Who would want to be from this place? Nah, Holn has a skeevy reputation all across Evira. Welcome!" 

“We need to find an inn,” Ezra muttered. 

“You mean like that one?” Lila pointed to the first building in front of them. It barely seemed to be holding itself together, but it’s not like any of them were bathing in locally-accepted riches. 

Ezra sighed and walked into the inn, finding someone to book two rooms from.

"Dibs!" Lila yelled, taking the room with nothing more than an armchair and a desk. She didn't need more, and certainly didn't want to spend the night with either of the two angry fae.

Lila threw her bag on the floor of her room and quickly left the inn. “I’m going to go find some sweets to snack on, I’ll be back in a bit, try not to kill each other!” she teased the queen and her guard, before making her way into the city. 

--------------------------------------

The corner of Holn they had found themselves in was surprisingly lively. Lila wasn't used to large cities, but something in this area of the continent's capital made her feel at home. The houses were small, glass decorations caught the last rays of sun of the day, and the streets were brought to life with a bustling market. Elves, tieflings, haflings, even some half-orcs roamed the streets, played music and tended market stalls.

There was no way this was the Holn she had heard about. The one where fancy families represented everything, where non-humans were treated like less than nothing, the one where everything was made of cold stones and strict rules.

And yet, up on the hill, the famous Regis's castle shone bright and white.

Lila noticed a surprisingly large group of people coming in from the north, all dressed in mourning attire - dark blue and black like the night, holding candles, witchlights, and other small light sources. Some kind of group funeral, maybe?

Lila wanted to keep watching some people in particular, when she got distracted by the smell of her initial target - something sweet to eat. She followed it to a market stall tended by a rather tall tiefling - the table was a little too high up for her to comfortably look at the display.

"Anything in particular you're looking for?"

Lila shrugged at the tiefling. "I have one silver piece and am starving, what can that get me?"

The merchant shook their head. "Don't worry about the price, not today."

Lila tried to not make her joy about free sweets too apparent. "Why, what's going on?"

The merchant pointed towards the group of mourners. "We buried 46 students today. 42 were from Outer Holn. If If I can make anyone smile again with the sweets, that'll be my good deed for the day."

46 students? Lila had listened to Ezra and Calixa mutter about a fight of some kind. "What happened? How did they all die?"

"You're not from here, are you? Explains why I haven't seen you around yet. The Regis asked all the oldest students from the university to take part in a battle we have going on north of the city. It's been happening for all too long, but nobody understood why the students were drafted. They weren't meant to be in danger, most of us thought they'd be on the sidelines, or support. They were ambushed. My daughter made it, but may never see again."

Lila took a step back. "I can't just take things from you then, you need the money."

The merchant shook their head. "Please. Like I said, It's on me today." They turned to prepare something in a paper bag. "One of the Keepers of the Arts taught me to make these - they're local sweet rolls. They're my personal favorite - please, enjoy them."

Lila took the paper bag handed to her, sneaking her one silver piece on the table between two wrapped candies.

"Thank you, really. Do you know where I could find a newspaper? I'd like to know more about the battle."

"It won't be printed for another week, unfortunately, but it'll be dropped off wherever you're saying the day it is. But please, take care of yourself."

"I-... yeah, you too. Thank you."

Lila didn't know what else he could say to express her concern, so turned away, making her way back to the inn, stealing a Holnite guard's coinpurse for good measure.

He was so concerned by the nonhuman's market, he didn't care to notice it was missing until she was already far, far away.