Caldric Van'Ike
Caldric cursed mentally to himself as the princess clearly noticed him. In the brief moment it took him to settle on a lie she had already moved to help him up. He found his Serath accent and forced a stutter.
"N-no my l-lady. I-I'm fine. C-Came from Sarath w-with my m-master t-too--" her eyes were dropping to his cloak. If she examined it too closely then--
Suddenly they heard screams. The princess was ordering him to hide and running off to fight by herself, but in that moment Caldric realized something. If Chevalot was planning to ally with Vallia then Vallia would not be attacking, and he clearly heard Vallian voices shouting in the din. That meant her highness was a target and it was now Caldric's job to get her out in one piece. Well that and to find Camilla... To have this chance and loose it... the resistance would have his hide.
"No way in hell I'm letting you fight alone," Caldric almost growled switching to the Cevalot accent he'd been using since entering the country. He unrolled his cloak again and slung it around his shoulders over the servants uniform. With any luck it would obscure his figure and make him a harder target to hit. A knife was drawn in each hand and he set off after Illyia.
He almost wasn't fast enough to catch up to her. Several of the enemy got between them and it became not only a fight to save the royal, but one to stay alive. to anyone watching it would quickly become clear that he was more than just a servant. He moved as one trained to fight and not as a soldier. Caldric turned sideways to dodge the thrust of a sword only to feel it graze the edge of his jaw. A second man's blade went through his cloak to get his upper right hip. Caldric had no doubt the man had been aiming for his stomach. Both were incapacitated as quickly has Caldric knew how. He didn't even bother with the third, instead dropping and rolling past the man's feet to come up running still trying to get to the princess.
Once he passed out of visual range of the first three the rest of the Vallian soldiers tended to leave him alone. At least at first. His cloak was clear Vallian make so there was a chance he was one of theirs sent to spy inside the castle. It wasn't until they realized he was attacking them and defending the lady that they struck at him in turn. Perhaps not the most honest trick, but it was keeping him alive. Caldric very much wanted to live.
It wasn't easy. Caldric could feel blood seeping down his neck from the cut along his jaw and soaking his breeches from the one on his hip. He tried to ignore it though. Wouldn't do to get distracted. He kept moving, and once he got close enough to watch Illyia's back did his absolute best to keep approaching enemies off her. Not that she needed much help. The young woman clearly knew how to use that rapier she held.
When they reached the throne room Caldric could smell the change to the magic in the air. He knew at once Camilla had been close. of course anyone who had not been traveling with a dark magic user probably had no clue.
"CAMILLA!" he roared as loud as he could manage, "CAMILLA!" his voice echoed eerily among the sounds of fighting that encompassed the throne room. "CAMILLIA, I'M HERE IF YOU CAN HEAR ME!"
It was then that he saw the Princess rushing to cut a group of Vallian troops off before they reached a particular corridor. He saw one of her own soldiers moving to protect her. He saw something else too. His hand whipped back and then forward again his knife taking the Vallian soldier that had been rushing the princess from behind in an exposed shoulder joint. Caldric pulled out another knife from the top of his boot to replace it, and moved in, intent on keeping the man from getting up again.
Loraine Castelbia
Loraine was getting impatient. They should have arrived at the Chavelot castle yesterday in time for dinner and as it stood they were now an hour late for the coming of age ceremony and she still couldn't even see the city walls.
"Jagen," she started for the umpteenth time nudging her mare so she was riding mostly beside the commander of her body guard. "You keep saying the delays are to avoid bandit activity, but we've seen nothing but a rouge pack of thieves since setting out. And they were little more than children! This is by far the least eventful trip to Chevalot we've ever taken and yet you insist on making me miss the whole point of going in the first place!"
"You will still be able to see your friend, still give her the gift you brought, and most likely still have a chance to wear your new dress," the grizzled paladin answered with a grunt. "And what's more you will have arrived in one piece."
Loraine barely suppressed the urge to stick her tongue out at his back as she let Mist fall back to their assigned place at the center of the guard. The grey mare danced a little bit mimicking her rider's antsy feelings. But, Loraine supposed, if she was going to be late at least the company waiting with her wasn't so bad. The guard was constant but they weren't the only ones allowed to accompany her, and not everyone in her party insisted on treating her like a porcelain doll.