L

uying stood at the edge of the castle's perimeter, hands behind her back as she walked an even pace towards the gates and the carriage awaiting her. She'd offered herself up to go and see Sounnah's Midsummer Solstice festivities in person. They were always the stuff of dreams when she had been a child in her own empire, so she doubted the Thisbean citizens could beat them in their theatrics.

Her guard, the one who'd been assigned to her for her stay in Thisbe, was padding along silently behind her. She'd requested someone quiet as she preferred to stay within her own thoughts, and the royal guard had given her this lennience that she wished for.

He didn't talk much, and she needn't worry about his skill considering she had her own weapon strapped around her waist, right above her behind, and held on by a fashionably red rope. Her attire for the festivities also met the fashion standards of her own empire and what she wore was a short pale yellow dress with red flowers decorating the bodice and an open back, as well as a pair of pale yellow wrist guards that reached up to the crease between her elbow and forearm. Her slippers were a bright shade of red and her hair was put into a complicated up-do, held together by the two sticks her elder sister and her mother had given her for her eighteenth birthday.

Li Luying stepped into the carriage, smiling at her guard as he helped her into the vehicle before closing the door and telling the driver to start moving. The ride to Sounnah's market square wasn't incredibly eventful or displeasing, so when they arrived it seemed everything was perfect. But that's how every book she'd ever read about fictional fantasy individuals started: with a perfect beginning, only to lead to disaster.

She stepped from the carriage, careful not to catch her Qiang on anything or anyone as she exited the vehicle. The lights put up around the square were exquisite, and the bustling music that exploded around her made her muscles loosen and her mouth turn up in a pleasant smile.

Luying's explorations began at the toy sections but soon she found her way to the blacksmiths, and she was looking at a perfectly made greatsword when another slammed into her side and sent her reeling a few inches to the side. Her guard moved to take his sword from its sheath, but she motioned for him to remain calm as she turned her gaze on her bumper. "My apologies, I must have been blocking the way." Her voice was mild but held a sharply sarcastic tone to it as she took in the large man before her.