THE FOLLOWING IS A FAN BASED PARODY.

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The sound of steel clashing against steel filled the air.

Out on the parade ground, two figures clad in armor struck at each other, their movements a blur of dust and armor. Dozens of onlookers cheered with more and more men, women, and children joined the spectacle by the minute, the chorus of cries drowning out the grunts of the two combatants as they fought viciously before the roars of the spectators.

All except one.

Chloe watched it all, taking in the scene before her and found it lacking. Frankly speaking, it bored her out of her mind. To the point where she doubted the sincerity of any one of the many spectators who found the scene remotely entertaining. Fighting for sport and mock combat always seemed to be entertaining for those who had never truly experienced what a true fight was like she thought with a grimace as she fiddled with the parchment in her hands, hoping the heat from the sun did little to smudge the ink of her lines.

Not like it mattered, however. Chloe had memorized each line of that her lady had written and had practiced speaking the royal greeting nearly a hundred times over the course of the past few days, so by the time the scouts had declared the convoy from Feoh had been spotted she was confident she would not fail Lady Olga.

Her queen had assigned her the task of representing the dark elf kingdom in greeting the traveling band and she was not going to ruin it. She sat, along with members of her queen's honor guard, on a raised dais near the center of the northern gate. The honor guard of lady Celestines off mingling with many of the city's residents who had taken to joining the group of waiting elves and warriors until a small impromptu festival had sprung out of nowhere.

Bards played instruments from all over the kingdoms, flutes, and drums mingled alongside lutes while market stalls sold fresh pasties and meats to the ever-growing throng of onlookers. It seemed the people of Ken were easily persuaded into a celebration in times such as these.

And what kind of self-respecting festival would this be without a few friendly rounds of sparing? She could almost hear her redheaded companion's voice saying in her ear.

A single offhanded comment made by the mercenary was enough to cause two members of Celestines honor guard to start, and before Chloe could even realize what was happening the two knights had created a makeshift battleground with only the captivated audience acting as its boundaries.

"Humans," Chloe said to herself with disdain as she watched the scene unfold before her. "Don't they know that our enemies are on the prowl?"

Chloe sighed again as several of her fellow dark elves joined into the spectacle, hooting and hollering just as load as any human around them, almost forgetting entirely that they were representatives of the dark queen herself, and should act in a way to not bring dishonor to Lady Olga's name.

The knights before them came in close, their swords pressed against one another, each fighter straining to overpower the other. Quite foolish of the smaller man to even try, if the dark elf was honest with herself, you'll not beat a larger foe with strength alone. The shorter of the two suddenly gave up the struggle. He dipped his sword, ducked under his opponents now unimpeded swing, dived behind and came up swinging, trying to strike his opponents unprotected back.

However, his opponent was not as off-balance as he had thought. Nor were they as slow as someone in armor should have been. Before the knight, and Chloe for that matter could register what had happened the larger knight had spun, their sword instantly parrying the surprise attack. Having deflected this the larger knight began to rain blows down on their opponent. The other knight had no choice but to give ground, being pushed across the tourney ground, able to do nothing but desperately block the barrage of attacks being made against him.

The dark elf sigh at the sight before taking a long sip of her chilled wine, the only thing remotely bearable to her about her current situation.

The amount of pretend combat I have had to watch in my life is truly terrifying.

"I didn't think it was possible for someone to be so bored watching a brawl as good as this," a voice broke through the noise around her, momentarily breaking Chloe out of her thoughts.

"That's your problem it seems. "Chloe said, taking another sip of her wine. "You don't seem to think."

The dark elf's barb carried little of the usual bite her words had whenever she spoke to those who displeased her, a fact that made the self-proclaimed mercenary queen smile in small victory.

"Progress," she thought as she took her seat next to the dark elf to watch the continuation of the "battle" before them. Almost as soon as Maia had regained her seat the larger knights blows got through the smaller knights' guard and struck the side of his head. The shorter knight was knocked off balance and was sent sprawling to the ground, the approval of the ground, human and elf alike, doing little to dampen the clanging of steel on dirt. Before the man could recover his opponent was on him. Another blow brought the knight to his knees and a well-placed kick had him lying in the dirt. The larger knight moved in quickly and brought their sword point to rest on their opponent's throat.

"I yield! I yield!"

The spectators erupted in cheers. The taller knight stepped back, offering a hand to their downed foe and after a moment of hesitation had hoisted the smaller fighter back to his feet. The applause of the spectators reached deafening levels as the two knights shook hands.

"How is it can two men spend all that time and effort trying to bash each other's skulls into dust and simply shack hands with one another when it is all over?" Chloe said with a shack of her head, watching the scene unfold with a critical eye.

"Men are strange creatures," Maia said, with a shrug of her shoulders as she watches the scene unfold before her. "Best to just accept it and not to think much about it."

Chloe sighed as she rubbed her temples, the heat of the far too hot for spring sun making the wait seems that much longer then it would normally. Even after months of living in Ken she doubted she would ever get used to the heat of the south.

"oh, don't be like that, our scouts said they were half a day's ride from here." the redhead said, enjoyment of the impromptu festivities evident on her features," They should be along any moment."

"They're late."

"And if they were simply soldiers, I would agree with you, but since they are escorting Prim during a war, I'd rather they be a bit tardy then overexert themselves."

The dark elf grumbled to herself, annoyed that she couldn't fault the mercenary's logic. Trained soldiers could march that distance in no time flat, but escorting several nobles, untrained and unused to such a pace would prove a daunting task for anyone. And if arriving early in the afternoon instead of the late morning meant Prim would arrive into the city safely then it was worth it Chloe supposed.

Maia stared at her companion with a small smile, despite being on the opposite end of a century-long war only a few months prior, Maia couldn't help but find amusement at the situation she was in. Chloe, whose word could be as quick as a whip and sting just as much, looked extremely nervous. She didn't seem like the type of girl who enjoyed being the center of attention but here she was , getting ready to represent her entire kingdom.

And all because the dark queen, Olga Discordia, herself had unsubtly demanded it from her.

Maia didn't like the dark queen per se, but she couldn't bring herself to say she outright hated the elven monarch, despite the somewhat cold and dismissive tone of voice she used when referring to those she viewed as beneath her. Which seemed to be everyone except her high elf counterpart Celestine. But while she could be a tad bitchy at times, she didn't come off as being a bitch. It was hard to explain to people, and even Claudia, the patron saint of motherly patience she was, simply smiled and nodded absentmindedly the last time she broached the subject with her.

But despite her frosty demeanor and even frostier lounge, the dark queen seemed to treat everyone she interacted with equally. The chambermaid who delivered her fresh bedsheets in the evening received the same bored and sardonic thank you for her service as did the latest knight errant declaring they would be the one to put an end to the war.

Watching her verbally tear down the lords and dukes who decided to speak down to her in the presence of the royal court was always a high point in Maia's day.

She never seemed to specifically pick a target, and the fact that even those in the highest seats of power were not immune nor exempt from either her disdain or her ambivalence made her at least better than most of the nobles Maia had the misfortune of meeting.

She was a bit of a bitch, but she was a bit of a bitch to almost everyone. Which was enough to get a pass in Maia's book at least. Which was one of the reasons why she could at least understand why the dark elf monarch decided the royal greeting needed all the "pomp and circumstance" as it required.

While her own queen, Celestine, enjoyed a clear-cut position of power within the city itself as well as the shield alliance as a whole, Olga was on a less stable footing.

Her castle was gone. The country she had ruled for hundreds of years was under siege. She, as well as her army and subjects, were effectively refugees living on the hospitality of their former enemies. Dark elves were notorious for their pride, and with egos that seemed to be just as long as their life spans, the very idea of being seen as less than equal to their high elf counterparts was something they couldn't stand.

Which was why Olga had made it a point to seemingly match everything Celestine had put forward to combat the war.

Celestine orders her army to patrol its borders? Olga orders her own troops to station themselves outside every settlement in the land. Celestine orders the royal treasury to supplement farms and homesteads to ensure the harvest is not threatened by the war? Olga orders some of her finest mages to cast spells ensuring double the yield of each crop.

And while many of the more adamant anti-dark elf factions of the city claimed Olga's good graces and actions were simply self-serving, it was never something Olga actually denied. Simply smirking to those who spoke ill of her while declaring she was Still doing more to help the citizens of Ken then any of her detractors.

Got to give the devil her due at some point, right?

"You should lighten up a bit." the mercenary said as she patted the elf on her back, almost knocking over the stiff woman in her surprise."What's the worst that could happen after all."

"I bring dishonor to myself, dishonor to my queen and dishonor to my race?" Chloe said turning towards the redhead and getting the first good luck at the woman since she returned from wherever she decided to run off to.

"I meant besides that."

"..." Chloe said nothing in response, only stating at her counterpart silently as if connecting pieces to a puzzle she had up until recently given up trying to uncover.

Maia smirked, mentally laughing to herself at the sight of the confused dark elf not even bothering to be subtle about her blatant attempts of monitoring her. It was one of the many things Maia appreciated about the Dark Queens personal attendant, she didn't pretend to be something she wasn't.

If she didn't like someone or something, she didn't feel the need to hide her feelings, and while her verbal spars against Lady Alicia had quickly become the stuff of legend amongst Lady Celestine's household staff, it was immensely refreshing to be in the company of a less...

"you're wearing makeup," Chloe said abruptly halting whatever positive opinions Maia was willing to admit to herself about the dark elf.

That nosey little..."

"I don't know what you're talking about." the mercenary said, turning her head away from her elven companion" And I certainly don't know what you're implying."

The reaction stunned Chloe for a moment, the confident and brash mercenary was many things, easily embarrassed was not one of them. Now that she thought about it she also was never the one to wear much makeup in the first place, preferring the "natural" look as she called it during her day to day life, only using the barest of makeup when dealing with certain factions, and only at the behest of either Celestine or sometimes Claudia.

But here she was, lips as red and glistening as a fresh apple, eye shadow that made her red eyes pop and glow even more than usual. Eyelashes curled the same way she had seen many a fashionable noblewoman wore around the city and if Chloe was not mistaken the same blush and foundation, she had seen Claudia wear on more than one occasion. For some reason, the redhead had left her side, not for food or drink and certainly not to join in the revelry around her as Chloe originally expected but to secretly apply makeup with Chloe being none the wiser.

And now here she was, the bold and brash warrior, one who had who led armies into battle and who drank and fought as good, if not better, then any man Chloe had ever seen, sitting as demurely as any of the countless noblewomen wandering aimlessly around Ken. The same women, who just the other night seemed to be the brunt of several of Maia's more "risque" jokes during what her mercenaries called their "Tavern crawl".

It was at that moment Chloe remembered the words Maia wrote as she made her way to Ken several weeks ago.

"Is this what callings dibs mean?" Chloe asked, her words almost being drowned out by the roar of the ever-increasing crowd of onlookers as a dark elf swordswoman and one of Maia's mercenaries wielding two axes squared off with one another. But if the look of realization and furrowed brow of Maia's face was any indication, then her words were not missed.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Maia asked, a cautionary tone creeping into her voice as she stared into her platinum blond companions' eyes. An unspoken challenge being made despite the other women's naivety on the subject. Smiling as if she had cracked a code that had been weighing on her mind, Chloe simply stared at Maia, the action more than enough to make the mercenary even more aggravated then she was but a moment ago.

"So, it's true! this is what calling Dibs mean?!" Chloe said, happier to have finally gotten to the bottom of the mystery that had plagued her for weeks on end. Calling dibs must have been a human term, or slang as she heard some call it, for dressing up and trying to look more attractive than was considered normal.

But why?

Maia was plenty attractive already, especially for a human. Why would she not only put far more effort into her appearance than normal but why would she announce said "dib calling" in an official letter to Queen Celestine's entire court? Humans were certainly a strange lot to be sure, but even that excuse has its limits.

Maia's face faltered before breaking out into a smile. The same smile Claudia seemed to wear whenever Chloe had been most insistent on knowing what exactly a Dib was, how one would go about calling it, what one has to do to call when they did, and why someone would want to call dibs in the first place.

Chloe hated that smile.

"Oh, you sweet girl." Maia laughed, as she pretended to wipe a tear from her eye as she patted the dark elf's head, much to said dark elf's annoyance. "You are so cute; you must be protected at all costs."

Before Chloe could announce that she was not, in fact, cute, the horns of the gates sentinel blew, signifying that the caravan that they had been waiting was due to arrive any moment.

"They are in eyeshot ladies." Maia shouted, standing up from her seat and made her way closer to the gate." Time to break it up and do your jobs."

The words had their effect almost instantly. The ax-wielding mercenary stopped the spar mid-swing, using her attacks own momentum to join her sisters in arms to clear a pathway from the know hundreds of onlookers crowding the entrance to the city. Chloe's own dark elves seemed to follow their human counterparts, directing several carriages away from the square and ordering several venders, even hoisting many carts off themselves, away without much of a word of warning.

Within only a handful of minutes the crowded festival grounds, which were in the middle of a decently sized impromptu festival had become as still and as a graveyard.

"I hope you don't ruin your little speech," Maia said as two members of her mercenary band came up behind her, each caring the Coat of Arms of The City of Ken and her holy highness Celestine. "Wouldn't want you to ruin your first impression."

The half-elf paid little mind to her companions' words, far more mindful making sure Her queens banners, sporting the black rose and crown on a sea of dark purple, were unfurled properly by the two elven women stationed behind her.

The visitors poured into the gate, like a river of polished steel and gleaming gold. Nearly 100 knights and free riders from dozens of Loyal Feoh families waving the embodied banners that marked each of their houses surrounded the carriage as it was pulled by four white horses.

Maia knew many of the riders, their familiar faces bringing a smile to her face when it became clear they had survived the great battle of Feoh several days ago. But even the sight of her friend Vera, whose slung broken arm made riding a horse impossible, stepping outside the carriage did little to soothe her confusion at who seemed to be missing from the precession of knights and nobles.

Where was Prim?

And where was the man who she had spent half the morning dressing herself up for?

As if reading her mind Vera, whose long orange hair was tied in a manner similar to the missing princess Alicia, let out a booming laugh as she met the representatives of the two queens as the wall of people stared in open amazement as more and more knights seemed to enter through the gates.

"I see you were expecting someone a bit taller and muscular uh Maia?" Vera said with a laugh, laughing harder than before as the mercenary leader tried to wash the mask of confusion and disappointment from her face.

"I'm sure I don't know what you are talking about." the redhead said, doing little to convince the military commander from Feoh.

"I'd believe that as soon as I meet a woman who can stand not to keep her eyes on that man for longer than a moment," Vera said vaguely gesturing to the party of female knights and soldiers behind her. Many of them, the far younger and greener of the women, looked embarrassed at their commander's words, their faces as red as ripened strawberries as they pretended to not pay attention to their commander. Others, those Maia found seemed to take the responsibilities as knights very seriously, looked guilty, as if the shame of being caught was too great for them the vocalize.

Not shame for doing it, but for being caught in the action. Which was an important distinction that needed to be made.

Others and by far the largest percentage of the group smirked to one another, silently agreeing with their commander yet having the satisfaction of knowing they did things that no truly sane person wouldn't do themselves. The smugness of knowing their own commander was no better than them in the particular matter went unsaid, but it was easily known by Maia and anyone else who was knowledgeable on the topic of discussion.

A topic that Chloe found herself willfully ignorant in.

"What are you two babbling about?"Chloe said as she stared at the two human women."Where is the lady Prim and Steven Rogers!? May I remind you that her ladyship Queen Olga has waited long enough to speak with the man already."

The smile on Vera's face did little to soothe the dark elf, in fact, it had the opposite effect as Chloe seethed silently at the very implication of disrespect by the subordinate of Princess Alicia. A fact soon realized by the Feoh native as she schooled her features into a far more respectable and neutral manner before speaking again.

"Prim decided she had enough with being cooped up in a carriage all day and decided today of all days to go for a ride through the flower meadows," Vera said, getting a laugh out Maia at the mental image of sweet kind little Prim throwing an overly polite fit about riding her mare before entering Ken.

" And Steven, well.." she paused for a moment, trying to find the best words to describe the man, before giving up with a shake of her head." well-being Steven decided he would take it upon himself to keep her out of any trouble."

"Doesn't she know there's a war happening outside these walls." Chloe said, with more heat in her words then she intended, "She's a princess for goodness sake, doesn't she know of the danger she's in without proper protection?"

Vera, and several of her knights and soldiers, stared at her as if she were in the middle of telling a joke, all smiles and waiting for a punchline to be said. They didn't seem to take her words seriously at all as if they all knew something that she didn't.

Even Maia, despite herself, felt a bit left out in regards to this inside understanding of the situation.

"Rest assured my lady, "Vera said as she took a slight bow of her head. "That with Sir Steven at the ready, Princess Prim is as safe from harm as she would be behind the walls of Ken."

Before Chloe could respond, or even gauge just what the words meant the conversation was broken by the rattling of hooves. Not the steady slow march of the other horses as they made their way through the gates, but a rapid string of gallops that seemed to echo around them, only broken by a high-pitched shout of "I've won!"

Prim galloped through the gate, a storm of flowing white lace and pink silks, as her chestnut brown mare galloped closer into the city. Her hair, normally long and luxurious was tied in a high bun to avoid getting her hair in her eyes as she rode. Her usual pale face was flushed with pink, more from excitement and exhaustion then embarrassment. The quiet and polite princess had always been a bit of a wallflower, fading into the background more out of shyness than anything else. And yet here she parading on top of her horse, in front of hundreds of onlookers, knights, merchants and peasants alike, looking and sounding as if she was a great conqueror returning from battle.

If someone would have told Maia that Prim, the same girl who once apologized to Maia after the mercenary had to hold her to stop "apologizing for things she didn't need to apologize for", would gallop into the city without an escort, atop a horse shouting at the top of her lungs, she would have called them a liar. Chloe would have assumed a witch had taken control of the girl's mind and called for her to be imprisoned until she could be freed.

A moment passed and at once, the entranceway became still. It was as if the mob of people at her back had taken an intake of breath all at once. Like they had been caught off guard by the man's presence. Not that Maia blamed a single of them. The man just had an aura about him that drew eyes on him at all times

He galloped into the city on top of a white stallion, one the Maia was acutely aware were breed specifically for members of the Feoh royal family, looking more like a knight out of fairy tale then any real-life flesh and blood man had the right to be.

Had he actually become better looking than the last time she saw him? Was that possible?

His horse galloped closer to them stopping right next to were Prim had settled with her own horse, dismounting quicker than the girl with the practiced if unsteady hand, of one who is not a natural-born rider.

"I'm just glad I made it his far without falling on my face again," he said as he helped prim off her own horse, the girl giggling as she allowed herself to ground. "Once was enough for me thank you very much."

"Now that's a story I need to hear," Maia thought to herself with a smile, watching as two of Veras guards led the horses to the stable with the other horses, as Steve stepped closer to where she and the others stood.

But before Maia could make her move, stack her claim so to speak, she was interrupted by the dark elf who stood next to her. Chloe stepped past Maia flanked by each of the flag bearers on either side of her. Her eyes were closed and her chin was raised high, whatever nervousness of the situation that plagued her only a few moments prior seemed to evaporate.

"BY THE HONOR OF LADY OLGA DISCORDIA HIGH QUEEN OF THE DARK ELVES," Chloe said, well shouted in the authoritative tone of voice of a servant speaking in their master's name.

"LADY OF DARKNESS, WARDEN OF THE NORTHERN REALMS." she paused for a moment, leaving her captivated audience eating out of her hand as she dramatically took a bow, raising a closed fist to her chest as she extended her other arm upwards.

"AND PROUD MEMBER OF THE SHIELD ALLIANCE OF KEN." a bit of revisionist history to sure, but hey considering the level of pride and ego she was dealing with, the fact that Olga wrote that she was proud to be a member of the alliance said allot.

It may have been a lie, but still.

T"HE DARK ELVES OF THE NORTHERN REGION WELCOME YOU TO THE CITY OF KEN." Chloe finished as every dark elf in the fairgrounds followed her example and knelt down to one knee. Those who carried weapons brandished them and raised them into the air.

Maia had to admit, it was an impressive sight. Super unnecessary and over the top, but still pretty impressive. Chloe using her "big girl" voice was also a nice touch Maia thought.

The crowd seemed to agree, as they seemed to come alive as soon as Chloe finished her speech. Hushed whispers about who the stranger before them was, that had made such proud elves in service to a queen, bow and kneel in respect.

Already whispers of rumors were beginning to spread, and by this time tomorrow, Maia knew the entire city would have heard of the event.

Steven, for his part, stood silently, stoic some would even say. But to Maia as well as every other woman around him could see, he was extremely embarrassed. Flattered to be sure, but as embarrassed as one could expect someone to be after such an event.

He looked absolutely adorable. Like a schoolboy being confessed to by several of his classmates at once. He looked, happy, confused, awkward, shocked, all in equal amounts. The sight of Prim standing next to him smiling as wide as she could as her eyes not so subtlety looking between him and the scene unfolding in front of him completed the image

Sensing the man was at the moment at a loss for words, Maia decided to throw him a lifesaver.

"Yeah what she said." Maia spoke, tilting her head towards the bowing elf, ignoring the sideway glance Chloe gave her as she did so." But from Queen Celestine."

Insert Authors note about keeping safe during the pandemic quartine. Let's hope the world doesn't end in the next few months, and if it does let's hope the aftermaths is more mad max and less water world.