Caution propped herself up with one hand and and touched the other to her cheek. “Jesus Christ, Creep! What the hell?”

Creep was standing with his back to her and did not turn around. There was something too-still about the way he was standing, as though he should be moving a lot instead of none. “Seriously,” Caution said, pushing herself to her feet. “That was my sore cheek.”

Then she noticed the three men surrounding them, two of whom were waving swords menacingly. The third one was in the process of swinging a bow over his shoulder with one hand and pulling a sword out with the other. The prince had his sword drawn as well, and all four men were shouting at each other in the same language the prince had used to dismiss his knights. Creep was just standing there.

Caution went to Creep and put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, are you okay? What's going on? And why the hell did you hit me?”

There was a clang and suddenly Prince Antaetharon had engaged all of their attackers at once.

“Creep, do something,” Caution pleaded.

It was no use; two of the men broke off their fight with the prince and ran at Mr. Creep. He did nothing.

“Creep!” Caution screamed. She picked up her walking stick from where it had fallen and held it in front of her like a baseball bat. She swung at the man closest to Creep, hitting him hard in the knees.

“Caution, get back,” Creep said, far too calmly for the situation.

Caution lifted her staff above her head like an ax and brought it down toward the head of Creep's second opponent. The man blocked with his sword, knocking Caution's stick out of her hands. He shouted something at her and lunged.

Antaetharon's sword caught the man in the middle of his back and he dropped to the ground without so much as a groan.

Caution searched for the third attacker and found him lying a few feet away, either dead or unconscious.

She looked the prince. “You... saved me... Thanks.” She picked up her walking stick again.

“I did what any honorable man would have done, nothing more,” Antaetharon said, sheathing his sword.

“Honorable men must be a lot more honorable here than where I come from,” Caution smiled, lifting the staff above her head. She brought it down hard on the head of the man whose knees she had so recently violated. His arms buckled. Caution dropped the stick on the ground beside him and turned to Creep, who was still standing perfectly still. “You alright? What happened to my killing machine?”

“He is forbidden to kill people,” Antaetharon said matter-of-factly.

Caution stared. “Even if they try to kill him?”

“It is forbidden for a Chonti to harm a human.”

Caution stopped herself from asking shouldn't that include backhanding me in the face?, and settled for a breathy, “What?”

“A Chonti,” The prince repeated.

“Creep?” Caution asked. “Oh, does this have to do with the character designation... thing?” She caught sight of an arrow stuck in a tree behind him. It was about level with where she had been standing prior to Creep attacking her face. “...Oh,” she whispered.

“It is a manner of being,” the prince said, calling Caution back into the conversation.

“It is a distinction the prince has trouble articulating in English,” Creep explained. “I am... a lesser.”

“Lesser what? Species? Creep, you're ugly, you're not sub-human.”

“I am the same species as you, to a point.”

The prince sighed loudly. “It is not important. The matter at hand—”

“Button it,” Caution commanded. She turned back to Creep. “What do you mean to a point?”

“I am about one eighth non-human. It is more of a class issue than one of blood. The Chonti has been bred out of us as much as possible in recent years.”

“Oh... God.” Caution turned back to the prince. “So, just to be clear: Creep is required by law to sit back and let himself be killed just because the dickheads who attacked us are human? And, while he's not killing them, they have free run to go ahead and kill us too? Well, if I do get to be queen—”

“Certainly not,” Antaetharon said coldly. “If we were in any real danger, he would have to save us.”

“By hurting them, right?”

“If it were the last resort, I suppose, yes.”

Caution shook her head. “Well, what the hell else is he supposed to do? Stand there and say don't hurt them, or I'll stand here some more?”

“Caution—” Creep started to say.

“No, I want to hear this.” She looked back at Antaetharon. “It almost seems like you're suggesting that he would have to sacrifice his life to save us, but he's not even allowed to try to defend himself.”

“Correct.”

“Right. Well, Prince Andy, I think I'm about done talking to you.” Caution looked sideways at Creep. “So, when do we get to the me-being-queen part?”

“The prophecy is non-specific in that regard.”

“Figures.”

...

The momentary friendship that his saving her had afforded Antaetharon and Caution had long since faded away. The three of them walked on to the castle, with the prince leading the way and Caution and Creep hanging back and (in Caution's case) giggling like school girls. Adrenalin, it seemed, made her giddy.

“Seriously, though,” Caution coughed around a laugh. “Seriously. If I do become queen, I'm going to fix this whole mess with the Chonti... I mean, it's just bloody ridiculous.”

“You need not concern yourself with such matters.”

“But—Are the prince and them part of the forces of good that I'm supposed to be uniting? 'Cause they seem kinda Nazi-ish, what with the subjugating and stuff.”

“The prince is a product of his time.”

“Yeah, so were the Nazis. So were the people who fought the Nazis. That doesn't mean he should get to be all—whatever. He's a jerk.”

“Caution, it is better that you demonstrate respect for the prince in a less familiar way.”

Caution looked at the prince. He was nearly perfect. All he needed was a nice car and a piece of duct tape across his mouth. “But I don't have any respect for him,” she protested.

“I am aware of that,” Creep said, his half smile flashing again. “You should demonstrate it nonetheless.”

“Ah,” Caution said, grinning. “Gotchya.”

“Behold,” shouted the prince from several yards ahead of them. “This is Craté Castle, the grandest sight in all of M'leo.”

Caution leaned closer to Creep. “Home to the grandest ego in all of M'leo too, I'll bet.”

“Shh.” Creep looked away from Caution.

“Did you just shh me?” Caution giggled. “I can't believe you just—”

“Excuse me,” Antaetharon said as the others approached him. “But—”

“Yeah, yeah,” Caution chuckled. “We're beholding.”