As the woman trembled against her, Anna's hair band—loosened during the fight—slipped free.
It fell unnoticed to the cobblestones.
A cascade of pink hair spilled over her shoulders, bright and unmistakable in the morning light.
The square went still.
The guard captain's eyes widened.
He had seen that hair before—at ceremonies, from palace processions, in portraits carried through the city after the capital's darkest days.
There was only one student in the academy. Only one person in the kingdom.
His breath caught.
"By the gods…" he whispered.
Then louder—shocked and horrified all at once.
"Princess Anna Crestwood."
Every guard in earshot froze.
Then, as one, they dropped to their knees. Spears lowered. Heads bowed.
The captain sank down hardest of all, face pale beneath the edge of his helm.
"Your Highness," he said hoarsely. "Forgive me. I did not recognize you sooner. I beg your pardon."
The shift hit the rescued woman a second later.
She jerked back from Anna as if burned, horror flooding her expression. Her eyes darted from the kneeling guards to Anna's face to the pink hair framing it.
"No—no, I—I touched—"
She collapsed to her knees so fast her hands scraped the stone.
Her forehead pressed to the ground.
"Forgive me, Princess!" she cried. "I didn't know—I never meant—I shouldn't have touched you—please forgive me!"
Around them, the crowd began dropping as well, knees hitting stone in waves of startled reverence.
Anna stood in the center of it all, pink hair loose in the wind, looking absolutely mortified.
Anna's face flushed instantly.
"No—please, don't do that."
She dropped to one knee and reached for the woman's shoulders, trying to guide her back up.
"You didn't do anything wrong," Anna said quickly. "You were scared. It's alright, really—"
But the woman only pressed herself lower against the cobblestones, trembling harder now.
"I beg forgiveness, Your Highness," she whispered into the stone. "Please don't punish my family. Please don't think me disrespectful."
Anna looked up helplessly. Around her, guards remained kneeling. Merchants bowed their heads. Even bystanders who had no idea what to do were copying everyone else.
This was getting worse.
She exhaled slowly, forcing herself to think.
Then Anna shifted fully onto both knees in front of the woman, lowering herself until they were nearly eye level—if the woman had looked up at all.
Her voice softened.
"Ma'am," Anna said gently, "may I ask something of you?"
The trembling paused.
The woman remained face-down, but her breathing hitched.
Anna offered the kindest smile she could manage, though the woman couldn't yet see it.
"Would you please raise your head?" she asked politely.
A small pause.
Then, with careful innocence added to the words—
"You wouldn't refuse a request from a princess… would you?"
A few stunned blinks rippled through the crowd.
Kaelen covered his mouth to hide a grin.
Lara looked down sharply, shoulders shaking.
The woman froze for one heartbeat longer—then slowly, shakily, lifted her head.
The woman's head lifted slowly, eyes wide and wet with fear.
And there, kneeling in front of her on the same cobblestones, was Princess Anna.
Not distant. Not untouchable.
Just a girl with pink hair loose around her shoulders and concern written plainly across her face.
Anna smiled gently and held out her hand.
"Please," she said softly, warm enough for the whole square to hear. "There's no need for formalities at a time like this."
The woman stared at the offered hand as though she couldn't understand what she was seeing. Her own fingers trembled violently.
Anna kept her hand there, patient and unwavering.
"You've been through enough already," she continued. "Let us help you stand."
Something in the woman's expression broke—not in fear this time, but relief.
With shaking hands, she reached out and placed her fingers in Anna's.
Anna closed her grip carefully and helped her to her feet.
The crowd watched in utter silence.
The guard captain, still kneeling, looked up just enough to witness it—royalty lifting a commoner from the street with the same ease she had thrown armed men across it moments before.
The rescued woman swayed once as she stood. Anna steadied her immediately, one hand at her elbow.
"There," Anna said softly. "Much better."
Tears spilled down the woman's cheeks again, but now they came with a fragile smile.
Around the square, heads slowly began to rise.
The mood had changed.
Not fear.
Not reverence alone.
Something warmer.
Anna looked from the woman to the kneeling guards, then to the merchants and gathered crowd still bowed across the square.
Her expression turned earnest, almost pleading.
"And that goes for all of you," she said.
The words carried clearly through the stunned silence.
She drew a small breath, pink hair stirring in the breeze, then spoke with gentle firmness.
"Please… stand up."
No one moved at first.
The request seemed too simple for the weight it carried. Guards glanced uncertainly at their captain. Merchants looked to one another. Some citizens remained frozen halfway between obedience and disbelief.
Then the captain straightened at once, rising to his feet and striking a fist over his chest.
"As you command, Your Highness."
The others followed in waves.
Guards stood first, then merchants, then the rest of the crowd—people rising slowly from stone and dust, eyes fixed on the young princess in the center of the square.
The market found its breath again.
Anna visibly relaxed.
"Thank you," she said, with such genuine relief that several people blinked in surprise.
Kaelen muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Lara to hear.
"She just ordered an entire street to stop worshipping her."
Lara snorted softly.
Anna turned toward the captain, still trying to regain some sense of normalcy.
Anna turned toward the captain, still trying to regain some sense of normalcy.
Her posture straightened, voice settling back into practical calm.
"The criminals," she said, nodding toward the five restrained men. "They threatened civilians, used weapons in a crowded district, and one attempted unstable spellcasting. Please make sure the injured receive treatment, and have the stall owners compensated if anything was damaged."
The captain bowed his head respectfully.
"At once, Your Highness."
He began signaling his guards immediately. Two moved to collect the dropped knives and staff. Others hauled the bound men to their feet. Another was already checking on the elderly merchant beside the shattered stall.
Anna hesitated.
Then she stepped a little closer to the captain and lowered her voice.
"And… one more thing."
He leaned in slightly to hear.
Anna's cheeks pinked—not from battle, but embarrassment.
"Could you maybe…" she began softly, glancing sideways at Lara and Kaelen as if hoping they might somehow vanish. "Not tell my father about this?"
The captain froze.
For the first time since recognizing her, genuine shock crossed his face.
"Your Highness…"
He straightened awkwardly, clearly wishing he had misheard.
"My apologies," he said carefully, "but even if I were to file no report at all…"
He gestured weakly toward the growing crowd, where citizens were already talking over one another in excited bursts.
"…the Aeloria City Paper will have caught wind of this story before I return to the barracks."
As if summoned by the words, someone in the distance shouted for a street reporter.
Anna closed her eyes.
A slow wave of mortification crossed her face.
"Oh no."
Kaelen looked away to hide a grin.
Lara failed completely.
Anna opened one eye toward the sky as though silently asking the universe for mercy.
"This," she murmured, "is somehow worse than the kneeling."
The captain looked stricken. He bowed again at once, fist to chest.
"My sincerest apologies, Your Highness. I did not mean to cause further distress."
Anna blinked, then seemed to snap out of her spiraling embarrassment.
"No—no, it's alright," she said quickly, waving both hands. "It's not your fault."
She glanced toward the distant rise where the palace towers of Aeloria City could be seen above the rooftops.
Her expression softened.
"My father already has enough to worry about," she said quietly. "I just… didn't want this to become one more thing on his shoulders."
The captain's posture changed at that—less formal, more human. He understood more than she probably meant to reveal.
Anna drew herself up, then did something that stunned the entire square a second time.
She bowed to him.
A proper, respectful bow.
"I'm sorry for troubling you with such a request," she said sincerely.
The captain's eyes widened in horror.
"Your Highness, please—!"
He reached out instinctively as if to stop her, but she had already straightened.
Anna gave him one apologetic smile, turned on her heel, and immediately started walking away.
"Come on," she muttered to Lara and Kaelen. "Before this becomes a parade."
They fell in beside her at once.
Behind them, the crowd surged louder as recognition spread further down the street. More people were arriving. More voices were asking questions. Someone was definitely shouting for a reporter now.
Anna quickened her pace.
Her pink hair streamed behind her as she disappeared into the market road with her friends, leaving a stunned square, five captured criminals, and one guard captain wondering how he was supposed to explain any of this in an official report.
They didn't stop until the noise of the square had dulled behind them into a distant blur of voices.
The market streets narrowed again, folding them into a quieter lane lined with hanging flower baskets, shuttered apartments, and small specialty shops that hadn't yet heard the commotion. Here, the air smelled of fresh bread and rain-washed stone instead of panic and dust.
Only then did Anna slow.
She let out a long breath and reached down to snatch up the fallen hair band she'd tucked into her sleeve during the hurried retreat. With practiced hands, she gathered the bright pink strands spilling over her shoulders and twisted them back into place.
A few quick motions.
The band snapped tight.
Her hair was up again. Order restored.
Or as close as it was going to get.
Anna groaned softly.
"That," she declared, "was humiliating."
Lara stared at her. "You saved a hostage, helped stop five criminals, and got an entire street back on its feet."
Anna pointed accusingly at her. "And then they all knelt."
Kaelen, still catching his breath, smirked. "Honestly, that part was kind of impressive."
Anna made a face at him.
"I'm serious. I never know what to do when people do that."
Lara folded her arms, trying and failing not to smile. "Apparently you order them to stop worshipping you."
Kaelen snorted. "Very royal strategy."
Anna covered her face with both hands for one dramatic second.
"My father is absolutely going to hear about this."
She dropped her hands and sighed toward the sky.
"I fought armed criminals this morning, and somehow that's not the part I'm worried about."
Lara pressed her lips together so hard they nearly disappeared.
Her shoulders trembled once.
Then again.
Anna narrowed her eyes immediately.
"Don't."
That only made it worse.
A small sound escaped Lara—half cough, half laugh. She turned sharply away, one hand over her mouth as if that might contain it. It did not.
Kaelen folded his arms, already grinning. "She's losing the fight."
"I am not," Lara said, voice strangled with suppressed amusement.
She took one steadying breath.
Then pictured it again—Anna standing in the middle of the street, pink hair down, ordering an entire crowd to rise while looking like she wanted the ground to swallow her whole.
Lara broke.
The laugh burst out bright and helpless. She doubled slightly at the waist, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry," she managed between breaths. "I really am—"
Another laugh hit her before she could finish.
Anna stared at her in wounded disbelief.
"You're supposed to be on my side."
"I am!" Lara said, wiping at her eyes. "That's why this is so funny."
Even Kaelen gave up pretending and laughed with her.
Anna looked between them both, then sighed with exaggerated suffering.
"I save people one time," she muttered, "and this is the respect I get."
Kaelen wiped at the corner of one eye, still grinning.
"Oh, you were getting plenty of respect," he said.
Anna folded her arms suspiciously. "Kaelen—"
"But then," he continued, barely holding it together, "you told them to stop."
Lara made a choking sound beside him.
Kaelen straightened and lifted one hand in a dramatic imitation of royal authority.
"Please rise. Immediately. This worship is becoming inconvenient."
Lara lost all control. She bent over laughing, one hand braced against the wall beside the lane.
Anna's jaw dropped. "That is not what I said!"
"It was the spirit of it," Kaelen said solemnly.
That only sent Lara laughing harder. She was nearly breathless now, shoulders shaking as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.
Anna tried to hold her glare, but even she could feel the absurdity of it pressing at the edges.
Kaelen gave a mock bow.
"Truly a historic moment. The first princess in memory to command a crowd not to adore her."
Anna lasted three more seconds before a reluctant smile betrayed her.
"I hate both of you."