The reaction was immediate and unanimous.
"My lady, what are you doing?! "
"Where do you think you're going? Stop! Stop right now!"
"What are you doing with that sword?! It's not safe! Please, my lady—put that down!"
"Hey that's my sword! When did she take it!?"
Horror and disbelief rippled through the centaurs as they realized what was happening. Their precious, naive, utterly defenseless queen was about to challenge the Hero to single combat.
Poppy merely harrumphed, coming to a stop before Luca with all the confidence of a warrior who had already won.
"Honestly." She said, shrugging one shoulder with exaggerated casualness. "I didn't want to do this myself."
"Queens aren't supposed to make the moves—we're supposed to sit gracefully on our thrones and rule over others while our knights handle the messy work of battle. That's simply how these things are done."
"But...it seems I have no choice."
