"What's going on here?"
This voice came from a very young woman, about ten years old, as she slowly got off her ornately designed carriage and approached the prostrating Komodos.
Everyone turned to look at her.
She had long flowing black hair, round black eyes, and red pursed lips that showed concern for the demi-humans. She walked towards them with grace and aplomb. If she had a book on her head, it wouldn't fall out even as she walked on rocky terrain—it wouldn't even wiggle.
If that wasn't enough to ascertain this young lady's background, then her personal effects certainly would.
Her dress was made out of very expensive red silk and fine linen adorned with gemstones around the hems of her garments.
The carriage was also something that the Komodos only saw royals use extensively. Not only that, there was a whole fleet of supporting carriages behind her which was clearly there to escort this young lady to wherever she planned to go.
"Young miss, we are simply here to do our jobs. These demi-humans want to cross the mountain ranges, but they do not have any identification papers," the guard said, his tone a little bit more respectful. He recognized that she seemed to be from a more affluent family.
The young woman looked at the Komodos. "Is this true?" she asked them.
They shied away from her gaze. As peasants, this was perhaps the first time they were this close to someone who looked like she was of noble birth.
"...Yes, it's true," they said. "We are nomads, with no home to stay. We don't have any papers to show our identity, but we just want to go to the Parched Lands and return to our homeland."
The girl took a deep breath. She had always hated the identification paper policy in this country. It always discriminated against the demi-humans who weren't socially accepted into society.
She kneeled to the ground and leveled eye-to-eye with the Komodos, never minding the fact that her dress would be dirtied by the dirt and dust on the ground.
The Komodos looked at the young girl, surprised as she lowered herself to their level. She didn't have to do that. It was clear that she was from a wealthy and affluent background, yet she wasn't snobby or elitist.
She looked the Komodos in the eyes and was unafraid to get close to them.
"Do you want to join me? My friends and I are journeying to the Kings region as well. We have some spare room in our carriages," she said as she took off her gloves and offered her hand to them.
The Komodos looked at each other, a little bit confused and apprehensive.
"Don't worry, you won't be alone," the young girl said as she pointed at the carriages behind her.
The doors opened as demi-humans of all kinds and varieties walked out of the carriages and proudly showed themselves to the world.
Surprisingly, the girl seemed to be escorted by a variety of demi-humans wearing expensive tunics and shirts. They had confident smiles on their faces, as if they never experienced the hardships that most demi-humans faced in the Queens region.
"These are my escorts," the young girl said. "As you can see, I don't discriminate against demi-humans. I advocate for them."
The Komodos were amazed at seeing other demi-human species riding in their own carriages. They seem dignified and proud to be demi-humans, unlike the Komodos who had lost all pride for their own species.
"But what about…" the Komodos said, meekly looking over to the guards.
"Young miss. Even if you take these demi-humans, they still cannot cross over to the Kings region. They don't have their identification papers," the guard said.
Just then, another guard suddenly noticed the emblem on the young girl's carriage.
It showed the depiction of a constellation of stars in the night sky.
"That's… that's the insignia of the Montgomery family!" he shouted. "Her black hair, distinguished looks, and her demi-human escorts… this young girl must be Yuna, the youngest daughter of the Montgomery family!"
Upon hearing this, the original guard realized his mistake and quickly changed his attitude, standing on guard and not daring to look like he was slouching.
"I apologize! I didn't know what I was saying. You can proceed as you please!"
The Montgomery family was famous for their diplomatic connections within the entire country. They were the people responsible for mediating any conflict in all regions, settling any debates as an unbiased third party.
Because of the nature of their job, the Montgomery family had diplomatic immunity.
After all, to mediate conflict between two territories, they needed to visit these places without any obstruction, or else they wouldn't be able to do their job.
Fortunately, the benefits of diplomatic immunity meant that things like identification papers were not a problem for the young girl.
Since the Komodos were now part of Yuna's escorts, they were now an extension of herself. If the guard denied them entry, then they would essentially be denying Yuna's entry as well.
By doing so, the guard would commit a crime equivalent to treason. So, they quickly dispersed, afraid that they would get into more trouble.
"See? There's no problem. You can cross the mountains with us," Yuna said with a smile.
The Komodos were amazed. They had never seen a guard act like this just because they heard someone's last name.
They thanked Yuna, almost crying as they did so.
Since they were joining Yuna's escort, they didn't have to walk all the way there. This dramatically lessened the hazards in the mountain ranges, especially since Yuna had a lot of help with her.
They shared stories during the trip, with the demi-humans under Yuna's employ telling the story about how Yuna turned their lives around and gave them a home.
Yuna also listened to the Komodos' story and felt sorry for them.
She offered to take them in and pay them a decent salary, but the Komodos refused. They didn't want to stay in the Queens region anymore.
"We want to reconnect with our homelands and hopefully find our pride, the previous source of strength of our ancestors. That is why we want to go back to the Parched Lands
How about you, Miss Yuna? Why do you want to go to the Kings region?"
Yuna tucked her black hair behind her ears.
"I'm here to find my fiance," she said. "His name is Michael. Michael Vanderbilt."