"No it is [i]not[/i] sorted!" is what Chen wants to shout, but of course she can't because Rose from the River is an expert at bindings and has tied Chen with bindings of memory and nostalgia, far too strong to be broken by even the most valiant Princess. So instead, she strains at her bonds without breaking them, lets out a muffled shout that says "nnnnnmm, iff nntt!" and gives the technomancer an imploring look.

In Chen's mind a thousand different fantasies and terrors play out. She imagined Kikil, arriving with her burrow visage and crackling with lightning while cackling at her new prize. She would string up Chen like a fresh-caught fish and pose with her while doing some kind of victory stance to commemorate the day. Then she'd pull out a magic tracker to attach to her phone, easily pick up Yue and offer the [i]both[/i] of them to Qiu to be new handmaidens in training. The very thought of it made Chen burn with shame. The hot and cold alliances would lose so much face! There would be jokes among the princesses and handmaidens about Chen's "demotion" even after she was ransomed, and her mothers would get suggestions to send her back to novice training with the children until she learned how to properly slip a knot. If they didn't just suggest that she quietly go into another career as an artist running a little studio. She imagined handmaidens and aspiring princesses, maybe even the rare countess would come in and she'd collect a few coins in exchange for doing a regal-looking portrait. They'd share some stories and behind her back people would talk about how she was once an heir to two sunshards before pictures of her tied up in her own scarf became everybody's wallpaper. Someone cheeky would even offer double her normal price for her to paint the scene of her delivery to Qiu and she'd toss them out of the shop while blushing the whole time.

Chen was supposed to be imagining her worst nightmares, so why she was almost chuckling to herself instead?!? Here was she, trapped like a sheep with its head in a fence with a technomancer who obviously knew who she was and hoped to get in good with Kikil, and she was [i]smiling[/i] at dreams of being humiliated and forced into a new career. 

Chen closed her eyes and let out a breath slowly through her nose, the warmth filling the wool and tickling her face. The rhythmic sound of the technomancer chopping pumpkins was relaxing and made Chen think of a spicy pumpkin soup that Princess Ysel would make sometimes. Hestia always said it was too spicy, but little Chen really liked it. Even one time when Ysel overdid it with ghost peppers and Chen had tears streaming down her eyes, she absolutely insisted she was enjoying it. Chen resolved to ask her Mommy for the recipe the next chance she got so she could make it herself.

With a little bit of calm, Chen decided to relax. She had trusted Rose for this journey, and she just had to continue trusting. If not, well, she'd figure something out with Kikil. She knew some things about the demons floating around and their target. Even the technomancer had let something slip about what Princess Yin had been up to, and Chen doubted it was a total coincidence that a powerful ancient huntress was suddenly running around when Yin had been poking around in an ancient waterway. Still though, she had never seen this Rose at Yin's side, which was odd. 

Chen stretched out as best she could given the scarf wrapped around her and looked off at the horizon, past the sheeps being herded and to the distant blinking radio towers like giant one-eyed titans. She let her mind wander, thinking about how she'd like to learn more about those too. Her mothers had been so focused in their education that Chen sometimes thought she didn't know [i]anything[/i] about the real world because she had spent so long on princess politics and magic. If she got lucky, the technomancer would at least have the heart to offer her some pumpkin and radish soup. Right now, something warm and hearty like that sounded like the best meal in the whole world. Chen did blush a little at the thought of being fed by this woman who was already having fun at expense, but even that would be a little pleasant. She had decided she was going to relax for this, so she would darn well relax!

With that, Chen lay back, settled her neck comfortably on part of the scarf, and wiggled her toes in the grass as she waited for something to happen.