Yuki squirms under that blank stare. She's doing her job, right, talking with the princess while Sulochana and Pasenne do the serving. A guard isn't supposed to serve, she's supposed to guard while other people do their thing. But that also means that she's the one getting the stare, and the total lack of feedback is hard for her composure. She feels sort of like being younger and getting called in to talk to the principal because she was being too disruptive in class. And y'know, like, it's the principal and you're supposed to just stand there and listen, so it's kind of the opposite of this where she's supposed to just stand here and talk about whatever she's supposed to talk about. But like, there's this inherent sameness to it, this feeling of authority where you're on the hook to perform properly and you're in big trouble if the person on the other side isn't happy with you, but you can't really get a read on them because they're doing their own thing and you just sort of have to guess and hope that you're following the right script. 

At l-least, the hand gesture is helpful, from the seneschal (come to think of it, Yuki's mind wondered, what really was a seneschal anyway? Was it like a fancy butler? Probably close enough? Probably not the thing to be thinking about when she's supposed to be telling a story.)

"I um..." okay, okay, focus. They're on a mission here right. And, well, Suli was being a bit rough about it, but she'd want her claim favored, and Yuki had one really good story that might help on that front. 

"um...well, how about the story of the Khatun then? She's famous, and maybe you even know her. I mean, um, of course you know her, she's an important leader! And everybody says she's one of the most special people in Thellamie. She's um, unique because she can travel the Outside without using the Roads. And everyone says she holds her entire people together with just her force of personality. I don't know how she united them, or how old she is or how long she's been a Khatun. You might know those things better than I would, s-so I don't need to waste your time on that. But, um I know how she was at the Festival of Light in Crevas. She was sharp. Uniquely sharp. I saw her when...when the crow landed on the Golden Faun. There was a moment where the Crown of Light settled on different factions, especially on Princess Sulochana Arju and on the um..." (crap crap, would Yuki know Oley's name??? A Kel knight probably wouldn't know the names of most of the Khatun's followers, but people had been cataloguing the hunters and word was going around of who had been known to be selected in Crevas already and Oley had been a really visible one) 

"...the b-baygum Olesnya. And um, each of their factions started celebrating them without noticing the others, but the Khatun saw them both and immediately started figuring out that something was weird. She looked super smart and like she was paying more attention than anybody else! And then, then when the fighting started and everyone went to capture the Golden Faun, the Khatun leapt into action faster than anybody because I think that maybe she understood the contest faster than anybody. I, I didn't know that heartblades could morph like that either. She had a bow and arrow, but then when she closed with the princess, she somehow pulled a terrible dagger from within her bow, or part of her bow." 

Yuki pauses, considers, asks a question. "Do you know, perhaps, if that can be learned? The skill of changing or splitting your heartblade like that, I mean? I should be quite interested to improve my own swordsmanship if trying the technique isn't a waste of my time." She tries to speak that formally like she thinks a knight would speak when discussing their professional skills. She holds herself straighter, squares her shoulders as she does it, and tries to imagine herself truly a knight. This was her craft, a craft she aspired to master, and surely the Hero or one of her servants would have such knowledge of the world. But...of course, it was on her to finish her story first and ensure that the Hero was pleased with her, not interrupt to demand a training lesson. Probably at least.

"At any rate, what happened next was that the Princess of Crevas was surprised, and um...in that moment of surprise, she was stabbed through the heart without any guards to defend her. Because, well, who would have thought she'd need a defense when seated at the highest point of a festival held in her own city, right? And then the Khatun left. Moving on with her pack, I guess. And...neither she nor any of her attendants stopped to tend to the Princess Arju. Which, though I don't know all the customs of Thellamie, seems strange to me. I thought you were supposed to take prisoners, or take care of the defeated. I suppose this wasn't a duel, but it was an attack in the middle of a festival and shouldn't the Khatun have shown basic courtesy at least? It makes me worried if her pack tames the Golden Faun. I don't think they would take care of the rest of Thellamie, no matter how much it's needed."