The figure was more slender than Tensa, and had an air of familiarity to it, but Tensa was still on edge, so she readied her sword.
"What do you want?" Tensa glowered, hoping to intimidate rather than be drawn into a fight.
"Tensa?? It is you! But why are you dressed...in THAT ?" A familiar voice piped up. Tensa lowered her arms and squinted.
"Vix?" Tensa asked in disbelief.
"I was going to find you! I heard about the banquet, so I figured you were okay. I planned to sneak into the castle later tonight, but when I caught a whiff of your scent, I couldn't help but follow it! I thought my nose was messed up!" Vix said happily, genuinely glad to see her friend. Vix removed her hood and her triangular ears popped up. "Why're you here?"
"Fastest way to get out of the castle," Tensa dryly said, gesturing to her outfit. Vix nodded in understanding. "I figured the banquet would give me cover. I gotta get out of the city first thing in the morning, though, otherwise who knows what that nutty prince will do." Vix nodded again to that, well aware of Obliv's...eccentricities. "What about you?"
"I'm staying in a beastkin inn over in the slum quarter...not the nicest neighborhood, but the inn's clean and safe. Not even the gangs mess with a badger beastman; he's reliable," Vix explained. "You're welcome to join me; I'll leave in the morning too, I was just waiting to see if you recovered."
"I would, but..." Tensa paused, remembering how Vix had found her. "They'll all know I'm a human, and with this outfit..."
"Ah," Vix's eyes narrowed. "Well, we'll just have to make do." Before Tensa could figure out what Vix was getting at, Vix put her arms around Tensa's neck and rubbed her body against Tensa's rather vigorously.
Of course, Tensa understood at that point what the play would be, so she didn't feel embarrassed or pull away. If a beastkin caught Tensa's scent, they would catch that of Vix as well, and with Tensa in a knight uniform and Vix bringing Tensa to Vix's room, most would assume Tensa to be Vix's illicit lover. It would take a bit more intimate of a sniff for them to realize that Tensa was not a male, which was unlikely to happen.
As Vix had planed, the charade went off perfectly, with none of the employees or residents of the inn taking an obtrusive interest in Tensa's presence. No beastkin in the Vaunt Empire wanted to get involved with a knight, no matter what the knight was doing. Therefore, no one disturbed Vix and Tensa, who left early the next morning for the gate of the city. Tensa had changed into some of Vix's clothes, not wanting to wear the flashy knight's uniform.
They set out, intending to arrive at the city gate when it opened, and hopefully leave with no trouble. When they arrived at the gates, they found...