Meet the captives.

"You are both brave heroes," Lady Tesgella says. "You did well to survive this long. Might I know your names?"

The boy salutes. "Thomas Whitham, m'lady."

The catfolk girl salutes as well. "Rinlin Vali. It's a pleasure to meet you in person. You have a very interesting party with you."

Eva gives the girl in particular a nasty stare. It's returned promptly. You can practically feel the tension between them. Then you remember something Eva mentioned awhile back. Apparently, catfolk and bunnyfolk don't get along at all. Maybe it was some kind of war? Do rabbits hate cats normally? I guess they hunt them sometimes.

"Got a problem?" Rinlin asks.

"No..." Eva replies.

"What's your class, hare? Whore?"

"Come over here and say that, you pussy cat!"

You're taken aback as the catfolk pounces past you and grabs your mage by the shoulders. "What even are you wearing, huh? You think you can dress like this in the presence of Lady Tesgella? Oh my gods. You aren't even wearing anything under it, are you?"

Eva cries out as her chest is grabbed and shaken up and down. The catfolk begins tugging on her nightgown, so she reaches up to squeeze Rinlin's ears in response. They hiss and growl, and wrestle with one another, and you haven't a clue what to do about it. The gown is nearly torn right off due to how thin and delicate it is--it was only conjured by magic. The straps look near the point of snapping.

"Rinlin!" the boy shouts. "Look at what you're doing in the presence of Lady Tesgella."

The catfolk suddenly flushed with embarrassment. She steps back and dusts herself off, and tries to once again stand proper. "I am so sorry, m'lady."

"Come back here and I'll pop that gross long tail off your behind for grabbing me like that," Eva whispers.

Rinlin's hair stands up. "Y-You all saved our lives. We owe you big time."

You take a deep breath and return to speaking with Nyllia. "Hey, so who did hire you?"

She replies even more formally than usual. "Her royal highness, Queen Catherine II, graced us with this noble quest. It is her we will be returning to, and it would be best for you to come as well. She will be pleased with your good work. All of you."

"The queen?! Wait, is Avana the capital of Tivera?"

"You do not know the capital of this empire? How strange. No, it is not. The queen is there, however, so we only need to return from whence we came."