Luxanna squinted. She saw the enemy, red hair flowing and scar over the left eye taunting her. Her brother was right, the sinister blade was beautiful, but Lux knew she was immune to her charms. She was the Light of Demacia; she could not, would not be blind to the truth. A Noxian was the enemy, and that was that. Any personal stake was beneath her.

"Temptress," she said, twirling her wand through her fingers. "You are guilty of seducing Garen Crownguard, and in the name of Demacia, I will.."

"Punish me?" Katarina finished for her. The Noxian wore a grin on her face, like she was better in every way. It made Lux's ears burn, but she kept the fluttering of her eyelids under control. "Dear, a little girl like you wouldn't understand."

"I am not a little girl!" Lux yelled back, clutching her wand in both hands. She stamped the heel of her boot into the floor and turned to her bodyguard, meditating in the corner of the tavern. "Xin, tell her. I'm just five months away from turning nineteen." Xin Zhao cracked open an eye, but shut it soon afterward. Lux couldn't keep the huff of frustration in her lungs.

"What brings you here, Viscero? Kalamanda is a long way from home." Katarina gave the man a sideways glance as her lips curled into that silly smirk again. This time, Xin opened both of his eyes.

"Sir Garen would be upset if he knew Miss Luxanna had traveled so far by herself." Lux could hear the dispassion in his voice, as if he was doing something as ordinary as tending cattle. "Consider it a favor to an old friend." Katarina raised an eyebrow at the man, who responded with a short hum and closed his eyes again.

"Fine, if you won't take this seriously, then I'll just do it all by myself." Lux focused her mind, bending the torch light within the tavern to her will. She concentrated it towards the Noxian's eyes, which should have overloaded her senses. Lux then hopped to one side, then the other, and twisted the light around her to create a basic illusion. Even if Katarina could see somehow, she'd see the fake image of Lux, standing by the wall opposite of where the real Lux stood invisible. She gathered more light in the palm of her hands, burning with enough energy to kill an ordinary civilian, but still capable of searing a seasoned warrior. Then she saw Katarin disappear in a wisp of smoke, feeling a cold steel blade pressed on her throat and Katarina's cold breath behind her ear.

"How did you...?"

"It's hard for me to believe, but you Crownguards all smell the same." Lux shivered, even though she wasn't sure why. She felt a breeze drift through her hair. Xin's spear had leapt to action, and now its tip was between the Noxian's eyes. She could see his face, calm and composed like it always was, but ready to run Katarina through.

"Calm down, Viscero. I'm just trying to scare her." Katarina moved the dagger away from Lux's neck, and tucked it back into her belt. As she backed away, Xin lowered his own weapon. "The girl could use some fear in her life, and we're in public in broad daylight. I couldn't kill somebody important so publicly." Lux could see Xin's eyes blink, like he didn't believe her words. "Besides, we all know that harming Lux would upset Garen so much." Those words seemed to make Xin's grip on his spear relax.

"What the hell do you know about my brother?"

"I know he likes his cake rich, his ale strong," Katarina giggled, "and that carrying around that heavy armor has really conditioned him to be tireless." The Light of Demacia bit her lip, fuming at what the other woman was implying. She could feel Xin's hand, passive as always, gripping her shoulder as Katarina strode away towards the tavern's exit. Lux tore herself from his grasp, and drew in all the light surrounding her, ready to blast the Noxian into nothingness.

"Remember what I said about killing important people in public, dear? I am Katarina Du Couteau, in case you forgot." More than ever, Lux wanted to fire her magic right into the Noxian's exposed back, but she found the will to contain herself. She knew she was a Crownguard, and she would never shame her name, so long as it was under her control. "We'll meet again, and with any luck, it will be under much friendlier circumstances."

Lux felt her the burning inside of herself again. She clutched her wand and spun around, smashing it into Xin's chest. Her bodyguard didn't flinch, and he put an arm around her shoulder, as if to say he understood. She looked to his unyielding face before glancing back at Katarina, walking out of the tavern door so calmly, like she hadn't been in a fight just moments before.

For a moment, Lux thought she saw something glimmer on one of the fingers of Katarina's left hand. No, Lux thought. The light had to be playing tricks on her.