Hinoka subtly rubbed her arms when the restraints had come off. They had started to really dig into her skin, tight enough even through her sleeves, so she was glad to be done with them. She was still quite upset at how helpless she had found herself in those simple binds. The Nohrians were no rope artists, but their material definitely gave them an edge. She was all the more thankful now to not have gotten herself captured during the war.

Beruka had brought a bunch of ropes, tracked down faster than the bag of high-quality bindings. There was a good number of them and they were sturdy and long, so this would be good to work with.

"Well then, Princess of Hoshido, give me your worst.", Camilla teased, holding out her hands to surrender herself.

Hinoka cleared her throat, focussing on the task. This wasn't just a personal bet, she was representing her country. "All right. First, sit down.", she commanded.

Camilla sat on her chair, pulling it out a little, the backrest to her side so Hinoka had easy access to her from the back. The tomboy princess brushed her friend's long, wavy hair over one shoulder so it wouldn't get in the way. She started with some simple binds, putting her arms horizontally parallel and tying them together, then adding some rope around her torso to hold her in place the way she needed her.

Finally she properly set to work. She wrapped rope around Camilla's torso in a learned pattern, winding it around her lower and upper arms, above, below and between her breasts, over her shoulders and under her armpits, winding the web of rope tighter, all of it connecting to an anchor knot between her shoulder blades. Whenever she pulled the rope tight, she could hear Camilla grunt quietly, giving her an odd feeling of satisfaction.

When every knot was tied as tight as it would go, Hinoka stepped back and took another look at her work, before gently brushing Camilla's hair back in place. She still had plenty more rope left, but this would suffice. She did go easy on her earlier too, after all.

"Done. See if you'll still make fun of it now." She sat back on her own chair and sipped the rest of her tea, which had of course gotten cold by now.

Camilla's expression was surprisingly serious. She stretched her fingers and tested her freedom of movement, how much her arms would tilt or reach. Barely at all was the answer to both. She wriggled for a little while, trying to find any loophole or easy knot, but she didn't get anywhere with it. Next, she tried force, straining her arms against the bonds. Despite her looks, she did have the strength to easily hurl a massive axe through the air and to tug at a wyvern's reins, strong enough to make it change course. But against the tightly-wound ropes and fastened knots even that strength proved insufficient. She made several attempts, tossing slightly as she strained and grunted. Heat rose into Hinoka's cheeks and into her nethers, as she was unable to tear her eyes away from the fruitlessly struggling beauty. Finally, she relaxed with a sigh and leaned against the backrest of her chair.

"I admit, this is far different from what I expected.", she said with the poise she could muster, after catching her breath. "Hoshidan rope-binding is certainly... different."

"So, you admit it's inescapable?", Hinoka checked quickly, while calming down her beating heart.

"I didn't say that." She gave a coy smile towards her over her shoulder. "But I certainly can't remove them right now."

Hinoka hesitated just a moment, but then quickly got up and started to undo her complex work of ropes. "Once they're affixed, there's no getting out on your own. Your fancy leatherwork has a weakness somewhere, I just didn't have enough time to find it."

"Oh, is that right? I admit the way you tie it is impressive, but it is still just rope. Some knot will be loose and easy to exploit."

The rope fell off of Camilla's arms and she could carefully move them out, opening some knots that she could reach on her own as the two princesses freed her together, until she could stand up and stretch gingerly.

"Looks like we'll just have to disagree.", Hinoka said dismissively, gathering up the rope, ready to add the matter to the list of things they just couldn't find common ground for, right next to the best garnish for meat dishes.

"Au contraire.", Camilla chimed, briefly enjoying the look of confusion on Hinoka's face. "I think what we need is a more direct competition. After some more tea."