The guard with a speaking part is a cameo from a Kickstarter backer. (The 2019 pin campaign, not the Master's Edition or anything more recent.) The other guards are literally just WhiskerCon Security different outfits.

I never spelled out the Official Canon Rules for "if you agree to do XYZ when you win/lose a battle, how hard is that enforced, and what's the mechanism for it?"...because honestly, I didn't know. And the longer I muddled around in canon without nailing it down, just going by "what's plot-convenient in the moment" -- the more it became clear that any nailed-down explanation would (a) create plot holes and (b) invite readers to look close enough to notice the plot holes, even those of you who would've been happy to shrug and assume it made sense otherwise.

The big glaring problem is, if Beings can be used to magically enforce agreements between humans, wouldn't they be in incredible demand? Throughout history, every leader and ruler who ever made a treaty would want a round of the Game to back it up. Would leaders who made bad deals be accused of losing a Battle and being compelled to submit to the other country? Would you get people rising up and killing their leaders with the specific purpose of resetting the Contract?

Okay, so widespread unlimited promise-enforcement is out, that would invoke too much worldbuilding. Gotta have some boundaries to make it makes sense. Say, the results of battles can only enforce Being-related promises. That tracks better.

...but the other big glaring problem is, why aren't Cohen and Walker (and later, Miranda) studying this? Why haven't we seen them doing regular experiments about what the limits and conditions are? Why can't they talk for pages about their findings? Why don't they use it all the time?

Why is Walker all bluster and denial, here, instead of having calm "I've already plotted three different ways to get out of this" confidence?

If you think about it too hard, it's going to fall apart at some point. The only way to make it work is to just roll with the scene, accept the Drama and Emotions, and not think about it too hard.

(...If you got the Being Q&A bonus ebook, you've already read a smoother, less clunky version of the above. This is the first draft. Like everything else in the ebook, it got polished up.)

Walker: What am I not looking at?

Guard: Cohen, his Being, and one other person in front of us. Unidentified person lurking in the bushes.

Two Beings in the pool, and I believe Ilsa bleeding out on the ground behind you, ma’am.

Walker: Close enough.

While Blake is reviving, I need you to — That is, you’re going to — Escort them and —

Oh, this cannot possibly be enforced. A battle-deal agreed to on entirely false pretenses? It’s preposterous!

Miranda: Don’t worry, we won’t let it go to our heads. If anyone can figure out a way to rules-lawyer out of those terms, it’s you.

Walker: Oh, I fully intend to . . .

But in the meantime, I could set aside the Beings and simply tell the guards to shoot you.