The Study Proudly Presents: "The Heiress" - A RWBY AU

Writers: Zeelthor, VereorNox, Halt, NuScorpii and basium1

Disclaimer: We don't own RWBY. Rooster Teeth does. If we did, Ruby/Weiss would be the OTP and you know it!

Special thanks to: apoc, ChaosGuy, BTT, Zel, HazeOfMisery, Palindrome and did we mention apoc? Honestly, without apoc this wouldn't have been possible. Thank you apoc.

Ruby woke up to the sound of music, her head on her sister's stomach while lying on the same bed in the luxury room of the Schnee Company Airship that would bring them to its headquarters. It had been rather sudden, but Weiss had mentioned that her father insisted she bring her team with her, and Yang didn't take two seconds to agree after hearing there would be free food. Blake, meanwhile, was nervously sitting nearby, reading a book, the bow on her head twitching slightly as her cat-ears were obviously moving left and right.

She couldn't immediately spy the source of the music, and realizing that it must be coming from outside the room, she stood up, yawning. Opening the door to the hall of the ship, she padded along cool stone floors on her bare feet, down towards a half-open door.

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she leaned into the opening, spotting Weiss. Her pale-haired teammate was playing on a violin, a song of the deepest, most heart-wrenching sorrow pouring from her slender fingers.

When she noticed that Ruby was watching, however, she stopped, putting the violin away quickly, her face red.

"I didn't know you could play an instrument!" Ruby said. "That was awesome!"

"It's nothing but what can be expected of a Lady of the Schnee family," Weiss said, harumphing loudly, though she sounded a bit happier at the praise than Ruby would have expected. "What are you doing awake this early?"

"You kinda woke me up." Ruby grinned. "But that's okay! We should be there soon anyway, right?"

"Yes, I'd have woken you up in half an hour, irregardless," Weiss confirmed. "Should we get the others?"

"Blake is awake already. I don't get why she agreed to join the trip when she really doesn't want to meet Mr. Schnee."

"She likes the team more than she dislikes my family, I suspect." Weiss sighed. "We worked past our differences, but I don't think she'll ever like what Schnee Corporation does."

"You don't really sound like you get along with your dad either," Ruby said.

Weiss winced.

"What about your sister?"

"She's… I can't keep up with her," Weiss admitted. "Doesn't really matter what I do. It won't be enough."

"I'm sure that's not true," Ruby said, walking up to her... "He's your dad, even if he doesn't show it, he must love you."

Ruby spread out her arms, making Weiss take a few steps back.

"No hugs."

"Yes hugs!"

"Ruby no-" the protest came a bit too late, it seems, and Ruby immediately glomped Weiss in a bear hug, lifting and squeezing the girl in a display of Herculean strength that came from using a heavy sniper-scythe as a weapon for such a long time.

As she hugged the Ice Queen of Beacon, Ruby couldn't help but think back to the message that had prompted this trip to Atlas.

She was in her room while her team was sleeping, dealing with the sugar high of eating too many sweets before bed and saw Weiss' scroll glow. It's not like she was curious or anything, but looking for a distraction, she saw the topic on the screen.

Ruby Rose.

Too interested to ignore it at that point, she immediately talked to Weiss the next morning, and the ice queen reluctantly read the message aloud, prompting Ruby to suggest a trip there, accepting the invitation of the Schnee CEO. Blake has been a bit more reluctant, but Yang didn't take very long to convince her otherwise.

"Air!" wheezed Weiss. "Need. Air! Breathe!"

"Ooops," Ruby said sheepishly, letting go of the Schnee Heiress and rubbing the back of her neck. "Sorry 'bout that, Weiss."

Weiss panted, sputtering and coughing, like someone stranded in a desert drinking from a newly found oasis.

"Ruby, look!" Yang squealed, smushing her face against a window. Outside, they could see the peak of a mountain coming into view, its grey jagged tip piercing the clouds, reaching for the very heavens itself in a kind of defiance.

Mount Drome.

"The mountain was hollowed out so they could build the Schnee Winter Palace," Blake said. "I read about it in Remnant: A History."

The airship eventually landed inside the mountain, entering through a side entrance that looked too smooth to be anything but man-made and laboriously cut and polished over what must have been years, if not decades. The door opened and Weiss took the lead, stepping out with a small jump towards the white marble floor.

What greeted her team was an army of maids, dressed in white uniforms. They stood in two lines to their left and right, bowing as Weiss stepped forward with her teammates.

"Is that your father's harem?" Yang whispered to Weiss. Weiss glared at her.

Yang turned to Blake. "I bet you a hundred Lien they're his harem."

"That's a sucker's bet," Blake said.

"Welcome home, Miss Schnee," they chorused. Yang was smiling, looking around, while Blake was nervously fidgeting behind them, looking every bit as uncomfortable as she did in the airship.

"This is so awesome," Yang said. "You have maids, do they make your breakfast and carry it up to your room? What about butlers?"

"Yes… and no, no butlers here. Father eventually replaced all of them with maids because he thinks that Winter joined the Military because of a crush on a guy," Weiss said.

Yang whistled. "Really? That's… kinda strange."

"Tell me about it," Weiss sighed. "It's one of the reasons I went to Beacon instead of going to school here. He can't have the maids joining Beacon with his influence compared to the schools in Atlas."

"So they're like ninjas?" Ruby asked. "Follow behind you, protect you from everyone?"

"Jaune would be so dead." Yang laughed. Weiss actually giggled, remembering the boy's futile attempts at flirting and imagining him being chased off by one of the maids.

"If anything goes wrong," Blake whispered to Yang. "I'm blaming you."

"Sure, sure, I'm sure everything is fine. It's not like they have a databank of Faunus here to check on members who might've been White Fang," Yang said, smiling. Weiss coughed slightly. "Right?"

"Riiight," Weiss said slowly. "If it matters, I won't let him do anything to you."

"Not exactly giving me any confidence here, Weiss," Blake said. "This is enemy territory."

"Only because you treat it as enemy territory," Weiss said. "This is my home, Blake. Please, relax, I promise nothing will happen."

Blake relaxed slowly, falling behind Weiss, using the smaller girl as a shield from the prying eyes of the maids, hoping her bow would be enough to hide her ears.

They eventually ended up next to a large, thirty-feet statue of a Nevermore, carved out of almost luminescent marble.

Their eyes were drawn to it as they walked down the large hall, towards the stairs that Weiss led them towards. The army of maids were still in line up until the stairs.

"You know," Yang began, peering at one of the maids. "Those girls look like they have the same face over and over again, now that I take a closer look."

"That's because they do," Weiss sighed. "It's… actually just a really impressive use of their Semblance. It's the Maid Quadruplets' semblance."

"You mean those four are just the same maid over and over again?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure they aren't your father's harem?"

"Shut up, Yang."

The blonde waggled her eyebrows and winked at one of the maids before turning back to Weiss.

"So does that mean they're single?"

Weiss gave her the patented Glare of Doom. "If I murder you right here and now, they will help me clean up the blood."

Yang held up her hands, though she couldn't wipe the smug grin off her face.

"Yeah sis!" Ruby chimed. "If you don't behave, they'll spank you."

"See what you're teaching her?" Weiss groaned and Yang's grin, if it was even possible, grew even more smug.

"Is that right?" She leaned in closer. "Kinky. I'm willing to give it a try, if you are, Weiss-y."

She growled. "Ninja-murder maids. I pay them."

Yang pouted. "Don't be jealous you won't be doing the spanking, Weiss-y. I promise to be naughty just for you."

"Ugh!" Weiss threw her hands up, storming off.

Ruby stopped for a moment - the maids waiting behind her patiently - taking in the sight of the marvelous statue while her team kept walking, reaching the stairs after a bit. A twitch, ever so slightly, and Ruby tilted her head.

The Nevermore's head moved. Ruby was sure of it. She took a step to the left. The eyes of the Nevermore moved. To the left. It moved with her.

"Weiiiss?" Ruby began, making her team stop and turn around, quite a distance away. "The Nevermore's eyes are following me."

The team looked up to the statue, and the Nevermore's eyes were blankly staring ahead, just like they were when they entered the hall.

"It's… my father's. He made it. It keeps invaders out." Weiss said.

""What are you talking about?" Yang asked. "I mean, it looks pretty real, but there aren't any white Grimm that I know of."

Weiss pursed her lips, turning around on her heels. "Come, Ruby. Best not to keep father waiting."

The stairs led up to yet another door. A gate, almost, huge and adorned with white snowflakes that glowed ethereal, ambient light as the white dust coursed through it and created a gentle chill. Weiss lifted her hand and a glyph sprang forth from her fingers.

The door hummed in response, opening inwards to grant them passage.

And the first thing that they noticed as a huge painting of a fat lady hanging on the wall. Yang broke out in laughter.

"Who's that?" Blake asked, her shoulders shaking. She looked almost like she would just fall over and keep laughing on the floor like Yang already had. The blonde girl was pounding floor so hard that Ruby worried she might leave cracks upon the surface.

"That's my grandmother," Weiss said, poking Yang's side with her foot. "Stop destroying my home."

"You inherited her fine bone structure," Yang wheezed.

Weiss ground her teeth together but said nothing.

With the sound of a bell, their attention was drawn from the voluminous painting towards a woman sitting behind a large polished oak desk with a slab of the same smooth marble that the door had been hewn from.

Ruby had a sneaky feeling that the Schnee family liked the color white. The woman behind the desk, however, was dressed in a dark suit that fit her really well. And for the first time since they'd arrived, team RWBY received a smile.

Ruby couldn't help but smile back, waving towards the woman that was a considerable distance away.

"What is this room?" Ruby asked.

"It's the secretary's room, and that door is to my father's office," Weiss said.

"Is… are you serious?" Yang asked, still chuckling slightly. "This room is larger than an entire dorm floor at Beacon!"

Blake's face actually twitched, Ruby noticed. She wasn't sure if it was trick of light, or if Blake's eyes actually narrowed a fraction. Deciding not to mention it, Ruby moved up to the desk with her team.

"Hi!" Ruby greeted the woman. She smiled again, and Ruby noticed a plate of cookies on the table. Her glance wasn't exactly subtle, and the secretary didn't even say a word, pushing the plate forward. Squeeing at the gesture, Ruby picked up the entire plate and began munching on the cookies.

The secretary's eyes widened slightly before she shrugged, pressing a button and opening the door.

"Hey," Yang said as the door opened. "How can the secretary enter without the glyphs you use, Weiss?"

"Confidential," Weiss said without even looking her way.

"Come on, we're teammates, aren't we?" Yang tried. "We're giving each other support in life and death situations, what's a little something like this?" she continued, pinching a small pocket of air with her index and thumb, as if to show how miniscule such matters were among those who'd fought the grimm together.

The room's temperature immediately dropped as they entered the office, making everyone but Weiss shiver.

"Hello," said a man's voice, smooth and cultured. "I am Arctis Schnee."

The words were accented with a rather loud bang as the door behind them shut, making Blake and Ruby jump. Yang's eyes meanwhile were drawn towards the middle of the room, where a middle-aged white haired man sat, his face hard as stone. Ruby glanced sideways and noticed that Blake's eyes were not drawn to the arguably attractive man's face like Yang's, but to his hands. They were laid out on the desk, looking strong and as though scarred from manual labor.

For someone who was so rich, whose entire life was built on the fortune of others and who Blake had told her extorted the Faunus… those weren't the hands Ruby had expected to see. Even Weiss' hands were a lot softer than that, and she fought the Grimm with them. Well, not with them, she used Myrtenaster for that, which was a totally awesome sword and Ruby just knew she could make it even better if Weiss would just let her have a look, but she never did.

"Come, sit."

There were four chairs in front of the desk, similar in size to the secretary's. A monitor was on the screen, and a phone. Besides that, the office looked actually rather simple, with plants adorning the walls and a huge window behind him showing off the beautiful snowy landscape. In the distance, far but still visible, were cities, villages and what Ruby assumed to be the Atlas school, though she only had her father's description to go by.

They sat down in front of him, the atmosphere in the room pressing down on them. Weiss did not say a word to greet her father.

"Do you know why you were invited here, Ms. Rose?" Mr. Schnee asked as Ruby put down the plate of cookies she stole off the secretary's desk. Mmm. Delicious, wondrous, chocolate chip cookies. Despite his hospitality, the man's voice had the hard, jagged edge of an iceberg to it.

"Because I'm with Weiss?" she asked. "I mean, that's why you wanted to see all of us, right? Meet the team your daughter is on."

Mr. Schnee's voice softened slightly. "Yes and no."

Ruby furrowed her brows, tilting her head as Mr. Schnee tapped on the table twice, making a small vial with two pills come up. "Take one of these first, please."

"Whoa whoa, no, hey, what are you trying to sell to my sister?" Yang asked. "I saw a movie like this once."

"Can I take both?" Ruby asked, interrupting her sister.

Mr. Schnee shrugged. "Well, we haven't tested them together, but I don't see what could possibly go wrong if-"

"Yay!" Ruby said, snatching the vials and swallowing them by downing both at the same time.

Mr. Schnee stared at her.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked. "Any strange sensations? Numbness in the toes? No?"

"Nope," Ruby said, popping the 'p'. She frowned, looking down at the now empty vials. "Doesn't taste like anything really."

Mr. Schnee clapped his hands, looking positively delighted. "Excellent. We can proceed with the Tests."

"Tests?" Ruby looked at him suspiciously. "There's not going to be any math in it, right?"

"No math. Those things you drank just now were special supplements," Mr. Schnee said. "All we need is a few drops of your blood on this, and blood loss can be a serious issue, so they'll keep you healthy." He held out a piece of yellowing paper.

It was just a few drops, Ruby thought. But the man was apparently worried enough. Looking at her sister, Yang shrugged, still staring suspiciously at the man.

"Oh. Alright then! You're really not that bad of a guy, Mr. Schnee," Ruby said, bringing out her Crescent Rose. She extended it to its full size, bringing the tip over her index finger and nicking it.

Mr. Schnee raised his eyebrows as he watched two drops of blood fall on the paper. "Please, call me Arctis."

"Now what?" Ruby asked.

Arctis didn't reply, instead holding out the paper to her. She plucked it from him and peered at it. Then she turned it upside down.

"There should be a button for you to press," Arctis said.

"It's not working," Ruby complained, poking at it repeatedly.

"It would seem not," he said. He looked around and spotted a small circular disk, picked it up and read aloud from the label on the bottom. "Blood sample."

"My apologies, Ms. Rose. Apparently, the blood needs to go here." He pointed at the disk.

"Good thing my finger hasn't stopped bleeding," Ruby said, pressing the nicked finger against the the disk."

"Indeed," Arctis said.

Ruby pressed the button and the disk sputtered and spun, rising shakily into the air. "My blood can turn things into UFOs? Best. Semblance. Ever!"

The disk turned red, then white; black then yellow before projecting holographic words into the air above it.

"Cooool!"

"Very," Arctis agreed, bobbing his head. "Min-yon, text-to-speech please."

"Of course, Arctis," a feminine voice came from the disk. "Analyzing blood sample. Estimated time to completion: five minutes."

Arctis rubbed his hands together. "Excellent!"

"Recalculating. Estimated time to completion: thirteen hours and-"

"Son of a b-!" he cut himself off, staring at his guests. Weiss actually looked surprised at the rather emotional outburst.

"Frustration detected. Activating factoid mode. Did you know that one of the Faunus tribe leaders has been executed by her clan due to adultery? Despite being a Wolf Faunus, she gave birth to a triplet of Cat Faunus, leading to what is known as the first war among the-"

"Min-yon, mute," Arctis said, glaring at it. It flashed once to confirm it had received his orders.

"The first war among the Faunus clans which eventually led to a unification of all Faunus under the banner of the Faunus' name due to the two biggest clans signing a peace treaty," Blake finished the sentence. Everyone stared at her, making her look at the ceiling, crossing her arms. "I read it in Remnant: A History."

"It kinda sucks that every important peace treaty came after a war that killed a lot of people," Yang said.

"That is true," Arctis said, drawing their attention. Blake in particular snapped her eyes towards him.

"Isn't the Schnee company working with the Atlas Military?" Blake asked.

"Due to a contract signed by the first CEO, my father," he nodded. "Admittedly, I have tried to slowly move away from the weapon manufacturing business, but the contract is supposed to go for two more years or until my heir takes my spot, whichever comes first."

"So… Weiss?" Ruby asked. "Because you didn't like that her sister joined the milita-"

Weiss put a hand over Ruby's mouth, stopping her from talking. The younger girl didn't like that, though, and started to lick Weiss' hand, making the white-haired girl shudder in disgust and remove her hand from Ruby's face.

"Yes," he nodded. "I wanted to have her inherit me, but she eventually decided to join the military. I don't know what encouraged her…"

Ruby is reminded of Weiss' factoid that he thinks it might've been a guy.

"But I couldn't have her both be a member of the military and the CEO of a company that I want to take out of the weapon business, you understand."

Blake nodded, as did Yang, while Ruby just ate a cookie to get the taste of Weiss' hand out of her mouth and Weiss was wiping her hand on Ruby's clothes.

With a loud snap, Min-Yon ended up folding itself, making them all jump.

"Min-Yon, enable sound."

"Factoid number twenty-one, the last known Faunus queen is rumored to have given birth to a daughter before she vanished, though this has not been confirmed, the Faunus believe that-"

"Stop."

Min-Yon did.

"The Faunus believe that the queen's descendants might actually still be alive somewhere and wait for her return."

Blake drew the stares towards her again.

"What? I read that in-"

"Remnant: A History?" her team asked.

"No, Faunus Facts 101. It's 101 facts about Faunus and-"

"Scan complete," Min-Yon interrupted her, and Arctis made a small sound of triumph as the disk slowly floated towards the table.

"Min-Yon, report."

"The DNA has been scanned successfully and compared to all known samples in the Schnee databank. One critical error has occurred."

"Critical error?" Arctis asked.

"It appears that the blood is tainted by what is known as an Soul seal, usually used to seal the Aura of prisoners. The seal is either incomplete, or the Aura's strength is significant enough that the seal still allows a reasonable amount of Aura to escape, allowing for the use of Semblance."

Yang stared at the paper, blankly. Ruby was still eating the incredibly large plate of cookies was only half-listening.

Blake and Weiss, however, were apparently a bit more aware of what was going on, staring wide-eyed at the disk, gasping.

"Isn't that… how? Why?" Weiss asked. "Isn't that lethal when applied to childr-"

Yang levelled a fiery look upon Arctis. "LETHAL?!"

The temperature in the room was actually far below zero now, so much that Ruby bit down on a cookie and hurt herself at the stiff baked goods. "Liffal?" she got out, nursing her teeth.

The older man held out both hands, palms forward.

"I had nothing to do with this and if the effects would have been lethal, the girl would have died years ago."

"Died?" Ruby asked. Her voice might have been shrill. Judging by Blake's wince, she upgraded the 'might' to a 'probably'. "Okay, that sounds bad. Why?"

Arctis Schnee scratched at his smooth-shaven cheek.

"That is the question, is it not?" He said. "Somebody has tampered with your soul, Miss Rose."

"Since you're telling us all of this I'm going to assume it wasn't you." Yang growled. "Who did it?"

Arctis shrugged and made it look elegant, almost regal. Weiss had clearly learned that from him.

"Difficult to say," he murmured thoughtfully. "The pool of suspects with the know-how is relatively small."

"Um… can we get rid of it?" Ruby looked around at them. "There must be some way to remove the seal, right? Right?"

"There is one way to do it, but I must warn you: It could be dangerous."

"What is it?" Ruby jumped up, eyes wide and stance ready. "Tell me, tell me, what is it? Do I have to fight the grimm?"

"Not quite," Artcis said. "The only known method of setting free an aura bound as extensively as yours is a True Love's Kiss."

His eyes rested on Ruby for a moment and then, rather pointedly, moved over to Weiss. Ruby felt her cheeks heat up.

"Min-Yon," Weiss said crisply. "Is this true?"

"It is," the female voice replied smoothly.

Weiss looked decidedly uncomfortable, Ruby thought. It was kinda cute.

"This is not a good idea," the Schnee heiress muttered.

Yang bristled. "Hey. Are you saying you're too good to kiss my sister or something, cos I'll have you know that she's perfectly kissable."

Every single person in the room turned wide-eyed looks to Yang.

"Uh. That came out a bit differently than I meant it."

"So…" Ruby said, judiciously ignoring and repressing what Yang had just said. "Weiss-y and I have to smooch?"

"Essentially, yes," Arctis said.

Ruby walked over to Weiss, whose hand rose automatically to stop her.

"Keep your hands off of me," Weiss growled.

Ruby frowned. "Uh, you're not supposed to kiss with your hands...are you?" She cast a sideways glance at Yang who shook her head.

"A kiss is generally the interlocking of one human mouth to another," Min-Yon supplied. "Variations include the usage of tongue, and performing the activity to different parts of the body as in the case of cunni-"

Yang hastily covered her sister's ears and began to hum loudly, drowning out the voice.

Ruby watched with fascination as Weiss' cheeks grew redder than she'd ever seen. By the time Yang let her hands drop, Blake was rocking on the floor, hugging her knees, muttering something about ninjas.

"Fine," Weiss said, watching the unfolding pandemonium in her father's office. "Fine. If this is what I have to do to keep you safe, so be it."

She crossed the distance between them in a couple of long strides, heels clacking on the polished marble floors and swooped down on the startled Ruby. She pressed her lips - her sweet, soft lips to Ruby's and held there for a relative eternity in a chaste kiss.

"Boo!" Yang heckled. "Do it properly, Weiss-icle or I'm gonna have to show you how it's done."

Ruby saw Weiss' eyes widen in terror and then the girl lunged at her, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Say something, Ruby!"

"Somethi-"

Weiss's hands moved to Ruby's face, before she silenced her with a good deal of tongue. It took Ruby a moment before she caught on and swiped her own tongue out, meeting something cold and sweet, almost like an ice-lolly.

A soft moan escaped the seal of their lips and Ruby felt Weiss press closer.

"There!" Weiss said, using her sleeve to wipe her mouth. "Happy?"

"So… Did it w-?" Yang got cut off and fell backward onto her butt as a blinding explosion of red light, sending shockwaves through the room. Windows shattered, furniture scattered, even the heavy double doors rattled violently - and for the briefest moment, they might have broken. Despite the hole in the wall now, there was no cold wind anymore, only warmth, and from the warmth, there was fire.

Yang snuck a glance at her sister, the origin of the light, and pulled an arm over her eyes quickly to avoid going blind.

Ruby, meanwhile, was feeling just great. Taking a deep breath, she could feel everything around her: the warmth of her team, the people inside the mansion. And from these feelings, there was change.

She felt her hair grow, and noticed it changing color from the corner of her eyes as it fluttered around her, the dark red tint that fit her name even more than her usually red clothes.

When the high finally wore off, she landed with her feet on the ground, feeling light. Though something was heavier.

Yang stared at her, making motions with her hand and Ruby bent down, helping her sister up as Blake and Weiss managed to get themselves on their feet.

Yang stood actually a little bit smaller than Ruby now.

"What… who… who are you?" Yang asked.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked in return, before stopping. Something was strange. "Is there someone else? Wait, is… that me?"

The voice was unfamiliar, and Ruby tried again, melodious sounds coming out of her throat to test out her new voice.

"I guess that settles it," Arctis said, standing behind the desk. "There is no doubt about who you really are anymore."

"Who she really is?" Weiss asked. Blake's eyes widened, and the Cat Faunus immediately reacted to her sight, going to her knees. "Blake?"

"Indeed, the second-born daughter of the Rose house," Arctis nodded. "And last known member of the Phoenix Faunus' clan, heir to the royal bloodline. And, if the inheritance test didn't lie… Min-Yon."

"The last known kin of Queen Ivory la Rosa of Vale, heir to the throne of Vale, Ruby Rose, second daughter of the lost princess."

"Wait, second-born?" Yang asked, apparently completely missing the rest of the message.

"The first-born daughter has been lost," Arctis said. "Presumed dead, actually."

"I… have another sister?" Ruby asked. "And she's gone too?"

"I'm afraid I can't confirm nor deny that, but everything points towards it…"

"Wait wait, royal blood?" Weiss interrupted. "You're a princess?"

"I am? I mean daddy always calls me one but I don't know~" Ruby said happily. "Does that mean I get a crown? I always wanted a crown. Uh… Blake?"

"Yes, princess?" Blake asked.

"Can… you not do that?"

"I'm obligated to-"

"Blake, stand up, please," Ruby said. Blake did. "You just did that because I told you to, didn't I?"

"If it is an order-"

"Yang, make her stop."

"That's all on you, princess," Yang teased, grinning at her sister. Ruby made a small sound, between a sigh and a wail, and turned to Arctis. The man was watching the situation with a glint in his eye, almost as if he was working wonders at hiding his laughter.

"Long Live the Queen," he said, definitely not smiling. Schnee's didn't actually smile. It was just a trick of the light.