Chapter 16
(Blake POV)

I will not fail. I will not falter.

I won't.

I can't.

"A pilgrimage it is, then." Ozma says after a moment of lingering quiet around the table.

I must have misheard him. I must have. Yet, he sits there with his eyes on me, sternly looking down at me as though I've mildly annoyed him. Perhaps I have. Perhaps this is his way of punishing me for my shortcomings.

"Youth is a precarious thing, prone to idealism and perfect outcomes. The reality is hardly so forgiving." Ozma tells me. "I find the best way to deal with impulsive behavior, is to give you a taste of their own medicine. Let me be blunt, I believe you are delusional, speaking false promises that cannot be met." He replies calmly, leaning forward ever so slightly. "That said, stranger things have happened in my life time. I have been proven wrong before. So, if you are so positive that you can do better than those before, I would certainly like to see it accomplished."

"Insanity." Winter murmurs, while Yang just sits there with a smug grin across her face. Even while I pray to every deity that I won't mess this up, Yang is as brazen as ever. I wish I could be as steadfast as she is. I've always envied that about Yang.

"What will she be tasked with?" My father queries, his own displeasure clear on his face. I know he's worried. He doesn't like that I've done any of this. He probably thought Ozma would refuse. He probably banked on that when he agreed to make this journey. We could lose face among the other tribes. I could become a dishonor to the entire Faunus race.

"The kingdoms work together to ensure peace among our peoples. If your daughter wishes to have my support, she must prove to me that her words ring true." He looks to me then, his gaze burning into mine. I can't back down. I must press forward.

I can't avert my gaze. I want to, but I can't show weakness. Not now, in the moment. "I'll do anything you ask."

"You will be tasked with traveling to the outer reaches of Vale." King Ozma commands. "You will accumulate support from each of Vale's most outlying villages. You must bring back letters of loyalty from all of them. Furthermore, you must meet the chieftain of Vale's Faunus, ensuring his complete endorsement of your cause. You are not allowed to receive help for your parents. You must prove yourself by your own measure. Lastly, leading any newfound kingdom is a joint venture. Therefore, I will only amuse this little endeavor of yours if the atlesian princess accompanies you."

"I will not allow that, Ozma." Winter interjects swiftly. "I will not entrust my sister to a Faunus for protection. She shouldn't be gallivanting around Vale in the first place, let alone with a suitor."

"Then you will entrust her protection to me." Yang says without missing a beat.

"You have duties in Atlas, and to me." Winter argues.

"Yeah, I'd say I do. Like, you know, keeping Weiss out of trouble." Yang shrugs. She doesn't see the issue. Then again, of course she doesn't. That would be asking for Yang to remember that she's a queen's consort now, and to use common sense. "I will go with them, both as moral support and your sister's sworn keeper."

"You cannot leave your station."

"I can, and I will."

"You absolutely will not!"

"Watch me."

"I'll do no such thing."

"Yang…" Weiss mouths soundlessly. Perhaps she's more in awe of Yang's antics than I am.

She is my best friend, loyal to a fault. In some ways, I'd like to think we're family. Tied together by far more than blood or law. Then again, if I am permitted to marry Weiss, Yang and I would be family by law too. That would be an amusing thought, if I wasn't so fearful of the outcome. I fear I will fail, disappointing everyone including myself. Yang doesn't see that. It's not possible for her to think I could let her down.

In that way, there is no person more loyal to me than Yang. The only one who might come close is Ruby.

"Atlas can manage without me for a few months, and so can you." Yang says, her gaze entirely upon Winter. Full of love, devotion coloring her words. "Winter, this is for the good of many. If Blake could bring the majority of Faunus tribes together, we might never need to use retaliatory force. Less war means less bloodshed. We've got a family to think of. You really want our kid out on a march ten years down the line because of another human and Faunus dispute?"

"A few months?" Winter merely scoffed. "Yang, this sounds as though it will turn into a full campaign."

"If it does, so be it." Yang said with all of the gentleness she could muster. "I would like to say we'd be quicker than that, but you're right. It isn't likely. I wouldn't even suggest this if you trusted Blake the way I do."

"The fact is, I don't."

"I know, so I ask that you trust me instead." Yang's voiced the matter like a request. Trying to appeal to her wife the only ways she knows how. "This is Atlas's concern, but moreover, it's mine as a person. I hate that things turned out like this. That it couldn't just be easier. Weiss isn't a baby anymore. She is able to make this trip without a babysitter. I know you'd never allow that, so I'll protect her with my life."

Winter grits her teeth. Still beautiful in spite of the display. Her lips thin to a tight line. Fury at the edges of composure. Somehow, though I've never seen it, I'd be willing to bet that Weiss is equally capable of that expression. Finally Winter turns to Ozma. "Ozma, if you insist to amuse this lunacy any further, you will bear the full responsibility of the repercussions. Yang will accompany the girls, acting in the capacity of her station as Atlas's queen consort. I expect complete compliance with Yang's actions within that capacity."

"Done." Salem replies before her husband can even think to disagree.

"Salem…" The king muttered to her.

"It is a fair demand, Ozma." Salem says to him, her voice hushed but sharp like a blade. Salem leans forward elbows on the table, not bothering to care about how much more intimidating it makes her seem. "Allow me to make one thing quite clear among the powers that sit at this table. I will not amuse ham-fisted attempts to proves our stations. We are powerful, and it is our sworn oaths to see to the needs of the people. Whatever disagreements we may have, they cannot extend to the greater world surrounding us. If they do, war will come, and it will be nothing like the disputes along the boarders. Are there any other concerns to be addressed?"

"Given the expense of travel, I do fear about the provisions." My mother says, forcing my father to hang his head at the pure disobedience being shared across the table. With Yang as a ringleader, and Salem amusing it, the entire concept of propriety has flown out of the window.

"We'll provide all of the provisions…" Salem replies then. "Won't we, Ozma?"

"I will require an itemized list." Ozma states finishing down his wine and standing from his seat. "They may begin their journey whenever they'd like."

There is so much to do, and so little time to do it in. Ozma placed a huge burden in front of me, and Yang makes it no easier as she makes complete lists of equipment we will need. Some of them are luxuries at best, and I can only shake my head in exasperation as I hand them off to Tucson. He will deliver them to Ozma, but in the meantime, I can only pace the room worriedly.

"I don't know about this, Yang." I say with more distaste than I'd like. "The princess has never had to cut a path across Vale in the entirety of her life. Now, we are to demand that she follows roads that would exhaust even the most seasoned footmen?"

"There is a reason I demanded two oxen and my father's wagon." Yang says to me, sprawled out on the sofa like a drunkard. A mug full of ale in one hand and a loaf of salted bread in the other. "Oh, and Ruby. We're taking her with us."

"We're what?" I ask, turning on her. My urge to throttle the meddlesome blonde rising.

"We're taking Ruby with us." Yang shrugged, taking a gulp of her ale and giving me a somewhat dark look. Shadows of war lingering in the depths of her mind and clogging her vision. A frown crosses her lips as she peers over Vale's territorial map once more. "Winter is right to worry for Weiss. She can't even hold a sword. You may be a seasoned, but I'd worry about what you might do if Weiss was put in danger."

"Point taken." I say, finding myself shoving Yang's legs off of the sofa so that I may sit down beside her. "She has been pathfinding for a few years, now, hasn't she?"

"Dad takes her. I don't think she's gone on her own yet." Yang nods, ripping off a hunk of bread to stuff her mouth with. Her thoughts rolling as she grabbed a red pen and made a small mark on the map. She washes her snack down with more ale. "Ruby may lack experience, but at least she's been blooded. An extra blade doesn't hurt."

Neither of us bring up the fact that Ruby vomited the first time she ever killed a man. That she was sleepless for weeks after. She is too kind to be a killer, too gentle to openly seek battle. She will fight if she must. She will not go down without a fight. She simply chooses non-lethal maneuvers if murder can be avoided. The world doesn't favor her brand of combat, it never has, and Ruby knows that too.

Like my father, in that way…

He has never been able to kill at all, not even when his own life depended on it. Despite my mother's kindness, she is the one capable of up-taking arms and doing battle to the fullest. She's the one that has drawn a blade when my father could not. She is the one who has killed in order to survive.

Perhaps Yang is right then.

Perhaps Ruby should come with us. She holds gentle spirit that Yang and I could never possess. She would try to be merciful, when Yang and I would not be. "It would be nice to avoid particularly bloody battles. I doubt the princess would handle it well." Yes, perhaps this is better. "Ruby is certainly more the diplomat that we will ever be." I consider, realizing that Ruby coming along would be more helpful than a hindrance.

"Right…" Yang said, circling another place on the map. "That's what I was thinking."