Here we go! No crazy stuff today!

Cover Art: Mystery White Flame

Chapter 24

The girl squirmed and fidgeted in Salem's grip, caught somewhere between awe and terror. To be fair, she'd probably seen Salem blow up a freaking mountain, so a little panic was understandable, especially when the same hand that had done so was now wrapped into your collar.

"I am using to being followed," Salem said. "It is inevitable that all will want to follow me sooner or later. I'm simply that marvellous. What reason have you, however, to stalk from the shadows?"

"I-I wasn't stalking!"

"Oh? Then you were merely enjoying the cool shade on this late evening, masked and dogging our every step?"

"Yes!"

Jaune rolled his eyes.

Salem did the same. "Is that so?"

"Yes. That's exactly what I was doing."

The girl's skin had flushed pink – not in the manner of blood rushing to her cheeks, but an actual and vibrant shade of the colour, one Lavender might have painted her bedroom walls with had Juniper not put her foot down. It was an unnatural shade, like someone had taken a felt-tip marker to her.

"Sienna sent you, didn't she?" Jaune asked.

"No!"

"Sienna Khan..." Salem scoffed and released the girl. "Do you deny it, girl?"

"No, I mean yes! I deny it!"

"A shame. Had she openly assigned you to follow me to protect me on your shores then I might have accepted it. No one wants an ally to come to harm within your own city. A needless concern, but a benign one all things considered. I have done much the same myself having my Royal Knights shadow important dignitaries for their own protection. However, if you are not from her then I must assume you come with ill-will in store."

The girl's eyes widened. "Wait, I'm from her! Sienna sent me!"

"Ahah!" Salem crowed. "Then you admit attempting to deceive me."

"No!"

"Then you have nefarious purposes in mind?"

"N-No…"

"Then which is it…?"

In another place and another time Jaune might have seen fit to step in and help the clearly struggling girl. This was not that time. With Winter's warning about the White Fang looking more and more likely, he was no happier to see one following them than Salem was. Enough so to step in and add his own brand of intimidation, weak as that may have been.

"I'd answer if I were you," he threatened. "Salem does not make threats lightly and she isn't the only one prepared to follow through on them."

Tyrian, for example. He didn't expect the girl to realise he wasn't referring to himself and he also didn't expect Salem to cover her mouth and look away, cheeks growing a little pink herself. What? He was just joining in on the threats. Why was she acting like that?

"It's… well… I…" The girl deflated. "Sienna sent me but not to do anything bad!" she hurried to add. "She was worried someone might try something with you being humans and all. We don't want her forced into using those powers for self-defence, not in the middle of Menagerie."

There was surely more to it than that. Sienna might want them watched, maybe she wanted information, or this was an attempt at intimidation. It could have been anything but there was a good chance this girl wouldn't know any of that. He certainly didn't. This was more Winter's thing.

"What do you think?" Jaune asked Salem. After a second's thought – and entirely to sell the image – he added, "Your majesty?"

"Yes." Salem whispered, so quietly and so passionately that he almost didn't hear at all. Before he could ask what she meant by that, she continued; "I will accept your explanation for now, child, but I will not accept for mine and my knight's dalliance to be spectated like some common theatre." Dalliance? Jaune wasn't sure he even understood what the word meant. "Begone. And tell Sienna that if she wishes to entreat with me further, she will not insult my intelligence like this again."

"O-Of course." The girl nodded, bowed, then curtseyed as well. "I-I'll do as you say, your majesty. Please forgive me. Enjoy your night!" Scurrying off, the girl disappeared between the stalls and stands.

"Well…" he said. "That was a thing. Was it a good idea for us to intimidate her?"

"We merely stood our ground." Salem tossed her golden hair back regally, sniffing and somehow managing to look impressively grandiose despite the stuffed unicorn she held to her chest. "People must respect our sovereignty. They must know we will defend it. If that fact intimidates them, so be it. It is a flaw of their character. Not ours."

Our sovereignty? Jaune wondered when it had become his or anyone else's but couldn't really disagree with the sentiment. We can't let the White Fang walk all over us. It's better they stay afraid of Salem, I guess.

"Though you need not have stepped in at my defence," she said. "I could have handled a single small child like that."

"Yeah, I know." Salem could handle an army for crying out loud. "I just felt like I should. She was interrupting our night out and all."

Salem stared at him for a long moment and then looked away. "Yes. Yes, she was." The unicorn came up to cover her lips. "Though your defence was unnecessary it was… not unwelcome…"

"Huh?"

"N-Nothing!" she snapped, staring away angrily. "I am hungry. Do you expect to invite me out and not provide for my needs? Hurry now and rectify this failing of yours!"

Geez. What crawled up her butt and died?

/-/

The festival had a whole lot of food stalls on hand, including a giant beer tent that Jaune steered Salem away from. He wasn't sure he – or the world – was ready to witness a drunken Salem, let alone a hungover one. Instead, they followed the scent of smoked meats and spices to a lovely series of sit-down stalls running alongside a peaceful canal. The lights of the festival's hanging lanterns illuminated the sidewalks and the busy chatter of patrons stilled only a moment on seeing them. It picked up again soon after, though Jaune could feel eyes on their backs.

It's fine, he told himself. They're just staring at us because we're complete weirdos. Nothing unusual.

He wasn't sure when he'd become so blasé over the fact, or why it didn't make him cry. There was no blaming them, however. He'd stare as well if a party as needlessly stupid as theirs came to Ansel.

"What can I get you two?" the portly faunus behind the counter asked. He had brown hair and little stubby ears lower than Kali's were. Jaune couldn't for the life of him figure out what animal it was and figured it might be rude to keep trying, so he looked down at the menu instead.

"Spiced beef curry for me. What do you want, Sal-"

"Should you not order for me? It is only gentlemanly."

Was it…? Jaune had the distinct impression his mom and every one of his sisters would disagree and likely say so to any guy who felt he had the right to dictate what they ate. Different time, he reminded himself. Salem wasn't just conservative; she was ancient. Well, that added a fresh hurdle for no good reason, didn't it? What he picked someone she hated?

"An old-fashioned type, huh," the proprietor said, as befuddled as Jaune was. "Might I suggest the special today? It's a blend of spiced meats marinaded in lime and rum, baked over a rotating spit with the juices dripping onto roast potatoes."

Son of a bitch. "Can we both get that…?"

"Ahah." The man laughed jovially and scribbled out Jaune's curry. "Course you can – it's our speciality. Drinks?"

Jaune eyed Salem. He knew next to nothing about what a woman like her would like. He'd never even been on a date with a girl before, so he didn't know what was normal. His instincts said that fruit juice or water would be a bad idea. "Do you have any wine?"

"We have Menagerie's own blend. It's a red wine, fruity and airy. A little strong, but so is everything that comes off these shores!"

"A glass each, please."

"Coming right up."

The man returned with two tall flutes and poured each of them some rich, red wine. It smelled fruity and tasted even more so, but with a powerful kick that had Jaune breathing alcohol for a few seconds after. Salem made an appreciative sound and nodded her head once to the owner, who took that as a sign of her approval and left to prepare their food. A little wine wouldn't be enough to get anyone drunk, so he felt safe in enjoying it.

"You appear nervous," Salem said. "Am I having this effect on you?"

"What? No, I mean… a little." Jaune set his glass down and rubbed his hair awkwardly. "I was just a little caught off guard at having to order for you. I've never done that before."

"Surely you jest. There must have been maidens before you have taken out to dine."

He could have pointed out how that wasn't a thing anymore but instead went for the easier answer. "I've never been on a date with a girl."

Salem blinked. "A date…?"

"Um. Wooing. Romancing."

"Courting?" she prompted. Jaune nodded. "Never?" she asked, her green-blue eyes widening slightly. "Do you seek to mislead me? I'm not going to be prone to bouts of jealousy at the thought of you having courted some whip of a girl. You need not lie." Her mouth dropped open as the seconds ticked awkwardly by. "Truly? You have never-!?"

"Yes. Never. I get it." Jaune sighed. "I'm not really what girls look for."

"Nonsense! You are young, handsome, fit and adventurous. To say nothing of your loyalty, sense of duty and chivalrous behaviour. What is there not to like? I refuse to believe some young maiden has not pined for you. Far more likely you were too modest to notice!"

It was his turn to blush, and to feel a little pleased despite the embarrassment. He looked down into his glass and tried to push the feeling away. He'd never had luck with the girls back home and even though his mom and sisters assured him he was handsome, he'd never believed it. Of course your family would call you handsome – they were just trying to make you feel better.

"I don't know. I wasn't exactly adventurous before you lot either. About the most exciting thing I did was try and get into Beacon. Most people saw me as pretty boring."

"Then they are blind to your virtues," Salem said huffily. "A woman would be fortunate to have your-" Her words cut off suddenly. "That is, I mean to say that you are not unappealing. Do not read into anything else. I-I am merely attempting to bolster your confidence as a good liege should."

"Oh." His smile fell. "Then I'm not handsome and you were just trying to make me feel better?"

"You are… not… unattractive…"

"Then I'm just not ugly. Great."

"You are as stubborn as a mule," she grumbled. "You are appealing to look at," she ground out. "Do not make me repeat it. Really, to fish for compliments is unsightly as it is. You should strive to be better, or at least not to neglect a lady when taking her out to dine."

Neglect a lady? Oh right. Jaune winced and sat up straight. She was right – it really was rude to talk only about himself and his problems when the two of them were out together.

"How about you?" he asked. "I know you were married once. Was there anyone else?"

"Other than Ozma? Many tried to fill his shoes after his passing. Court was awash with rumours and men came from far and wide to appeal for my hand in marriage. Many only did so because they wished power, land or wealth. Others sought my body and beauty." Salem sniffed disdainfully. "And then there were those who saw me as a challenge, who sought the right to defeat me in the war of love and parade me around like some trophy stag."

It was amazing how alien and how normal that sounded at the same time. People dating popular people in school to consolidate their power; gold diggers; then those people who just wanted to add notches to their belt. People always said high school was like the dark ages, but he'd never realised how accurate that was.

"Oof. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was a long time ago and I did not let any defeat me. A queen must stand first for her kingdom and then for herself. My personal needs, and my desires, came second to the wellbeing of my people."

That sounded nice. Not for her, but for the people under her. It was funny how he'd always thought of her as a nutcase, and yet there was no denying she was good to him and Tyrian. A little crazy, a little out of touch, but genuine where it counted. The people of Jaunesville – long may the name be forgotten – absolutely adored her. The Del'Ashari did as well. If one ignored the Grimm and the plans to take over the world, which to be fair were hard to ignore, then it wasn't hard to see her as a good leader.

Better than what he was used to, anyway. The Council of Vale was a distant entity that technically ran Ansel and yet put no effort into it. There were elected mayors and officials in Ansel itself, and he supposed they must have done stuff to be elected, but it wasn't like you got to know them personally.

Would Vale be better off under Salem's rule? Probably not. Definitely not. Whatever knowledge and experience she had was horribly out of date, and life was a lot more complicated now. He almost wanted to ask when things had gone wrong, when she'd turned into someone who wanted to destroy the world, but the moment was lost when a familiar voice called out in greeting.

It wasn't like they'd banned anyone else from attending the festival, so it wasn't too big a surprise someone had. That it would be Kali and Ghira was even less so, but Jaune was still caught off-guard to see the boy walking – and yes, walking – between them. Mercury Black was on two legs.

"Kali." Salem greeted. "Ghira."

That she missed Mercury out wasn't lost on the boy, but he was in too good a mood to care.

"Salem. Jaune." Kali came in to hug Salem briefly. "I hope you're enjoying your night out. We're taking the time out ourselves."

"Mr and Mrs Belladonna got me a pair of cybernetic legs!" Mercury interrupted cheerfully, pulling up his pant leg to reveal metal. "They're better than my last ones. Finally, I can walk, run and kick butt again."

That was generous of them. Really generous. Jaune smiled at Mercury's good fortune, whereas Salem said; "Oh? Did you make sure to thank them for such generosity?"

Judging from his horrified expression, he hadn't. "Shit!" He twisted on one heel. "I'm so sorry – and thanks! Thank you so much for-"

"Oh, you don't have to thank us." Kali grabbed Mercury's cheek and tugged it out. "You're such a cutie, though. You're welcome!"

"It's enough to see you walking again," Ghira added, gripping Mercury's shoulder. "No other thanks is required."

"And you get to enjoy the festival with us!" Kali said. "It's been so long since my Blake ran off. Oh, I miss holding her hand and watching her face light up at all the games."

It wasn't lost on Jaune that she was holding Mercury's hand, though he had a feeling it was lost on the boy himself. Mercury was carrying a huge stick of candy floss in his other hand.

"It's awesome!" he said. "There are so many cool games. They've been telling me all about their daughter, too. She sounds cool."

"Blake is very cool." Kali agreed, leaning on Mercury's arm. "Oh, wouldn't it be so wonderful if Blake and Mercury became friends. Such close friends." Her eyes lit up and Jaune had a feeling he knew why. It was an expression his mother sometimes wore whenever she saw him being friendly to a girl, or his sisters with a boy. "Such very, very close friends. Ah, I can see them now."

See who? Mercury and this Blake girl, or the grandchildren you're so obviously imagining! Run Mercury – run before you end up trapped between matchmakers.

The poor, poor fool simply bit into his candy floss and grinned.

"Hmm." Salem whispered quietly. "Ghira and Kali are important figures in an allied kingdom of sorts. An arranged marriage might not be the worst idea."

"Maybe wait to see if they even get on?" he whispered back.

"Why? Her parents approve and his parents are negligent and dead. That leaves Cinder as his guardian and, in her absence, myself."

Just imagining a world in which Salem was anyone's legal guardian was painful enough, let alone one marrying people off for political gain. "That's not how things are done anymore," he said. "People have the right to fall in love and choose who they want to be with."

"Really? Anyone they choose?"

"Anyone," he stressed. "No matter their standing, birth or place in society. Free choice and love is more important than what political gain you might receive."

Salem eyed him strangely. "Is that what you truly believe?"

"Yes," he replied, adamantly staring back. Call him a hopeless romantic but he liked to believe love existed. And that it mattered. "Anyone can marry anyone as long as they both love one another. Gender, class, wealth and standing don't matter if two people love one another enough."

To his pleasure, Salem was the first to look away, to concede defeat.

To his confusion, it was with a furious blush and a quiet mutter of how "incredibly forward" he was.

"Cinder never told me any of this," she whispered.

"Maybe this Cinder girl didn't think you needed to know. Or maybe she wanted to keep you ignorant."

"Nonsense! Cinder has always been loyal."

/-/

"You. Kill. This. Woman."

Cinder waved the wanted poster in front of a Beowolf whose head was tilted to the side. She growled and jerked it up and down, making sure the dumb beast's eyes were tracking it. It was impossible to tell if the Grimm understood what she was saying. Conventional wisdom said they did not as they were mindless beasts, but Salem had commanded them so there had to be some ability to do so.

Unfortunately, Salem had not thought to leave an instruction manual around, which left Cinder in the curious predicament of figuring out how to command the Grimm she was now bonded to via the laborious process of trial and error.

"Kill. This. Woman!" Cinder threw the poster at the thing, expecting it to rip it to shreds.

The murderous monster skittered back like the paper was an explosive.

"Damn it! Stupid creature. Kill it!"

"If I may," Watts interjected.

Here, the Beowolf growled, and Cinder felt some small thrill of victory. Small. As much as she would have liked to watch the arrogant man be torn to shreds, she needed him and the regular treatments that kept her both alive and partially Grimm. Luckily, the Grimm seemed to understand that anyone she did not actively seek to harm were not to be harmed. They growled and refused to let Watts near, but they did not attack him.

"You will refer to me as master, Watts. I won't have insubordination."

The way his moustache twitched brought her pleasurer. "As my master commands. What I was going to say is that perhaps the Grimm have taken on your orders, but that they are ready to attack Salem, not a piece of paper that looks like her."

"Do you think I didn't consider that? Idiot," she roared, flinging a hand wide and making him take a step back. "I can't take any risks! What do you think will happen if I send them after Salem only for her to take control of them? She would instantly know we've turned on her."

"You've turned on her."

"We!" Cinder stressed. "You are as much a part of this as I now, Watts."

She didn't for a moment believe he was loyal to her. If Salem asked, he'd claim she forced him – not untrue, but not helpful either. Damn it. Why couldn't Salem have been captured or killed like she first thought? Things would have been so much easier that way.

There was no news from Lionheart, either. The man had all but vanished on her, leaving her with no control over Haven. Mercury and Emerald were nowhere to be found either. Perhaps they'd been revealed and killed. A shame, but there were plenty more minions to be had.

"I need to know what is going on in the kingdoms," Cinder said. "Have you still had no luck reaching Tyrian or Hazel?"

"Tyrian is loyal to Salem, master, and is likely with her. As for Hazel, he's always been impossible to find. For a man so large, he certainly knows how to avoid detection. That said, my spies in Atlas have received a report about Salem."

"They have?" She rounded on him. "Tell me!"

"According to reports, Salem passed through Argus and, after an altercation with the garrison there that has earned the ire of General Ironwood, stole a vessel and departed for what they believed to be Vale."

"Believed to be?"

"Indeed. They haven't arrived in Vale and reports now speculatively place them as either on the open sea or having landed on Menagerie instead."

"The faunus island. Hmm. Both locations are accessible by sea. Perhaps, yes, that might work." If she were to command aquatic Grimm to find and kill Salem then even if she could take them back over, they'd be unable to deliver vengeance on Cinder. So long as she stayed on land, that was. In fact, Salem might not even realise Cinder was in command of them. "It would be a good test of whether my commands are being followed or not. Watts!"

"Yes?"

"I need…" A little fear ran through her, but she quashed it ruthlessly. "I need another dosage. I need to be at my strongest when I order the Grimm to attack Menagerie. Prepare your medicines."

"Cinder, I must say again, continued abuse of this substance could have adverse, even life-threatening, side effects…"

"DO NOT QUESTION ME!"

The man sighed. "As you command."

/-/

"You want me to what!?" Qrow shrieked.

"I want you to accompany James' forces to Menagerie," Ozpin replied calmly.

"Yeah, see, I thought that was what you said but I figured I'd misheard because – what the hell Oz!? – that's as good as sending me to my death! Did you see what she did to that mountain?"

"No."

"Cut it in two! Just, like, swish." He swept a hand from left to right. "And the mountain is gone. I shouldn't need to tell you my body isn't as tough as a mountain."

"Neither are the soldiers James is sending, and he knows that. I very much doubt it will come to a pitched battle between you. If anything, I expect he will encircle Menagerie and demand they hand over Salem in exchange for a peaceful resolution to the conflict."

And you think they will?" Qrow asked. "Because I think they'll start blasting!"

"What's the matter?" Raven mocked. "Scared?"

Qrow glared at his sister and gave her the middle finger.

"Another reason I want you there is so that if it does come to direct conflict, Raven has someone she can open a portal to." Instantly, the cocky smile on his sister's face died, replaced with wide eyes and an alarmed look. "If that happens, she will open a portal and she, I and Lionheart will pour through to take her on directly."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Raven said. "I wasn't informed of this plan!"

"What's the matter?" Qrow shot back. "Scared?"

"A-As if. I've been longing for a chance to pay that bitch back for her dishonourable victory over me. I just would have preferred to know about it in advance. That's all."

"This is your advance warning right here," Ozpin said. "That's why I need you there, Qrow. Not to place your life in danger, but to act as my eyes and grant us means to travel to you if needed. If anything, you should avoid danger entirely to better serve that purpose."

That was nice and all, and a relief to know Ozpin wasn't throwing his life away, but there was `avoid danger` and then there was `go harass Salem`. It was all well and good for Oz to act like it was no big deal but being anywhere within mountain-splitting distance of that person was a no-no in his book.

This is what you signed up for, his brain reminded him. You're taking the risk on yourself so that Ruby and Yang won't have to. Damn it, Summer. You'd have agreed to this stupid plan in an instant.

"Fine. I'll do it."

"I knew we could count on you-"

"But!" he said, earning a nod from Ozpin. "I want you guys ready to come through the moment I need you. I can't fight Salem on my own. I'll be torn to shreds."

"I swear to you that I shall be the first through that portal," Ozpin said solemnly. "And I'm sure Miss Branwen will be right behind me. Correct?"

"Y-Yeah. Obviously!"

"Good. With any luck it won't come to it," Ozpin said. "But even should the Menagerie agree to give Salem up, I doubt she will come peacefully. Our main goal is to push her away from civilisation, away from those who might be harmed if this comes to blows."

"Right. I get it." Qrow let out a long and heavy sigh. "Guess I'd best go find old Irondick and see where he wants me-"

The door slammed open. Qrow, with his luck, expected Ironwood in person to chastise and shout him down, but was surprised to see it was actually Haven's headmaster, hurrying in while wringing his hands together.

"Ah. Leonardo." Ozpin stood and smiled. "We were just planning our assault on Salem. Qrow shall be going in person while we await portals-"

"I can't!" The faunus interrupted them with a desperate cry. "I-I can't do this anymore!" he yelled. "I can't fight her, Ozpin. I just can't."

"None of us can fight her alone, old friend. That's why together-"

"No. You don't understand! I…" Leonardo looked at them with blind panic in his eyes. He gritted his teeth and clenched his eyes shut. "I'm a coward!" he shouted out. "There. I said it. I'm not brave; I'm not the heroic fighter you think I am. I'm a damn coward and I'm terrified of her!"

"Leo…"

"I cannot handle this charade any longer," the faunus went on. "I'm sick of living the lie. Do with me as you will. Hate me, blame me, despise me but don't for a second think I can-" He was cut off as Ozpin closed the distance and embraced him. The man stiffened. "W-What?"

"I will not despise you, Leonardo Lionheart." Ozpin said.

"Y-You won't…?"

"No. There is no shame in feeling fear, no shame in being afraid of her. You'd be a fool not to fear Salem."

"I… yes… I… you understand…?"

"I do." Ozpin stepped back and smiled at the man. "I, too, am afraid of facing her in open combat. I, too, wish I could hide away from it. There is no courage in not being afraid. Courage is found in acting despite your fear. Acting as you did in facing her down to protect your students in Haven."

Leonardo's face fell. "You don't understand, do you…?"

"No. I do. I understand that your legs must have shaken and that you may have wished to hide, but I also understand that you stood up to her despite your fear. That you laid your life on the line for your charges."

"You don't understand," Leonardo said again, this time more confirmation than question. "Ozpin, listen, I'm a coward. I'm a liar and a fraud. I'm not the man you think I am!"

"You are too hard on yourself." Ozpin clapped Lionheart's arm. "Don't judge yourself by ideals that are unreasonable. You are brave, no matter what fear you felt. There is no one I would rather have at my side than you."

"Then you're an idiot!"

"Perhaps I am. But even so, I believe in you."

"You… You…" Leonardo Lionheart threw back his head and screamed, turned and sprinted out the office like he was on fire. The door slammed shut behind him, but his agonised and angry cries didn't fade until a full minute has passed.

"There goes a man who holds himself to the highest standards," Ozpin said fondly.

"You sure about that?" Raven asked.

"Of course. I picked him to lead Haven for a reason. Come the moment, I think Leonardo will surprise us all. Himself most of all."

Leonardo will surprise you alright, Ozpin, he'll surprise you by turning and running at a crucial moment.

"Well," Ozpin said awkwardly, stiffly. He tugged at his collar as Qrow and Raven glared at his back. "I did say he would surprise us all. This is… quite the unfortunate surprise…"

Poor guy, though. He finally tried to come out and tell them the truth.

Next Chapter: 28th June

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