Chapter 6 (Weiss POV)
This may merely be a knight's home, but I find myself enamored with the beauty of the night sky. The stars are glittering across the blackness up above. They look like tiny diamonds resting atop a bedrock of obsidian. Magnificent, and so impossibly far out of reach. I would love to see a sky like this every night. I can see why Yang loves this place so much. I'm sure that she spent many childhood summers running amok in the pastures.
I envy that about her.
If only I could have been as privileged. If only I could have been permitted to wander my home and my grounds as freely as I would have liked. If only I could have been given the time away from my superiors, a moment to breathe that was all my own. Then I would have learned something truly useful. She was lucky for her upbringing, inglorious as she says it is. She takes it for granted, I think. If only she knew her luck.
She was very fortunate.
I can see that Yang's innocent youth still echoes among the peaceful meadows and wilderness beyond the fields. She likely ventured far, uninhibited, unchained. Even now, she is something of a brute. She's barefoot, picking at her teeth with a long grain of wheat as she lounges atop the balcony. If the Atlesian court saw this, our family would never hear the end of it. Then again, Yang has a way of displeasing even simple gentry, let alone the royals.
"Well, that an unsightly state..." I say, my admonishment wafting in the air. I don't truly mean it, but it amazes me that my sister allows Yang to get away with this. "Winter would be displeased."
"Would you like to make a bet on that?" Yang asks, waggling her eyebrows at me. "My house, my rules. I can do what I want."
"Those are strong words for a queen's consort, don't you think?" She's in a good mood tonight. Why wouldn't she be? It must be nice to be back home. She'll see her relatives at Vale's grand castle soon enough. "If my sister found you loafing around out here like a bear, she would probably send you quite the tongue lashing."
"If she did, I'd merely give her tongue something else to do."
"Barbarian…" I grouse, trying my best not to think of whatever filthy thing she and my sister might do behind closed doors. "I do not wish to know…"
"Winter certainly has no complaints, put it that way." Yang says while stretching out her powerful form. A loud, unladylike yawn spilling from her lips. Sometimes I have no idea what Winter even sees in Yang. She's perhaps more animalistic than the Faunus on occasion. "Anyway, it's rare to see you wandering around on your own. Where did your warden slink off to?"
"For the last time, Glynda Goodwitch is my formal retainer. She is not a warden."
"Eh, might as well be." Yang grunted offhandedly. "Snooty pain in the ass, that's what she is. If you're smart you'll lose her in the wings of the castle for a few hours once we get there."
"You only dislike her so greatly because she never willingly allowed Winter out of her sight for a moment." It's in this truth that lilac eyes light up with a smile. She will never tell what she might be thinking. From the looks of it, she has probably imagined something lewd. "Once I am married, I will be afforded the same privilege to be left to my own. it's only a matter of time."
"You are plenty old enough to think for yourself." Yang tells me, tossing that long piece of wheat down to the grounds below. "Wet nurses are for babies, and governesses are useless by puberty."
"Yours may have been." I offer. "I wouldn't begin to question the quality of a knight's governess, or the woman's wages."
"I didn't have one. I wasn't raised solely upon books and politics." She's right, of course. I so easily forget that all of her platitudes are the sort taught to her by men and women trudging the frontlines. "I learned by doing. I was under my dad's feet as soon as I was off the breast. I was under his wing as soon as I could hold a weapon. I didn't need a babysitter, and frankly, neither did Winter."
"Of course not, her swordplay is no trick of the light. It would be a gruesome fate for anyone who even attempted to question that." Yet, she still chose to obey proper traditions. She is an oddity among Atlesian ilk, but, she is not lesser for her acts. In fact, she would not be as well respected as a queen if she had not battled so valiantly in the past. The people respect her because she has proven her ways are effective. "Still, my sister is nothing but proper about certain things."
"If you really think that, you really don't know your sister." Yang begins to laugh. The ruckus is almost too loud for her own good. "She is a spitfire. Never let her tell you otherwise. She would have gutted me in an instant if I did anything she didn't like."
"Yet, somehow, you still breathe." I observe dryly.
"Which means I must be doing something right." Yang agrees with a grin, dusting her hands off and turning to look at me. "Weiss, you are an adult, aren't you? Plenty old enough to make your own choices?"
"Still a maiden, and unclaimed at that." I tell her. I realize the look in lilac eyes resembles pity. "Thank you Yang, for earlier. If it had not been for you, I don't think today's meeting would have gone so well."
Her elbow nudges me, her smirk falls only slightly. "Were you really that worried?"
"Yes, of course. I still worry, even now. What if my sister is merely indulging me as a flight of fancy?" I ask Yang then. "What if she has already made her decision? Further, what if it isn't particularly favorable? What shall I do then?"
"Again, if you really think that, you don't know your own sister at all." Yang tells me quietly. "She thinks of it more than you realize. What you have to understand is that it isn't safe. Blake cannot give you the protection you'd need as she is right now."
"I know she thinks Blake unworthy." That is my greatest fear. That no matter Blake's efforts, my sister might never truly accept her. "As for everything else, I know what I have been raised to know. If it is knowledge based in falsehood, then that is not my fault."
"I know, princess." The way she touches my shoulder is nothing more than kind. The way it drifts across my back is meant for nothing other than comfort. The sideways embrace the selfsame. We are the same age, but war has matured Yang in a way I could never reach. "It would be different if you marched in the same pools of blood that we did. If you had served Atlas in battle, I think she would be much less protective of you."
"Yes, you could be right." Yet, I doubt that too.
"Most of the Faunus would rather see you killed, than to become mated to one of their own." Yang says to me, sighing as she thinks on that. "The Faunus have no true kingdom, only wandering tribes. The Faunus of Menagerie are the largest congregation of Faunus on Remnant, and their chieftain is a peaceful man. The problem is, Ghira can't speak for all of the Faunus, only his tribe…"
"He speaks highly of them…"
"Others are not so peaceful." Yang shoots back. "Some only continue to look for war. If Winter hands you over to Blake, your safety can't be guaranteed. That's why she hesitates. To be honest, if you were my sister, I would too. The only way to keep you safe is with the support of the kingdoms. If Blake were to become a queen, then the unified power of five complete armies stand at the ready. We'd eliminate any threat, real or perceived, to her throne. At her mere request, we'd be set to mobilize in an instant…"
Yang doesn't say what they would do to the poor soul who would even think to make such a threat in the first place. She doesn't need to say it, because I already know. Blood would be spilled by the gallon, as it has been since the dawn of time itself.
Without that recognition, Blake doesn't even have a voice.
Without it, the only blade sworn to me is her own.
Winter obviously doesn't think it will be enough.
