Weiss watched as her mysterious kidnapper disappeared. All of this was overwhelming. She'd been cold and harsh in the forest and now she was suddenly kind and soft. It reminded her a lot of how President Jacques treated her. He was usually cold and unrelenting, but he showed just enough kindness to know he did love her. He wanted the best former. He had to make sure she shaped up to be presentable even if she didn't want to be considered such. Atlassian society was so cold and distant.

Fae… Fairies… She really didn't know much about them. All she knew was that they were mythological beings. Did they have their own rules? She really shouldn't believe this nonsense, but they'd traveled to another world entirely… They definitely were not in Atlas anymore.

She browsed the book titles and frowned. Most of them seemed to be related to religion somehow. A lot of them were focused around rituals and multiple gods. That…made no sense. There was only one god, the Holy Father, Agat. Were these people really so backwards to believe in multiple gods? It was an utterly ridiculous notion.

There was nothing she could read with any reasonable understanding. This really was one of the worst scenarios she could imagine…

‡

Blake stepped off of the terminal and a guard saluted. "Miss Belladonna! What are you doing here. The duke and dutchess weren't expecting you. What brings you here?"

"Is the duke available? I need to speak to him immediately about an urgent matter. Or at least Auria." A glance out the window revealed the colors of twilight. The family was probably taking dinner right about now… She really wouldn't have much choice but to join unless she wanted to wait.

"Dinner's been served only a quarter of an hour ago. You'll need to wait at least another hour and a half if you wish to speak to the duke privately." Damn it, that was what she'd been afraid of. She didn't want to upset a meal so badly, but she also couldn't afford to wait. Damn it all.

"I'll meet with them now." She folded one hand into a fist then placed it to her free palm. She dropped her height slightly in a formal Misum greeting. She normally wouldn't do this to the guards. But with this being a direct communication to the duke, it'd be rude not to.

She followed the guard to the dining hall. She washed her hands in the offered water and then entered the hall. The duke and dutchess sat at the head of the head of the table with two figures on each of the left and right.

"Blake, what are you doing here?" The duke stood and offered a faint nod of his head. She performed the traditional greeting but she went to one knee fully.

"I have a request to make of your family. I apologise for crashing a family meeting, but time is of the essence for me." She felt so bad for crashing a meal like this. It was bad manners in the Lider court to talk about such things over meals. It was always reserved for private time behind closed doors. Such business never had any place at a meal time.

"Please, come in. I'll hear you out before drawing judgment." She nodded at his words and sat next to Turi. Her gaze cast down to her plate as she ate. Poor fae. She was the black sheep of the family for running off with some human in her thirties… It was basically unheard of for fae to have children so young…

"So what is the situation, Blake?" the duke asked. A plate was placed in front of her and she lifted some of the food to her mouth, then swallowed. Misum weren't averse to talking over meals, but bad manners to not at least take a bite before business. She was not about to show such rudeness to the duke.

She quickly explained the situation and Turi actually looked up. "Did you say…Schnee?" Her voice was quiet and Blake blinked, looking over at her.

"I did. I don't know her full name—" Obviously. "—but her last name is Schnee." She hadn't felt deception in the girl's soul when she'd heard the name. She was terrified out of her mind. She highly doubted Schnee had lied to her.

But now that she looked at Turi…

Her eyes widened and she looked at the duke.

The Gineres family were her fae ancestors?! Turi was the fae that had gotten involved?!

Oh sweet gods.

"I though t the family was a good one, Turi." The duke's tone was ice cold and Blake felt her blood chill. He was angry. Angry his daughter had apparently lied to him.

"It was a hundred or so years ago, Father. They were kind, hardworking people. They worked the lands and mines. I don't understand how things could have gone wrong so fast." Turi's tone was quiet and her voice wavered. She apparently hadn't lied.

"Father, keep in mind things change much more quickly on Serlia than here. Mortals accuse us of being fickle, but they're the ones that change so quickly." It was Aurai that spoke up this time.

Blake gave a slow nod. "Sir, if I'm not speaking out of turn… They've had two wars in the past eighty or so years and more before that. My grandparents often fought in mortal wars." It'd been over seven thousand years since the last fae wars. Ghira had grown up on stories of various mortals wars as had she. She'd heard of 'The Great War' and 'Faunus Rights Revolution.' They were horrible, horrible things and showed the fickleness of mortal minds and hearts. Fae were considered but children for nearly two hundred years. A lot could change for mortals in that timespan.

"I suppose that is true." He stroked his beard thoughtfully, flecks of food transferring from his fingers to the hair. "I simply cannot fathom that much change happening so quickly."

"Plus, this girl is of rather high standing. The riding dress she wore was of the same quality of clothing any of us wear. Though she has been through much abuse, based on her mannerisms." She didn't want to put Auria in such a situation but she couldn't leave the girl to it.

But would these Misum really agree to it? They weren't really known for their empathy toward mortals. Misum changelings were usually done to destroy those that posed a threat of some sort. Not all Misum fit that mold, but that was usually why they chose to pursue changelings.

"How bad is this guy?" Auria twisted her mid-grey hair around her finger, eyes glinting. Typical Misum. But she wouldn't complain. This man was obviously a massive issue. The sheer fear Schnee displayed testited to that. Abusers were not taken to kindly in fae society, so it was no surprise Auria wanted to decimate him.

"I'm not sure of the full extent of it, but it seems bad. Schnee feared betrothal and what it would mean for her. What do you know of Atlas and Mantle?" Blake lifted more food to her mouth and observed the duke. He remained silent, true to his word. He listened before fully judging. A rare trait among the Misum.

"Not a whole lot. We don't stay up on on mortal things." Auria shrugged. That was fair. With magic gone from Serlia, there wasn't much reason for fae to hang out. Well, the wilds could be quite welcoming. Grimm didn't effect or sense fae in the same ways as humans and Faunus. Perhaps it was the spark of the divine that kept them safe… Plus the Grimm hadn't been created by Keberes…

"Well, from what I've heard from my grandparents, it's a place of mass oppression. Women are forced to bear children, as many as they can. And often against their wills." If Misum used silverware, they certainly would have clattered to the plates. But in lieu of that, silence greeted her. Rape was a capital offense in both courts. Nobody in the fae realm could grasp how it could be so commonplace among mortals. It was so rare among the fae…

"And you said she was betrothed?" the duke asked quietly. It was the scary kind of quiet. The quiet that an explosion quivered behind.

"From what little I could gather, yes. And she's right around my age too." Sixteen. A mere babe in fae years. She was fully developed, yes, but she was still considered to be little better than an infant. Nobody took her seriously. She wanted to apprentice to a priest or priestess, but nobody gave her the time of day.

"Auria, what are your thoughts?" he asked, voice still quiveringly quiet.

Aurai blinked and swallowed before a sadistic smile spread on her lips. "I would be more than happy to destroy this abuser and possibly the betrothed. I'm not going to be happy to have my court installation put off for a few decades. But it seems like this family needs a serious cleanup." Apparently even Misum could be swayed by the right amount of abuse. Then again, rape was so heinous. To commit such an act against somebody especially so young… It was unforgivable.

Auria would get to have some serious fun.

Oh.

"I'll give you her riding dress when you come by. You'll need a white horse to take with you." She was pretty sure Schnee wouldn't want to give up her horse. It also felt cruel to separate her from the one being that had probably treated her well. The point here was to help her, not further destroy her. She deserved a kind, warm home after having been through such hell.

"All right. How about I finish up dinner then we can head to your place?"

Blake nodded her agreement. "All right. Duke Gineres, I hope you won't take this the wrong way, but I think I'm done eating. I promised Schnee I would eat dinner with her tonight." She was committing a faux paux and she knew it, but she also did have something else to do after this. Letting Schnee be seen with that earring would cause the family so many problems should it happen. Though with her connections to the duke's family, it did entitle her to a low-grade gem like a ruby. The Misum earring in the Lider court would raise questions. But it was better than her not having the piece in the first place. She (mostly) could function without it but…

"I should be offended, but I understand your need, Blake. Have a good evening." The duke smiled at her and she headed out. Time to go deal with a jewelry store and pulling teeth over allowances.

§

Several hours passed and Weiss' kidnapper had not yet returned.

Somehow she could say kidnapping was boring. It wasn't so different from home. If she wasn't in lessons, she was in her room. But she normally had things to read. She had ways to keep herself occupied be it with reading or her Semblance. But none of those books would make any sense for her and neither did she want to potentially anger her kidnapper by messing up her.

She truly was trapped.

A soft knock on the door made her look up, though, and the Faunus girl returned. A large black bird sat on her shoulder and she carried a small bag in her hands. She held it out to Weiss. "Here, I'll take that earring back and you can have these instead. You'll only want to wear the one in your right ear, though." Weiss looked in the bag and found two earrings, gold with a ruby attached at the end. What was the importance of these things? She'd said something about language translation, but it had been so brief she didn't really get it.

Blake looked at the bird on her shoulder. "So you'll be staying with our mistress for a while?" Weiss blinked and her attention turned back to Blake. Had she seriously understood a bird? Sure, people could understand aura breeds with enough time, but this made no sense. To understand an animal with no outside help… Was this the power of the earring?

Blake nodded. "I apologise for prying, but yes… Us fae use exclusively awakened animals and there are other intelligent races in Koiria and dealing with them is much easier when there are no barriers. Dragons, unicorns, and our awakened animals are easier to get along with when we can all understand each other."

"Are you…reading my mind?" Weiss gripped the dress in her free hand, heart stopping a bit. She had responded directly to her thoughts. That was creepy. Did she have some sort of mind-reading Semblance? Hopefully that wasn't the case, but there was no other explanation. It was too direct to not be the case.

Blake shook her head. "No. I can read the energy flows in your soul. We'll teach you how to guard against it in due time. We fae do share the same system of the soul you have, but we use it in much different ways. So I do apologise if I respond to your thoughts… We all know how to guard at a young age… It's a lot easier to converse with somebody when you can directly access their soul…" She rubbed the back of her neck and Weiss looked away. The one thing she'd had as a safe space was no longer hers. Her mind was the only thing President Jacques hadn't taken from her and laid bare for the world to see. It was all she had…and now even that had been taken from her. What was she supposed to do here?

"I'll…try my best to respect your privacy but you do think rather loudly." Blake continued to rub the side of her neck and Weiss sighed. What a nightmare… She'd lost the two things most important—

Wait.

Winter.

She suddenly felt faint and leaned against the window. "M-My sister… Will I ever get to see my sister again?" None of this made any sense. Fae, dragons, unicorns, talking animals… It felt like she'd been dropped into some sort of storybook. But not in a good way.

Blake blinked at the question before shrugging. "Traditionally, no. Changelings don't return to the human realm. But I'll see if I can get Duke Gineres and my parents to pull some strings." Not see Winter again? Tears welled in her eyes, but she pushed them back. A Schnee didn't cry in front of others. She shouldn't cry at all. It wasn't like Schnees to the thought of not seeing her sister again… It felt like the end of everything. No, she hadn't seen her for some years now, but that was different. They would see each other again… Again she got to Beacon… But that wouldn't happen now that she was betrothed…

"I'm sorry… This is why we do changelings as babies, but I can't let you go back to that… No fae in their right mind would…" What was she supposed to do? She already missed her sister so horribly. And now she might never see her again…

A fluttering caught her attention and the bird landed in her lap. It croaked then bent its head forward. "He's inviting you to pet him." Blake's words were soft and Weiss sniffled. She rested her hand on the bird's head, gently stroking the feathers. They were quite soft and extremely glossy. She might not know anything about birds, but it felt like that meant it was healthy. Hopefully she was right…

Blake settled on her bed and fell silent while Weiss petted the bird. Eventually, she calmed down enough to replace the diamond earring with the ruby one. Gold was not her go-to personally. With her skin color, it looked so tacky. She'd always worn silver. But she'd been kidnapped so it was best to not complain. "Here. You can have this back." She held it out for Blake to take. She put it in a jewelry box, then settled back on her bed. What was she supposed to do now? Nothing felt right anymore. She didn't want to go back to being beaten everyday, but she couldn't stand the thought of not seeing her sister again… It hurt too much.

"Would you like to go outside and see your horse?" Weiss blinked and looked up at Blake. See Neige? Would they be going riding? She only ever got to see him when she was riding or having a lesson. But it seemed odd to go out riding again. Not that she would complain about it. She'd need her riding habit again though…

"If it's not too much trouble… But I need my riding habit if we're going to riding…" Best to not upset the kidnapper, but she didn't want to be improper either. They'd given her pants to wear— pants! Did they really expect her to do something so improper for a lady of her standing? No Atlassian lady would be caught dead in pants! Blake herself wore a beautiful dress that flattered her figure.

"No, we're going to visit just to visit. After today, you can go anywhere you want in the manor. We'll ask you to not stray too far from it. Once you're a bit more versed in fae culture, you can go out into the cities with us. Eventually, you'll be able to venture out by yourself. We don't want you to get into trouble and not able to get out of it. Fae can be very…particular about manners. A human offending them will end very badly." Weiss blinked then her eyes narrowed. There was no way they were going to allow her to leave their sight. That wasn't how kidnapping worked. She was supposed to be their captive , not allowed to wander as she pleased.

Blake sighed. "How about we go see your horse?" Weiss nodded and the bird fluttered back over to Blake's shoulder. What was it, anyway? She wasn't exactly versed in birds, so she didn't know. And awakened animals. Were they anything like aura breeds…? She had so many questions and not enough answers. Hopefully they would be provided in time…

She picked up the voluminous skirts and followed Blake through the manor down to the barn. It was a high-end barn and massive at that. At least a hundred stalls though they were considerably larger than the ones the Schnee family boarded their horses in. And there weren't any stall doors either. How did the fae control their hoses…?

They walked out past the stables and out into open fields. Horses scattered across the landscape without a fence in sight. But that—

Wait.

Were those wings on some of them?

It was probably rude to ask but… "How do some of those horses have wings…?" This truly was another world. No fences. No stall doors. Winged horses. It was all so much to take in. How much more would blindside her? Now part of her had to wonder what they ate and how. If their horses were so different, then it felt like the door was open for anything to be changed… At least the clothes were familiar even if the styles weren't Atlassian.

"They're pegasi—winged horses. Have you…never read fantasy or interacted with mythology before?" One of Blake's ears twitched and Weiss looked down.

"No. I never had any interest in fiction. I never understood the appeal of wanting to escape from reality. Atlas' religion has only one god, the Holy Father, Agat. I…never there even could be more than one god until I glanced at your books." What an embarrassing admission. Apparently her worldview was quite limited… She'd thought herself educated but nothing could be further from the truth apparently. She had so much to learn about this place… How was she supposed to do that without any books to read?

"That's…going to make things a lot more difficult then." Blake sighed, both of her ears drooping over. "I think most Serlia children would have some grounding in fantasy… But it's okay. At least we don't have to sort through old, silly superstitions about the fae and other things." That…didn't help her feel better. She liked to know what to expect when going into a situation. But it so often happened that President Jacques simply tossed her into new ones and expected her to figure it out herself. Horseback riding was one of the few exceptions.

"Anyway… I'll see what I can do. Why don't you call your horse?" Weiss nodded and called out Neige's name. It didn't take long for him to come trotting up, ears and tail pricked. He…looked fine. That was a huge relief. She was afraid she had run him too hard and asked too much.

"I'm so glad you're okay…" She nuzzled into his neck, running one hand against his silky fur. Yeah, it was nice to see him when she wasn't riding. Maybe she'd be able to see him daily? The idea brought warmth to her chest as she leaned against him slightly. She always missed him when she was away.

He craned his neck over and rested it on her shoulder. "It was a hard run, but it was worth it." She glanced at him. It sounded like he was speaking normally—like he was speaking Atlassian. Just like Blake's bird. This truly was magical… There was no other explanation for any of this.

"Do you think you'll be okay here?" She was worried for him. Both of them were so out of sorts. Would he be okay with these fae horses? She wasn't sure if he'd make it or not…

He tossed his mane a bit before bobbing his head. "I think I will. It'll take time to adapt, though… No fences and I can go inside at will. It's so strange. Not bad . Just strange. I'll take me time to learn their languages but I can in due time.

"The only thing that concerns me is the stablehand tossed my bit away… He looked utterly disgusted and tossed it in the bin." Wait, what?! Why would he throw away the bit?! That was expensive and important! How could one expect to toss away something meant to control a horse.

"I'll teach you how we ride in due time," Blake offered. Another large, black bird sat on her arm while the other remained on her shoulder. "Awakened animals have no need for such devices as bits. With proper training, not even reins are needed." Weiss wanted to faint. No bits or reins? They were so important to keeping a horse under control and communicating with them. Even aura breeds needed to be broken in as far as she was aware!

But, then again, what did she know outside of sidesaddle riding and manners?

She was quickly learning that she wasn't as educated as she thought. Why was her world so limited? She was supposed to run the SDC eventually! Why wouldn't President Jacques want her to know as much as possible?

Weiss stood there and petted Neige for a while until Blake got her attention. "We should head in. Dinner will be served soon." She looked at her horse who nudged her shoulder.

"Go and eat. We could both use it after a long day." She didn't want to leave… She saw him so rarely. To simply enjoy his presence like this… It was something she'd never done before. But he was right… She needed to eat.

"Can I…visit him after dinner?" She bowed her head, tone soft. She didn't want to leave. It was always so liberating to be away from the manor. Especially with Neige. She wanted to stay away as much as possible. Life in the manor was so suffocating…

"Maybe not tonight… Auria is already here. She's the one that'll be taking your place. She'll need to meet and discuss things with you about that." Blake's tone was clearly reluctant but Weiss nodded. Yeah, she was their captive after all… They would dictate her life from now on… It was best to go with what they said…

"Okay, I'll see you later, Neige." She petted his neck then followed Blake back into the manor. What a mess. She would only make their lives harder. She never should have run away… It was a stupid mistake. Now she'd have to deal with the consequences for the rest of her life…however short that may be.