The ship rocked gently then came to a complete stop. A knock came on the door of the cabin and Yang sighed. "Ge' on outta 'ere, lass." The man jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. Nobody here treated her well. She was treated as little better than cargo over the past three months. She hadn't been allowed back on land or even topside. She hadn't seen the sun, having only a small lamp as her singular light source.

She squinted as the harsh sunlight met her eyes for the first time in three months. She took a step off the ship but soon found herself sprawled on the pier and laughter greeted her. "Guess she ain't got her land legs no more!" The crowd of sailors roared for a moment until a voice hissed—quite literally—above them.

"Silence!"

It carried the sort of authority only a high noble could command. A shadow towered over her, her eyes struggling to make out details in the harsh daylight. All she knew was that she could see ears atop the figure's head. A hand rested on top of hers and gently guided her to her knees.

"Nice and easy, dear. There you go." The voice was heavily accented and clearly belonged to a woman. Within a few moments, though, everything came into sharp focus and the lurching sensation stopped. The suddenness did make her stomach queasy though.

She saw a woman was a Faunus and kindness and concern bled through her amber eyes. However, those amber eyes turned from Yang and the woman stood abruptly. "Do you sailors truly have nothing better to do than laugh at a young girl unused to sea travel?! You ought to feel ashamed of yourselves! I don't think any of you were too hot on your first voyage, now were you?!"

The rowdy men quieted down and glanced at each other. "How dare you treat a future member of House Belladonna this way! I ought to take your heads personally for this offense!" She growled—quite literally—and her ears pressed into her hair. Yang's eyes widened. This woman was the queen?! Oh Verana, she had really screwed up, hadn't she? She would have to be very careful around this woman if she would so easily threaten execution for a mild offense. Yang had dealt with far worse in her short life than this. Those three months of hell were definitely worse than tripping and being laughed at.

The men all shrank away and the queen turned back to Yang with an extended hand and a warm smile. "How about we get you off this pier?" Her tone was warm and held none of the terrifying anger that had been there previously. Yikes. This woman could turn her mood on a dime… People like that needed to be watched out for.

"Uh, sure." She took the queen's hand and got to her feet. The world wasn't lurching anymore. Summer had warned her it'd take time for the lurching of the ship to go away. But, somehow, it'd already stopped. Same with her eyes. It was like she hadn't been locked in near darkness for three months. What was going on here?

The queen gently brushed her clothes off and led her over to a horse-drawn carriage. By Valian standards, it was pretty humble. The one her family regularly traveled in it was much more luxurious than this. Yet the royal family rode in this? Granted, it was pretty tall which was something.

A cabby opened the door and Yang took half a step back when she saw a monster of a man sitting inside. Even sitting down, she saw a monster of a man sitting inside. Even sitting down, he was incredibly tall. And he was built like a wall. "Is something wrong, dear?" She looked at queen then back at the man. That had to be her husband…the king. Oh great, she was execution happy and he looked like he could tear anybody limb from limb. What a crazy couple.

"Uh, no." She moved aside and the queen stepped into the cab then Yang followed. All at once, she again felt trapped. Her heart started to race and her breaths came in short, rapid gasps. W-What was going on? Why was she reacting like this?

The queen took Yang's hand the sudden attack eased off. Yang looked at her, confusion swimming in her eyes. "Wha—"

The queen smiled. "Some simple aura manipulation to calm you down. I did it for the lurching and your eyes too." Aura manipulation? That meant she was a Grade Twelve advanced aura user. That…was terrifying. This woman could do whatever she wanted to her…

"I-If I'm not being too bold by asking, then does this make you a Grade Twelve advanced aura user…?" Yang spoke hesitantly and the queen blinked. Her ears twitched slightly before she smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I am, dear. And please don't be afraid to ask me anything. I'm not quite as execution happy as you thought. I don't like it when people treat my children poorly." Her children? But she was human. They'd only just met. How could she think of her as her child? That didn't make any sense to her. "I'm surprised you know about advanced aura. It's a practice most people don't know about in this modern day and age."

"Raven Branwen—the woman that gave birth to me—is an advanced aura user. Most of the tribe is." She had gone with Raven for an overnight with the tribe on time. So many people there had read her aura like the queen was doing now. It was always a bit unnerving but she was fairly used to it due to Raven now.

"Ah, I have heard of Branwen tribe before. I wasn't away they were advanced aura users." She blinked. "Oh, before we get too far into this conversation, I'm Kali Belladonna, queen-consort of Chiole. And my husband, Ghira Belladonna, king of Chiole."

Yang felt her cheeks heat. Damn it, she'd forgotten her manners in front of the ruling monarchs! Good going, Yang! What a great first impression! "Yang Xiao Long. I…don't really have a title." Summer's marchioness title went to Ruby and Taiyang's earl titled in Mistral had been revoked once the contract was annulled due to Raven leaving. She was a bastard in every sense. Things would go to her only if something happened to Ruby.

Kali's smile remained in place. "Oh, that's perfectly okay, dear. You'll be queen-consort in due time." That made Yang fall silent. She would go from bastard to queen-consort one day… But she'd be princess-consort first… Had King Ivan even considered the true ramifications of what this marriage entailed? What even were his views on Fauns now that she thought about it…? This rang of not caring about much of anything. Yang was expandable for a kingdom he probably didn't even recognise as equal…

"Well, I was training as an acolyte for Her Spring Grace Verana…" That was about all she had for a title. She had nothing else to her was a bastard and bastard children got nothing unless there was no other recourse.

Kali tilted her head. "I know there's a small chapel for Verana in the city. Once you get more acquainted with Chilese, you'll be more than welcome to continue your training there."

Yang blinked. "Really?" They weren't going to hold her hostage in the castle? That…felt too good be true. Right, right… She would go into this with the best mindset possible. As usual, Summer had been right. If she opposed Blake and the Belladonnas, then things would surely go up in flames. Unless she got the sense they were pulling the wool over her eyes, she'd give them the benefit of the doubt. Kali did seem genuine enough…

Kali nodded. "We won't hold you hostage in the manor. I would suggest acquainting yourself with basic manners before you venture out, but if you want to, you can go out as soon as I introduce you to Tahir. It's your life; I won't tell you how to live it."

That…was an incredibly generous offer. She wouldn't be stuck in one room like she had been with the ship's cabin. She would probably take advantage of that soon enough. Being ship locked for three months had driven her more than a little crazy. Maybe she could at least explore the manor a little while later to try to get rid of the stir craziness. "Could I go see where the chapel is tomorrow?"

Kali nodded. "I can have a tour of the city set up for you tomorrow with Tahir. It would only be you and two and some guards but…"

"That's fine." Guards… The decision to marry Blake to a human was probably unpopular. Faunus and human marriages—at least in the Valian nobility—were pretty rare. She couldn't imagine how angry some people had to be that their princess was marrying a good-for-nothing human.

"Until the average person acclimates to your presence, we'll have to send you with at least two guards. We can actually walk on the street without guards but…" Kali shifted uncomfortably but Yang shrugged.

"Nobody in Chiole probably wants a human for their future queen-consort. I get it. Humans have done a lot of horrible things to Faunus. I spent my youngest years in Mistral and I remember there being slaves in my father's house. But I've spent most of my life in Vale so those are the values I have." She obviously hadn't had any direct messaging about Faunus so young which she was thankful for. Summer had been the one to show her how to truly react to and treat people. Granted, serfs were pretty much non-people. They didn't really matter beyond what they could produce. They only existed to make for the nobility.

Kali did nod slowly. "It was only mine and Ghira's reassurances that stopped a peasant rebellion. They don't want a human ruling over them. Humans cause enough trouble for us. Mantle and Mistral raid our cities and villages on the coast for more slaves." Kali frowned. "The language tutor we have set up for you was taken as a slave for five years. It was almost impossible to negotiate for her release."

"I'm so sorry." That had to be rough, though she couldn't really understand. Politics was beyond her, though… She frowned. "How am I supposed to learn to rule the kingdom? Or will I not have an active role in leading and leave everything to Blake?" That was probably a good question. She was a bastard and a foreign one at that when it came to Vale. That meant she didn't really have much to learn. She wasn't related to SUmmer so she couldn't take over her land holdings. It would go to Ruby though it didn't feel like Ruby would do well in court… There was something very off about her sister.

"She'll probably be a little tentative about being around you. We haven't let any humans around her since she got back a few years around. Be gentle and patient with her and you'll be rewarded." Kali smiled warmly at her and Yang nodded. She had met a few Valian nobles that had been taken as slaves while visiting Mistral. They had been incredibly jumpy and easily spooked once coming back. Slavery wasn't pretty and she didn't like it.

"As for you ruling, we would prefer you to take an active role. Having two sitting monarchs that can function is beyond useful. Blake will take over when she's twenty-five, so you'll have a few years to learn. You'll need to learn our language first. It's not easy and can take many years to learn. But we can fast track you with Celaecyal once you've spent a month or two learning." Celaecyal, huh? The goddess was a privilege only a few people got to meet in Vale. To be so nonchalant about it… How often did they meet with her if they were being so blase about it?

"Hopefully, I'll learn enough in that time to be useful." Yang nodded. Going from bastard to queen-consort in less than ten years was…something else. She never would've thought in a million years she'd become queen of a foreign nation. She was supposed to be a lineage and social dead end. She at least already spoke three languages, so learning Chilese would be a bit easier… She spoke Valian most of the time now, but she still spoke Standard Central Mistrali with her father most of the time. It was most comfortable for her at this point.

"Thankfully, I do speak a few languages, so it should be a bit easier for me to learn." It'd taken a few years for her to learn Valian. It hadn't been fun to pick that up from scratch. Summer hadn't known Standard Central Mistrali so Taiyang had had to help teach her. Thankfully, her accelerated learning curve had really let her learn it quickly.

Kali nodded. "That will definitely help. All of our children learn all of the major languages from a young age. You'll also need to learn Mantaline, Standard Vacuan, Standard Northern Mistrali, and Standard Southern Mistrali for delegation purposes." Yang sighed. That…was a lot to ask of her when she hadn't even met Blake yet. She hadn't realised she'd be involved with the monarchy directly…

"So what will my daily schedule look like?" By and larger her schedule had been dominated by religious classes, but that wasn't the case here. She knew Faunus tended to have different religious leanings than humans. They often tended to worship the figure The High Mother. At least it didn't seem like they would try to force their religion on her…

"Until you learn our language, your schedule will be largely your own, though your instructor will top in a few times times a day to teach you Chilese." Kali did hesitate. "Though we would like to request you take your meals with the family sooner rather than later. But we can leave that choice up to you…" Yang nodded a bit. That made sense, she supposed. Being integrated into the family sooner rather than later would be good. She couldn't stay locked away in her room forever…not that she wanted to be after being on room arrest on the ship. She'd never been so isolated before. Even when she'd come to Vale, she'd been with her father and had been allowed topside. But to be in the hold for three months…

"Can I rest for today at least?" She was kind of exhausted from the long voyage and wanted to decompress a bit. Hopefully that would be understandable. Plus… "Why is it so hot?" She just now noticed that. It…was so ungodly hot and humid compared to Vale. Her clothes were sticking to her skin and the cloth felt thick despite it being fine for Vale… She noticed Kali wore much shorter sleeves and her skirt only came to her knees or so.

"That's the climate here, dear. I know it's uncomfortable for those used to more temperate climates. Our house is cooler inside due to magic, though, so it'll be more amenable to you. And we did have a wardrobe made for you in the intervening months since we knew for sure you were coming." That was incredibly kind. She had brought her wardrobe from home but that obviously wouldn't be used here. It was too heavy for this incredibly tropical climate. Hopefully the colors would at least be nice since she hadn't had any input on it…

"Thank you." The Belladonnas did seem genuine like Summer and Raven had said. Of course, they could still be playing some sort of game here. But Kali was a highly trained advanced aura user and they usually seemed to be some of the most genuine, caring people Yang had met. Most nobles wold try to play off and do something for their own gain. She'd have to be on her guard around the nobles in this land, but it seemed like the Belladonnas were entirely genuine—at least as far as Kali went.

They fell silent through the last bit of the journey until they approached a large, wooden manor. Yang tilted her head as they got out. "No stone?" She was used to stone manors at this point. Most noble manors in Vale were stone. How could a wooden manor be more comfortable than stone?

"We have far more wood than stone." Kali left it there and they walked inside. Immediately, the temperature dropped a good ten to twenty degrees and Yang let out a sigh of relief. It had felt like she'd been breathing water. Legitimately, it had. She didn't understand how people lived in this.

"Follow me, Yang." She nodded at Kali's words and followed her through the sprawling halls. It was still much smaller than her family's manor. It probably wouldn't take her too long to memorise it—probably two or three weeks tops. And after three months cooped up, she would probably be exploring a fair bit. Even if her room was large, she really didn't fancy being locked up again.

They reached a wing of the house and Kali opened the door to a somewhat spacious, comfortable room. It was maybe half the size of her old room, but it wasn't the ship's cabin by any means. "This will be your room, Yang. Treat it as you would have the one you had back in Vale. If you want to paint it at some point, you can let me know and it can be done."

"…Thanks." Maybe in due time, but she was nowhere near settled yet. It was at least comfortable and she could relax her after the stressful voyage…

She walked into the room and looked around. The bed was much more like she could vaguely recall in central Mistral. It laid on the floor and could easily be rolled up then put in the closet. None of her stuff had been moved in yet, but she imagined it would be in within the next few hours. She wasn't really sure what she wanted to do know. She was kind of tired but she also felt stir crazy. She didn't want to be stuck in one room but she also wanted to be uninterrupted.

"…If you wouldn't mind a suggestion, I could take you to the library. We have a decent Valian section." Kali spoke again and Yang turned to face her.

"That…might not be a bad idea." Libraries were comfortable and quiet and, since they were royals, she assumed it was probably a decent size. Even if somebody else was in the library, they probably wouldn't be liable to bother her. She wanted to be somewhere people wouldn't barge in on her and hassle her more than the sailors already had. "All right, would you mind showing me the way?"

"Come with me." Kali led her back out of the room and they passed another nearby door which was slightly ajar. She couldn't see anybody, but she could sense somebody lurking behind the wood. She did catch Kali glancing at the door but said nothing…at least not until the were a floor below. "That was Blake's room. She probably sensed your aura spark."

Yang nodded a bit. "I thought aura sensing was impeded by things like walls and doors, though?" Raven had explained that to her. Raven couldn't read her emotions through doors or anything like that… Then again, Kali was Grade Twelve. Maybe the rules changed once somebody got so much higher?

"Blake is Grade Eleven but she's a highly trained Grade Eleven. We spent years perfecting Grade Nine before we moved onto Grade Ten. If you're good enough, partitions won't stop you up to a certain point." That made some sort of sense to her. Raven was decently trained but she had levelled out at Grade Ten. She could heal with aura decently well, but her sensing was pretty basic compared to Kali and Blake apparently.

"Gotcha." With that, though, she fell silent. Kali led her to a big set of double doors. They were incredibly ornate and looked imposing with the carvings of lions on them. Kali opened them, revealing the large assortment of books, scrolls, and other writing mediums.

"Feel free to use this place as you will, Yang. Obviously, the majority of the texts are Chilese. Once you learn the language, you can read them as you please. Anything we wouldn't want you to read will be in mine and Ghira's studies. This is the royal library, but with you being engaged to House Belladonna, you have full access to it." Kali gave her a small tour of the library, showing her the different sections, ending in the Valian one. "Do you need anything else?"

Yang shook her head. "I think I'm fine." She would read to kill time until bed. That ought to leave the servants with enough time to move her stuff into her new room. She could bother sorting through it tomorrow. She simply did not have the mental capacity to deal with it today. She had to do it herself because she couldn't even bring her favorite handmaids with her… King Ivan only allowed her to come and nobody else. She still didn't understand that call… Her father had brought his most loyal servants with him when they'd come to Vale. It was simply another unfair call to add to the list of awfulness the king had decreed.

"Also a small head's up. You may run into Lilou, my second oldest, while in here tonight. She likes to spend her evenings here in the library."

Yang nodded. "All right." If she saw her, she had no reason to be nasty to her. Part of her still wanted to be nasty to Blake, but Blake hadn't asked for this either. As frustrating as it was, the only person she could be mad at was the king. The Belladonnas were being incredibly kind towards her. Blake had made it clear she wasn't asking for this. Only King Ivan was to blame here.

She saw Kali hesitate before she spoke again. "If you'd like, I could show you the correspondences between myself, Ghira, and King Ivan." That…made Yang pause. She was taking the Belladonnas at face value but…

"That would be nice." She just… She really felt the need to see if Kali's words were true. Granted she could still leave out correspondences here and there for all Yang knew. But she'd give the women the benefit of the doubt for now. She really wanted to see if the Belladonnas were true to their word. She felt bad for not trusting them, but she couldn't let it lie. But if Kali was so willing to be transparent, it spoke to her character.

"Can I have them delivered to your room in a few days? It'll take me a bit to get them all together."

"That's fine." Plus, she did need a few days to decompress. Jumping straight into politics wouldn't be fun after being shoved in a cargo hold for three months.

With that, Kali bowed and left Yang alone.

For the first time in three months, silence settled around her. It almost felt unnerving. She had long grown used to the creaking of the ship, the sloshing of the aves, and the footsteps of the crew. Now to be back in total silence was incredibly strange. She hadn't though about the differences between sea living and land dwelling. She hoped that she would adapt back in due time. And they weren't on the coast directly, so she couldn't hear the waves or anything…

She looked through the books, finding titles she was unfamiliar with. Lots of novels and compilations of fiction that had once been serially produced. She wasn't familiar with a lot of these authors… At least it would provide her with something to do when she wasn't having her Chilese lessons. And there was the central Mistral section which she could also browse… This wasn't as large as her family's library, but it had more than enough to keep her busy for a while.

She pulled one of the books off the shelf and settled on one of the couches. However, it wasn't long until darkness claimed her.

#

The sound of hurried footsteps made her jerk awake. In the relative silence of the library, it wasn't hard to hear. She got up and followed the source of them until she came to a small corner. A table was piled high with books, quills, parchment, and fountain pens scattered over the surface.

However, she didn't see anybody.

"Hello? I'm not going to hurt you." Then she mentally smacked herself. Only a few people here would be able to understand her. What point was there in speaking in Valian when so few people would be able to translate?

A small head did poke out from behind one of the nearby bookcases. She looked a lot like Kali but much younger. This was probably Lilou like the queen had warned. She really had nothing to worry about.

Yang held her hands up, hoping to show she wasn't a threat. "I won't hurt you. I'll be your sister in due time." Would this even work? Would the younger girl speak Valian? She could only hope but she wouldn't get her hopes too high either. She knew Blake at least wrote and spoke Valian, but would it extend to the other kids? There were so many unknowns in all of this.

The younger girl gave a small nod, then revealed herself fully. "Okay." Her voice was heavily accented even on that single word. Kali's had been much less pronounced than this. Something told her accents might get in the way a bit. "You're Yang?"

Yang nodded. "Yang Xiao Long. I'm from Vale and an acolyte to the goddess Verana." She had no title outside of that. She could have but Raven leaving had severely hampered her standing in the nobility so yeah… She didn't have anything to offer the Belladonnas in return. At at least it seemed like Lilou had a decent grasp on the language.

"A…co…lyte? I haven't heard that word before."

"Basically training to be… Well, to have a career in worshiping a divine figure." Would Lilou have heard the word clergy before? If not, this was the easier way for her to understand. She was training to be clergy. She really wished she could have been allowed to continue on her chosen life path.

"Oh, okay."

It was then that Yang noticed the small bird on Lilou's shoulder. It had a blue chest and black and white striped wings. "Who's your friend?" It was so easy for the bird to get lost in Lilou's long hair. It was really tiny.

Lilou looked at her shoulder then at Yang. "Runar." The bird kind of shrank away from Yang and into Lilou's neck. "You won't hurt him?"

Yang shook her head. "I just haven't seen a bird like him before." She had seen songbirds and color photos of tropical birds before, but this was new. She had really never seen a bird like that before. It was incredibly unique, so she was interested. Apparently, Chiole had its fair share of unique wildlife…

Lilou brought the bird onto her finger and hesitated before approaching Yang a bit. Her ears twitched and she looked incredibly nervous. "It's odd to see a human here." She could only imagine. A human would eventually help lead the only Faunus-majority nation on the planet. After being told humans hated Faunus, what must it be like to now have it be impending to have one as a sister? "You like us?"

Yang nodded. "I spent my youngest years in Mistral but I've spent most of my life in Vale. I don't see Faunus as lesser. I have a fair few Faunus friends." Both in the nobility and the clergy. She'd met a lot of kind Faunus through the clergy who weren't even nobility. She counted them as friends despite the gap in status.

"Some people in Vale still don't like us."

Yang frowned. "Yeah that's unfortunately true. But I'm not one of them." Most of the wealth belonged to humans while a lot of serfs were Faunus. Vale was probably the best nation when it came to treating Faunus well, but it didn't mean everyone saw them as good. Nobles still tended to treat Faunus kind of poorly…

"Can I read now?" Yang blinked at the request but nodded.

"Yeah, sure." She didn't want to hold the girl up from her studies. She found her way back to the Valian section and picked up the book she'd chosen. She left the library, but found herself unable to remember where Kali had led her. And she couldn't ask a servant where her room was thanks to the language barrier. It was going to take her time to memorise the manor despite its small size, relative to what she was used to.

However, she did see one of those small birds sitting on a perch near the door. This one was yellowish-green instead of blue, though. It landed on Yang's shoulder and looked up at her. "Need help for room?" She stared. The speech was a little garbled but she could understand it.

"Yeah—do you know where the royal wing is?" Considering Blake had only been a few doors down from hers, it seemed a safe assumption that she was housed in the royal wing. Especially with the way Kali had spoken to those sailors. 'A future member of House Belladonna.' Kali really seemed to have accepted her despite everything…

"Follow please!" The bird hopped off Yang's shoulder and started to fly through the halls. She got back to the royal wing where Blake's door was cracked once again. She didn't say anything even though she wanted to.

Thankfully, she found her way back to her room where she noticed a small perch hanging off the bookcase. The little bird fluttered over to it and stretched its wings out. "So who're you?" It was obviously an aura breed with how it was responding intelligently to her. She had never known bids could talk like this, though. It was pretty impressive.

"Emmalyn! Queen Kali told me to help you!" It was one chipper bird, that was for sure. It was a little hard to understand, but she thought she was picking up what it said at least decently well. An interesting way to use birds, though.

"Gotcha." She did see her trunks and the dresser as well as the closet. She dug through the dresser and found a simple, white dress that was quite soft. She supposed this was probably her pajamas… With a shrug, she tossed her day clothes off and changed. With that done, she crawled onto the futon and quickly fell asleep. It had been a long trip and she was exhausted.