Red Rose, RedRum

by Adjudicato

(Sequel to Dancing Roses) Red and White, snowy and verdant. Dance again and twirl in glee, gaily embracing this new discovery. Rose of Summer and Rose of cold north. But where will the dance end? What terminus will this waltz see? What fiery bolero shall mark the final notes? We will not know herein, but the Roses dance on all the same and the resolution marches closer.

9. Heiress No More - Part One

Chapter 7

Heiress No More

Part I

Crave the Rose

Ϣ

Believe not those who say

The upward path is smooth,

Lest thou shouldst stumble in the way,

And faint before the truth.

It is the only road

Unto the realms of joy;

But he who seeks that blest abode

Must all his powers employ.

Bright hopes and pure delights

Upon his course may beam,

And there, amid the sternest heights,

The sweetest flowerets gleam.

On all her breezes borne,

Earth yields no scents like those;

But he that dares not grasp the thorn

Should never crave the rose…

-Anne Bronte: excerpt of "The Narrow Way"

Ͼ

Weiss Schnee sat in a comfy chair inside a rather posh private airship, watching the monotonous scenery of the Mantle Tundra zip by. The interior was a subdued khaki-colored velvet, the upholstery of her chair a soft and cushy leather with velveted arm rests. The heating of the interior was spot on—not too much but far from too little—and the cold beyond her window was little more than an imagining to the heiress. If she was even an heiress any longer.

Which, Dearest Reader, brings us to the point:

Though her chair was comfy and her surroundings invitingly warm, and though she sped along her way toward the destiny she so desperately hoped to achieve, Weiss Schnee was anything but at ease. She could not quiet her mind for anything. She could not slow her racing heart. The cabin was just right of temperature, but her flesh felt as though it were aflame and raging, a crucible fired by great bellows. There was no one there to talk with her. Not even a pilot in the front of the airship, for the thing was a prototype unmanned model.

She was all alone with her thoughts, knowing full well that her love, Ruby Rose, would surely be asleep and out of reach. And so, she occupied herself with thinking on their last conversation. Only some five hours ago had she spoken to her, and that being for the first time in over a month. It had been short and succinct, which she sorely lamented, but it had been so very relieving to hear her voice again. After that conversation with her father, the ultimatum, and setting upon her newly chosen course…

α

Ruby Rose was oh so very tired and drained. She had danced her dance, as was her job, and gone straight to her apartment after finishing. Her muscles ached and her chest was still tight with the exertion. Her body cried out for slumber, for respite, for the gentle embrace of dreams… but her mind would grant no such boon. Instead, she lay on her bed, well and wide awake, staring at the dark ceiling looming overhead. Icy-blue eyes and silvery-white hair preoccupied her. The phantasmal, siren lilt of a singer's voice filled her ears, displaced the silence of her room. Naught but a specter, the faint aroma of lavender drifted to her.

Her mind was on Weiss and little else. Now and again she would wonder, when had this woman smitten her so? When had it grown so deep, taken such root in her heart's heart?

Go to her…

Ruby took a deep breath and sighed. The air was awful cold in her lungs, and when she exhaled, that same bitter chill bit her flesh. She stood then from her bed and leapt across her small room to put on a coat. It helped, yes, but something still felt off. She took a seat on her couch and flipped on her small tv, switched channels until she found the weather. Listened to the reporter drone on about the coming front from the tundra of Mantle. Wondered absently about the failed weather stabilizers, and remembered the young man that had sold her the coat she now wore.

Go to her…

A rumbling growl from her stomach snapped Ruby back to the moment. Had she truly forgotten to eat? Thinking back on it, yes, she had neglected food. So preoccupied was she on returning home to her apartment, and on thinking about Weiss, she had let slip from her mind the fact that she was hungry. But now, stomach rumbling, she remembered she had not been shopping to fill her pantry and small fridge in some days. All there was like to be left was junk, none of which would satisfy.

Go to the landing, Ruby Rose…

Go to the heiress, Ruby Rose…

Go to your Love, Ruby Rose…

Ruby stood from the couch and stretched. She checked her pockets for her keys, Lien, and scroll. Satisfied they were there, she then left the apartment with no hesitation or real thought. It was as though her feet knew precisely where the rest of her needed to be.

Ͼ

By six in the morning, the sun was just rising over the horizon, Weiss's mind was in a furious tumult, and though she could not see so from her seat, the private airship was fast upon Constance. She sat as she had for the entire ride, in a relaxed position with absolutely no hint of relaxation about her. Thinking even still on Ruby, her father, her company, and what her future might hold. How the cards might tumble down for woe or weal.

"Attention passenger: Weiss Schnee." The airship's loudspeaker snapped her from her musings. "The route to Constance will be completed in three minutes. Please secure your seatbelt and prepare for landing."

Of course, her seatbelt was exactly where it had been the entire time, which is to say across her lap and buckled in place. But now, hearing this, the heiress's gut twisted with a pang of excitement. Constance was oh so very close. The MTU was oh so very close. Her destiny, whatever it might be, was fast approaching.

Ruby is so close…

Perhaps she thought this, or perhaps she heard it on the ether, but whatever it was Weiss did feel that thought run through her. It rekindled a flame that had burned low over the last many days. Smothered with worry and trepidation, anxiety and vacillation, that fire had indeed guttered.

But now…

The airship lurched gently but noticeably as its wheels deployed. A moment later and the heiress could feel the tug of the wheels grasping asphalt, could hear the muted whine of steel settling into momentum-bleeding force. She felt herself slowing off kilter to the airship for a brief moment. Then the forces equaled out and she relaxed into her seat.

"The Schnee Dust Company would like to thank you, passenger, for choosing Aesir Airlines. We hope your journey was pleasant and we look forward to your continued patronage."

No sooner had the loudspeaker finished did Weiss feel the final halt. Now her blood was pumping. Her return was nearly done. And yet… wouldn't Ruby still be asleep? Classes did not start for some time and this was one of her working nights, so of course she would be resting it off, Weiss thought.

Even still, the heiress threw off her seatbelt and quickly readied to disembark, having brought no luggage with her. There would be time to gather other things in order while Ruby slept. She could see her later in the day, as she had said on their call. If she wished for this newly discerned possibility to become a reality—her new destiny—then she would have to maintain focus.

Yes indeed, Weiss Schnee held her thoughts reined in and focused much so as she could, as she went about exiting the airship. A cold gust greeted her the moment the door opened up and she remembered, then, that the weather stabilizers had both failed in her absence. Weiss made a mental note of that for later use as she began to descend the boarding ramp.

Her stiletto heels echoed faintly on that first step upon the asphalt.

She clutched her coat tighter, trying to hug in the warmth.

A sight caught her eyes but only barely registered…

"Weiss!" she heard a woman's voice shout.

No sooner did the heiress look up for a clearer view than did a great warmth embrace her, lift her from her feet, and begin squeezing her for all she was worth.

Ϭ

What much is there to say, Dearest Reader, of fond reunions? Save, that is, that they are all too fleeting and infrequent. These things come in numbers not nearly enough, and last for far too short a time. Yet, while we are caught up in them, our minds can think of naught else, oft times, aside from elation, relief, and a profound hope.

Ruby Rose had left her apartment none too long before six in the morning with the sole intent of getting something to eat. Fast food maybe, or perhaps a visit to one of the twenty-four-hour stores nearby. Yes, her mind had been on Weiss—as it had for much of the last several hours—but food and hunger were the presently predominant considerations when she locked her apartment door and left down the street. Some way or another, by fate or by dumb luck, she had wandered to the auxiliary airstrip none too far away instead.

Once she realized her blunder, Ruby checked her watch, saw the time to be three minutes after six, and began to head for food once again. The hollow roar of approaching engines halted her, spurred her to turn and look in curiosity. Immediately she spotted the SDC emblem blazoned across the nose and flanks of a sleek airship.

And without another thought she ran onto the tarmac, entirely without consideration for the danger. Whether security would stop her or whether she might run too close to the now landing craft. As she went, it seemed whatever force had drawn her there in the first place had also elected to shield her, for the craft taxied to a halt long before she could be anywhere near a point of peril.

Ruby threw all sense of caution or propriety to the wind and pushed her already exhausted body to its limit, pumping her legs for all they were worth and scattering a light cloud of rose petals in her wake. Not a huntress, oh no, but a semblance she did still have—one she now made good use of. With speed alike the wind itself, furious in the midst of a typhoon, Ruby barreled over to the craft whose door was just opening.

Who did she see appear from within to disembark?

"Weiss!" Ruby cried out at the top of her lungs.

The heiress, startled, stopped in her tracks and looked up. Ruby had no idea if she was seen or known. She came upon her in an eye's blink and swept the woman up in a hug, squeezing her as though afraid she might melt into the nascent light of dawn.

"Unhand me!" cried the heiress. Then, after a moment of realization, she said, "Ruby? Is… that you?"

"Of course it's me!" Ruby answered, already feeling tears sting at her eyes. "I didn't think I'd see you so soon…"

Calmed down somewhat, and relieved not to be in the grasp of some unknown assailant, Weiss quickly returned the hug. Ruby let her back to the ground but did not release her grip. And in another moment, both women—unprepared, without realizing, without meaning to—were sobbing silent tears of joy to once more be in each other's arms.

"I'm sorry, Ruby. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, I know you had to go."

"I'm sorry I left without saying anything. I'm sorry I didn't tell you goodbye."

"That's okay, that's alright, don't apologize. You had to. I'm not the center of your life and that's just fine."

Weiss buried her face in the hollow of Ruby's neck. Her voice was choked then with tears, but she tried to speak all the same.

"I'm sorry I didn't call sooner. It wasn't right to do you that way."

Ruby began to stroke the top of her head, slow and gentle. She said, "Quit saying sorry, Weiss. I missed you but I had—I have—faith in you. You had something to do and I believed you would do it, and if I could still be in your life afterward then that would be great. If not, I was happy just to have met you, to have been your friend, to have loved you for the time we had."

Suddenly, the heiress snatched away from her hiding spot and stared Ruby in the eye.

"Don't talk like I would just up and leave you over this!" she shouted, and though the wind was strong and constant, her voice echoed two times over. "Please, Ruby," she pleaded, "please don't speak as though we would… would part in such a terrible way…"

Rather than answer the heiress with words, Ruby released the hug at last and placed her hands, gently, over Weiss's already cold cheeks. On that contact, Weiss shivered to the warmth. When Ruby drew her in and all but smashed their faces together in a heartfelt, longing, relieved kiss, the heiress found her knees buckling. By the grace of some force beyond herself, Weiss did not topple over.

It became quickly apparent, however, that this kiss would not be like those previous. Ruby held her there and Weiss melted into it, returned the gesture in short time. Ruby then took it a step further—by then having to breathe through her nose—and moved one hand around the small of Weiss's back, scooping her in to deepen the congress of their lips. She felt Weiss's chest heave against her, craving air, but would not relent.

Just as the heiress gave in and sucked a greedy breath through her nose, she felt a sensation that set her spine aflame. Ruby's tongue pressed to her lips, as though licking them, and in her shock the heiress opened her mouth to gasp. The wandering tongue speared its way in, began to dance with her own. Weiss hadn't expected it, no, but neither did she fight it. She followed her love's lead and so did they stand there for a time, sharing a newfound expression of their bond and devotion, luxuriating in the presence of one another.

Neither knew how much time passed, nor did they much care. The air around them was bitterly cold. The wind blew unremorseful and violent. The chill bit into their very bones. Yet, the flame blazing between them shooed these things away until, at last, the roar of the airship Weiss had so recently disembarked brought them back.

Ruby withdrew first from their kiss. A thin but tenacious bit of spittle trailed between them, froze quickly in the frigid wind, broke and scattered into the dawn like a thousand tiny diamonds. Weiss, face aflame and beet-red, could do naught but watch her love's eyes. Curiously. Raptly. Senseless and perhaps even a bit ravished.

"That was something, huh?" said Ruby, panting lightly.

The heiress shook her head a few times, pushed Ruby away and took a step back.

"I…" she tried, but her words wholly fled her.

A powerful shiver raced up Weiss's spine. Ruby saw this and again closed the distance to wrap the heiress up in a hug. Much gentler this time, with care and great affection. Weiss wasted no time returning it.

"Your place or mine?" Ruby asked.

"I beg your pardon?!" said the heiress, trying to push away.

Ruby had not embraced with strength, but she held Weiss resolutely. She said, "It's really freaking cold out here, Weiss, and one or both of us will probably catch something like this. I'll go back alone if you want, but I thought I'd ask anyway." Then, on a whim, Ruby leaned in close to the heiress's ear and whispered, "So… your place, or mine?"

Never before had Ruby felt another person shiver so violently as Weiss did then.

"I… don't have a place here any longer," said Weiss at last. "Father lapsed the lease on my dorm room. I was going to check into the Olympus Heights for tonight. Or today, I suppose, seeing as the sun's just about risen…"

Ruby looked toward the rising sun off in the distance and realized that, indeed, the night was long done with. Classes would be ready to start in only a few more hours. Somehow though, for many a reason, that realization did not faze her. Instead she looked back to Weiss, met the icy-blue eyes of her love. They were red-streaked and still full of tears.

"Can I come with?" Ruby asked.

Weiss smiled, wide and bright and beautiful, and said, "Yes, of course."

And when they started off for the nearby train cradle, hand in hand and full up on amorous warmth, the clock struck ten after six. For indeed, Dearest Reader, do these reunions flee in the blink of an eye, no matter their depth or impact. These reunions come few and far between, and last not long enough to seem worth the wait. But were one to ask either of the roses then, as they walked along basking in one another, if it was worth having all the same…

This observer, at least, is sure they would answer yes without hesitation.

Ϭ

Weiss was glad her student ID still worked for the trains. They were given no delay in entering the cradle, and in short time the line bound for Olympus Heights, and points beyond, arrived. The two women boarded, the doors hissed shut with a quiet pop, and they took their seats. Their ride was mostly uneventful. Ruby seemed just as tired as Weiss imagined she would be, and for most of the way she merely lay against Weiss's shoulder, snoozing lightly, while the train bobbed and ebbed a gentle sway.

When they reached the Olympus Heights cradle, Weiss woke Ruby as tenderly as she could. They disembarked, crossed the grand concourse. The mighty doors of the Olympus Heights stood wide open, so on in they went. Immediately did the warm, nearly hot air greet them. Alike a great wall it crashed upon them, washed over them, and heated them nicely.

Ruby seemed to have regained some of her energy by the time they finished checking in. The heiress, as on her original visit, reserved one of the suites. She still remembered the way and duly guided Ruby. Some few hallways and an unusually long elevator ride later, both women stood before the door to their shared abode for at least the next day.

Weiss opened the door and offered Ruby first entry. She took the offer, both entered, and the heiress closed the door behind them. In the suite it was even nicer than the lobby, and far better than the concourse. The heat was not so overbearing and the lighting, accoutrements, and subdued atmosphere felt much more fitting. Ruby went straight to the bed and flopped on it, not even bothering to kick off her shoes. Weiss pulled a posh office chair from the desk to just beside the bed and sat down in it.

Both sighed deeply. It was now well past seven.

"Are you going to class?" Weiss asked.

From the bed, her head turned sideways on a pillow, Ruby answered, "I'm going to call in today, I think."

"To school or work?"

"Both," said Ruby, followed with another sigh. "What about you, Weiss?"

The heiress, she too sighed once again, and then said, "I would say, but I'm not entirely sure I want to have this conversation right now…"

Ruby turned over and sat up straight. "What conversation?" she asked, now attentive and alert.

"About my future plans," said Weiss, matter-of-factly. She too straightened up in her chair to face Ruby. "I've spent the last month at my father's manor, holed up in my old room, plotting and scheming day in and day out. I believe I have a good idea, but I am wholly exhausted and would like nothing more than to let it all simmer for a few days."

"That's pretty unlike you, Weiss," said Ruby.

"I suppose it is," the heiress agreed. "But then again, I never expected to be where I am now."

"Alone in a hotel with a woman?" Ruby said with a sneaky smirk. "One who you just shared a very passionate bit of smooching with?"

"I would thank you not to speak so flippantly of that," said the heiress, her face reddening and her blood beginning to burn.

"Oh?"

Ruby stood from the bed and approached Weiss, a mischievous glint in her eyes. The heiress, reflexively, started to push the chair back with her feet. She was stopped before she could get more than a foot away. Ruby put one knee on the seat of the chair just by Weiss's thigh, shifted her weight onto it, and halted her.

"Come here," she said, pushing for a better position.

Once she had snaked an arm under Weiss's left shoulder and another around the small of her back, Ruby again shifted so as to stand. She lifted the heiress from her chair. Weiss stood, somewhat reluctantly, and when Ruby pulled her into a hug she did not resist.

"You were so tight-lipped during that call earlier," said Ruby. "I was really hoping you'd fill me in better when I saw you."

"Well, I didn't expect to see you so soon," answered the heiress. "At least not until later today. As a matter of fact, I expected to work up my nerve as the day passed, I'll have you know."

It was then that Ruby silenced the heiress with another kiss. This one began as innocently as the lion's share had, but quickly evolved into the more passionate, newer sort they had earlier shared on the tarmac. Weiss could not decide how she felt about having her girlfriend's tongue alongside her own, dancing and twirling about each other. Nor could she settle on whether 'twas pleasant or not to all but share her breathing in such a heated, heady kiss.

Suddenly, Weiss felt her world shifting. She was falling and this quite alarmed her, right up until the soft plush of the bed caught both of them.

"Ruby Rose!" she shouted after exiting the kiss. "Have you no shame?!"

But Ruby only giggled at this, and quickly pulled the heiress right back into the embrace.

For a time they tangled about on the bed, graduating from an ardent twist to begin grasping, clutching, letting their hands to wander. Weiss's heart felt like it must shortly either burst from her bosom or simply explode within her ribcage. Pressed tight to Ruby as she was, she could feel the woman's heart thumping mad against her, and knew that, surely, she must feel the same. Breathing became difficult. Her mind began to soften and swim. Weiss finally shut her eyes, deciding to give in to whatever her body was experiencing, acquiescing to some baser part of herself she had ever ignored.

This time Ruby broke the kiss, and when she did they were both a panting, gasping, sweating mess.

"You are shameless," said Weiss between greedy gasps for air.

"No," said Ruby, equally winded. "I'm happy, Weiss. Hope I didn't go too far…"

The heiress thought to answer her, but instead found her hands and fingers moving (seemingly) of their own volition. Working like lithe little snakes, Weiss's fingers undid the buttons of her coat and the shirt beneath. Both as one, she stripped off the articles and tossed them across the room, leaving herself in only her pants and bra. To her heated flesh, the room's air was as ice. Ruby, speechless and momentarily dumbstruck, quickly began to answer in due kind.

Before either could truly consider their actions, both sat on the bed in naught but their undergarments.

Subdued and relaxed could well describe the room, in both its lighting and furnishings. But there was certainly enough light to see clearly by, and see clearly both women did indeed. Sure, Weiss had seen Ruby up on the stage at the Siren's Call, and more than a few times at that. And Ruby, herself, had seen the heiress less than clothed on more than one occasion, but neither had been so close and so concerned over the matter as they now were. The room felt suddenly small and intimate, secret and secluded, and they, in their place within it, closer than ever before.

"Gods, Ruby," whispered the heiress, "you're so beautiful…"

Perhaps shy, perhaps shocked, or perhaps both, Ruby fidgeted about before saying, "You look like an angel yourself, Weiss."

Some time passed wherein neither did much aside from stare at the other, rapt and awestruck. It was as though they were both middling teenagers again, discovering a lover for the very first time in their lives. Ruby had had some small experience with dating, but never had she gone near so far as this. As for Weiss, studies and personal advancement had ever been her only acknowledged suitors. Here and now, both were nascent and both were naïve—woefully so, may it do. Thus, they could little think where next to go.

Until, that is, the heiress found herself moving without knowing yet again.

Weiss leaned forward, onto her hands and knees upon the bed, and crawled right up to Ruby. Slowly as one traversing unknown territory, she pressed their lips together for another kiss. And this time it was Weiss that entered her tongue into Ruby's mouth, wanting and exploring, seeking and searching, curious and earnest. She pressed forward a bit more until the both of them fell back, prone, on the sheets.

Yet, I am sad to say, Dearest Reader, they did not have their apotheosis there in the Olympus Heights. The summit of their love was not reached.

In but a short time of embracing—of hungrily kissing, feeling, clutching, grasping, exploring—exhaustion fully overcame Weiss and Ruby both, and stole them quickly into the abyss of slumber. Take heart though, that their sleep was great, convalescent, and tenderly welcoming. The two women, entwined with each other alike amorous snakes, slept well into the day.

Both smiled honest and earnest the entire time.

α

The crowd is riled and ready. Ruby can hear them easily through the dressing room walls. They scream and chant, cheer and leer. Eyes searching for the next dancer. Chrysanthemum is next up on the menu. Her flesh exposed, body contorting and writhing an enchanting rhythm, the crowd ogling and shouting her name…

Ruby wants no part of it. The prospect of what the evening held had not bothered her before, or at least not to such a degree. But it bothers her tonight. Yes, it twists her stomach and runs her skin cold and clammy. Ere long she will exit the dressing room and enter the stage, take hold of one of the poles and begin to dance about it. She will disrobe herself bit by bit—save for the mask, and that was some small comfort—until all is there for the frothing crowd to behold.

Just as her hand grasps the door handle, what should she hear? As though a miracle, to be heard over the raving crowd beyond, what do her ears pick up?

She rushes across the room and the sound is gone. But no, the scroll is in her hand. And now she is outside, scroll pressed to her ear, so happy in her heart's heart she feels fit to burst.

"It's so good to hear you, Weiss," she says.

"Same here, Ruby," says the heiress.

"Is everything okay?"

"Not exactly." There is a pause, then Weiss says, "I will be coming back soon, though. I can't wait to see you again."

"Me either. But, how soon is soon?"

"Within a day or two. I'm packing up right now, actually."

"Don't rush yourself for me," Ruby says, then chuckles nervously. Already her heart is fluttering mad in her chest.

"Oh, believe me, I cannot wait to be rid of this place." Weiss huffs a chuckle of her own, and in some instinctual way Ruby is sure it sounds mournful. "Though," says the heiress, "I'm afraid this call isn't purely to say hello. Sorry Ruby, but I have something I need your help with. I know I disappeared out of nowhere, but could I ask for your aid? Would you give me that still?"

"You know damn well I will, Weiss," says Ruby without a moment's hesitation. "Ask anything at all."

But the heiress did not ask, now did she?

"I'll explain it when I see you," she says. "Until then, please take care of yourself."

"I will, Weiss," says Ruby, nodding vehemently.

"I love you."

And before Ruby could reply the same, the scroll is silent. The call has ended. Now she stands before the crowd, up on the stage, her mask in place and her hand on the silver pole that reaches all the way to the ceiling. She knows what she must do, and so she does it. Ruby—Chrysanthemum—dances the night away until the wee hours of the morning. She bares all before the crowd. She weeps within herself for it, though not entirely sure why.

Ruby hates it now, this dance she must do.

Ruby wishes naught more than to show all of herself to one person, and one alone.

Ruby cries out, silently, with the voice of her heart, to that person.

The world shimmers around her and she is not sure whether her tears have come to obscure her vision, or whether it is some other phenomena altogether…

Ϭ

"Ruby? Hey, Ruby! Wake up! You're only dreaming. Stop this at once!"

Ruby heard the heiress's voice loud and clear, but it only melded into the fleeing remnants of her dream for a short while. Eventually she breached the waters of slumber to return to the waking world, her silver eyes fluttering open. The first feeling that called her back was Weiss gently shaking her, followed quickly by the light of early afternoon stinging at her eyes. At least, Ruby assumed it to be the light stinging her eyes.

"Here," said Weiss, holding something out to her.

Ruby reached out for the offered thing and found it was a damp washcloth, wrung-out and warm. Then she realized why her eyes hurt so very badly and dabbed at them with the warm, wet cloth. This greatly assuaged the irritation crying in her sleep had caused, and for that she was mighty thankful.

"What were you dreaming about?" asked Weiss warily.

"I can't remember," said Ruby. "Not really. Something about… the Siren's Call, I think. And you were there too. Or maybe it was just your voice…" And then the entire dream—or nightmare, more like—came back to her as a great tsunami. Ruby leaned forward to bury her face against Weiss's stomach, and said, "Jeez, Weiss, I don't think I can keep doing that…"

This struck the heiress off guard at first, but she returned the gesture in due kind all the same. She wrapped one arm about Ruby's shoulders and began to stroke her hair with the other hand.

"I… think I may have an out for that," she said, somewhat nervously. "Let's get some breakfast first, though. What do you say?"

Slow and reluctant, Ruby pulled away from Weiss's grasp to sit up straight. She looked her in the eye and nodded, despite not being particularly hungry. One could even say she was anything but that, matter of fact.

Now, Weiss was no cook and she well knew this. Simple dishes and a few less than complex meals were certainly in her repertoire, but she had neither want nor will to try any of them that afternoon—and indeed, though both had just recently woken, it was quite late in the day at fifteen hundred hours. So, Weiss had done as any might do when staying at a hotel of some sort and not wishing to cook in any way.

"Room service should be here any minute," said Weiss. "I ordered a few different things, just to be safe. Wasn't sure what you might want today."

"Breakfast is breakfast," said Ruby with a wan smile, "and eating is eating. I guess you're used to choices though, huh?"

"I am indeed," Weiss agreed.

Feeling a little better already, Ruby threw back the covers, stood from the bed, and stretched. From the corner of her eye she saw Weiss spin her gaze away fast enough to look painful. Ruby looked down then, and saw that the only article of clothing on her was a halfway fallen pair of panties. It was then that the entirety of the previous night (or perhaps morning?) came back to her: from the unexpected reunion on the tarmac to the near-miss bout of passion. Ruby felt herself reddening from toe to crown, and when she looked at Weiss again she saw the heiress, too, had turned beet-red.

"I— huh… um…" Ruby stuttered, glancing all about the suite.

When she spotted what looked like the door to the bathroom, she bolted straight for it. Thankfully she chose correctly and did indeed end up in the bathroom rather than outside in the hall. There, she leaned back against the wall and tried to calm both her racing heart and haggard breathing.

"I folded up your clothes and put them on the counter in there," said the heiress through the closed door. "I… meant to mention that, um… that you weren't dressed."

"That's okay!" Ruby shouted back, not quite meaning to shout at all. "I'll get them on and be right out!"

Ten minutes later and Ruby had herself clothed once more. On any other occasion she would not have taken so long, not with such a simple outfit of pants and two layers of shirts. For some reason though—and she had a sneaking suspicion why already—Ruby felt much like a mere kid again, embarrassed at something new and wholly unexpected.

She exited the bathroom with her gaze cast down.

Weiss was in the middle of a bite of something. When she saw Ruby she quickly finished and said, "Come get some of this while it's still hot."

Ruby neither nodded nor spoke, only crossed the room and sat at the small table on the far side. There were only two chairs there, one of which the heiress already occupied. Ruby considered, then, that the entire suite seemed set up for only two people, despite the overall large size of it—the couch was more of a loveseat, the bed seemed hardly wide enough for two, as though meant to foster intimacy, and the bathroom had an extra-large sink and bath.

"When I first saw you at the Siren's Call," said Weiss, "I had just rented this very room. A less-read person might call that irony, don't you think?"

She pushed an empty plate toward Ruby, who did not respond to her observation. Ruby took the plate and, looking over the many small meals laid out across the table, began to take what she felt she could eat. It amounted to little and she began to eat without much enthusiasm. Truth be told, it irked her greatly that she felt so very embarrassed about the way she had woken up.

"While I was gone," said Weiss, drawing Ruby's gaze and attention both, "my time was spent almost solely on financial chicanery. Father gave me an ultimatum—marry the head of another company, for pseudo-political purposes, or give up my claim to the SDC—and I initially could think of no way around it. But I decided that, whether or not I succeed, I would at least put up a fight."

Ruby listened raptly to all of Weiss's spiel, spooning small bites of her breakfast with a slow cadence. She said nothing as the heiress went on.

"Before I say what I need you to help me with, Ruby, I want you to know I love you more than I can adequately define. I'm truly not sure exactly what this is, but I know it's some sort of love and I know I will do anything and everything to preserve it. This does beggar a question, though, and that—"

"Yes, Weiss," Ruby blurted abruptly. "I love you, as much as I've ever known I could love someone. I'm in this all the way. I told you before and I'll tell you again, now and as many times as you need to hear it."

And with that, Ruby resumed her slow meal. Weiss released a breath she had not realized she was holding and went on.

"Then I'll just be blunt: I have secured a little less than one billion Lien in liquid assets alongside ten billion in speculative investment from outside sources…" The heiress meant to continue but stopped when she saw Ruby sit bolt upright and begin to gag.

Weiss leapt from her chair and rounded the small table. Flying solely on instinct, she got behind Ruby and put her arms around the woman's abdomen. Clutching her fists together like a baseball, she yanked upward both with her arms and her back, lurching to muster as much force as she could. Whatever Ruby was choking on, it dislodged immediately to the sound of haggard coughing and greedy gasps of air.

"Gods, Ruby, are you okay?!" Weiss screamed shrilly.

"Yeah," Ruby answered, trying to stymie her coughing. "Yes, sorry, I just— I've never even heard of so much money before. Sorry, sorry, it caught me off guard…"

The heiress returned to her seat, muttering some profanity or another just beneath earshot. Her appetite ruined, she pushed her own plate away and resumed.

"What I'm considering may not be entirely legal, mind you," she said. "But it's the only shot I have of keeping the SDC and being together with you. Should things come down to it, however, I won't hesitate to wash my hands of the company."

"You're really sure about that?" asked Ruby, meek in tone as she too pushed her plate away.

"I am," said Weiss.

"So… what have you thought up, then?"

"Let me tell you," said the heiress. "We will be using this initial capital to secure incorporation for a paramilitary organization—essentially creating our own huntsman-based group to rival the company Father wishes for me to marry into."

"Like mercenaries?"

"Yes, Ruby. Like mercenaries. Only, instead of having well over one hundred years to swell our numbers and reputation, we will be employing some… subterfuge, let's say, in order to appear competitive."

"What do we need to be competitive for?" Ruby asked, genuinely curious and almost entirely lost.

"We need to be competitive because we're going up against ColdWater for a deal with the SDC."

"What sort of deal?"

"It's little secret by now that the Schnee Dust Company has run afoul of trying times. Between concerns over labor conditions, fluctuating Dust prices, and the long stretch of peace experienced by the Kingdoms, the company has seen little growth and even less stability. Our valuation is higher than ever before, but one might think of it as a bubble readying to burst. There are, of course, rumors of conflict on the horizon, and that has led to some lucrative opportunities—but the SDC has no outright combat-capable branch of its own. Therefore, should something happen—and I hope it does not—we may experience a temporary influx of business and expansion, but we will suffer in the long run due in large part to the affluence of ColdWater and the reputation of their members. If any war or conflict does come to pass, then the SDC would almost surely be forced to lower and lock Dust and technology prices for the duration. The impact of that could be fatal with the right confluence of trying factors…"

All of this was so much more than Ruby had expected to be hit with, but she gave her every and all to try and take it in. Rather than ask any further questions, she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Ruby did her best to repeat Weiss's monologue in her head, to tear it apart and digest each individual point. But Ruby was no businesswoman and certainly had not the expansive lexicon of the heiress.

"What has ColdWater offered?" Ruby asked at last, after perhaps five minutes of silence.

"They want to buy out the entirety of the SDC," said Weiss.

"And what do you plan on offering to top that?" Ruby pressed. "I mean, if they're wanting to buy out the whole company, then there's no way you can match their money. Right?"

Weiss smiled, wide and vicious, and said, "There's so much more to you than that ethereal beauty, Ruby. But yes, you are absolutely correct; I cannot hope to match ColdWater's offer, which is somewhere upward of three-hundred and fifty billion."

Ruby, at that very moment, had never been more thankful not to have anything in her mouth. Hearing and thinking of such preposterous numbers simply made her head spin. She said, "I might have to go outside to breathe if these numbers keep getting bigger."

"That wouldn't be wise," said the heiress. "I know this room has no sort of recording equipment—I made sure of that when I first checked in last year, for reasons I'm sure you can infer—but outside there's no telling who might hear. As I said, this may not be entirely legal. Best not to take any chances."

"I guess you're right," Ruby agreed, sighing pointedly. She then reached to the center of the table, took hold of a dainty silver carafe, and poured two delicate teacups full of what she hoped was either tea or coffee. She offered one to Weiss, who accepted, and took a whiff to see what she had poured. Coffee indeed, and thankfully so.

"Since I cannot match ColdWater's offer in Lien," said the heiress after a sip, "I will instead offer to merge our new company with the SDC. Once we have sufficiently… padded the ledgers and rosters, let's say."

Ruby, too, sipped at her coffee. She then asked, "Do you think the deal would work? And how would that help you keep the company, anyway? Won't your father just shoot down the deal as soon as he gets wind of it?"

"He and I are on terms of non-aggression at present," said the heiress. When Ruby only tilted her head in confusion, she added, "Should I come up with a sufficiently satisfactory offer, Father has told me he will not hinder my play. Whether or not I believe him is moot, of course, since there's really no other option."

"Okay, okay, so let's say this works," said Ruby. "I still don't understand how that helps you keep the company. If you merge this new thing with the SDC, your father would still be the head, right?"

"Correct."

"And if he's still the head, then he could just as easily pull the rug out from under you. Right?"

"Correct."

"So…" Ruby started, but stopped. Somehow, she unraveled the mystery with so little information. She sat up straighter in her seat and leaned in toward Weiss, saying only, "Really?"

The heiress smiled, said, "I'm afraid Father has not been the best steward of the company. Under normal circumstances, a mere merger would be enough to garner his good favor. It should be enough to prove both my loyalty and my capability. But he has lost his touch, I see now, and as a caveat of this most lucrative offer, I will ask the Schnee Dust Company's Board of Directors to reconsider their pick for Chief Executive Officer.

"If I can gain enough votes of confidence, then Father will be forced to relinquish his majority stake of shares—at a reasonable percent of market value, of course—and step down from his position. And seeing as I would be the instigating factor of this deal, it should not be too much of a stretch to suggest myself for his replacement."

Ruby was speechless. She had not seen this side of Weiss, oh no, and despite her rebuttal of the heiress's previous warnings over it, Ruby now understood why Weiss had been so vehement in her delivery of them. It shook no part of her resolve in her feelings toward the heiress, but it did cast a new light on the woman.

"That's… cold," said Ruby, and she immediately regretted voicing such a thought.

Weiss's smile disappeared, her posture shrank, and she slumped back against her chair. She took a long draught of her coffee—finishing it—and set the teacup on the table, then turned her gaze away from Ruby. At the floor she stared, suddenly quite sullen.

"I am a Schnee," she said.

Yet, Ruby understood her error and had no intention of leaving it as is. Sure, the plan Weiss had just laid out was quite ruthless—Ruby herself could never imagine stabbing her own father in the back like that. But what else could there be for it, save to go for the throat? Tai Yang would not make such a demand of his daughter (either of them, as it was) as Weiss's father had given. No, Ruby had slipped up in blurting out her first lucid thought, and now she moved to rectify it.

Ruby stood abruptly and rounded the table. Weiss looked at her immediately and seemed as though she would shy away, but Ruby did not let her. Instead she wrapped her arms about her, collapsed to her knees to level their heights, hugged the heiress tightly.

"I said that wrong," Ruby whispered. "I don't know what I meant to say, but that wasn't it. I'm sorry, Weiss. Please believe me that that didn't come out right."

Weiss sighed, then said, "Don't worry about it. I have to stop worrying too, so don't join me in that. Okay?"

Ruby nodded her assent, released from the hug, and stood. She returned to her seat and poured both their teacups full again. Weiss took hers and sipped, as did Ruby. Then, after a few minutes of silence, the heiress spoke.

"It pains me to put this on you, Ruby, but I cannot make this plan go anywhere at all without you."

"Just tell me what to do," said Ruby.

"No!" Weiss suddenly shouted. "This will not work, not a chance, if you simply follow instructions. If we do this, we do it together. I'll explain the last of my plan—much as it is—but after that, you need to understand that this will be a joint effort. If either of us messes up, we both suffer the consequences. This is not a game, Ruby Rose, and I truly need you to understand that. This is a gamble in the truest sense of the word…"

But again, Ruby only said, "Just tell me what to do."

And that time, it sunk in. Weiss looked her love in the eye and understood her meaning: Ruby had no idea whatsoever where she fit in yet, and even then might not know what to do about it. So the heiress took a deep breath, righted her mind and calmed her heart, and laid out the last of it.

"If I am the one to make this new company," she said, "then that would straightaway forfeit any claim I have to the Schnee Dust Company. I can invest or divest as I see fit according to the company charter, but ownership of any other company is strictly prohibited of the top executives. Though I'm only a junior-rank, I am in that top echelon and those restrictions do apply."

"So…" Ruby said. "So, you want me to found a huntsman-mercenary company?"

"I do," said the heiress.

"With the ten billion Lien you've put together?"

"Eleven billion, for all intents and purposes, but yes."

She had to take a moment to breathe properly, but Ruby then said, "I've never seen a hundred thousand Lien, Weiss—not even fifty, not in person. How can you possibly have faith in me to accomplish any part of this? I mean, I'm all for helping you however I can, but I nearly flunked math at the MTU until you started tutoring me…"

As she watched the heiress's face, Ruby once more had her breath stolen. The smile—nay, the grin—that blossomed across her face like some deific flower was so far beyond beautiful, Ruby couldn't think at all for a short time. Yet still, she did hear Weiss's words, and did truly believe them alongside that goddess grin.

"Don't sell yourself short," said the heiress. "I've seen the intellect behind those gorgeous silver eyes myself. As a matter of fact, I'd go so far as to say it could be no one but you, Ruby…"

Like it was ripped out of some romantic theatre, both women stood as one and met each other halfway around the table for another tight embrace. Breakfast went entirely ignored, and when it was bussed later that day, the room-servicer wondered if it had even been touched. By that time, both women were out in the heart of Constance, on their way to the great library one last time.

Within, the heiress retrieved the copy of the SDC company charter. One convincing argument later—and a few thousand Lien lighter in her purse—Weiss came to an agreement with the head librarian over who should be the owner of the dusty old tome. She and Ruby then left the great library and headed straightaway for the auxiliary tarmac, where not twelve hours earlier they had had a most touching reunion. The sleek silhouette of the Aesir Airlines prototype sat right where it had been when Weiss departed, its engines spun up and humming. Neither woman had any luggage between them, bringing naught along but themselves and the SDC charter.

As Weiss had explained on the way, speed was of the essence now more than ever, and such speed would require bringing only what they absolutely had to.

"This is the last chance you'll get, Ruby," said Weiss, standing with one foot on the boarding ramp. "If you follow me into that cabin, there's no going back."

But Ruby did not answer her with words. Rather, she stepped forward and kissed the heiress—intensely, deeply, truly—just as she had earlier. When the kiss broke, both women entered the private airship's cabin, took their seats side by side, and fastened up for the long ride ahead.

The trip took seven hours when all was said and done.

They held hands nigh the entire way…

Ω

Levi Ansleif stretched, wide and exaggeratedly, as the doors of ColdWater Group's Constance City Location hissed shut behind him. His neck was stiff from all the sitting, his jaw hurt from all the talking. In his heart he felt dirty and used for all the conniving. Worst of all, he knew he'd have to clean and touch up his favorite bowie—but at least the imbeciles had been woefully underprepared to deal with anything more than a lowbrow thug, judging by their reaction to his sudden assault.

Indeed, once talks had finally broken down, Levi had found himself with no other choice. Much as he despised the deed, he did see his talent for it had not dulled. Five men in a small room, a medium-sized table between he and they. All five carrying the best SDC pistols money could afford them. Not a one managed to unholster before he opened up their throats. Each fell over, without so much as a gurgle, before any could understand they were facing a true threat. He had then worked a glam on them, one which did not require the victim to remain alive.

No one even knew he'd come to meet with one of the top ColdWater execs. Levi had waltzed right on out, knowing what he needed to know, with none having a clue what he had come for at all. "Have a good day, Mister Ansleif," the receptionist had said to him, flashing her charming smile. "We hope you will consider ColdWater again for any future security needs."

It had taken all he had in him not to laugh, but now, out in the open and walking down a remarkably empty street, Levi let himself loose. He did not guffaw and cackle like a madman, but he did chuckle rather incessantly for a short while. Until he came to a decent-looking bistro, actually, and when the smell of fresh croissants and other fine pastries caught his nose, he decided it was as good a place as any.

Levi went in, ordered a tart and a donut, paid the pretty girl attending the register and found a seat. Five minutes later and he had finished his little snack, stood, and gone to the restroom. The guests inside that day would fill the rumor mill of Constance City for the next ten years—right up until the end of days—with stories of the funny-dressed man that went into the bathroom of the Café Atlas (as the locals called it) and never came back out. Some called him the "Bathroom Ghost of Constance" and others simply the "Disappearing Cowboy", but all retold the tale any time conversations would dip into a lull or whenever rumors seemed appropriate.

How could any know it was the very harbinger of Death himself that went into that bathroom, opened a door that did not exist, and stepped through it into the heart of the Schnee Manor?