Weiss Schnee watched. Sat in a silent vigil next to the blissfully unconscious blonde boy who had very nearly died less than a week ago.
Jaune would've squawked indignantly at that. At the implication of being anything less than a man.
"I'm thirteen Weiss!" A younger Jaune had cried long ago. "I know how to feed myself!"
She'd silenced him with a single glare, despite being a year younger than him.
Other boys and girls had been just as easily subdued by her in the past too. A quirk of an eyebrow or a displeased frown and they were putty, terrified of losing their head or her favour and the power that came with it.
Jaune had been different. Naive and innocent. Easily malleable and manipulated. That was one of the reasons she had allowed him to follow her around.
Weiss wondered at that sometimes. How her younger self seemed so much colder and less...emotionally invested in Jaune in comparison to her now. Young Weiss would've married Jaune just to escape the thought of being forced into a loveless marriage, uncaring of the fact the sharks that filled her court would swoop in and feast on him the moment they smelt blood.
Jaune let out a weak moan, breaking Weiss' train of thought. She gently wiped away the sweat on his brow with a cold, wet cloth. His forehead was burning to touch and he winced as she did what she could to help him. She forced down the emotion that swelled in her chest, choking her throat. A good Queen was not distracted when she was faced with a challenging task.
In the days that followed the dragon attack, Weiss had completed task after task after task. She had compensated both Jaune (whose sister had taken it on his behalf) and the silver-eyed girl for their efforts in driving off the dragon, giving both a generous amount of gold. She had only heard the beast attack, forced to hide away by her guards in the Locker, a secure room in the heart of Snowflake Keep where she and her guests had been forced to huddle in whilst the Keep shook around them. She heard the beast wail as it was driven away and she had seen Jaune's limp body get carried to the infirmary.
She had wanted nothing more than to go there with him, to look after him and watch over like when he got sick when they were younger. But a Queen's duty never ended.
She had organized the start of the rebuilding of the Keep, given bereavement pay to the families of her fallen soldiers, reassured her worried nobles and paid extortionate fees to ensure her burnt granaries were refilled and rebuilt. She had sent word to the Mason's guild to rebuild Nördliche Burg's defenses. She had reassured frightened subjects and weakened her garrison by sending detachments of men to defend nearby villages and hamlets. Only then had she allowed herself to see Jaune, to tend to her wounded knight.
Except he wasn't hers and never could be. Not unless she wanted him to die a slow and painful death.
The whimpering ceased, and she realised she had been singing to him. A soft lullaby Winter used to sing whenever she had clambered into her older sister's bed after a nightmare.
"You are a beautiful singer, Your Majesty." A soft voice complimented and Weiss turned around slowly, forcing herself to not show the surprise she felt at not being as alone as she thought.
It was the girl. The silver-eyed one. Her eyes, the colour of dull steel, were soft and guilty. She wore a red battledress, one that was lightly armoured and easy to move in, one that favoured speed and agility over endurance and buffeted damage, and was also suitably fashionable for court.
"So I've been told." Weiss replied coldly, immediately cursing herself for doing so. The girl may have put Jaune in this position but she had also driven away the dragon that could very easily have destroyed her home, slaughtering her and her people.
"Is he any better?" The girl asked, a look of forced cheer on her face.
"Marginally. His temperature has risen but he no longer refuses food."
"That's really good news! He should be back to it in a few more days."
"How do you know?" Weiss questioned, refusing to let go of the cloth on Jaune's forehead as the girl approached, watching the girl warily and realising she may have been holding onto Jaune's arm a little too tightly when he let out a soft whimper.
"My dad went through something similar when he got caught in the middle of a battle between my mother and a dragon." The girl replied. "It didn't take long for him to recover."
Weiss nodded, filing the information away for future reference.
"Why has your magic done this to him?" She asked after a moment's notice. "Silver-eyed magic is supposed to be Humanity's trump card, not the cause of illness."
The girl sighed, shrugging her shoulders helplessly as she sat opposite Weiss on Jaune's other side.
"When my dad was ill with Silver Sickness, my mother told me that it was because people without silver-eyes are more susceptible to damage because they don't have silver-eyes of their own and haven't built up an immunity to the Silver Magic." The girl replied, staring at Jaune's face with guilt. "I wouldn't have used my full power if I knew he was in front of the beast."
Weiss nodded, accepting the information and ignoring the excuse. The two sat in silence. Weiss would occasionally wet the cloth in a bowl of water that laid on Jaune's bedside whenever it became too dry and after fidgeting for a few minutes the silver-eyed girl leaned over and fluffed Jaune's pillows.
"I'm only trying to help!" The girl squeaked, flinching under Weiss' arctic glare.
"You've done enough." Weiss replied harshly, feeling a pang of guilt as the girl looked down sadly.
Silence followed, more awkward than the last. Jaune seemed strangely at peace, his brow no longer furrowed and he looked more peaceful than he did a few minutes ago.
Finally, Weiss sighed.
"I'm sorry for being so harsh to you." She said, watching the girl fling her head up to look at her with surprise, her fingers stopping mid-twiddle.
"I-It's fine Your Majesty." The girl stammered but Weiss shook her head.
"No. It wasn't. I allowed my worry and concern over my friend to overwhelm me and I unfairly took it out on you and for that you have my sincerest apologies." Weiss said firmly.
"I..It...Thank you." The girl stammered quietly, resuming her nervous twiddling of her fingers.
"I think we started on the wrong foot. Let's start again shall we?" Weiss offered placating. "Hello. I'm Weiss."
The girl giggled and Weiss felt the tightness in her chest lighten.
"Hell Weiss, I'm Ruby. Let's be friends!" The girl replied, beaming innocently at Weiss and offering a hand to shake.
Weiss studied the girl, looking for signs of deceit or politicking. She found none. The girl looked like Jaune. Naive and innocent.
Weiss took the hand and shook it.