Omake: The Riders
Lady Veve had been watching Blake and Salem interact on the walk as the party rode toward the watchtower. Usually on a walk she kept alert for beasts or spoke with the men to bolster morale, but the two young women had drawn her interest, and the monotony of the trip left much time for thoughts.
The two seemed to have struck up a budding friendship, and it made Veve smile to see Salem finding a bit of happiness. All the better that Blake seemed to be inspiring her to come out of her shell. Salem had never asked to leave her library to come on a patrol before, and Veve had trouble imagining the change as anything other than Blake's influence after the maids had told her how the two had been spending time together. Salem's efforts at being covert about it were adorable, but Veve knew from embarrassing childhood experience that the servants rarely missed anything in the castle.
The fact that Salem had tried to hide it suggested that she was probably still discussing magic despite their mother's orders regarding the importance of state secrets, but Veve knew that no power in Ciel would prevent Salem from discussing her passion.
True, their mother was right that sharing magical secrets with an outsider could conceivably endanger the kingdom some day. On the other hand, Veve strongly suspected that Blake did not have anyone left to share those secrets with even if she were inclined to. Whether her tribe were all dead or she had left or been exiled for some reason or she had never had a tribe in the first place, Veve could not be sure. But from the way Blake had appeared alone, her soul's nature of loneliness, and her mannerisms and speech that were so...well, unlike any other Wilder, Veve was fairly certain that Blake was a tribe of one now and had been for some time. It would also explain how she had become so proficient at fighting the beasts, if she had been forced to defend herself alone in the wilds for who knew how long. She would have had to quickly learn how to slay large groups without support or that would be it.
From the way Blake had offered to accompany and protect Salem, it seemed the budding friendship extended both ways. Unless Blake was trying to ingratiate herself to learn more secrets, but...no, while she seemed curious at times, Veve did not judge her the manipulative sort. The young woman wasn't socially comfortable enough for that, and seemed inclined toward honesty even when something else might be more to her benefit. She had not been the one to suggest that they take her back to Ciel, and it seemed unlikely that she could have orchestrated a situation where she could step in to rescue them in order to make a favorable impression.
However she looked at it, Veve couldn't think seriously about Blake being any kind of hidden threat. True, her magic and skill at using it in combat was...awe inspiring, like something that stepped out of the legendary battles of King Omen and Queen Aradia as they defended Ciel. However, the ability to do harm was not the will to do so. Blake of Obsidian had used her power to save those in her charge, had made no effort to conceal what she could do as an enemy would, and had volunteered to protect her sister. She would doubtlessly be a great help on the trip if they ran into further trouble.
She was a worthy friend for Salem.
Veve decided that seeing her sister content and focused in a way she had not been in too long was worth whatever small degree of risk there was from Salem discussing magic theory with Blake. There was also the point that Blake might be able to teach them things that would revolutionize Cielan magical practice. If her techniques could be taught like Queen Aradia's were...then doing everything in their power to make Blake an ally was the right choice. The number of lives that could be saved with that kind of power was impossible to guess, and who knew what applications it might have besides combat. Ciel had the finest smiths in the world. With a new field of techniques to work from there was no telling what they might come up with. And that did not include what Blake had said about her teacher's magic being much greater than hers, which was a daunting prospect.
The thought did leave her feeling a pang of guilt, though. She'd just finished worrying about Blake learning Cielan magical secrets and then started to think about learning Blake's. It might be an inescapable hypocrisy of leadership, to seek to prevent one group from suffering loss while countenancing it in others.
Well, if Ciel learned secrets from Blake it would not be by stealing them. It would be an exchange between allies. And friends, Veve thought, looking once more at Salem and Blake riding side by side.
Veve only hoped that Blake would not move on too soon. Perhaps even stay in Ciel permanently, although that might be hoping for too much. Making a friend only to lose them too soon might hurt Salem more than it helped her.
If Blake was around long enough, though, perhaps her positive influence on Salem would last past her departure. A happier and more proactive Salem would be something Veve would be pleased to see continue.
There were other more immediate concerns that she had been putting off dwelling on, in any case. Hopefully the loss of the bridge was from something benign and they could help with repairs and be on their way, but Veve knew they might be approaching a battlefield. Or a slaughter. It was possible a horde of beasts or human or wilder attackers had overwhelmed the watchtower and laid waste. The possibility was part of why she was initially reluctant to allow Salem to come. Seeing such a thing scars a person, and Veve would just as soon save Salem from that.
On the other hand she had made a good argument that she needed to know what was out here if she was to serve as a princess. Seeing the ugliest things that can happen when everything goes wrong...well, that was a hard lesson for any leader, but one that needed to be learned. Veve's first time seeing bodies strewn across a battlefield had impressed upon her the importance of becoming strong and maintaining Ciel's defenses in a way no other lesson ever could.
If they did encounter a powerful foe they could not avoid, Veve felt some relief from knowing that Blake was with them. She would keep Salem safe and do as much or more than Veve herself could. For once the entire fight would not be resting entirely on her shoulders, an unaccustomed feeling that lightened the burden of otherwise dark thoughts.
A/N: A followup to yesterday's omake for you guys. x50413 asked for discussion and omake to inspire them to keep working on chapters, and I'm pleased to offer that. This has been good practice in expressing character in the third person in a way I haven't done much of before. Part of me is also hoping our beloved author will take this work as a practical job application of sorts to offer them help with getting chapters out as a proofreader or subordinate writer who works to spec. Like Veve, I can hope. This is a wonderful story very well told, and I would like to see it continue to thrive.
As always, feedback is most welcome and appreciated, both technical corrections (nobody can perfectly proof read their own work, unfortunately) and thoughts on character or plot.