Chapter 4: Thoughts About Marriage

'Another matter that has been in great contention, according to some sources even during the time of the Ruby Order, was the four maidens' home's views on marriage and related affairs. Some of my colleagues obviously consider the various records that the Ruby Order did not shun bastards of all kinds as proof that their home held views of such things that would not have been amiss in Dorne - might, even, have even been a bit too much for their well-documented customs of the time. However, those people made, and keep making in some cases, a fundamental mistake no scholar can afford: They did not fact-check their sources and claims before making deductions, which leads to their theses being conjectures at best, complete delusions better reserved for the theatre's most base productions at worst. Even if all those records were factually true - and some of them seem quite a bit too convenient to add legitimacy to houses founded by bastards - they would still only prove, and I am using the word lightly here, what the views of the members of the Ruby Order were. And such views are, as even those not used to scholarly pursuits know, generally based on personal biases. Just because one bastard was accepted in the Ruby Order does not mean that this would apply to everyone else. Once again, we have to look at the records and examine them through the lens formed by the biases of those who wrote them.'

A Treatise On The Ruby Order, by Maester Kennet Bracken

Winterfell, The North, Westeros, 298 AC

"I don't know what to do, Jon."

"About what?" Jon Snow asked, encouraging his brother to continue. Robb wouldn't have called him to this deserted section of the ramparts for a talk if it wasn't important.

"I had a talk with our parents." Robb turned to look at the outer wall.

Jon pressed his lips together. Lady Catelyn wasn't his mother. But Robb was his brother all the same.

"They are considering a marriage between me and Lady Ruby."

Ah. Jon nodded. He couldn't say that he had expected it, but… "That makes sense." Robb glared at him, and Jon shrugged. "You're Father's heir." Robb was expected to marry the daughter of either one of their important bannermen or a powerful noble from the South, whatever served the family best, but that had been before Team Ruby had arrived. "And you're closest in age to our guests." Meaning, a marriage wouldn't have to be delayed for years until, say, Bran was of age.

Of course, Jon was about the same age, but… No one would marry a bastard for an alliance. Just the offer would be seen as an insult. A part of Jon was happy about that. A stupid part that should know better - but couldn't let go of the notion that bastards could marry each other even though that only applied to bastards who weren't divided by a gap almost as wide as the one between a bastard and a trueborn heir to a noble house.

"I know!" Robb scoffed and leaned against the stone.

"So, what is the problem?" Jon asked. Lady Ruby was a beauty, although not quite as beautiful as her sister, in Jon's opinion, and both friendly and charming. He had not seen her show malice to anyone. She would make her husband very happy; Jon had no doubt about that. And Robb would know that as well, so why... Oh. "Would you prefer to marry one of her friends?" Or her sister? he thought.

"What? No!" Robb blurted out, shaking his head. "Father can't ask for me to marry one of her ladies; it would be an insult to both of us."

That didn't answer the question Jon had asked. "But would you prefer someone else if that weren't a consideration?"

Robb frowned, then sighed. "I… If I had to choose, I would pick Lady Ruby. She's the most… gentle of them."

Jon briefly glanced around to check that no one was listening, then snorted. "You mean she won't order you around or ignore you." As Lady Weiss and Lady Blake might do - the former clearly was used to getting her way, and the latter apparently used to read a book during meals back at their school. Maester Luwin apparently had taken offence at the thought of putting books at risk like that.

"Yes." Robb nodded. "And Lady Yang…" He trailed off.

"...is a bastard," Jon finished for him.

Robb frowned at him as if Jon had said something untrue. "Lady Yang doesn't seem like she would listen to her husband at all," he said.

"That might depend on the husband," Jon pointed out, though he wasn't sure if that was just his stupid, silly, doomed desire talking.

Robb scoffed. "For that to happen, a man would have to be even stronger than she is." He leaned against the stone wall again and sighed. "In any case, this is not about Lady Yang."

Jon nodded, trying not to smile at that. "What's the problem with Lady Ruby then?"

"It's just… Is it honourable to propose marriage when we can't contact her family?" Robb paced a few steps.

"They can't contact their family either - they don't know how they arrived here or if they can return," Jon pointed out. Team Ruby seemed convinced they would find a way to return home, but Jon couldn't tell if that was merely a baseless hope - one not unlike his own.

"I know. Mother said the same - I think that was what made Father agree," Rob said. "That in those circumstances, Lady Ruby represents her family herself, and so it would fall to her to decide on whom she would marry."

Jon nodded again. That made sense.

"But what if she agrees, and then they manage to find a way to return to their home?" Robb went on. "What would her father think of… everything?"

Oh. Jon grimaced. "If he's as strong as they are…"

"Stronger. Both said their father is stronger than either of them," Robb cut in.

Right. "That could be bad."

"What if he thinks I forced this on her?"

"You didn't, though," Jon replied. "And Lady Ruby would tell him so." His brother didn't look too reassured, so Jon added: "And do you think she would let him hurt you?"

"No, of course not." Robb sighed once more. "Still… It feels as if I am trying to take advantage of her situation."

"But you are not, are you?"

"Of course not! That would be dishonourable." Rob scowled. "Theon suggested I seduce her and then offer to marry her. It was in jest, but still!"

Jon doubted that Theon had been jesting, but he held his tongue.

"But that's not all."

"What else is there?" Jon asked. It seemed simple to him - make the offer and settle things. And, a small voice seemed to whisper in his mind, if Robb married Lady Ruby, her sister would likely stay in Winterfell as well - only a fool would miss how close the two were. Jon had thought about joining the Night's Watch, an honourable choice for a bastard, but what if he stayed? Even bastards could earn a position that allowed them to provide for a family. If he asked Father for a post or maybe even a keep of his own, maybe…

Robb's voice interrupted his silly fancy. "Lady Ruby has never mentioned marriage at all in our talks. Not hers, not anyone's. All we talk about are weapons and fighting. What if she has sworn an oath never to marry?"

Jon blinked. "I think she would have mentioned that." But he wasn't sure. Maybe he should ask Yang about it.

If he could think of a way to ask such a question without embarrassing himself or making it look as if he were asking for himself.

Even if he was, at least partially.

Winterfell, The North, Westeros, 298 AC

Facing the door to the hallway, Ruby Rose took a deep breath and steadied herself. She didn't have anything to fear, she reminded herself. She was a Huntress (in training). She had her Aura awakened, making her stronger, tougher and faster than anyone in this world except for her friends (or so she hoped; at least she hadn't met anyone yet here who had Aura). She had her Semblance, letting her outrun anyone even if they had their Aura awakened (unless they cheated somehow). And she had Crescent Rose, her baby, allowing her to cut through anything (or anyone) or snipe anything from hundreds of metres away (though she didn't have that many bullets left).

She could do this!

"Ruby! What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" She flashed a smile at Yang and rushed out of the door before her sister could pry. She wasn't afraid.

She was just a tiny little bit embarrassed at the thought of talking to someone who wanted to marry her when she didn't want to marry them. That was as bad - no, worse! - as trying to let someone down who had confessed to you without hurting their feelings. Not that she had any experience with such a situation since no one had yet confessed their feelings to her, but she had seen such scenes plenty of times in shows, and just thinking of being in the heroine's place made her blush.

Robb might not even like her, she told herself. He might just be doing this because of his parents - and how barbaric was that? Trying to tell your kids whom to marry? - and might want to marry someone else instead. Maybe a local girl. Or maybe one of Ruby's friends. They were far more attractive, anyway. Weiss was all classy and elegant and composed and smart and could sing and had been raised as a princess (of sorts) in the richest family of Remnant. Blake was all cool and mysterious, with a tragic past and the cutest cat ears you could think of, a real ninja girl but with a hidden romantic soul (or she wouldn't always be reading romances). And Yang was… Yang. Tall, beautiful, athletic, confident, curvy and brave. Always happy, always strong (and always there for her friends and for her sister when it counted.)

Compared to them, Ruby was just… a little girl. Two years younger, not as experienced, not as cool. Why would Robb want to marry her? He probably didn't.

She sighed and kicked a stone on the ground, watching as it flew across the yard and crashed and splintered against the inner wall ten metres ahead. This was… She blinked. Robb not wanting to marry her was a good thing! She didn't want to marry him (she didn't want to marry anyone! She wanted to go home!), and so she wouldn't have to let him down without hurting his feelings, messing up, and starting a feud or whatever - Weiss had mentioned something like that, but Ruby had been a bit too concerned about anyone trying to marry them at the time to listen too closely. If Robb didn't want to marry her, she couldn't hurt his feelings, and Team RWBY wouldn't be forced to cut their way through dozens of guards trying to make them pay for insulting their hosts, breaking guest rights or whatever started a fight in this country.

Sure, it was a bit of a blow to her ego (she was a girl, wasn't she?), but Robb not wanting to marry her was a good thing! Besides, Ruby was a Huntress, not a lady, and she would be a terrible lady - she didn't know anything about running a castle.

Not that she wanted to run a castle. Least of all Winterfell. It was cool and all, like living in a Fantasy movie, but she really missed Dad and Uncle Qrow, her home, Beacon, Zwei… She didn't want to think how they would be doing, back home. She also missed games, cookies and chocolate (they had no chocolate in this kingdom!) and cakes and scrolls and modern bathrooms and everything else, but that wasn't as bad as missing her family…

"Lady Ruby?"

Apparently, she had also missed Robb walking up to her. "Robb? I mean, hello, Lord Robb!" As long as she was polite, it was OK. Weiss had said so. Well, she had implied it. Ruby smiled at him.

He blushed, and she winced. That wasn't a good sign, was it? "I'm sorry if I disturbed you .- you seemed to be lost in thoughts."

And plain lost - she realised she had wandered from their room into the courtyard without realising it. "Oh… I was. But I'm better now! Much better!"

"Ah." He smiled at her.

She smiled back. Even if it was awkward. What did he want?

After a few even more awkward moments, he cleared his throat. "Are you headed to train?"

Right, she was wearing her combat clothes. Because there was no way she was walking around without her baby when people were talking about marrying her. Or about seducing her to trap her in a marriage, though why they thought that would work was anyone's guess. Anyway, Ruby needed Crescent Rose as emotional support weapon, and since carrying her baby could be a bit hard on normal dresses, as she had found out doing maintenance, that meant combat clothes. But those were supposed to be worn for training, and fighting, and since she didn't want to fight… "Yes." She smiled as confidently as she could. "I need to work out a bit, burn some energy, you know?"

"I… think so."

He didn't sound as if he did. But she wouldn't pry. "So… training time? Do you want to go a few bouts?" Talking was awkward, but sparring was OK.

"Ah… well, why not?"

His smile looked a little fake, but whatever! Ruby nodded. "Let's go then!" She reached out to grab his arm, then hesitated. Was that a bit too… forward, they called it in the period dramas?

He tensed a bit when he offered her his arm, but that was normal even though she hadn't accidentally dragged him with her for two days straight now, and they walked over to the training yard.

Unfortunately, Theon was there. The guy whom Blake had overheard talking about seducing her. Fortunately, he wasn't staring at her but nodding at Robb. But he was smirking when he did so.

Whatever! Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose in her scythe mode and swung it in a flourish Uncle Qrow had said never to use in a real fight that made Theon pale a little when her baby's tip passed close to his forehead. "I'm just doing a few drills, then we can spar!" she told the two boys.

Wielding Crescent Rose always calmed her down.

As it turned out, her wielding her baby in a few basic drills and exercises also seemed to calm down the two boys somehow.

"She's still totally freaking out."

Weiss Schnee was forced to agree with Yang. Even after their team talk - she wasn't going to call it 'marriage war council' as Yang had suggested as a joke - and despite Weiss's best assurances that she had nothing to fear, Ruby was still… Weiss wouldn't call her an anxious wreck, but she was clearly not her usual cheery self. She probably blamed herself for stranding them in another world, and she might deny it, but a blind fool could see that she was missing her family. And now this marriage business was adding to her stress.

She pressed her lips together in a slight frown, suppressed the sudden desire to do something painful to whoever was responsible for this - Weiss wasn't quite certain yet of their identity; the culture and society of the people here in 'Westeros' were still largely unknown to her despite her efforts to learn as much as she could - and sighed. "I hope she won't do anything foolish."

"Foolish?" Yang asked, cocking her head to the side. "Like what?"

Like maiming someone who courted her. She didn't say this, though. Ruby wouldn't do that. "Like overreacting to a proposal," she said, taking a few steps to the window.

"Do you mean crushing some balls or accepting it without thinking?"

Weiss scowled as she turned around to face her friend. Did Yang have to be so crude? "Not quite…" She blinked. "You don't think she'd actually accept, do you?" Ruby couldn't be that stupid, could she?

"Naw, I don't think so." Yang shrugged. "Robb's not that cute."

"Whether his appearance is attractive or not does not matter," Weiss explained, putting her fists on her hips. "Even if we were stuck here for good, he clearly wouldn't be a suitable partner for Ruby. They are much too different - Lord Robb was raised in an utterly alien society with completely different values. He is the heir of the feudal ruler of this entire region, a high-ranking noble."

Yang frowned at her. "You sound like Ruby wouldn't be good enough for him."

"What?" That was absurd! "No, quite the contrary," Weiss said, shaking her head.

"You mean he's not good enough for her?" Yang grinned for some reason.

"It's a far more nuanced situation than that, but essentially, yes," Weiss replied. "While I can't claim to be an expert on the local society and norms…"

"You're the best expert we have," Yang interrupted her.

Weiss was both happy at the acknowledgement of her efforts and annoyed at being interrupted as she went on as if Yang hadn't said anything: "...I have talked with Lady Stark and her daughters often enough to know that the expectations raised for a noble's wife in this region would be both impossible to fulfil and unacceptable for Ruby." Ruby was a Huntress, not some… housewife wouldn't be correct; Lady Stark had a fair range of responsibilities, if mostly related to family matters - although that would cover far more here than back home - and was running a household with several hundred members. In any case, Weiss couldn't see Ruby in Lady Stark's position. Not at all.

Yang made an agreeing noise from where she was sprawled on her bed. "Yeah. She's never going to be a princess hobnobbing with high society."

Weiss narrowed her eyes slightly. Was that a dig at her? In any case, Yang was wrong. "I beg to differ. Ruby might need a few lessons in how to avoid making a faux pas, but she could attend a gala in Atlas without a problem." Well, maybe more than a few lessons. But Ruby was a Huntress, and Huntresses were known to be… eccentric. Besides, if Ruby were to attend a Gala in Atlas, Weiss would be with her partner and be able to run interference and smooth things out. Being a Schnee, and the heiress of the Schnee Dust Corporation, granted her a few privileges in society.

Yang snorted. "Ask me about the birthday party of her first friend at Signal if you think so."

Her first friend at Signal? Weiss frowned but decided against indulging her curiosity. "In any case, trying to fit into nobility here would be a challenge magnitudes greater than entering high society back home, for Ruby and for everyone in our group."

"You seem to be doing a fine job," Yang said.

No thanks to you, Weiss thought. If you had not decided to show off and punch a crater into the training yard…

"They are tolerating a lot more than they would from others because they think we're foreign noblewomen," Blake spoke up. "And because we could defeat all of the guards in the castle at once."

Weiss nodded. She hadn't missed the change in Lady Catelyn's attitude after Yang's demonstration. In the meetings shortly after they had arrived at Winterfell, Lady Catelyn hadn't been rude, and it had been subtle, but she had treated Weiss and her friends with a bit of condescension. That had changed after their first training session; the noblewoman had become noticeably more respectful and had treated her as an equal.

"And imagine if they knew what we could do if we went all-out!" Yang grinned and slammed a fist into the palm of her hand. "Think they'd offer us crowns?" she joked.

"Indeed, I think that is what they would do," Weiss told her with a slightly toothy smile. "By offering more marriages."

Seeing Yang blink and then scowl was quite satisfying.

"Or they'd try to murder us in our sleep," Blake said.

"What?" Yang looked at her. "Aren't we under guest right here? Untouchable? Weiss! You were on our backs about that for days!"

Blake raised her eyebrows. "If people feel threatened enough, they will break the law without a thought."

Weiss almost made a comment about the White Fang but merely nodded in agreement instead. This wasn't the time to open that particular can of worms.

"You really think the Starks would do that?" Yang shook her head. "That all their talk about honour is an act?"

"No, I do not believe they would do that," Weiss agreed. Mostly. "But people like… Theon?"

After a moment, Yang nodded with a scowl. "He's just one guy here, though, and a guest like us."

"Some of the guards might also decide to take it upon themselves to remove a threat to their liege without his permission, sacrificing their own honour to do their duty," Blake added.

Weiss frowned. That sounded a little… As if it was taken from one of the novels from Mistral Blake liked but denied reading. "I don't think we can make such assumptions without more information." But neither could they dismiss them. "But for now, we haven't received a formal proposal, so this is not an urgent problem."

"Looks urgent enough to me," Yang commented.

"Not as urgent as it will be if we refuse an offer and keep refusing them," Weiss said. If the locals started to think that Team RWBY wouldn't follow their customs and laws and let themselves be married off… Weiss wasn't quite certain about the most likely reaction to such a development, but she didn't doubt it would be problematic. Very problematic.

"So, what's your take on this mess, partner?"

Blake Belladonna turned her head to look at Yang as they walked along the rampart of the inner wall of Winterfell, avoiding the bustling crowd in the courtyard below and their prying gazes. "Hm?"

"You've been pretty quiet about the whole thing," Yang went on, tilting her head a little to avoid the glaring sun on this part.

"I've informed you about it in the first place," Blake pointed out - after double-checking that no one was listening; you could never be too careful, a lesson many Faunus had to learn early on.

"Yes. But you haven't really said much about it afterwards. Ruby freaked out, Weiss is… well, she's also freaking out, just in her own way. But you've remained pretty cool about everything. As if it doesn't bother you."

Blake suppressed a snort at the notion that the threat of forced marriages wouldn't bother her. The opposite was true, given her past - she merely had a bit more self-control than Ruby. Or than Weiss, whose attempt to cope by trying to micromanage everything and everyone was obvious to anyone who paid attention. "They can't force us into marriage," she said, barely above a whisper. She wouldn't let that happen; she hadn't escaped one abusive relationship to enter another - or to allow one of her few friends to end up in one.

"Of course not!" Yang smashed her gauntlets together, startling a crow nearby. "But what about the rest of what we talked about?"

"That someone might try to assassinate us if we don't submit to their customs?" It did sound straight out of one of her favourite novels, 'Caught Between Duty and Love', to be precise, a captivating tale of a nobleman having to choose between upholding his personal honour and preserving the engagement to his long-lost childhood friend or saving his liege lord and his realm from a war that would cost countless lives. But that didn't make it improbable.

"Yeah. I can smash anyone in a fight, but…" Yang scowled. "I'm not good at dealing with that stuff." She looked at Blake and raised her eyebrows.

"I'm keeping my eyes and ears open," Blake replied in a low voice, feeling her ears trying to lay flat against her skull at the thought of anyone attempting to murder her friends in such a manner.

"But you can't be everywhere at once."

She realised that her partner, who was almost always confident to the point of recklessness and optimistic even in the face of near-certain disaster, was worried about the situation they had found themselves in. "I don't think we're in immediate danger," she said, tracking another bird, a hunting bird, that flew above them, circling as if it was looking for prey below. "We haven't refused anything so far - we haven't even received an offer yet. They haven't even tried to sound us out about that. Except for Bran, but I don't think he was spying on us."

Yang snorted. "Not for his parents, at least. But the little boy is sneaky."

"Not as sneaky as Arya," Blake said. And neither kid was good enough to blindside her friends, much less herself, although they could be stalking horses - or distractions - for the actual spies. Blake hadn't noticed anyone who might be poised to take advantage of such a thing, yet a really dangerous spy wouldn't be noticed at all until their job was done…

"Still…" Yang scowled. "Why do they have to go after Ruby? She hasn't been in a relationship yet. I don't think she's had a crush so far!"

Blake wasn't so sure about that - her partner sometimes had a slightly idealised view of Ruby. Sure, their leader was the youngest member of their team, but at her age, Blake had already been in a relationship - already been emotionally manipulated by Adam. And speaking of that… "She's the leader of us. If they can get her on their side, we will follow. Or so they think."

"Well, they aren't wrong, are they?" Yang cocked her head at Blake, almost challenging.

"Not unless Ruby goes off the deep end and starts indiscriminately killing innocents," Blake replied, meeting her partner's eyes without flinching. She wouldn't let anyone lead her down that path. Never again.

"Ruby?" Yang chuckled. "She'd never do that."

"I know." Blake nodded, though she knew Ruby was, perhaps not as innocent as Yang professed, but still the most vulnerable to emotional manipulation of the kind Blake was familiar with. At least Robb wasn't the kind of boy who would try to take advantage of that - unlike others, she added while clenching her teeth.

"Still, Dad will be amused when he hears that Ruby got a proposal before I got one."

Yang's joke was weak but still better than her puns, and Blake snorted in return. "You sound jealous," she said with a grin.

"Jealous? Please!" Yang sniffed and tossed her hair back with a smooth and sensual motion. "If I wanted, I could lead all the boys in this castle by their noses."

Blake didn't doubt that. Yang was very attractive - both her appearance and her other qualities made her a very desirable woman, and while she was not perfect, her flaws were not a deal breaker but sometimes even endearing. "Well, if Ruby turns Robb down, you'll probably be next in line as her sister." That was how such marriage alliances worked, didn't they?

Yang scoffed. "Robb? He couldn't handle me."

Blake doubted anyone in this world could - at least none whom she had met so far. "Or Jon."

Yang frowned. "I don't think so. He's pretty gloomy about being a bastard or whatever."

Blake nodded; she had noticed the boy's moody disposition as well. "He doesn't seem to be the spare heir."

"The spare heir?" Yang grinned. "That sounds like it's from one of your period drama books."

It was, actually, but Blake shrugged, not willing to admit it or let her thoughts linger on how much she missed her library. "It would be good if they went after you. You could string them along until we've found a way back."

"Ah, yeah, sure." Yang smiled, though Blake could see that her heart wasn't entirely in it - her partner was not as easy to read as Ruby, but Blake knew how her well enough to tell when she was as confident as she acted and when she was merely trying to hide her true feelings behind a brash act.

So she frowned at Yang and made an inquiring sound, letting her partner know she had not been fooled and prompting her to explain.

"Well…" Yang pouted at her, then sighed and looked over the rampart at the landscape in the distance. "I know I am a flirt, but… Stringing someone along? Someone who wants to marry me? I wouldn't do that to someone who just wants to date me, well, not unless he was a complete asshole and needed a lesson in humility or something, and it was just for a short time. And that's back home, where I know the rules of the game. Here?" She shook her head, her golden locks swaying back and forth, briefly hiding her face. "It would be a disaster." Then she perked up. "So, it'll be up to you to play up your cool, mysterious act."

Blake tensed, pressing her lips together so she wouldn't blurt out her first thought. Taking a deep breath, she slowly shook her head. "I really would rather not." She would not follow in Adam's footsteps. Not if she could help it.

Instead of, as Blake had feared, calling her a hypocrite for asking Yang to do what Blake wouldn't, her partner looked at her for a moment, then nodded with a gentle smile. "Yeah." After a moment, she grinned. "So, let's Weiss do it. She probably has the most experience dealing with such stuff."

Blake wasn't certain if that was true - given her status as the heir of the Schnee Dust Corporation, Weiss probably wouldn't have had to string any suitor along - but merely by the method of elimination, she was the best, or the least bad, choice for this. "You're telling her, though."

"Hey!"

Yang glared at her for a moment, then started laughing, and Blake smiled.

Winterfell, The North, Westeros, 298 AC

Yang Xiao Long pressed her lips together so the small screwdriver she was holding in her mouth wouldn't drop while she checked if Ember Celica's shotgun chambers were still perfectly aligned. They were, which she had expected since she hadn't fired them in weeks. And she hadn't really fought, either, just sparred - but you didn't skip weapon maintenance. A Huntress's weapon was her life, as the saying went. And her soul, what with all her Aura strengthening it, but that was pretty much the same thing. Lose your Aura and your life will soon follow was another saying for a reason.

She reassembled her gauntlets, then ran them through the standard checks, chambers clicking empty as she pointed them out the window and cycled the shotgun's firing mechanism. Perfect. As it should be.

She returned her screwdriver to her pocket. If she lost her tools… Well, she could replace most of them if she had access to a smithy, but if she lost most of her tools, she would be screwed. And so would her friends. Without tools, they couldn't maintain their weapons. The best they could do would be to lock them in melee modes.

"Are you done? I need the table for Myrtenaster," Weiss said behind her. "Ruby's hogging all the space for her oversized farming implement."

"Hey! Don't diss Crescent Rose!" Ruby complained from the corner she had taken over, surrounded by the parts and pieces of her own weapons. "Don't listen to her, Baby - I would never treat you like a farming tool!"

Yang grinned "You used it to cut down trees." With great enthusiasm.

"That… that was weapon training! Like when we cut down dummies!" Ruby pouted.

"We're not supposed to cut them down," Weiss told her. "They aren't supposed to be replaced every day."

"It's not my fault! Robb asked me to demonstrate how to wield my baby! Should I have cut down a wagon?" Ruby shot back while fiddling with the receiver of her weapon.

"You don't have to show him everything we can do." Weiss shook her head with a frown, then turned back to her rapier, cleaning the Dust chambers of Myrtenaster.

"I don't! I'm sticking to basic moves!"

Basic moves for a Huntress. The average man here could barely lift Ruby's weapon, much less swing it around, Yang knew.

"Thanks to Benjen, they are already aware that we can do more than what we show in the training yard," Blake said.

"That doesn't mean we should be sloppy," Weiss grumbled. "Information security is paramount to our survival here." She turned her head to frown at Yang.

Yang grinned back. Sure, maybe she had shown off a bit too much, but as Blake had told them, Benjen would have spilt the beans anyway. And it felt good to cut loose from time to time. Besides, they couldn't let their skills grow rusty. They might not be in the wilderness, where Grimm could attack them at any moment, but sometimes, it didn't feel any different.

And Yang was very much aware they didn't have much Dust and bullets left for their weapons. Sure, they could kick the asses of everyone in the castle without either Dust or bullets, but if they stumbled on another bunch of Ice Grimm or whatever the zombie lords were, or something like them, they could be in trouble. They had to stay sharp.

"Showing that we cannot be easily subdued also helps our survival by preventing attempts to use force to control us," Blake said, briefly looking up from where she was checking Gambol Shroud's ribbon for any sign of fraying or tearing.

Yang flashed her partner a grin - Blake had her back, as always. Then she walked over, briefly using her boot to stop one of Ruby's oversized bullets from rolling across the entire room, and sat on the bed next to Blake. "Need any help?"

"I'm almost done," Blake replied.

"That wasn't my question." Yang grinned again.

"I am fine. Thank you for the offer." Blake stood and shifted Gambol Shroud from sword to pistol and then to chain-sickle before checking the sheath's cleaver mode.

"We need to head to the woods for some real training," Yang said. "Where we can go all-out."

"Oh, yes!" Ruby beamed at them as she reassembled her own weapon without looking at the parts. "We need to work on combo attacks, and Weiss said we can't do that here where everyone can watch us."

"Because, you dolt, we don't want to show all our cards to our hosts," Weiss said, doing a few moves and flourishes with her own blade.

"I know! But…" Ruby pouted again. "It feels like we're lying to our hosts."

"We aren't lying to them," Weiss said.

"We are - we're pretending to be noblewomen," Yang corrected her with a grin.

"Technically, we merely didn't deny their assumptions," Weiss replied with a slight pout.

Yang shrugged. "Works out the same from their point of view." That kind of word-mincing never paid off.

"They have no opportunity to find out the truth. Not unless you slip up," Weiss added with a glance at Ruby.

"But Weiss… The more you lie, the bigger the risk you'll mess up! Even a kid knows that!" Ruby protested.

"Some secrets have to stay secrets," Weiss shot back. "Our position as honoured guests here depends on our reputation, which derives from our supposed status."

"And on the knowledge that we could take over the castle if we wanted," Yang added with a grin.

"Oh, yes - we take over a castle we have no idea how to run. We probably kill or drive off all those who do in the process." Weiss scoffed. "And then? We would not be any better than bandits!"

"'Bandit Queen Yang' has a nice ring to it," Yang joked.

"Yang!" Ruby glared at her. Weiss did as well, but that was expected.

"Relax, I am joking." Yang shrugged. "I know we can't do that."

"We shouldn't even think about that! We are Huntresses, not bandits!" Ruby huffed.

"Sure, sure," Yang said. "No taking over the castle. Not unless they try to forcefully marry you to Robb."

Ruby gaped at her. "The Starks wouldn't do that!"

"I know," Yang agreed.

"As long as they are aware that we might be hiding our true power, they will be cautious in their dealings with us," Blake said. "But the line between respect and fear is thin. And fear can drive people to take actions they will regret."

That sounded like a quote from one of Blake's spicy books, but that didn't make it wrong, in Yang's opinion.

"As long as we do not break their laws and respect their customs - within reason," Weiss added with a look at Ruby, "we can handle this."

"I'm not marrying anyone," Ruby said. "I'm too young, and I don't want to be the queen of the castle here."

"Of course not. That's Nora's line!" Yang said, chuckling at the memories of their friend.

"She would love this," Ruby said.

"Only until she realises that she can't get more dust to blow up things here," Yang said.

"Oh, yes." Ruby looked down. "But neither can we."

"Hey!" Yang reached out and tousled her sister's hair. "We don't need Dust to kick ass!"

"But…"

"No buts, or it's noogie time!"

"Eep! I'll be good!"

"Ah, so this is how you do it here. Thank you, Mikken." Yang smiled at the blacksmith even though she wasn't really pleased by his explanation. She wouldn't be able to recreate as many tools as she had thought. Not with the smithies here. "It's a fine smithy." It probably was, for Westeros. Though it would be better if this were a bad smithy - it would mean she could find a better one in this kingdom. Hopefully, they'd be back home before any of their tools or weapons broke.

"Thank you, my lady." The old man smiled back at her, obviously proud. "It might not be up to your standards," - he nodded at Ember Celica - "but I'll match anyone in Westeros when it comes to castle-forged steel."

Yang didn't know if that was an empty boast or not, but the blades she had seen in the smithy were of good quality. For simple steel. Unfortunately, none of Team RWBY's weapons were simple. "I believe you," she said. "If I need to do some work, I'll know where to go."

"'Do some work'?" Mikken cocked his head to the side, seemingly confused.

Yang grinned. "On my weapons - I made them myself." She raised Ember Celica and let the empty chambers cycle and click. "But they need regular maintenance. Care," she added when he didn't seem to understand the word.

"I didn't know you were a blacksmith as well, my lady," he said, staring at her as if he had never seen her before.

"It's tradition for a Huntress to craft her own weapon," Yang explained. "My sister spent months designing and crafting Crescent Rose."

"Oh, I had no idea. Of course, you can use the smithy," he said. After a moment, he added. "I don't want to presume I could watch when you use it?"

"Sure thing," she told him.

His eyes widened and he gasped. "Oh, thank you, thank you, my lady. It's an honour! Thank you!"

Yang nodded, trying not to show how confused she felt. Letting someone watch wasn't a big deal, was it? Of course, if you knew how a Huntress's weapon was built, you could plan how to counter it… Still, Ember Celica was a straightforward weapon. You couldn't get simpler than shotgun-gauntlets - hit stuff and shoot it. OK, you could, but Jaune was an exception.

So she kept smiling, said her goodbye and left the smithy. She would have to check with the others if she had made another mistake.

On the way back, she spotted Jon and Arya in a corner of the yard. They seemed to be arguing with each other - at least Arya seemed angry at him.

Frowning slightly, she changed course. They two were usually thick as thieves, and it didn't look as if Jon was fetching his sister for her mother - Yang was pretty familiar with how that usually went down.

"Yo!" she yelled halfway to their corner and waved.

Both jerked, looking startled, and Jon blushed at once.

Now, that was unusual - and made Yang even more determined to find out what was going on. "What are you up to?" she asked as she joined them.

"Nothing," Jon badly lied.

She raised her eyebrows at him, smirking, and he blushed even more. Then she turned to look at Arya, who was scowling - at Jon.

But the little girl perked up at once. "We were discussing marriage, Lady Yang."

"Arya!" Jon hissed.

"Marriage? Whose?" Yang kept her tone light, but if this concerned Ruby…

"Yours. And Jon's," Arya replied.

Yang blinked. "Mine?"

Jon actually grabbed Arya's shoulder and pulled her back. "Don't listen to her, my lady. She's being stupid. I told her so, but she doesn't listen!"

"Well, I'm listening," Yang said, flashing her teeth at them.

Both froze, but Arya was quicker to recover and wriggled out of his slackened grip. "Jon is being stupid and doesn't want to marry you even though he wants to, and it would be perfect!"

"What?" Yang stared at her.

"My lady… Lady Yang.. please, it's not… Arya! Don't… Don't say such things!" Jon stammered.

Arya, though, glared at him, then stared defiantly at Yang. "It would be perfect! If Jon marries you, we have an alliance and Jon - and you - can stay here!"

It was obvious that Yang was missing something. But the gist was clear. More or less. She didn't know why Jon couldn't stay, but that wasn't important right now. "And why does it have to be me?" she asked, trying not to clench her teeth at Arya.

The way Arya flinched meant Yang hadn't been too successful. But she rallied quickly. "Because he can't marry any of the others, but he can marry you because you're both bastards!"

Bas… "What?"

"Arya!" Jon grabbed her again. "You can't say that!" He pulled her behind himself and faced Yang. "Please… she didn't mean any offence! She's just a little girl who doesn't know anything! A stupid little girl!"

Did he think Yang would actually attack Arya? A girl half her size and about half her age? Really? Yang shook her head. She had to correct that. But, first… "Why do you think I'm a bastard?"

Now both were staring at her as if she had activated her Semblance. "But… Father said so!" Arya blurted out while peeking around Jon.

"Arya!"

"But he did!"

Oh. Yang sighed. Another misunderstanding. "Is this because Ruby and I have different last names?"

"Yes?" Arya didn't seem very sure about that.

"That is how it works, my lady. If you are a bastard, you have a bastard's name. Like Snow," Jon said.

Oh. They hadn't known that. Weiss wouldn't like that. But Yang had to set things straight here. Weiss had been clear that they had to be seen as noblewomen. And Yang might not be an expert on nobility, but she knew that bastards weren't nobles in Westeros. "That's not how it works back home," she told them. "You take the name of one of your parents. I took Dad's, Ruby took Mom's." It was a bit more complicated than that, but Yang wasn't going to explain the Xiao Long/Rose household arrangements.

"Oh. So… you're not a bastard?" Arya started.

"Arya! She just told us that!" Jon said. "Please excuse us, my lady!"

He sounded so desperate, Yang nodded and then waved while he literally dragged Arya away, starting to scold her before they were out of earshot.

Yang sighed. She was sure once she told the others, Weiss would blow her top again.