A few hours passed quietly for Yang as she worked on her letter. She had far more to say than she’d anticipated and had filled several pages by time a servant knocked on the door. “The carriage is ready, my lady.” The voice was soft and barley carried through her heavy concentration. She really did have a small stack of papers next to her for the letter… It would take Taiyang and Summer a while to read through.

  Yang sighed when she heard the voice. She really didn’t want to leave her room. Tea with Blake hadn’t been an unmitigated disaster (somehow) but she was still so nervous about all of this. She sat her pen down and stood up, then answered the door. “Okay. Should I rely on you or Emmalyn to guide me there?” She didn’t want to strand the budgie in the garage or somewhere else while she was out and about. It was hard to balance everything when she wasn’t used to the logistics of how things functioned here.

  “I can guide you there.” The woman curtsied and Yang nodded. She followed the woman through the man and out a side door. Once again, the sweltering heat hit Yang like a horse. It was way too hot. She sincerely didn’t understand how anybody could function here, let alone choose to live here. It was still warm in the castle for her liking, but it wasn’t as bad as this was. It was so bad to be out here… And she wasn't sure if the carriage would be cooled or not. Verana, all of this was so much. She sincerely hoped she wouldn’t have to leave the manor too much. She couldn’t function in this sort of heat at all. And if the carriage wasn’t cooled, she was going to die by time they got back.

  She saw a cabbie standing outside of the carriage as well as more than a few guards. That was unnerving. She was so used to being able to move about freely and not be constrained by guards. But until the people could accept her, it was merely the reality she had to deal with. She had no other choice but to have people guard her life. She was so used to being able to hop on a horse and go grab a cocktail or go to her chapel. This…really did show the stark difference between Vale and Chiole.

  The cabbie took his hat off and bowed to her before opening the carriage door. She saw Blake already sitting on the other side. The cabbie offered his hand to her and she let him help her in. She managed a small smile. “Thanks.” She wasn’t sure if he could understand her or not, but there was no reason to be rude to the man. She really hoped her intents could be understood even if the language couldn’t convey them.

  She settled on the opposite side of Blake and was surprised to see a man next to her. He was not related to Blake; that much could be figured out by appearance. “Who’s this?” She looked at the man, then Blake, then back at the man again. He didn’t look familiar in the slightest. Was he some important member of the court? Either way, he didn’t look too happy about this.

  “Yang, this is Tahir. He’ll be your translator until you’ve learned Chilese. If you want to go into the city. His room is right across from yours.” Blake’s tone was pleasant, but the man continued to look off put. Wasn’t it his job to translate? Why did he look like he wanted to snap Yang’s neck? She didn’t understand.

  “Okay. It’s nice to meet you, Tahir. I’m Yang Xiao Long.” She offered him a smile though it was hesitant and strained. She could feel the tightness in her cheeks. It was hard to not feel paranoid when his expression was so cross. Even though she couldn’t read aura, his expression was perfectly clear. He was not happy to have to deal with her.

  He looked at Blake and said something to her in Chilese. Surprisingly, she looked outright offended. She clearly reprimanded him but he continued to look cross. Blake sighed. “I’m sorry about him. He’s used to dealing with royals and acting as their translator. Not… Well, I’ll spare you his exact wording, but it wasn’t very kind.” Yang wished she could say she was surprised, but she wasn’t. She was seen as a bastard, so somebody that placed high emphasis on status would really hate dealing with her…

  “I understand.” She sighed. She was basically some nameless bastard from Mistral and Vale. She really wasn’t good for much in the end. She really wasn’t sure if she’d be a good partner for Blake. Of course, she would try her absolute best. She really didn’t want to let her or the people of Chiole down. She had a lot to prove in the eyes of the Faunus of this nation. She would probably represent all humans to them, so any misstep would mean humans as a whole had done something wrong.

  Blake’s ears twitched a bit and it looked like she wanted to do something. Ultimately, she didn’t, though, she she sat back in her seat. Yang felt the carriage lurch as it got moving. “First, we’ll head to the Valian quarter. We have enclaves for each of the kingdoms here in the city. If people are having too hard a time integrating, they can go to the quarter of their home nation. You’re more than welcome to come down to the Valian quarter sometimes.” Blake smiled but Yang didn’t return it. It was reminding her how much of an outsider she was to this culture.

  “Okay. I’ll keep it in mind.” She wasn’t really sure what to do. The manor was a decent size, but she had a feeling she’d start to feel stifled by staying there all the time. She was so used to having free rein of the city. Vale was huge and it was her playground. It had been for years. Now she was relegated to a small part of the city or being stuck with that translator. No matter what she did, she’d be trapped and accompanied guards. She couldn’t just walk out of the castle and do whatever she wanted. It was incredibly demoralising.

  She saw Blake’s ears twitch again and she offered her hand to Yang. “I can sense how trapped you’re feeling. I don’t blame you. I’ll probably fee the same way the first time I’m going to go to Mantle.” Yang hesitated before taking Blake’s hand. Yeah, going to Mantle as a Faunus… She didn’t know how much about Mantle other than the way it treated Faunus was horrible. It wasn’t much different than Mistral in that case. She couldn’t remember much about Mistral, though, and was glad in that regard.

  Blake squeezed her hand gently. “I’ll do my best. I promise.” Yang really wanted to do well by Blake and her people. This was forced on both of them but she still wanted to help. She would do her best to learn as quickly as she possibly could. The language would probably be the hardest part at first. But she would do her best.

  “I believe you.” That made Yang look up. The look in Blake’s eyes were legitimate and warm. Yang managed a small smile and nodded. Kali seemed to believe in her too from how she’d spoken when they’d met. Kali was an incredibly kind woman and she sincerely hoped she wouldn’t let her down. Or even Blake. These people were really doing their best to help her be successful. She already had expectations on her and she wanted to live up to them.

  “Thanks.” It really was all she could say. It was way more than she’d expected. She had really expected to be treated poorly in some regard. Either just left alone to vanish into the hidden corners and used as a vessel for children and then tossed aside to waste away. But, no, she was being treated with kindness, respect, and legitimate warmth. Blake had obviously been wary during tea, but she seemed to be coming around somehow. What had going through her mind during their early discussion? She had no way of knowing without aura reading. She wished she could do that like Raven and now Kali and Blake…

  With that, they fell relatively silent until the carriage lurched to a stop. The door opened and the cabbie helped Blake out, then Tahir, then Yang. The cabbie didn’t look too happy about it. Yeah, she was clearly pretty unpopular through there wasn’t much she could do about it. She really wouldn’t have chosen this for herself if given the choice. But King Ivan had done this to her. She really wasn’t trying to upset these people simply through being human. It wasn’t like she had any choice in that. She still wouldn’t have chosen to be born a Faunus, but that was mainly because she would have been a slave in Mistral…

  The architecture still looked distinctly Chilese but she could see most of the signs were written in Valian. She let out a a sigh of relief as she looked around. It was a strange clash of cultures but it was really nice to see that there was at least one area she could possibly become semi-familiar with. Though it was still way too hot for her personal liking. It didn’t feel like Vale in the slightest. “So what do you think?” Blake spoke up softly, looking at Yang.

  “It’s nice to see Valian and hear it.” She could hear people whispering and it was definitely Valian. She had still been speaking Valian this entire time, but having the majority of people around not understanding her… It was tough. And it’d only been about two days. She wasn’t sure if she had the mental fortitude to withstand this for the month or tow it’d take until she could visit Celaecyal.

  “Would you like to explore for a bit?” She met Blake’s eye and hesitated before speaking.

  “It’s already a bit late in the day. Exploring would really put us behind on dinner and such. But your mother mentioned there being a chapel to Verana? Could we at least go see that?” She would at least like to see that if it wasn’t too much to ask. It would be a place she probably ended up spend a lot of time at. She really wished she hadn’t been pulled away from her acolyte training.

  “We can do that.” Blake talked to the cabbie in Chilese and then they got back in. About ten minutes later, they arrived at a relatively small wooden building when people milled about. Some wore the familiar green and white robes had grown used to. There were some pretty major differences, but they were still recognisable.

  Yang looked at Blake. “Can I spend a bit of time here?” It was already around five and she didn’t want to hold them up for too long. She wouldn’t hold them up forever, but she at least wanted to spend a little bit of time here. It’d been three months since she’d last set foot in a proper chapel. Plus, she wanted to talk to the chaplain.

  “Go ahead. We’ll probably stay in the carriage for the other areas. My language capabilities are much shakier when compared to Valian. I figured you would like to see this little area more than the others.” That did make sense. She really wasn’t too interested in any of the other enclaves. She remembered Standard Central Mistrali mainly because she still spoke it with her father.But with Mistral having three distinct cultures, she wasn’t sure how those enclaves would work.

  “All right; I’ll be back in a bit. Will…I need to Tahir?” She was still adapting to all of this. Yes, this was a Valian enclave and most of the writing was in Valian, but she wasn’t sure to what extent people spoke Valian here.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “Not really. I think the versions of the languages spoken here might be a bit different than their mainland ones, but the Valians that move here still can understand the people that live here.” That was definitely good to know. She knew there could be some really odd variants of Valian out there. With her as an acolyte, she got to meet travelers and pilgrims on the regular. There were some versions of Valian so different from normal that she couldn’t understand them.

  She nodded and headed off. She really hoped she wouldn’t be turned away form here for being a human. Vale was the best kingdom for Faunus equality, but that didn’t mean these people wouldn’t have faced hardship before. There were still plenty of bigots in Vale especially when it came to escaped slaves. A lot of people didn’t want them in Vale despite the conditions they’d come from.

  She approached the door and was stopped by an acolyte—obvious by the blue collar. “What’s a human doing here?” His accent was much like Blake’s, though less heavy. He clearly still spoke Chilese but had no doubt also been brought up on Valian.

  She glanced over her shoulder at Blake who approached. “This is Yang Xiao Long, my fiance. I realise she’s a human, but you ought to treat her the same as any worshiper. She will be of House Belladonna soon enough.” Her tone was polite but firm. The acolyte’s face turned ashen and he nodded.

  “Y-Yes, Your Highness. Please, come in.” The acolyte moved aside to allow Blake and Yang in. She felt incredibly self-conscious about everything she did. Was this how Faunus were treated in Mantle and Mistral? If so, she could hardly blame the anger and hurt that came with it.

  “I was wondering if I could speak with the chaplain,” Yang requested. She knew she wasn’t likely to be able to continue her acolyte training. Soon enough, she’d be in lessons to help her learn about ruling the nation. She still felt off about having to take over. What right did she even really have to rule over Faunus? She didn’t know the first thing about Chiole.

  The acolyte looked ready to say something less than pleasant, but Blake’s presence clearly dissuaded him. He bowed and then went into the building. Blake motioned for Yang to follow her and they walked into the chapel. “I knew you’d face trouble, but I honestly wasn’t expecting this.” Blake sighed, her ears drooping a bit. Yeah, Yang hadn’t expected this either. She really was shocked how rude the people were. But she could also understand. She was a foreign human that would one day be their queen. What must it have felt like to have a ruler of a different race where it had never happened before?

  Blake got into her shirt and pulled out a necklace. She took it off and gave it to Yang. “I can get another one when we get back home. That’s a symbol of House Belladonna. If you run into trouble, show it and people ought to capitulate. I hate pulling rank, but I’m seeing it’ll be necessary for you.” Yang looked down at the small medallion which was the same as the wax seal that had arrived on Blake’s letter. It was beautifully made and incredibly distinct.

  “Thanks. I really don’t like to pull rank either, but I can tell you’re unfortunately right.” It wasn’t like Blake would be with her each time she went down into the city. She would probably need to remind people fo their place in relation to House Belladonna from time to time.

  The thought made Yang frown as a thought crossed her mind. “By the way, am I going to take your last name?” She wasn’t sure if that had been discussed in the marriage contract or not. Summer had retained her maiden name, but that was because of her being a Rose. It was too important to let the family name die.

  She saw Blake’s ears twitch and Blake tilted her head to the side a bit. “I suppose we’ll need to discuss that. Not here, though. We can talk to my mother about it either later tonight or tomorrow.” Yang nodded. Yeah, this sort of public place wasn’t ideal to discuss private matters. She would probably need to take on the Belladonna name, though. She was a bastard marrying into a royal line. And a human at that. It’d be best for appearances for her to take the Belladonna name.

  A few minutes later a tiny woman with beautiful white wings came out with the acolyte. “Jim said you wished to speak to me?” she asked, looking at Yang.

  “Uh, yes, Ms. Chaplain. I was an acolyte to Verana before leaving Vale. I was incredibly close to making full priestess rank. I’ll be a member of House Belladonna soon enough, so I know I won’t be able to reach the rank I want to. But I was wondering if I could at least maintain a connection here somehow. I could probably at least be in the choir if you wouldn’t mind…” Trying to appease people that hated her simply for her race felt like an exercise in futility. She simply didn’t want to lose her connection to the full community she loved so much.

  The chaplain looked at Blake, then at Yang. “I suppose we can give you a chance. Do you speak any other languages besides Valian? We don’t necessarily stick to all fo the traditional hymns you likely know.”

  “Standard Central Mistrali. I was born there but mostly raised in Vale. I don’t know Chilese yet, but I’ll learn it as quickly as possible.” They probably used the nation’s native tongue a fair bit. It really only made sense if this was a Valian enclave. They wouldn’t be able to operate outside of the enclave without Chilese.

  The chaplain’s eyes narrowed. “And yet you’re marrying into House Belladonna?”

  Yang sighed internally. This was hard. “Like I said, I was raised mostly in Vale. My father disagrees with how Faunus are treated in Vale because he was raised with slaves. But I was young enough I didn’t really understand what was going on. I was never explicitly taught to see Faunus as lesser or hate them.” She knew her father really disagreed, but he’d learned to be quiet about it while in Vale. Yang, though, had been taught to treat Faunus well. She knew that words meant little in a case like this, though.

  “Chaplain, I believe her words. She was nothing but patient with my little siblings this morning.” Blake spoke up, much to Yang’s surprise. She really was surprised how much Blake was sticking her neck out for her. It was crazy. She wouldn’t exactly complain though. She was only trying to maintain her spirituality. “Even most Valian dignitaries wouldn’t have treated such young children with so much patience. I’ve seen no reason to think she hates Faunus. She does err, but we’re all people and she only arrived a few days ago. Can you expect an expat from a foreign nation to adapt so quickly?”

  The chaplain sighed. “No, I suppose not. Our meetings are on Saturdays at six. Choir is Wednesday at six thirty. Just be prepared for other languages including Chilese.” The woman looked off put in this whole situation. She was clearly only bending because the heir apparent was standing right there. It was so hard to not want to break down crying.

  “Thank you, ma’am. Once I receive my music, I’ll work with Elana to hopefully have passable pronunciation. I hope I won’t let you or the others down.” She bowed deeply to the woman. She was trying her best to show her intents were pure. She sincerely wanted to maintain her spirituality. That was her only objective. She would never take advantage of people if she could help it.

  “Come with me and we’ll get you your music and fitted with a choir robe.” That took around ten minutes to do and the woman’s sour expression didn’t ease up at all. Blake maintained her presence, no doubt to hopefully dissuade the woman from doing anything less than kind. Yang was at least glad the robes weren’t as heavy as the ones in Vale. She might have very well keeled over if they were the same thickness as her Valian ones.

  Once they had left the chapel, they sat back in the carriage where Yang practically deflated. She both could and couldn’t believe how poorly people were treating her. She could understand but it didn’t make it easy to accept. She’d almost been kicked out of a chapel simply because she was a human. She looked at Blake. “Does Chiole maintain some sort of segregation between humans and Faunus?” From the way she’d been treated, it certainly felt like it.

  Blake shook her head. “Officially, it’s illegal to discriminate against anybody for anyone reason: gender, sexuality, and so on. But in practice, it’s hard to enforce. Women or those assigned female at birth are often forced home in the Atlassian enclave. In general, humans are often kept out of a lot of places.” She sighed, her ears drooping. “Trying to enforce these things is so incredibly difficult. When there’s so many generational scars and deeply ingrained culture, it’s so incredibly difficult to cause any sort of change.”

  Her ears drooped even further. “Plus, we have to maintain a balance. People come here to escape humans and other issues. These people bring their culture with them for good and for ill. We know it’s wrong, but if we tried to root out every bit of culture in the name of equality, we might have a war on our hands we really can’t afford.” She folded her arms.

  Yang wished she could offer some words for Blake, but she had nothing. That was a difficult balance to maintain. There really was no right answer either. Plus, there was still the entire issue of nobility and serfs… Serfs needed to stay in their place while the nobility ruled. It was how things ought to be.

  “That does have to be tough.T here’s not a lot I can say to that.” Vale wasn’t perfect when it came to these sort of things either, but it seemed better to some extent. Vale wouldn’t allow any type of discrimination as long as it was known. Some people were definitely incredibly racist—like her father—but if they weren’t acting on it, there was nothing the government could do about it. Taiyang kept his thoughts to himself, so he couldn’t be prosecuted for it.

  Blake nodded and turned her attention out the window. Apparently, neither of them were terribly sure what to say at this point. It wasn’t really either of their faults… They were doing their best to talk but it was hard when things were so tense.

  Blake did eventually start to point out landmarks to Yang and she listened while she talked. They went through multiple areas with very different architecture indicative of the kingdoms they people had come from. Her heart did constrict a little as they moved through the central Mistrali area. She didn’t remember much about it, but she still felt a stirring deep inside her mind and heart. She looked at Blake. “Do you know what the culture here is like?”

  Blake looked at her and she saw a frown etched on her face. “You’d probably be best off staying in the Valian enclave. I have no idea how people here would treat a human. Do you know if your family owned slaves before?”

  Yang frowned as well. “Yeah, we did. My did is super racist because of it. I didn’t pick up on that, but looking back, I realise the Faunus in our household were all slaves.” Yeah, that probably wouldn’t go over well. It wasn’t like she’d chosen to own slaves in the past. The Xiao Long family was lesser noble family but the Qin region was very large. Somebody would probably recognise if given the chance…

  Blake sighed. “This is probably going to make our marriage even messier and unseemly toward the people… I know it wasn’t like you chose to be born into a slave-own household, but the people won’t like it if they learn.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I’ll have to confer with my mother to see how to handle it.” That was fair. In this case, it wouldn’t be wise to keep that from the people. Even so, it made things…messy. It’d inform how people approached and thought of Yang even if Blake was right. It wasn’t like she’d picked up those mindsets…but it was objectively true that she had owned slaves at some point.

  “I”ll trust you to make the best decision.” She really couldn’t have a hand in this. It would be up to the up to the royal family to sort this one out. She simply didn’t understand Chilese culture enough to offer any sort of insight. She really wished she could help but it simply wasn’t going to happen. “If you need statements from me or anything, though…” She would hep. She wouldn’t leave them high and dry.

  “I appreciate it. People will generally listen to my mother, but it will take quite a bit to sway the Atlassian and Mistrali enclaves. I apologise.” Blake sighed again and Yang nodded. That was understandable. Even though she’d grown up in Vale, for some people, the time she’d been in Mistral would speak for her character. Even if she’d only been a child that had really done nothing wrong. “Anyway, are you hungry? We’ve made a loop around the city. We could stop at a Valian restaurant…”

  Yang blinked and nodded. “All right.” It didn’t take too long for the carriage to stop and for them to get out. She felt eyes on her and looked at Blake.

  “It’ll be okay.” Yang nodded slightly and took a deep breath. With that done, she took the plunge and followed Blake (and the guards) into the restaurant.