A heartbeat passed after he finished speaking, before the white-haired princess blinked in surprise and his new mother wrapped her arm around his shoulders, tugging him back a step and laughing awkwardly, "F-Forgive him, grace, he is still… Rather uneducated, I am afraid. A fault of his upbringing you-"
"He is forgiven." She dismissed with a wave and a purse-lipped smile, shifting from one hip to the other. Gesturing at him, she said, "How can I fault the man of the hour for not having surpassed it? Such would be shameful."
"Your grace is-"
"In need of refreshment." The princess cut her off, waving the woman off even as a Chastened - one of the other guests' - rushed to get her a drink, watched all the while. As he came to her and she took the cup, the princess paid his mother a look and asked, "Did you see the wine be tasted?"
"Tasted…?"
"Poison." She hissed in his ear before she shook her head and said. "No, my chief of-"
"I am supposed to trust someone I have never met, someone I do not know, with my drink? Someone whose testing you did not even witness being tested at all." The woman huffed when Lady Arc only stammered unsurely, searching for and failing to find the right way to respond. Holding the fine glass cup out, the princess raised her chin and grunted, shortly, "You should taste test it, then."
"But that-"
"Is only right." The woman frowned, "For the hostess to safeguard a guest is only in form. No?"
Before his mother could react, Jaune frowned and took the cup, taking a long drink of it himself and then handing it back to the princess with a frown. She took it and, lowly, he rumbled, "If it's bad form not to see the poison tasted yourself, that's fine. But is it better form to shove it in my Lady's face like this? In front of everyone?"
"Jaune, it's-"
"Quite right." The princess nodded, flicking the older Arc a look and dipping her head ever so slightly. "You have my apologies. I'm… In something of a foul mood, I suppose."
"It is quite alright, I assure you." The Lady rushed to wave her off, waving at the food with a hand and laughing brightly. "Please, get something to eat and rest. There is little trouble a fine meal and some wine can't at the least ease, hm?"
"As you say, Lady Arc." The princess nodded, lingering for a moment to give him a one-eyed look, her lips pursed but… Unless he was wrong, turned up in the slightest smile so thin that he almost believed he hadn't seen it at all. Quietly, she said, "And please, do come and speak to me if you've the free moment, my Lord. It would do both our Kingdoms well if we had… Contacts shared across borders. No?"
"Of course."
"Ah." The Schnee paused and turned back to him, "You've my sympathies for your sister as well, Lord. I am told she fell in battle?"
"To a wound, yes." He nodded, frowning and gesturing at the very pointedly pretending not to be paying attention crowd. "You missed my address, actually. Her injuries took her a time after she fell."
"It is good that you avenged her, then." She nodded, smiling, "And your home as well. A shame what happened to your Chastened, however… I hear you were close."
Before he could react, or even process her words beyond 'how did she hear that already', the princess took her leave. And his adoptive mother took his arm, turning him to face her.
"I can't believe you spoke to her like that!" She hissed, far from the grateful woman he'd expected. He blinked, confused, and she sighed, her scowl fading away as she turned and smiled for the other guests who swiftly turned to talk amongst themselves. She kept smiling as a Chastened bustled over to offer them both cups of wine, "Speaking to the Princess of Atlas like that could have gone very badly very quickly, Jaune."
"She spoke to us first…" He grunted in a knee-jerk reaction before he sighed and nodded anyways. "But she's the princess, and that matters more. Right?"
"You are as quick witted as you are quick to leap to my defence." She sighed, patting his arm before releasing him and stepping away. As she turned to leave, she said, "I do appreciate the kindness, but… Next time wait for my asking before doing any leaping. Hm?"
"If that's what you want…"
"It is." She nodded, pausing for a breath longer to consider before she added, "One can never know the intentions of those around them. Particularly not when they are of our station. It is safest to assume enmity and move from there. Consider this… A return of kindness, for you aid, unasked or not."
"Thanks…?" She only inclined her head a bit and left, her dress billowing faintly in her wake, and Jaune had to wonder-
Did she even care about his words for Saphron? Did she even believe the story? There was no way to tell - and that filled him with the faintest echo of anxiety. What could he even do if she didn't? Any witnesses would be his comrades at arms, or those that he had fought for. Untrustworthy, to be certain. For a moment, he flicked a look to the wine in his hands and pursed his lips. Was this what it felt like, being nobility? Trying to read everyone's intentions?
And was that what she'd suggested he do - or a warning for something else?
It made his head ache just trying to puzzle out all the ways it could be taken. And the fact that even that could have been her aim didn't help at all.
A heavy hand clapped his shoulder and he almost jumped, turning to meet Cardin's smirk with a scowl of his own. Shaking his head, the larger man laughed, "Why do you look like someone walked on your grave… And asked you a riddle?"
"Just…" He sighed, pausing for the briefest of moments to wonder if he should even tell Cardin about it. But Lady Arc's words stayed his tongue, for a moment as he wondered if Cardin was who she'd meant.
But… He refused to be suspicious even of his closest friend and shook it off.
"My, er, mother." He shrugged, turning his cup in his hand and watching the wine in it wash back and forth lazily. "She's being… Cryptic about things, and I can't tell if she's angry at me or… Trying to be helpful?"
"Probably a bit of both." Cardin sighed, crossing his arms and sighing again, this time lighter and more… Warm, somehow. "I wouldn't overthink it. Hurting you gives her nothing now you're acknowledged. The bastard child drying would only give her power, so if something untoward did happen every man and woman in the Kingdom would point fingers at her. And for a noble Knight that had already saved a settlement?
"It wouldn't go well." He nodded, understanding his point even if it didn't strictly mollify him. Shaking his head he said, "You're right. I should just let it go."
"Smart man." He smiled and turned, waving someone over. The person who joined them was a bit younger than them, maybe by a year, with long brown hair and soft green eyes set in a mousey, shy sort of face who smiled and bowed her head as she reached them, smoothing her smooth grey dress out. Cardin wrapped an arm around her and beamed widely as she smiled. "I wanted to introduce you to my sister, Luna."
"Ah." He hadn't known Cardin has a sister, or if he had he'd forgotten. So he just bowed his head in return and laid a hand over his heart in one of the polite greetings Oobleck had taught him so long ago. "Lord Jaune of the House Arc at Vale. It's a pleasure, Lady Luna."
"J-Just Luna is fine." The girl murmured, smile warming a bit as he straightened. "I hear I've you to thank for bringing the oaf home in one piece."
"Oi!"
"Cardin and I did as much for each other as the other did in turn." He laughed, waving off Cardin's unamused little glower and sighing as he turned to watch the rest eating and gossiping and… Doing whatever else nobles did at things like this. "Out there, it's… Everyone together. So you don't have to thank me."
"Even so," she said, taking a cup when a servant offered it and standing between the two men, "you gave my thanks. I heard what you did, charging across that field, and that is somewhat more than 'working together', I would say."
"Yeah, well, he'd do the same for me."
"The hell I would." Cardin snorted, smirking when Jaune shot him a look, one brow raised. "Liable to snap an ankle pullin' a stunt like that, Arc."
Jaune just rolled his eyes, watching a group of men and women come out of the manor toting all manner of instruments. One, a drum set, he recognized well enough from festivals at home. Back in Ansel. But the rest? He couldn't be sure. One of them was like a large lute, resting with its base on the ground, while another wrapped around the man and was made of brass shaped into some kind of horn. Of the dozen or so more, he only recognized one more instrument even remotely. A sort of flute, twice as long and just a bit wider than any he'd seen before.
"What-"
"You've never seen a minor orchestra?"
"My brother is peasant-raised, whatever blood and heart he has besides." Cardin rumbled as they started to play, a soft melody carried by the longer instruments and emphasized by the drums and the heavier horns gently adding a rhythm to it. Cardin sighed and smiled, closing his eyes as he listened, "Ah… The Alagron."
"Alagron?"
"Specifically, the Alagron Seven." Luna offered quietly, smiling thinly as they played and she swayed gently with it. "The composer was Alagron, and this is his seventh composition."
"It's… Nice." He nodded, turning when motion caught his eye. As the music picked up, the people who'd come to meet - or apparently, see him - were making space. Some were dancing in languid circles with each other while others stood to the side, talking and eating and, now and again, trading partners or just stepping out with their own to join in while others stepped out.
"What, never seen dancing?"
"Not like this." He chuckled, shaking his head and watching the men and women raise up their arms to touch their wrists together, dancing and talking as the music continued to swell. Quietly, turning so Cardin could hear him, "In ansel, we… Did kick-dancing."
"What is that?" Luna asked, stepping closer to speak with them all.
"It's like…" He sighed and turned, kicking up his heel and touching it to his knee as he stepped back and dipped gently, spreading his arms and smiling. Then he did it again, alternating feet and circling them both as he explained, "Like this, but, uh, with a partner, or a few people- And, wow, doing this in armor is a lot harder than not."
"I suppose it would be." The girl laughed, shaking her head as Cardin nudged her back and grinned.
"Like this?" The large man asked, smiling and trying to mimic him.
"Faster." Jaune nodded, waving him back and miming it again, more slowly. "And touch it to the side of the knee. Do the back and you're liable to knock your knee out from under you and end up on the floor."
"Yeah, fair…" He sighed, trying again while his sister watched.
"What are you submitting the Gods' eyes to here?" Jaune flinched and turned, looking at the Princess standing a few steps behind him. She had her head cocked, unmasked part of her face turned towards them, and Jaune chuckled awkwardly as she looked them over and he realized she hadn't been the only one watching them.
She'd just been the only one pretending not to, judging by how quickly several of the others turned away and started chatting when Jaune flicked them a look.
"U-Uh…"
"My brother was just teaching us some… Traditional dance, from his home." Cardin offered, laughing quietly but making sure he spoke loud enough for everyone nearby to hear in a way that just had to be purposeful. Was he covering for Jaune? Saving him some kind of embarrassment…?
If so, he was better at this than Jaune had thought - and he needed to catch up.
"Traditional peasant dance?"
"Well, yeah." Jaune nodded, joining his brother and going on. "Ansel is… Well, gone. Everyone but me is dead. So, I guess I just wanted to remember it. It was my home, after all. It seems too sad, wrong, even, for it all to just… Be ashes. At least while I'm alive, to carry it."
For a moment, the Princess was quiet, head cocked and what he could see of her face impassive. But then she blinked and nodded and said, "You speak well."
"For a peasant, you mean?" He chuckled.
"No." The Princess countered simply, stepping forward and asking. "Would you care to show me as well?"
"Y-You want me to… Show you a peasant dance?"
"It is your dance, and you are of the House of Arc." The Princess countered coolly, gesturing at him with a wave of her hand, "Whatever it was, whatever it becomes through you, it is a peasant dance no longer."
"I… Guess you're right." He nodded, smiling. "Alright, I'll show you, just don't kick your knee out. You don't wanna get laid out."
"Indeed not." She chuckled, dropping her voice and asking more… Not shyly, that was the wrong word, but softly. Nervously, somehow, in a still very stiff and proper sort of way. "Though I… I would be grateful if we could rotate right rather than left."
"Right…?" His eyes flicked to her mask and understanding dawned. Smiling, he shrugged and nodded. "Sure, the dance can rotate either way. I just did it right-ways, and then they copied, so… Anyway, here, I'll show you."
It was a lie, but…
A white lie hurt no one.
XxX----XxX----XxX
Blake watched the young Knight dance with the Princess and frowned behind her mask. It was a folk dance, she could tell, and seeing the Princess of hated Atlas doing it stirred up no small amount of amusement. But it was washed away under the rage of seeing her. Here. So close, and yet she could not reach for her throat. And dared not try and come upon her in her sleep.
She knew what the Dust Dancer could do to someone in close quarters…
"Damn it." She sighed, backing away and letting the shadows consume her even more. "How did we miss this? The Princess coming to Vale should have been all over our lines. Unless…"
He must have hidden the fact from them. But why? Why hide such an excellent target from her and her comrades? What could the Hidden Hand be playing at? Striking down any Schnee, let alone the princess herself, had always been a go-to tactic. Something they were happy to spend resources - and lives - to accomplish. And there was absolutely no way he wouldn't know about her coming…
So he had to want her alive. But why? There was no telling, but she had to wonder why things always had to get complicated for her…