Months later…

  Weiss sat outside, watching as Avram and Lilias flew around. It had been a good couple of months to be home. Her parents had gotten home last month and all of them had gotten together for dinner. It was a really nice experience after not having been around everyone for so long.

  She blinked when she heard a tone from her teibas. Who was calling her? She didn’t recognise the pull on her soul… “Hello?”

  “Oh, uh, hey Weiss.” Ah, Waldron from the fax center. She only got a call from him if a message came in for her. No wonder she hadn’t recognised the caller.

  “Hey, Waldron. What’s up?” He ought to know she was back in town. She hadn’t left since arriving back. After the long stint in Chiole, she really hadn’t felt like traveling too much. But it probably was about time she should start seeking out another job. But if he was calling her, that likely meant somebody had sent her a request.

  “You need to come to the office. Immediately. You got a royal seal on your recent message.” The hair on the back of her neck stood up. A royal appointment? From where? She so rarely got called on by royal families. Religious orders, democratic historians, and often noble or aristocratic families, but almost never royalty. Who could it be from? Who would hold her family in such high regard they would call on her? Her parents weren’t on a job; surely they would be better than her! They had so much more experience!

  “I’ll be right there. Talk to you then.” Waldron’s image dissipated into nothing. She looked at her birds. “I’ll be back in a little while. Please behave for Mom and Dad while I’m gone.” She doubted it would take too long. Picking up the message then heading home… No more than half an hour. She would be back well before Avram started flock calling to her like mad.

  She headed to the stable and saddled up, urging the horse into a quick canter. Waiting on a royal message would be bad form. She absolutely could not take too long to get that message and reply. A day at most. But Waldron made it sound like it was incredibly urgent. She might have to send a reply while still at the office.

  When she arrived, Waldron waited outside for her. He practically stumbled over himself to hand it to her. She flipped the envelope over and her heart stopped in her chest.

  That was the seal of the Sodocroan royal family. “Y-You’re joking.” This had to be some sort of mistake. There was no way the Sodocroan royal family would call on her. She and her parents rarely got jobs there due to how utterly racist the country was. It was incredibly hostile to humans. Queen Maryam was known to banish and exile humans if they stepped too far out of line. That was even if they had families and were married to Faunus. She had little tolerance for humans in general. Who in the royal family would go against the queen and invite a human into the castle?

  Waldron shook his head. “No ma’am, I am not. After the royal seal came through, I didn’t even think to dekko at the message.” That…was probably for the best… It wasn’t like the sender would know he looked, but the royal family would still probably be angry if he did.

  She dismounted into the office then sat down. Her blood turned to ice as she glanced over the message. It was from Queen Maryam herself… It had a picture attached. Apparently they’d found some sort of highly magical vault underground. It looked incredibly extravagant and like it would have taken a ton of magic to construct. The queen wanted her to investigate to see if she could find anything about it or how to open it. Why her, though…? She hadn’t yet gotten magic… She wasn’t even Twelfth Order yet!

  The request was to come as soon as possible. Somebody with a scanning Similitude and magic had detected an object of immense power behind the door. The queen was worried somebody may be able to open the vault and use the object someow. Even their best mages hadn’t been able to crack it.

  What did the queen think she could do? She didn’t have the wisdom of ages many of those old mages did. Some were close to a millennium old. What could a nineteen year old without a lick of formal education do? She mainly dealt with documents, not artifacts. She was a historian and a linguist, not an archeologist.

  But she couldn’t exactly turn down the offer either. This was the queen of one of the most powerful nations on the planet. It would be a massive mark against her to turn down such an offer. It might even effect her parents which she couldn’t risk. Plus, this job would offer her a lot of money. A minimum of four nis… That was worth a ton, 120,000 jusura. She could easily put herself through to the highest levels of education even in other countries. She usually wasn’t one to be tempted by money but this was too good to pass up.

  She got in her bag and pulled out a fountain pen then quickly drafted a response saying she would be there in a couple of days. She needed to pack and get ready, of course, so she couldn’t leave immediately. She gave her arrival time and date, then sent the response.

  She did wait around for an hour to which she received confirmation. With that done, she headed back home and started packing. This entire thing would make or break her career.

  φ

  She looked up when she heard the clock chime eleven. That would mean it was one in the afternoon in Yilakela. She had an audience with the queen in two hours. She switched over to one of her heavier dresses and tied her hair up in the veil. It would not be good form to not be veiled in front of the queen. Weiss was about as atheistic as one could possibly get on Tumia, but she at least had to observe some Sodocroan customs. Most sects in the nation practiced some sort of veiling… Plus, it was required in the castle, whether or not one believed the same way or not.

  With everything else done, she tugged her gloves on, then retrieved her birds. Avram’s beak stretched wide in a yawn. “I hate these time differences…” he complained.

  “Would you rather me leave you behind?” That was enough to quiet him. She’d tried to leave him behind once, but the noise had driven her parents crazy. He was too attached to her for both of their own goods. He had nearly starved himself while she had been gone those few days.

  She headed to the transport office and was quickly seen off to Sodocroa. Once she stepped outside, she shivered. It was well into fall here and the leaves were changing. It was a beautiful sight, but she hated the cold. She was used to the tropical heat in Vobron and was acclimatised to that. Working outside on the vault was going to be a terrible experience if they got into winter…

  A cabby pulled up and offered his hand to her. She climbed up into the carriage and watched out the window. Large cathedrals with massive trees sticking out of them dominated her view. Sodocroa was definitely a unique nation. So little of it had been deforested due to so much of the land being seen as sacred. Old mages cared for especially sacred trees and groves that had cathedrals and chapels built around them.

  Her stomach did churn a bit, though. Once again, she could feel the errant soul bond drawing closer. The other one also felt oddly close. That second one moved a lot and was rarely so close to Weiss. What was it doing here in Sodocroa? Odd. But the one she was most concerned about remained in the castle. Whoever it was definitely was a member of the royal family. Or maybe somebody that had been long employed there. It wasn’t like she could differentiate a working soul from a royal soul.

  A guard met her. “You are aware you can’t go in the castle as you please?” The woman’s tone was harsh and scathing. An unfortunately common thing from Sodocroan Faunus. All she could really do was try to accept things gracefully. If not, she could get reported to the queen and permanently from the country.

  “Yes, of course.” Accepting racism was terrible. Sodocroa had no right to treat anybody lesser, but men and humans were seen as the lowest of the low. Their creation story portrayed humans as bestial folks that did nothing but destroy.

  The guard led her to the queen’s human receiving chamber and she settled on the couch. Lilias and Avram hopped up onto the back and tucked their heads under their wings. They could at least get a couple were more hours of sleep before she met with the queen.

  However, her heart practically stopped in her hest as she checked on the errant soul bond. She got up and pressed her hand to it. She was so close yet so far. To be in the queen’s Faunus receiving chambers… They had to be important. The queen wouldn’t wouldn’t have some random servant in there to talk to. Then again, they could be cleaning or something? That was a possibility, she supposed…

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Damn it, she wished she were a high Eleventh Order! She would be able to connect to the other person’s soul and communicate with them. But she was only a high Tenth Order… She could feel other people’s souls, but she couldn’t reach out to communicate. Being so close, they ought to have been able to if one of them was high enough…

  All she felt was dead silence. She sighed and sat back down. So close and yet so far. Was the other person aware of her? There was no telling. She wanted so badly to talk to them. But they were a Faunus from Sodocroa. WHat could she do about it? They probably wouldn’t accept her. She was little more than trash to even the lowliest of Faunus in this nation. How would she ever make herself socially acceptable? Especially if they were a member of the royal family… She had no chance.

  She took one of her books out of her bag and settled down to read. She had some time to kill until she met with the queen…

  §

  Several hours later…

  The door opened and Blake looked up from messing with her teibas. She dropped her hands into her lap and straightened up. While the queen was a small woman, she was by no means not intimidating. Her posture always remained tall and erect. Her gaze was as sharp as an eagle’s despite being 90 or so. She was not somebody to cross.

  She sat on the couch across from Blake, her eyes narrowed. “I’ve heard from your father that you’ve been shirking your weather studies once again.” Blake mentally shuddered. Queen Maryam really wasn’t a person to cross. She hated when she had been reprimanded like this.

  “Y-Your Highness, I’m not—”

  “This is the fifth time year alone I’ve had to all you in for this! How dare you lie to me?!” Her fist pounded into the couch’s arm. Blake’s breath caught in her chest. She wasn’t lying. She did her studies even though she didn’t want to. She met the bare minimum set by her teacher! She wasn’t shirking her studies!

  “I-I am doing them, Your Highness. I don’t see why I’m being called in here…” She really didn’t. She was doing everything she was told. She so rarely strayed outside of the bounds set for her by her parents and the queen herself. There were plenty of people in her generation that strayed far outside the queen’s will and she never heard about them getting reprimanded like this.

  “You can do better, Blake. You excel in all of your other studies yet you slack in the most important one.” Blake looked down. Nothing she said would satisfy the queen. She knew it. Once Queen Maryam got something in her mind, there was almost no changing it. “After tonight, you’re barred from all public events until I see you do better.”

  Blake’s heart sank at that. “Does that include eagle hunting?” The queen certainly wouldn’t bar her from that, right? Kalena might be not imprinted to her, but they had definitely bonded by this point. She still visited her during the molt and did some lure work with her. Eagle hunting was a right for the royal family. To take that away from somebody would mark her as a pariah. She couldn't imagine being banned from hunting… She had the whole season planned out!

  “Your planned trips will be halved so you can focus on your studies.” Her heart dropped. Her father was going to be so angry. She had always been a bit of a black sheep, but this was unreal. To take away her hunting… Kalena would be so upset. She had been looking forward to a productive, long season with Blake. Now to have so much of it taken away.

  Blake’s ears flattened against her head and she bowed her head. “Yes, Your Highness.” When Queen Marya spoke, there was no going against it. She would be stuck inside most of peak falconry season. She wouldn’t see as many hare caught along with the odd fox and even grey wolf. How was she going to tell Kalena that she wouldn’t be hunting with Blake most of the season…?

  Something was bothering here, though… “May I ask a question, Your Highness?” She had to know. She had wanted to reach out to the person via her soul bond with them. But why would they be in the human receiving chambers? No staff member would be… And the soul was so often at great distances, rarely ever coming to Sodocroa… The person so obviously didn’t live in the nation.

  “I suppose. What is it?”

  “Who was in your other receiving chambers?”

  Queen Maryam sighed. “A human I called in to help with a big find. Why do you ask?”

  “Just curious.” That…confirmed her worst fears. The other person on the end of her soul bond was a human. She would have to think of the ramifications later… The queen would get suspicious if she started getting too pensive about it now. “I’ll go to chapel and consider the consequences of my actions.” She bowed her head. That was probably the quickest and easiest to get out of here.

  “Very well.” The queen narrowed her eyes and Blake excused herself. She let out a breath of relief as she stood outside of the room. The queen was probably suspicious of the question, but she hoped she wouldn’t look into it too much. If so, the human could get kicked out of the nation despite not having done anything wrong…

  She looked at her handmaid. “Would you mind setting up a carriage for me to go to chapel?” She really did need some space to think after that. She couldn’t believe she’d had so much taken from her. No public events, reduced hunting, and more time stuck inside… She wasn’t fond of the cold, but it was peak falconry season… She’d miss almost all of it…

  “Of course, Your Highness.” The girl scurried off, leaving Blake with her perpetual shadow. Rosalie, her guard since childhood.

  “Something’s got you thinking, hasn’t it?” Blake sighed. Rosalie could read her fairly well even without being a Ninth Eshceleon. The woman only reached the lowest of Eshceleons of the Ambrosial… SOme people were simply hyper attuned toward others.

  Blake nodded. “Yes.” She didn’t say anything more than that, though. She could very well land in trouble if it was known she was thinking about a human. Human blood had never dirtied the Donati line as long as she knew. She couldn’t imagine how the queen would handle it.

  Soon enough, though, she found herself away from the castle and inside her sect’s chapel. She approached the shrines of the Paragons and looked at them. Before she really got a chance to even think about a woman dressed in green robes approached. “Good afternoon, Your Highness. Perhaps I can help you right now?”

  lake’s ears flattened against her head. “No thank you, Conductor Gorecki. I’m here to think. Please leave me alone.” The conductor had been…very demanding of Blake’s attention the past year. She was ten years Blake’s senior… She really did not want to be intimate with somebody that much older than herself. Her sect believed in and practiced sacred sex, but it wasn’t a necessitiy. Blake was an adult now at seventeen, so if she wanted any conductor, she could, but she did not want that. She had never experienced those sorts of urges before despite her age.

  The woman pouted but left Blake to return to her chambers. Blake sighed. At this rate, she may very well end up a teacher… She had never really had inclinations toward sex or romance yet… Maybe it would happen one dya, but it also may not. Women were expected to bear children, but there were plenty of marriages within the Donait family that were childless… She simply may end up a bit of a spinster…

  Now being allowed to the Paragons, she approached and looked around. Xiadani… The Paragon of lost connections…

  She took a stick of incense from a drawer and lit it, placing it in the burner. The smoke wreathed around her as she stood there and sighed.

  What was she supposed to do? She very much had a missing connection on her hands. She wanted to meet the person on the other end of the soul bond with everything that she was. They’d had two near misses now. This newest one had only seen a wall between them. She had been close enough to practically touch the other person. She probably should have reached out and used their soul bond to communicate. The near miss seven years prior had tormented her since then.

  But the person was a human.

  A destructive beast that hated Faunus to their very core. Humans were merciless. They would do anything they could to get ahead in the world. How the planet hadn’t fully fallen in the eons it stood baffled her. Humans would even enslave Faunus or each other to get ahead. They were horrible beings without a shred of empathy or compassion toward other beings.

  How could she possibly have a soul bond with a being like that? It didn’t make any sense. Humans were the worst evil in the planet. She was somehow supposed to bond with that? She just…didn’t understand.

  How had this happened in the first place? How could she have two errant soul bonds? First was with the mystery human. Second was an unknown person that wandered the planet. This person seemed to have no real home. The human often stayed in one place for months on end. But the other person had no consistency in their life. Both were incredibly odd in their own ways. She didn’t know what to make of either of them.

  As the incense burned, she took a knee and looked to the sacred grove at the center. “Xiadani, please help me to make the best decision possible. I want to know who is on the other end of this soul bond? But I know they’re a human. I don’t know what to do. Tell the Dark Father to help guide my way.” She didn’t know what to do. She was so curious about the person on the other end of, but she simply didn’t know what to do about it.

  Rising, she turned to face the Paragons again and placed an aul in the altar. She took a wish tag and wrote on it, then tied it to the sacred tree. The earth would know how best to help her. Things always seemed to work out once she beseeched the earth. She really wanted this to turn out for the best. The soul was the most important thing to Sodocroans. Certainly her soul communing with the earth would come with the best solution…

  She sat against one of the trees for a while, repeating ancient prayers she had learned as a child. She had honestly never felt this lost before. There was no telling what was best. All she knew was that she had to leave it up to Xiadani to take her prayers to the Dark Father. He would have an answer for her. He always seemed to have an answer for her. He always seemed to. She saw the responses and omens in the trees and waters and other natural phenomena. He always seemed to have an answer for her and she had no doubt he would have one for her this time.

  With that done, she returned to the carriage and then to the castle. She was not looking forward to having to tell Kalena that their hunting season would be stripped back… She had a forty year (or longer) contract with the golden eagle. It would only be a year, but it was less than ideal. All she wanted was to hunt with one of her best friends… How terrible that they wouldn’t have the chance that year…