to treasure a thousand words, a thousand years

After breakfast was all cleaned up, everyone headed downstairs to get to work. Naliaka sat on a perch, keeping a close eye on everyone as they approached Blake. For the most part, things were quite. None of the girls approached Blake as they were mostly focused on. She caught snippets of the older women talking to her, but the girls were fairly quiet. However, she looked up when she sensed somebody approaching the counter. What…What was Weiss doing here? She had a jacket in her hand with a large rip down the sleeve. Oh. That would explain it. Blake’s eyes remained settled on Weiss as she talked to Ninlil. She saw Weiss’ eyes dart over to her for a quick second, but she got no other acknowledgement from Weiss. She paid for the services then left. Blake sighed internally. Yes, it was best they didn’t talk to each other like this. But it was still disappointing. Shewason the clock and she doubted Ninlil would’ve taken kindly to Blake stepping out for ten minutes to talk to Weiss. She still wasn’t sure why she was so drawn to a human. These errant soul bonds made no sense. She had bonds with people she’d never met before it made no sense. She did sense her teibas go off but she didn’t answer it. She would check it when she got off the clock. However, when she turned back to the other girls, she sensed a shift in them and she could see it. They had seen how she’d looked at Weiss. Damn it. Her ears folded down and she lowered her head. What a mess. She hadn’t been lying to them when she said she had nobody. Getting to know somebody hardly counted as romance. The rest of her day passed quietly aside from glances from the other girls. They filed out of the main working area and back up to the bedroom where the girls looked at her. “So who wasthat?I thought you said you had nobody you were interested in,” Nassim said. Blake sighed. Why were women such gossipy hens? She really didn’t understand the obsession everyone had with sticking their noses into everyone else’s lives. “That was Weiss. I’m only getting to know her. And, yes, she is a human. She doesn’t seem too bad for a human, though.” Humans were destructive oppressors. They had no regard for the environment or other life half the time. So many nations and slavery as an institution even now, quite often Faunus only. She didn’t understand how anybody could do that to another being. Humans were so terrible. “Sounds like you like her.” Another of the girls snickered. Blake’s ears flattened. “I don’t. I’ve only talked to her, like, twice.” Talking to somebody a few times hardly constituted liking them. She was feeling out who Weiss was as a person. She didn’t seem too bad but people could hide behind honeyed words and niceties. The court proved that. Plus, humans were experts at hiding their true intents. “Aren’t royal family members only supposed to court, though?” another girl asked. Blake froze. Damn it, she hadn’t expected anybody to know royal family rules. Those were generally only for the royal family to know. But since the Busto family went so far back with the Donati family… “It’s not dating. It’s meeting up to have dinner to get to know her. Plus, the Peregrination is what we make of it. Our normal rules aren’t at play here.” She couldn’t be punished for breaking normal rules. She really would’ve been in mountains of trouble had this been under normal circumstances. Queen Maryam didnotlike humans. They were rightfully put in their place as second-class citizens in Sodocroa. “That sounds a lot like dating to me.” The other girls nodded and expressed their agreement. Blake sighed, her ears drooping. It wasn’t dating. They simply couldn’t see the difference like she could. Commoners were so uncouth. Dating was uncouth especially for royals. Things like premarital sex depended on sect, but it was still best for royals to avoid the temptation. SHe really had no interest in sex quite frankly… “It’s not; Iswear.”Shewasn’tdating… If this were under any sort of normal circumstances, though, she knew she’d be in hot water. Meeting wit a human was bad enough. Let alone meeting one in secret. This was a mess. Thankfully, even if Queen Maryam learned, she couldn’t be punished for it. All royal rules were off once someone left for their Peregrination. The girls looked at each other, amused, but they settled into eat. “So what are your plans for today, Blake?” The other girls looked at her. She was finally going to get into the field like she wanted. She was glad. She could only imagine how restless Kalena was for the most part. She was used to at least doing lure work everyday while she’d been sitting around for a few days now. “Go out into the field to work with Kalena then meet up with Weiss.” Maybe she could meet up with her at the dig site. She’d have to see where Weiss’ site was. She didn’t know this area at all, so she had no idea where it’d be. All she knew was that it was about an hour away by horse. She could be in any direction. And, well, point in lying about meeting up with Weiss. They already knew about her. They looked amused again but nodded. “Did you know about the big dig a bit away, Blake? You’re going to be out in the field, so you might want to stay away from it. There’s a real tight lid on it, though…” Blake shook her head. “I don’t. Do you know where it is?” A lie but it would honestly only put her right where she’d need to be. She took out her atlas and the girls showed her where it was. Yes, now she could meet up with Weiss. SHe was a Donati, so she could gain access to wherever she wanted. Her eagle and raven would prove who she was. Falconry with golden eagles was illegal unless one was a member of the royal family. THere was no way around it. “Could I see your eagle fly someday?” Once again, the hopeful girl spoke up. She really was persistent, wasn’t she? Well, the cat was out of the bag, so there was no way around it. “Once I get a good lay of the land like I said. Plus, Kalena’s only used to being out on the field with certain people. I need to get her used to Weiss first.” The girl’s tail drooped but she nodded. Birds were not fond of change in any shape, way, or form. She wasn’t used to anybody without a veil or somebody in a suit hunting with her. Both of which Weiss did. The rest of lunch was quiet and Blake bade them all farewell. SHe changed into her hunting outfit and grabbed her falconry bag, then picked up Kalena. She let the eagle go, telling her to follow overhead with Naliaka. She went back to the restaurant that she and Weiss had eaten at then ordered what they had had the previous night for takeout. Once all settled, she headed out of town. The tress gave way to scrubland and perfect eagle territory. Kalena was already on the soar and Blake wanted to start when she remembered the message on her teibas. She opened it and an image of Weiss popped up. “Hey, Blake; saw you early in the tailor’s shop. Sorry I didn’t say anything to you but I didn’t think the woman in charge would’ve been too happy with us talking. She seems ornery. Also didn’t want to out our relationship. See you tonight.” The message clicked off. Blake dialed Weiss but was sent to her messages. “Hey Weiss. Don’t think I need to say who it is. I wanted to let you know I’m out in the falconry field today. If you wanted to meet up at your dig site or somewhere else, I got us what we ordered last night. Let me know, okay? See you later.” She turned the call off along with her teibas, so she wouldn’t scare the prey. With all of the done, she clucked her horse around and started looking around. Time to get a lay of the land.

✧

Several hours passed and Blake pulled up her teibas. Her body was telling her it was close to dinner so she ought to meet up with Weiss. Thankfully, there were no messages but a fresh call request did come up. She answered and Weiss’ face greeted her. “Oh, hey, Blake. Are you free now? Where are you?” Blake nodded. “I am. Probably about half an hour outside of town to the northwest, so not too far from you. Do you want to meet in town, at the dig site, or…?” Meeting up was going to be a bit more difficult now that she was out in the field. She simply wasn’t sure what Weiss wanted to make of it. Both of them were foreigners to the area more or less. Weiss was silent for a few minutes, obviously considering it. “I guess you can come to the dig site. It’d take me way too long to get to town at this point and you’re already about halfway here.” She paused. “Thanks for buying, by the way.” “No problem. See you then?” Weiss nodded and they bade each other farewell. She told Kalena to go back to Ninlil’s house. With that done, she urged her horse into a canter. The kilometers flew by and she eventually saw a small gathering of tents. However, it was what lay beneath the ground that got her attention. Even her horse slowed as they approached. They could sense a massive well of magic beneath their feet. It was unparalleled. Even a magic Fountain didn’t give offthismuch power. It made her head spin to think about how much magic must have gone into making…whatever lay deep in the planet’s crust. However, a man stepped up and held a hand out. “You can’t come onto the dig site without proper clearance! Only those with permission from the royal family can—” “Good thing I’m part of the royal family, then,” she pointed out coolly. She held her hand out and Naliaka landed on it. The raven spread out her wings and let out a low croak. The man’s face paled. No raven would showthislevel of aggression unless trained to protect the family. They were notoriously neophobic when it came to people and things. “Now where is Miss Seigel’s tent?” “R-Right this way.” The man led them to the opposite edge of the camp site where a large blue tent had been erected. Blake dismounted and walked inside. Weiss’ back was to her as she sat her desk. Two dark boxes sat next to her cot. They were the same type falconers used, but they were pretty small. What would she be using them for? Those birds wouldn’t be able to hunt much with their size. Though she had learned about something called ‘micro falconry’ from the royal falconer. Maybe it was that? “Weiss?” She spoke softly, trying to not spook her. Regardless, she jumped a bit, then turned around to look at Blake. “How did you get into camp? Only people with… Right. Never mind.” Weiss shook her head.Yeah, she was a member of the royal family. Peregrination or not, she was a Donati. Unless a place required direct clearance form the queen, she could go wherever she wanted. Nobody could stop her. Shewasa princess and nothing would change that. Weiss got another chair and offered it to Blake. “It’s not the most comfortable thing, but we’ll only be here for a bit.” Blake sat down and offered Weiss the take-out box. “Seriously, though; thanks. I’m famished I don’t get much out here since it’s field rations.” She took it and opened it eagerly. “I know the feel. Ninlil isn’t giving enough right right now because she doesn’t have the extra.” This was the only chance Blake had to replenish her normal food amount. She wasn’t sure when Ninlil would buy what she needed for all her meals. She got maybe a third of what she needed at breakfast and lunch. She was seriously starving. It was hard to focus on work with how little food she was getting. It was just the way of Seraphic users to eat so much… “Most people sadly aren’t equipped to give us what we need. I’ll probably need to add my own rations to what I already get. This low amount of food isn’t good for me over a long period. I actually could starve to death if it goes on too long.” Blake frowned at Weiss’ words. She hoped that it wouldn’t go on too long. She didn’t want to starve to death. Her family wouldn’t be devastated if she did…especially her little sister. “Hopefully Ninlil goes shopping soon.” She really was starving. This meal was barely making her feel full when she was so used to three robust meals a day as well as snacks should she want them. She really was hungry. Maybe she should stop by the general store and ge some snacks for herself.T hey could help hold her over between meals until Ninlil could go shopping again. “Anyway, what are you digging out here? I sense that massive pool of magic far down…” Blake looked at Weiss. It was crazy to think that there may have once been a past era here. This was pretty much nothing but nature now. How could somebody have been crazy enough to dig down so far and put some sort of magic installation in so far beneath the ground? What could be so valuable were to be buried so deeply? “It’s a magical vault of some sort.” Weiss shifted away and took out an album. The pictures showed a massive, elaborate vault. It was beautiful, looking like a fall day. There was plenty of color to the pictures. She couldn't believe something so amazing lay beneath their feet. “It’s similar to two other vaults found, one in the eastern countries and one in the northern countries. I hypothesize that one more may exist in the western countries, but none of them have been opened.” “That’s…a lot to take in.” She saw Weiss getting in her back and pull out a couple of books. Between the glossy pages and color photos, the books were highly expensive. Weiss flipped through the pages, showing Blake the other vaults. One was spring, one was winter… So then… “If there are four seasons, then there’s one more vault somewhere.” Yeah, that made sense. One more vault. But where would it be in the western countries. It might take decades or even centuries to find. What did the vaults hold anyway? They were clearly massive undertakings for any magic user. It had to be a Chaos user. “All we can tell is that there are objects of immense magical power behind the doors. Even the most impressive penetrators can’t get beyond that.” To elude even people that could see through anything… That was an impressive feat. The amount of magic that must have been in these things was mind boggling. “That is quite the feat. Though why wereyoucalled in? I thought our native magic users and archeologists would have been enough. Who are you that Queen Maryam would call you in?” IT felt like a fair set of questions. Though a flicker of annoyance came through Weiss’ soul. Had she somehow struck a nerve? She wasn’t trying to be mean or anything; she simply didn’t know who Weiss was. For Queen Maryam to outsource such internal work; it spoke volumes to Weiss’ reputation and abilities. “I’m part of the Seigel family. We’ve been for-hire historians for generations. Most noble families have their own personal historians. We’re the people that others call in when they need outside eyes. Queen Maryam said even your best were having trouble, so she called me in.” Weiss sighed. “I might need to go get my magic, though; I can’t seem to make any further headway that even your own best could.” “What sort of magic would that be?” Blake had been groomed to control the weather all her life even though she wanted nothing to do with it. She was far more interested in the soul. Being able to make teleportation jewelry or teibasi was what she really wanted to do, but the queen wasn’t pleased by it. At all. She was a prodigy with everything, so she ought to get her magic younger than most… “It’s pretty common in my family to get past vision. Basically, we can touch objects and see their past. It’ll be a last resort, though. I’d rather see if I can make headway the normal way first.” Weiss folded her arms and sighed, her container now empty. Blake wasn’t far behind on that front either. Both of them were clearly starving. Maybe she should get them double orders from now on. But of them clearly weren’t getting enough food. “I see. I want soul magic.” Sadly, that would be overseen. Though something did hit her. She was on her Peregrination. If she could find an Order Fountain, she could get the magic she wanted. Nobody would be able to stop her. Chandra might try to stop her, but it wasn’t like that type of magic could really be used to bad ends… “Anyway, I should get back to work. Thanks for the food.” Weiss handed the container back to her and handed it back to Blake. “No problem. See you tomorrow?” Weiss nodded and Blake left. She returned to the own and got Kalena settled in her mews for the night. She headed to her little hideaway and started working on her spice guide. Once darkness fell, she headed to bed and fell asleep.