Count On Me (Don't Tear Me Down)

This chapter could've been much longer but I put it out of its misery.

***

The absolutely labyrinthine castle boggled Sienna's mind. "Why do you guys need this much space to live in?" Why not just a tent? That provided more than enough protection from most of the elements? She did understand that houses were generally better at retaining warmth and such, but this amount of space to live and everything... It just made no sense to her. Why cut so many stones? Why were there so many fortifications? Were they expecting an attack? "It's just the way it is for most nobles," Sun explained. "Wars happen quite a lot, so if we're ever put under siege, we need to be able to defend ourselves. Castles were often fortifications first, then comfortable later, but as of recent, it's more just about comfort. But it still maintains the necessary fortifications just in case something were to happen and somebody were to attack. We can't just do that in a wooden structure. NEeds to be stone to withstand siege." "Siege?" She had never heard that word before. "Basically when the enemy locks you down and forces you to stay inside without anyway to access the outside. It's an entire mode of warfare with its own tactics and such." "Huh." She was apparently going to have a lot of learning to do... She doubted she'd ever truly need to understand the tactics behind siege warfare... It did sound pretty scary though. Not being able to go outside of one small area? She would die. She frowned as she further thought about it. She..wasn't going to be able to leave this castle most likely. She was so used to wandering where she wanted and leaving camp for days at a time to go find herbs or other necessities for her people. Sun shrugged. "There at least haven been any major sieges in recent memory...but they could always happen again. If an enemy nation feels like we've wronged them somehow, they could easily come here and make their point very clear." Sienna felt Yang's aura drop along with her stomach churning. She didn't really understand the politics of this so she couldn't really make much sense of Yang's feelings. Worries of betrayal, anger, and vengeance toward where they were currently... She didn't really get it. They headed out of the main castle to a smaller free-standing building which they entered. Sienna could smell the bolts of the cloth and hear the furious working of needles. "What do you want now?" a woman asked. "Sienna here needs clothes. She's part of Yang's entourage and it won't do well to have her not look good. So you better make her look good," Sun threatened. The women's souls dropped and they nodded. One woman invited Sienna over and asked her what style she wanted. "Uh... I have no idea. I'm...not from around here." She was clearly wearing someone else's clothing and she knew nothing about the styles of the land. This was the first time she'd ever interacted with nobility and such... She really didn't know what the other woman expected of her. "Whatever you think I'd look good in." The woman sighed but nodded. They took Sienna's measurements then sent her on her way. They said it'd be done in a couple of days. But Sienna looked down at her feet... "I'm used to walking around barefoot or wearing moccasins." Nothing that truly offered protection to the feet. She was used to being in constant contact with the earth and feeling every stone, twig, and puff of dirt. "Let's go to the cobbler then," Sun said. They headed to another building where something similar happened, but for her feet. The man said to give him a few hours to at least put some sandals together for her and she nodded. It probably isn't what 'polite society' wanted for shoes but Weiss was in a similar predicament. And it was decently warm, so it wasn't like they had to worry about snowfall anymore... Spring, yes, but far enough in that snow was more likely to be rare. "So...what now?" Sienna asked after they got all of that done. "Could we go to the tannery? I could probably whip myself up an outfit by today's end if you give me supplies." "I guess so." Sun shrugged. "It'll look bad by our standards, but I don't really care. You're supposed to be a slave after all." Sienna nodded, her ears flicking back. He clearly did care about her, at least. He was telling them to make things for her that would probably be of noble quality or at least better quality than most servants had. They were pretty standard for what she'd seen when meeting peasants... Su and Yang's clothes were much nicer than anything she'd worn. Though Yang's clothes hung off her in awkward ways. Even one properly fitting outfit would be better than a million ill-fitting ones. They went to the tannery and talked to the owner. After some back and forth, he gave her the exact sort of leather she needed for an outfit she was used to. With that, they headed back to Yang's room where Sienna settled down with the necessary supplies. By this point, it was starting to get into early afternoon. "Yang, would you like to have that tea we talked about?" Weiss asked. "Um, sure, I guess," Yang said, then looked at Sun. "Would that be okay...?" Sun grinned, his tail curling a bit. "Of course! No need to be so worried. I'll sit outside the room while you ladies talk. You wanna join, Sienna?" She shook her head. "I need to focus on this." Sun nodded. "All right then. Let's go, ladies!" With that, they left the room and Sienna was alone.

≈

"This should be fun!" Weiss clapped her hands together as she looked at Yang and Sun. She had never had tea or anything like that before. She really had no idea what it would taste like. It wasn't like mermaids really drank things. They lived in water all the time. Trying to flavor water then drink it wouldn't work out too well... She was still getting used to how things just didn't float when they had the proper buoyancy to do so... It was odd to have to actively set things down. Mermaids also enchanted things to have certain buoyancies in order to have them float and be useful. They at least didn't eat with just their hands like uncouth savages… "Um, yeah." Yang's soul was incredibly subdued and she pulled away from Weiss a bit. She didn't really get why Yang was so down all the time... Her soul did reveal that she'd been through hell. There was heavy scarring around the aura spark which meant severe trust issues. What was wrong with her? It was so hard to know. Yang's soul was very quiet, rarely having much thought or activity outside of when she was actively engaged with someone else. It hurt to see someone so downtrodden... Hopefully they could build her up in time. "I've never had tea before. What's it like?" She looked at Yang with a smile, trying to start up a conversation. She was trying to engage her since she so obviously needed a friend or two. Yeah, this entire fake engagement was kind of dumb, but she really did hope to befriend Yang. She seemed really nice despite how utterly downtrodden she was. She at least to be trusting Sun to some degree which was nice… “Um... It's nice especially when it's cold outside. Some people call it hot leaf juice but...it really is nice. There are so many different flavors, basically endless. Some make you feel a little jittery, other types don't. It just depends on what type you have. Those that come from the actual tea plant in tropical regions give you a boost. Herbal teas don't." "What's the difference?" She didn't entirely understand what Yang was getting at. Jittery? A boost? What did she mean? Yang shrugged. "There's just something in the tea plant proper that can make you jittery and give you more energy that most herbal teas can't produce. White, black, and green teas come from the actual tea plant. Herbal teas are everything else. I like a lot of fruit-based tea and only drink black, white, or green in the mornings because it affects my sleep if I have them too late in the day. It's still morning now, so we can have some of those teas. We'll have to keep the cups small, though. You'll only want a few sips of any given cup because of whatever it is that makes you jittery." This was way too vague for Weiss' liking, but she wasn't sure how else to probe for answers... It wasn't like Yang most likely knew what went into the tea leaves themselves. "Okay." She wondered if there was a specific something in the leaves of the tea plant that did that. Herbal teas wouldn't do that for some reason. She really didn't get it. "There are some really nice varieties..." She frowned. "I really wish I could've brought some from home. We had some truly wonderful types that we probably can't get here." "Well don't worry 'bout it too much. Since we're here on the coast, we get a lotta imports and have tons of different types of tea," Sun put in. Yang looked up at him and nodded a bit. Yeah ,that was true. Being on the coast meant they could easily import and export a lot of things that wouldn't come in otherwise... Sadly, a lot of those ships could and often did attempt to hunt mermaids... She hated it. How were people so cruel? They were just trying to live their lives! It wasn't their fault the music magic they used drew people in. "Hopefully you can find a new favorite blend here." "Hopefully..." Yang said. Weiss really couldn't help but feel bad for her. Whatever she'd been through... Obviously way too much pain and suffering. She hoped they could become friends. Weiss really needed somebody to support her. Sienna seemed willing to try to help and support Yang as well which was good. Though... With what Sun had said about warfare, she wasn't sure if trying to break off the engagement was a good idea or not. They arrived at Sun's room and he let them in. "Should I send your manservant to go brew the tea or should I go do it myself?" he asked. "Johnathan knows how to brew tea really well. Have you ever brewed it yourself?" Yang asked. Sun shook his head. "Nope. I've learned to cook some basic meals, but never brewed tea." "Let Johnathan do it then. Give him a kettle and some water and have him come back up here." Sun nodded and closed the door, leaving Yang and Weiss alone. Weiss sat at the table and Yang sat on the other side. "Um... What's being a mermaid like...? What's it like underwater? I've never seen the ocean before." Weiss blinked. "Well... It can be good and it can be bad like anything else I suppose. I have some really bad step siblings after my mother was forced to remarry... They...aren't really kind, so I spend a lot of time away from home. I'm a princess, but I'll probably never take the throne, not with my older sister being who she is." Winter was great and loved her a lot, but yeah, there was likely no real chance of Weiss ever taking over the throne. "So I've learned a lot of other skills. I've learned how to make rope, build homes, magic, and a bunch of other stuff. Do you have any skills?" Yang frowned. "Not really unless you count needlework...?" "What's needlework?" She sincerely had no idea. "Making patterns on fabric with a needle." "Ohhh I think I know what you're talking about." Mermaids didn't wear a lot of cloth because it caused severe drag, but some did like embroidering their tops with designs. She hadn't hoped for that since it just didn't appeal to her. The main reason mermaids (even men) wore tops was because it offended shore-dwellers to see naked breasts. They didn't seem to think of it as such a big deal for men, but it was best to just have everyone cover up for the sake of the land dwellers. That way nobody would ever get offended. The cloth did cause drag, but it was so little that it wasn't too severe. It was land cloth which they had to trade and haggle for. Tops made from underwater plants tended to lose strength and cohesion when exposed to air for too long... It was why she'd had to give up her gemstones. The seaweed ropes lost strength and everything when exposed to air and dried. Mermaid materials were strong underwater, not above it. Yang nodded. "I can dance too..." "What's dance?" "Um, when you move with a partner to music. Sometimes people dance by themselves, but it's usually with a partner. At least how I'm more used to it..." "We move to music underwater and use it in weaving spells, but we don't call it dance." Maybe it was something to do with having feet... She couldn't be sure about that. They could flip, twirl, spiral, and so much more underwater, but they didn't call it dance. "Maybe you could show me a dance sometime?" She was curious. There were so many things that land dwellers did that she simply didn't understand. "Um sure. I could teach you some dances from Efrana..." Yang shifted a bit. "Yours sounds close enough to dance... Maybe you could teach me too?" "I'm not sure how to move with feet like how a mermaid moves..." She wasn't against it, but she wasn't exactly sure how to mimic the movements. Plus... Underwater had a lot more ways to move compared to on land. She really wasn't sure how to translate those movements over to being on land. It was really hard to think and translate things. She still wasn't even used to things not floating yet! She would probably break more than one cup or glass before this entire thing was over with. She was trying, but it was a lot to adapt to. Granted, Yang seemed to be having just as hard a time adapting as she was, though in different ways. Whatever this Efrana place was clearly wasn't good to its women if she was this downtrodden and destroyed. "But I can try!" "Okay." Yang offered a small, shy smile and Weiss returned it with a much brighter, warmer one. She felt so bad for Yang. She clearly hadn't been treated well at all. She hoped they could turn that around. She really hoped she wouldn't be sent back to Efrana... She clearly wouldn't do well if sent back. She wanted to stop Sun's marriage to her, but would they really be able to stop the marriage? She knew that mermaid settlements could and would go to war if certain arranged marriages didn't go through for whatever reason. Marriages were important to keeping alliances strong… They were quiet for a bit until Johnathan returned. He bore a tray with a couple oddly thick cups with strange round parts attached and a bunch of little tins. He also had something that was clearly meant to hang, but she wasn't sure where that went. He went over to a pit and threw some logs on it, then took some strange black stuff and some metal and struck them together. "What's he doing?" Weiss asked Yang. "Making a fire? Is that so confusing for you?" Yang asked. "I've never seen anything like it before." She saw strange sparks of light fly off the metal and land on the wood. Soon, something reddish-orange emitted from the loose strips of paper and brush and he poked at it with a metal stick from a stand off to the side. "Why can't he touch it with his hands?" She was so confused. She had never seen anything like this before. "It's hot. You can't touch fire directly without being burned pretty severely. Though we need to wait a bit for the fire to really build up... He needs to get it to a moderate flame before he can start boiling the water." Weiss stared in confusion and wonder as the fire slowly grew. The room was definitely warming up as it grew. "It's like a sun indoors..." Wow. Humans had command of a mini sun? That was insane! Why had Sun never told her about this? It didn't make any sense. It was amazing! "Why isn't there fire underwater?" "Water puts fire out. So you can't have it underwater." That...would make some sense, she supposed. It was like a lot of surface things; it just didn't survive well if at all underwater. Paper didn't survive in the slightest. It completely disintegrated when exposed to water for too long. She'd found books from shipwrecks and had tried to bring them underwater, but they just turned to nasty pulp and the ink smeared the water in an unpleasant way. It was like squid and octopus ink but even more noxious somehow. It was really nasty to deal with surface-made inks underwater. There were some nasty chemicals in them that made it hard for her to breathe when she was underwater. "I guess I get it. I just can't believe Sun never told me about this." Then again, he never stayed out more than during daylight hours. This produced light and heat. In the warmer seasons, he wouldn't need it unless it was at night when it was cooler. But she was pretty much immune to temperature fluctuations due to her various crystals. Though...they weren't on her anymore. She was feeling the temperature fluctuations now... It wasn't really nice. She hoped she would have them back soon. She didn't like being cold or too hot. And the room was definitely getting rather warm. "What's that's thing he's putting over the fire?" "It's a kettle. Tea is better when it's hot." Yang frowned. "Are you familiar with different temperatures of drinks?" Weiss shook her head. "Nope! Mermaids don't really drink unless they're up on land." They were in the water all the time. Why would they need to drink anything? "You'll have to let the tea cool down before you drink it. If you drink it while it's still boiling, you'll burn your mouth." Weiss frowned a bit but nodded. Again, that made sense. Too much heat could definitely cause issues. She was used to the sun getting quite warm often while she was up on land. The water was usually cooler than the ambient air temperature, so she did prefer to stay in the water when talking to Sun. She often ended up with nasty burns on her arms because she wasn't protected from the sun's rays as much as she was when underneath the waves. It always hurt when she had those nasty burns from the sun. And with her immune to feeling temperatures, she didn't realise it until it was much, much too late… "Okay. I understand." She didn't want to burn her mouth. She wasn't much of a healer so she couldn't heal the damage that would come from having too-hot drinks. She would listen to Yang's advice and make sure she wouldn't do that. She honestly felt like such a child right now... She had no idea about anything that was going on above land. Sun hadn't taught her much about life above the waves... But she'd also never really asked too many questions. Their relationship was more about being there for each other than exchanging drivel details about life above land and below the sea. He asked some questions, but she had barely asked any. She was curious, of course, but she had had no desire to go above land, at least beyond meeting Sun on the shore of the beach. Even then, she usually stayed in the water. "Is there anything you'd like to know about mermaids?" Maybe get something going conversation-wise… Yang frowned. "I don't know anything about them. I don't know what questions to ask." Well, that was a bust. She was trying. She just...wasn't really sure how to hold a conversation with Yang. Weiss was curious, but she felt like asking about what had happened to her when they'd only just met was a bad idea. Was Yang not curious about the world at all? "Are you...not curious about the world at all?" She felt like she was broaching some unspoken line, but she needed to know. Some people could just be bad at questions. She'd run into plenty of mermaids that just didn't understand how to ask questions. They were curious, but they just didn't know how to ask questions or not. Yang frowned. "A good woman isn't supposed to ask questions." Weiss grimaced. Yeah, whoever had hurt Yang deserved to die in a gruesome way. Preferably the same way a lot of sailors treated mermaids: cut open from the sternum to the end of the tail. People were supposed to be curious creatures, regardless of race. Why beat the curiosity out of somebody? It didn't make any sense! She was curious about so much of the world and the water outside the waves now that she was in it. It was so interesting! She hadn't thought much about it before, but now that she saw things, it only enticed her thoughts and tickled her imagination to think about how things worked and to find out how they worked. "Maybe where you're from, but you're not there anymore. If you want to ask questions, you can. You're allowed to do things here that you weren't allowed to there." Yang looked taken aback by that. "Like reading! You can learn to read. Why not think about asking questions?" "I...didn’t think about it like that," Yang admittedly quietly. Her gaze was down on the table, her hands squeezed together in her lap. "Are...you willing to answer things about how you live...?" Weiss smiled and nodded. "Yup! Totally! Just...not about my family is all." She didn't want to talk about her damnable family... She loved her mother and sister, but her step-siblings were terrible. Along with her step-father. They treated her so poorly she would rather take her chances up here on land with Sun's parents than go back. It did feel pretty bad to be under constant watch, but it wasn't like she hated Sun for this... It was unexpected and confusing, but she wanted to help him be happy if at all possible. "Um, okay then... How do you guys live?" "Well, that depends. Do you mean on a family level or a community level?" She wasn't trying to admonish Yang for asking questions. This one could just be interpreted multiple different ways. It was very broad. She was just trying to help Yang narrow down the meaning was all so that way she could adequately answer. "Um... I'm not sure?" "I can answer both them." Not the answer she wanted, but she could respect it regardless. Yang was new at this so she couldn't be too frustrated or angry. She was trying to make this as easy for her as possible... She didn't want to upset her more than she already was. It was about then that Johnathan put two mugs down and bowed. Yang smiled a bit. "Thank you. It should be cool enough to drink now, Weiss." Weiss nodded and took a sip from it, her eyes widening. "Woah... This is good..." She'd never tasted anything like it before. It was fruity, sweet, and mild with some floral notes in it. She was beyond impressed. She now wondered why she had never come further up onto land and had a tea tasting or something like this before. Sun had been holding out on her with all these goodies! And this was just the first one too! She was really looking forward to more. This was really good. She wanted more. “It’s not a bad blend at least…” Yang said. “Not my favorite.” “I like it!” Weiss beamed. It tasted reallygood to her. “It’s floral and sweet and fruity.” She really liked it. She’d never tasted flowers before, but she’d smelled them coming from the forest before. It tasted a lot like how those scents smelled. She wasn’t sure how exactly to explain how she knew something was floral. Underwater things didn’t really bloom because there was no point in it. Sun had brought her fruits from the unicorn forest before too, so she knew what a lot of different fruits tasted like. She could definitely taste some of those in here, though she couldn’t quite pinpoint which ones were in the mix. “Have you ever been to a unicorn forest before?” Yang shook her head. “No… Why do you ask?” “I think a lot of the fruits in here come from the unicorn forest that’s between here and the ocean. Sun brings me fruit a lot when he visits, so I know what a lot of them taste like. I can pinpoint which ones are in here, but they’re definitely dried fruit pieces from the unicorn forest.” “I see… I’ve never been away from my home castle before this. I was never allowed outside.” Weiss frowned at that. “That’s really sad… We’ll have to visit Moonstone sometime. She’s Sun’s friend and I’m sure she’d be yours too.” She didn’t really know Moonstone but Sun did talk about her quite a bit. They apparently got along pretty well. She’d have to get to know Moonstone as well. If she was going to go through at least once a week to make sure she did diefrom being on land too much, she’d have to get to know Moonstone. But the unicorn seemed pretty gracious as long as someone wasn’t being aggressive or angry toward her. “That…sounds scary. How far is it?” “It’s only about an hour walk between the shore and the castle. So not too far at least.” Granted, Weiss had never been too far from home either. But she was able to travel to and fro in her town whenever she wanted. She could buy goods she wanted or needed whenever she wanted or needed them. She was really good friends with a lot of the vendors in her hometown since she spent so much time out and about… She wondered if she’d be able to befriend people like that here. But Sun’s parents would attempt to kill her if she was without supervision. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to go out into town by herself or not… She’d have to ask Sun about it specifically. Though she couldn’t go without decent clothes. Yang practically wanted to burst when she saw Weiss! “I’ve never had to walk too long or too far…” “Yeah, it hurts a lot. Especially if you don’t have anything on your feet.” The forest was terribly uncomfortable compared to the beach. Rocks, twigs, and the ground was just overall a lot harder. She really didn’t like walking in the forest without shoes on. She was keeping her sandals on in the castle just because the ground was hard. She wanted a cushion between her feet and the ground even if it wasn’t a lot. Even the thinner strip of leather was better than nothing in her mind. Some of the rooms had carpet in them, but those were the individual rooms. It wasn’t the entire castle. Sun’s room had carpet which was definitely nice… “I’ve never walked barefoot outside of my room in my life.” “Well, I didn’t even really understand shoes were a thing until I went past the beach. I mean I had seen them on Sun’s feet, but there’s a difference between seeing something and intellectually understanding you need something for yourself to keep yourself protected.” She hadn’t really understood what shoes were for until she’d been in the forest. She wasn’t stupid; she had just never gone past the beach before in her life until now. She was pretty sure most other mermaids wouldn’t understand what shoes were for either… Most never came up on land aside from the beach, if they ever came up to the shore at all ever. Weiss just had an incredibly curious mind and wanted to know more. She felt stupid for not asking more questions about life above the sea earlier though… Now she was having to ask a million questions of those around her. “I guess that makes some level of sense. You can have feet but why bother protecting them if you don’t go past the beach?” Weiss nodded. “Exactly.” She finished her mug and put it down. Johnathan took it and filled the kettle again, putting it over the fire. “I doubt most mermaids have ever even seen shoes, let alone wornthem like I have.” She knew she’d need something better than the leather sandals she currently had. They were just a couple layers of sturdy leather and she could definitely feel uneven ground through them. It was really just enough to help protect her feet from the worst of it, though it didn’t protect them from scrapes from twigs or rocks if they were on the edges of her feet. It was just a hold over until the cobbler could make her proper shoes. “Again, that makes sense… I always have to wear shoes if I’m out of my room. Even then, I’m usually in slippers inside my room.” “Slippers?” “Basically very soft shoes that are meant to keep your feet warm. They may have a sole, but they’re usually lined with fur or something else to keep your feet warm. I’m not supposed to have any hardened skin, so I wear gloves, shoes, and slippers pretty much all the time…” Yang held her hand out and it was incredibly soft. Well, not that Weiss’ was much different. Being royalty, she didn’t need to do much hard labor… She just paid other people to do what she needed them to. So she could definitely relate to Yang on that particular front… But for it to be mandated? That sounded bizarre to her… “Gloves?” Yang held her hands up and wiggled them. “They cover the hands.” Weiss just didn’t know a lot of words for clothing. She knew there were tops and bottoms and such, but that was about it. She really hoped that she wouldn’t have to wear anything as ridiculous as Yang was wearing right now. Even her neck was covered. Pretty much everything was covered aside from her hands and face. How anyone could wear so much clothing and not feel itchy and stuff was beyond her. She just did notget it at all. “How do you wear so much clothing and not feel hot or itchy all the time?” Her top was made of surface-dwelling materials so that way it wouldn’t decay upon going up to the surface and her bottoms were basically magical. They could and would appear whenever she shifted to having legs. She could technically get unlimited skirts if she wanted… But she saw no reason to. One pair was more than enough. She was happy to have what she wore now. It just felt like it’d be so restricting to wear what Yang had on… Yang tilted her head. “Why would that be an issue? It’s what I’ve worn since birth more or less.” “Weird. Though I know I’m going to have to wear more than this once my wardrobe’s done.” Weiss sighed. It was so annoying. She wore minimal clothing because clothing underwater didn’t have a point . But humans got offended if mermaids had naked breasts, so men and women covered up just to stop humans from bitching about it. But apparently, even thatwasn’t good enough for most of the humans… Ugh. “I don’t see how you can wear so little and not be ashamed,” Yang confessed quietly. “Well, Yang, think about it like this. Do you spend any time in the water?” “Only to bathe.” “Doesn’t your hair get wet and heavy?” Weiss’ hair was only about shoulder length which was pretty typical for mermaids. They tended not to go too much longer than shoulder length because of the drag it created. They wore their hair up in eel bodies with ties to stop it from getting in their faces while they swam. Most mermaids, men and women alike, had it pretty close cropped to their head. Weiss just liked having it on the longer side because it felt natural to her. Yang had hair longer than anybody she’d seen before. It was crazy just how long her hair was… Down to her waist. How she took care of it, Weiss could only guess. Yang nodded a bit. “Okay, think about how much drag cloth would create if you were wearing it. It’d get sodden and heavy and drag you down. Plenty of mermaids have stopped humans from drowning because of their heavy clothing dragging them down.” She knew quite a few stories of mermaids that had stopped humans from drowning because they had such long, heavy clothes. Granted, there was only so much they could do if it was in the middle of the ocean… There were floating cities that existed in the open ocean but mermaids couldn’t save the whole crew of a ship sometimes especially in violent waters. Land dwellers died in about three days without access to freshwater. “I guess that makes sense. Cloth does absorb water… I never learned how to swim though.” She frowned. “Wearing anything less than this is absolutely scandalous.” Weiss made a ‘pbbbt’ sound. “How does showing off skin bring scandal? If that’s scandalous, then I’m a walking scandal!” She rolled her eyes. She barely wore anything by human standards. Sun had originally been pretty flustered when he’d seen her after a while, but he eventually got over it. It just didn’t compute. It was skin . Skin was skin. Humans had really weird cultural norms. They found naked breasts offensive even though they were completely natural and served the function of feeding children, and found skin scandalous. She just… It made absolutely no sense to her. How and why these things upset them so much, she really could not comprehend. Why were they so weird about bodies? Mermaids had neverthought that way as far as she was aware. “Um…” She could feel Yang struggling for answers but she was coming up empty. “I… Just because that’s the way it is?” “That’s never a good answer for anything. Question everything. You don’t have to be beholden to norms just because someone a long time ago said it had to be such a way.” Yeah. Mermaids had their traditions, certainly, but if something didn’t hold any meaning or do anything constructive, they could and often did toss those old ideals away so that way they wouldn’t continue to pollute thinking any longer. It just made no sense to her… Why should skin be scandalous? Why should naked breasts be offensive? Mermaids just did not understandwhy land dwellers hung onto such outdated, overbearing principles for the sake of holding onto them. Yang looked down. Weiss leaned across the table and squeezed her hand. “It’s okay if you were never taught to do anything like that… It’s just how mermaids are. Or, at least, that’s how my settlement is. We don’t hold onto harmful beliefs when possible… Some still make it through, but a lot don’t stay on.” She wasn’t trying to guilt Yang into feeling bad. She obviously had never really been taught to think. Weiss couldn’t read or write, but it was just because it had no place underwater. They didn’t have the materials to make books that would last underwater. Human books just tended to turn to mush once exposed to water. She wasn’t sure if any sort of book could be made that would last underwater… “Questioning only got me beaten at home.” Yang’s voice was quiet and Weiss’ heart dropped through her stomach. So she was like Sun in that regard… The duke mercilessly beat Sun just because he had dissenting opinions or thoughts on how he should be treated. That definitely made sense why Yang was so downtrodden all the time. Sun refused to bend or break, but even she could see the effects that the constant beatings had on him… Even she was personally abused, though it was by her step-siblings and not her mother. Her step-father just outright ignored her unless she could be usefulfor him in some shape, way, or fashion. “I’m so sorry.” Yang wrapped her arms around herself and looked down. “...Do you want to go back to your room?” Yang nodded and Weiss looked at Johnathan. The man nodded and walked over, taking Yang’s hand and leading her out of Sun’s room. Predictably, he came in a moment later and he looked at Weiss. “What happened?” “She’s abused like you are,” Weiss said quietly. Sun frowned, concern flaring in his soul. “That…certainly would explain a lot. Would you like to keep tasting tea or have me send it back to the kitchens?” A number of small tins sat on the floor on a tray, the kettle still warming the water inside. “I’d prefer to have it with Yang.” Sun nodded and took the kettle off, setting it on the bricks before tossing the water over the fire and smothering it as best he could. The temperature in the room dropped quite a bit and Weiss wiped her brow. She hadn’t realised how warm she had gotten from the fire being going like that. “Yeah, we don’t tend to use the fire too much now… It can still get chilly occasionally, but we tend to not use it once it gets to early, mid spring. We’re in early spring right now. It still gets chilly at night, but not usually enough to get to the point we feel the need to the fire. Blankets can usually keep us warm enough.” Sun picked up the tray with the teas and went out to the hallway, no doubt giving it to a servant. He came back a moment later and flopped on his bed. “This is going to be a mess of a situation… Yang’s been abused. I’m abused. I can only imagine whatmy father will do if he finds out that they use beatings to keep her in line…” He shook his head. Yang took her sandals off and laid down on the bed next to Sun, nuzzling into him. “We need to keep an eye on her, but I get the feeling she’s always had someone watching over her… I don’t want to infringe on her privacy but…” He nodded. “It’s a fine line to walk. We want to make sure she’s safe, but we don’t want to make her feeling like she’s being surveilled at all hours. I wonder if we could get that Jonathan guy to help or not… Or maybe Sienna would be willing to help us make sure she’s fine.” “Maybe… We’ll have to ask.” Johnathan seemed a man of few words. So far, she’d not heard him speak outside of when Yang was conferring a message. She wondered what his story was now… What was the bond they shared? Why was Yang so unused to talking to people? Why did he have to be middleman so often? Whatever Efrana was, it was messed up. Nobody should be thatbeaten down. And to be put to death simply for teaching a woman to read and write? Education was beyond important so to restrict an important facet of that… She didn’t understand the mentality in Efrana whatsoever… Sun ran a hand over Weiss’ head and she leaned into it. “Anyway, why don’t we rest for a little while? We can worry about all of this later.” Weiss nodded. “That sounds good.” Sun pulled her close and she closed her eyes, snuggling closely into him. He was so warm but not in a way that was overwhelming… He was so gentle at times even if he could be energetic. But he truly just wanted the best for pretty much everyone around him, at least when they were kind…