Nineteen

Generally, as I would come to learn in greater detail in the coming years, Kingdom laws tended to be relatively open and lax, outside certain things - such as the crown's authority and control, and tax laws - and succession was no different. The Kingdom of Vale only had a few rules to control the gist of nobility and land passage through the generations. First, the passer and receiver had to be bound by blood - or by a contract of some kind that the Crown recognized in its authority - and second, the internal traditions of the house or line could not contradict or rebel against the interests of the Crown or the Church.

Vague as these were, they did their job - the Crown and Church kept things controlled and moving, and without cumbersome, chafingly controlling and invasive controls levied onto the nobility and general aristocracy beyond it.

However, with these freedoms came a tapestry of family lines, family traditions, and trials of succession. This bred complicated layers of pomp, politics, wealth and, ultimately, blood, all in varying degrees. Some simply allotted it to votes, while others based it upon wealth and even more staked it on military or economic accomplishments. Campaigns, new mines, business deals, and more. Even these complicated webs held their own nuances, their own exceptions and back dealings.

But the Arcs were simple…

The oldest son, or daughter ifa son was lacking, inherited and ruled. And any who challenged could only do so one way. A way which made the importance of blood all the more direct…

XxX----XxX----XxX

Jaune sat at the edge of the raised dais in the Great Hall with his hammer and borrowed shield laid out on the platform beside him and Ruby looming over him from behind him, holding his head down and to the side at an uncomfortable angle while she worked. She had a bowl of some kind of fetid smelling, sticky white goop in one hand and used the other to gently dollop it onto the gash curving along the edge of his brow and around the side of his head, to just past and over his ear. She'd said she was cleaning it and protecting against infections with some solution or remedy her father had taught her.

He trusted her that far, but… Whatever it was stung worse than getting the cut had, somehow.

"Hold still, Dummy." She hissed, yanking his head back into place when she hit something sensitive and he flinched. He heard the door open but Ruby spoke over it, "Honestly, why are soldiers always such wusses when it comes to medicine?"

"Cam't say I know." He chuckled tightly, "The door?"

"It's her." Ruby explained, "You are sister, I mean."

"Ah." He hummed, ressistin the instinctive urge to correct her, as he always had to. Quietly, instead, he asked, "Wait, just her?"

"Mhm."

"A-Alright." Was that good? Or was it bad? He couldn't even begin to guess, and that left him more than a little anxious. "Finish up, then."

"B-But, I-"

"I have to talk to her, Ruby." He pressed gently, "Privately. It's important."

"Oh…" He could practically feel the disappointment in her words, and definitely could feel it in the way her hands pulled the bandage around his head. Before he could say anything, though, she hummed and grunted a quiet, "Okay then."

He could tell she was upset, but…

Well, he'd just have to deal with it later.

After a few more quiet moments he felt her finally jerking the knot tight against the back of his head. Then she stood and left, heading towards the main door without so much as a backward glance. She was headed off to help with the rest of the wounded, he supposed. No one was hurt too badly, for the most part - at least, not beyond broken bones and sprains - by virtue of the Grimm tending to leave few survivors when they could. But ruby was a helpful kind of person, the kind that would help however she could, even if it wasn't much.

She was a good person - the kind that brought a little warmth to the day, even as the end of fall chill began to creep in, worse and worse.

He sighed as the door shut and turned to where his 'sister' stood, just off to the side of the dais. Armor gone, she had come dressed in a thick-clothed, but well-enough fitted to still show off just enough of her shape to be attractive without being immodest, blue dress. It was cinched tight at her waist by a thick leather belt studded with little flecks of decorative silver and a loop that a long, thin dagger hung from, its round pommel glinting in the light. Her braid was also done up and studded with little silver pieces, and hung down across her chest comfortably.

He'd never actually seen nobility dress the part, yet and it was…

Pretty.

With Ruby gone, she came back around to stand in front of him and bowed her head gently, "Sir Knight."

"Jaune, please." He said, waving her off when she straightened and her brows furrowed. "If only from family, i would be treated as an equal."

"But you are not."

"Even so."

"It's…" She frowned, "It's rather improper."

"Yes, well, I'm not from high means." He shrugged, "I won't take offense."

"I lack your low birth as an excuse to be uncouth, Brother." She frowned, shaking her head ever so slightly. "I also lack the will to do so, and hope you'll take no offense to my saying it."

"A-Ah…" He frowned, as disappointed as he was embarrassed. He shrugged it off a moment later, but couldn't keep up his act and only managed to say, "Well, alright then, I suppose. If that's how you want it, Sister."

"Thank you, Lord Brother." She said, bowing her head once more and straightening in one gentle motion. "I hope you forgive the offense."

"Don't worry about it." He waved her off, forcing himself to be as pleasant as he could manage. He was sure it came out as off and awkward, but Saphron was at least kind enough to ignore it.

"Then I am pleased that all is well." She smiled, though it was thin, frail and weak. Before he could ask about it, she saiid, "Although I'm afraid I will have to chane that."

"Oh?"

"Have your servants prepare a meal for us." She ordered quietly, gently, as she turned to find a seat. "We have things to… Talk about."

"What sorts of things?" He asked, flicking a look to his servants, who'd been standing just to the side of the main door. At his look they pushed off the wall and set to work and he turned back to his sister. "It sounds important."

"It is." She answered, "We need to discussion succession, Brother. Of our Father."

XxX----XxX----XxX

Within the hour, fresh cuts of pork and mashed potatoes had been cooked and brought out, laid out on the main table on the Great Hall's dais. It was a relatively simple meal, compared to what he'd seen on Tai's tables, but it had been thrown together fairly quickly. And most of the Hall's servants were away, tending to the injured or filling in throughout the village while others kept an eye out for more Grimm.

As they started to eat, Saphron hummed and offered, "Your Chastened are quite dutiful. Well-trained."

"T-Thank you." He murmured, flicking a look to the two Faunus standing back beside the door. They were so distant, a far cry from Ember and how she'd been, that he found himself forming. "They, uh, I didn't teach them anything, personally."

"Most of we nobility do not." The woman chuckled, "The Church breaks them in, reforms them, and then we get them. Ensure their piety and service."

"Ah." He nodded, "I remember reading about that."

"I was told you were studying…"

"As and when I can." He nodded, "I was… Told it was a part of my duties."

"And so it is." Saffron nodded, setting aside her fork for a moment to appraise him more directly. Head bandaged and armor still dirty from the fighting, he was sure he didn't look all that great. But he made an effort to sit straighter regardless, and met her eyes the way he figured a noble ought to. And, after a moment, she chuckled and said, "You… Don't know how to handle this, do you?"

"Handle… What?"

"Dinner with nobility." She answered, chuckling when his brows furrowed in obvious confusion. "Outside your Knights' company, I mean. There, much more is set aside. The nature of a war party. But here, in polite company, it is… Different."

"How?"

"Different standards of decorum apply." She shook her head, "You haven't even provided a proper meal for our first night meeting as kin, my Lord Brother. Meat and some potatoes? Hardly a meal fit for noble enjoyment, or a Great Hall."

"I-I mean…" He shrugged, "The village is under attack. My priority has been its defence and upkeep, not… Nice food."

"A noble would see to both."

"I'm not a noble." He argued, "At least, I wasn't raised as one. I'm a smith's son, blood aside. I'm doing what I can to manage here, but… Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, I suppose. But you'll have to make do. These people need my attention."

"You need more servants." She said, "Trusted ones, and not just Chastened, to delegate tasks to. You've done well doing so with your Knights here, I should add. Very well."

"M-Most of that was Cardin's idea…"

"Ah, yes, Lord Winchester." She pursed her lips, tapping her knife on the side of her plate. "You should know, his father and our sister have been… Somewhat at odds, of late, over a mercantile dispute."

"Really?"

"Mhm." She nodded, "The Church had promised some dozen Chastened to our House, and to Myste directly, as a Mourning Gift for our fallen father. However, Lord Winchester senior made a deal with an official and, well… Appropriated them for use in one of his mines. For Dustlights, predominantly. The slight has not gone over well, and yet, here you have made a Winchester your second."

"I-I thought the Arcs and Winchesters were friendly?"

"Allied, formally." Saffron nodded, "But after this slight, relations are… Chilly. And informally, they are one of our rivals."

"Well…" He frowned and took a drink of the mead he'd been brought to buy him a moment of thought, then shook his head and argued. "Cardin is my Brother. He isn't involved in any of that, and I won't hold it against him. Besides, this is life and death. I can't afford to favor politics when it could very well get my men and I killed."

"Even if it insults your sister?"

"Cardin didn't do it." He repeated, "He's not his father. He's not responsible for his misdeeds."

"To you, maybe."

"Yes, well, I'm in command here." For now, at least, and though he couldn't wait for the others to return, right now, he could use it. "I need Winchester's experience, and his mace, on my side. As I said, lives rest on this. I won't risk them for politics miles and miles away."

"Hmph." She chuckled, "A good Knight does not make a good Lord."

"Maybe not." He agreed, "But if I have to pick one, it will be the one that protects the most lives."

"He speaks like a proper Knight, too." She sighed, easing away from a plate left almost entirely untouched. Almost disturbingly so, in fact - he'd already eaten most of his as it was. "You lack any manners at all, or any idea on how to actually truly play the part of nobility no matter how well you act the part, but… I feel you've a good heart, behind it all."

"I… Do my best." He frowned, "And I'm learning as best I can how to-"

"I wouldn't bother." She shook her head, waving him off. "Those that care about your upbringing will always care, no matter your play at being one of us properly. Those that do not won't. Simple as."

"I suppose…"

"That presumes, of course, that you have to deal with them at all." She went on, "Which… Is what must sour our conversation."

"How so?"

"I am the eldest of the Arc children, as you may or may not know." She began, leaning forward to sip at her own drink - a dark red wine, brought out by her own Chastened when his had brought out his mead. Setting it aside, she rested her elbows on the table and nher chin on her interlaced fingers and went on, "The heiress. Mother wasn't able to conceive after me, so… I have spent my entire life preparing to take over as the head of the Arc household. .Politics, economics, marriage negotiations whenever I find a partner worth considering…"

"And then I came along." He guessed, earning a nod from the woman.

"And then you came along." She sighed, leaning back in her seat and folding her arms across her chest. "Do you even know how succession in our family works, Brother?"

"Not really, no."

"Well…"

XxX----XxX----XxX

"This isn't necessary." He pleaded once more, standing on the dais while his Chastened worked at his armor the way that the 'ceremony' of it all apparently demanded. "None of this is-"

"I told you last evening, Lord Brother, and I tell you again." His sister cut him off, "I will not yield my inheritance. An inheritance I have worked my entire life to prepare for. Knight or not, decent man or not, you are a bastard born. A mark against my House, and an insult against my mother."

"Not an insult I forged!"

"No, admittedly not." The woman said, stepping away from her own servant in her cavalier's armor. She'd traded her long spear out for a shorter one, but lacked a shield, which he still found odd. She did carry a sword as well, though, long and thin, hanging at her waist beside her round-guarded dagger. "But even so, it's an insult that stands. And al that aside, i will not surrender my own birthright."

"Well I don't care for the inheritance!" He argued honestly - he wasn't suited to it anyways. All he wanted was his Knighthood. "This doesn't need to be like-"

"Concession or death." Saphron finally snapped, voice hot for a moment before she let out a breath and calmed. "I refuse the former, and you, First Son, cannot grant it either. So we're forced onto the latter."

"According to what law?!"

"The one written by our great-great-grandfather." She answered, "Best me, and convene the family together, and you may change it. For all the good it will do when your heir simply reinstates it."

"I… Just…" Bile rose up in his throat as his Chastened backed away and joined Spahron's servant, standing politely behind him. He was armored and armed, with his own shield on his arm, but it all felt so suddenly… Heavy. And his head throbbed. Even so, he finally murmured, " Fine… As you will it, Sister."

"It is not my will, brother." She murmured, "It simply is."