Bianca was not used to having her hair down, her locks cascaded all around, she tried making a braid, but she hated how it looked, and in any case, she had read that if she let her hair down she wouldn't call attention to her face.

She wore a new attire, ditching entirely her official clothes for actual pants, a white blouse that had laces to adjust the size, under a spare vest Red had kept around. tons of pockets would sure be useful, and over it all a big flower print coat with an oversized cut, just fit to disappear into.

The shoes she wore hand me downs, rose kept from her mother, a pair of tactical boots that fitted the princess like a glove.

"Remember, the whole town is very..."

"You can always say I'm a far-off cousin."

Bianca smiled.

"Well, I admire the enthusiasm but let's try to reach my dad first."

Red admitted as he headed down the iron gates to knock in.

"Get lost!!

A guttural voice rang.

"Son of the maiden Jean Scharlach, reports."

"Oh, Is it Thursday yet?"

The same voice rang, as multiple clangs and metallic screeches shivered as the gates opened revealing an old man, hair gray, beard bushy but his muscles and body still on it's prime, still as youthful, and probably strong as a bull.

"Red, Ulv, Boys how have you been?"

"Coach Renault, have you seen Red's dad?"

"Yeah, he went up the High Canopy, he might be on his office if you run down to catch him."

"Thanks, bonjour good sir"

"Bonjour to you all. Rose a-and who is this?"

He pointed to the fair-skinned girl.

"Margorie Scharlach, I'm a cousin"

She said smiling.

"Oh, nice meeting you sweetie"

"Come on Marge, dad's waiting."

She waved goodbye and turned to her company, walking down the street to the main road of the city.

The outermost houses were clearly farms, nestled with bushes, crops and fruit trees, pressure balloons floating, some even active generating gentle rain spaces to water the plants, service droids harvesting apples and berries, their rudimentary design practically made them look like a glorified vacuum cleaner.

Along the end of the agricultural district at the end of the village, hay domes made and decorated with ribbons and flowers. Where sigils of the god of seasons were plated and adorned wooden horse carvings with apple slices at their feet, their crisp aroma making the morning feel alive.

Then the houses began to turn into the classic wooden domes, she recognized from all those advertisements about rental homes in far off places, some domes darker, presumably build of mahogany, some brown like chocolate, and then they turned into mossy stone covered by vines, then bricks and ecological plaster from which daffodils, grass and vines sprouted, the rods of the public lamps sustained mini solar panels that twirled continuously at the mercy of the morning winds, collecting kinetic, wind and solar energy all at the same time.

In truth the village was designed to be self-sufficient, walkable and still bustling with life, nearby she peeked at a large building, like an stadium, close by another building like a fort made of stone read the sign "New Gevaudan Academy", then a few department towers overran with plants. Down the street a large building, the main market built like a plaza with various trees seeming to shelter the center and grow up above.

At the center of the town three great sequoia-like trees stood to be seen from miles away, the height of their canopy dotted with a few sprinkled lights, bridges became visible as she approached, and doors and windows answered to her imagination, they had used engineering and woodwork to turn the tree into a functional living space.

All around people swarmed and twirled to their ways of life, come on bicycles, some on carts, horses, all around noise was breathed into the streets, the parks, the bridges at the high canopy. Women, children, men and teens all around in jeans and plaid or camo patterns on their clothing, some with tactical vests, some with discrete mantles of a single color, all around an explosion of languages, cultures, features, hairs puffy and bushy, straight, blonde, on rows or short as a soldier, the huntsmen at the village seemed to come from all the places in Tirallan.

"How are you holding up princess?"

"It's beautiful"

"For now."

Red nudged Ulv with his forearm, grumbling to him.

"How are we going to get to the office?"

"Using our axes to get up."

Bianca panicked.

"Really?"

"No, we have an elevator your majesty."

"Oh. Wait really? is it inside the tree."

"Not exactly."

Rose added, smiling.

She pushed a button at the base of the tree and a large basket-cage descended into the ground landing with a thud.

"Okay."

Bianca tilted her head.

"The trick is to not look down."

Red added with a smile.

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:::

High above, she saw the trees, homes, the market, the edges of the wooden district, the height of the tree impossible to a true native plant, but the wood, the tips like a coniferous pine, this was truly made with genetic manipulation, and through time enchanted to tower over a small skyscraper.

Bianca lost her breath, for the first time not in fear, not in anxiety, but true awe, in true magnificence, the prettiness of the world outside the palace, the true world, felt mesmerizing.

Rose pointed out every house, as if she knew who her friends were and what adventures they had gone to, she recommended shops and market stalls, her smile felt like pride for her home.

Ulv on the other hand had his eyes closed, his knuckles white on a fist, murmuring, then Red held his left hand, instantly the fist came undone and the speed at which he seemed to murmur the numbers slowed bit by bit. She felt a bit jealous, a bit sad, she remembered someone... then it flew out of her mind.

The basket stopped.

They landed on a bridge, large as an alley, made by wood, branches and iron railings covered in ivy and little tree saplings planted into pots.

"This way"

Walking up the railings they came across a grand geometrical post that incorporated the tree with architecture, large windows led a vivid light pour into a quaint office filled with archives, books, and a grand desk were an imposing figure caught the sight of everyone.

Forest Scharlach had coppery-brown skin almost like rust in an axe, his features straight and geometrical, his hair cut short and greasy, black like coal, his shirt a vivid pine-green plaid like a lumberjack, with blue squares, the fit of the shirt made his frame tight, denoting his wide upper half, a grand chest, bulging arms and slim waist, holding to his hips a tactical belt filled with ammo, cartouches, and a two heavy double side axes on his laterals, crafted by hand by the color on the wood.

Forest was handsome, but not the same way of a prince, he had edge, scars on his arms, on his cheek and probably more underneath, the thought of which made the princess blush.

"Hey dad."

"Kids, what are you doing here?"

His voice made her tremble.

"There's someone you might like to meet."

Rose came in hugging her dad and pointed to the girl in the flowery hood.

"Lord Forest, a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

The runaway made a curtsey; smiled and soon the Chief Huntsman opened wide his eyes.

"My... Princess?! What are you doing in my house-erm workplace?"

Bianca sighed and tried to keep her fidgeting at bay.

"Well to be honest that's a lengthy good story, you better find a place to sit I may take a while."

Bianca was instilled from an early age to better be trusty and specific with authority, especially if they were at the helm of public government. A trait no regular person should develop, but in this case a princess, specially of the High crown in the house of Venras, she better not let anything scape.

She talked about her brother the king.

She talked about the mysterious huntsman.

And about the dagger that almost pierced her heart.

Bianca spilled the name, the house of the fox and its emissary.

"Thaumesias."

"You've met before?"

"He is not one to be trusted, but he proved his worth to us, to lady Grey. I can only wish to tell you where he went, but he is gone."

"Two steps forward and three steps back."

The princess resumed.

"There's something else."

Forest nodded to a red glass invite resting on his desk.

Rose held it. The red pigment colored a noisy seal with a sigil, a mighty emblem, not of a royal house as they were commonly used in Bianca's world, the seal was a crescent moon held by a bat roaring into the night sky. The inside of the glass' void filled with a liquid red as blood.

Ulv's arm hairs came up.

"Oh no."

Red croaked.

"The throne of night."

"What do they want?"

Rose asked.

"You"

Forest pointed to the princess.

"Your majesty, the king, still wants you back, and apparently, he is taking up the order to every land, making it everyone's problem, and by the story you told us, he is not the one to be taken so lightly. Queen Agatha Grigori is coming."

"The blood queen? We must go then, Ulv is not safe here."

"She's come to negotiate; she will not be here for more than a couple of days."

Red and Forest' argument went on, while she thought of something. If Raeb had forced the hand of the Stirge, then she would certainly be Persona non-grata in plenty a court, be it Crystalia, Celtegar, Eltheros, she would be hunted no matter what.

"No matter what happens then, our best bet is not to negotiate."

"He wants you dead, he sent an assassin after you."

"We have to hide, and we must find Thaumesias."

"Which is convenient, we have to take Ulv away like... right now."

"What? Why?"

"Well, your highness, long ago here in this lived a man called Van Helsing, who was a very proud Human, so proud was he of his inheritance he began a campaign to end all Mutants."

"A racist?"

"Well yeah, which is the reason why after the end of the diaspora Gevaudan had to make reparations to the Stryx, the Weirmen and the fey, one of said was a series of treaties and concessions that allowed them to have council with our representatives under their own accord but with specific rules."

"I see, and because wolfmen are enemies of the Stryx, Ulv has to hide."

"You're catching up."

Rose nudged the Princess arm.

"I tried my best."

Then it was settled, Bianca needed answers, and she would get to have them once she had survived hiding in the village. Yet first she had to make it out of a full moon with a werewolf, a scarlet clad lad, and a girl with the smell of roses in her hair, surely nothing could go wrong.

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