Chapter 82

82 Surprising But Not

Skye laughed jovially at Peggy’s thoughtful quip. She loved her bairn more than anything, and honestly felt what she’d said. Skye was a kind and honest person. She never treated anyone badly, even if they were rude or cruel to her.

Until the night Tidas had offered to take Skye’s punishment, truthfully; Peggy did not like him. He was constantly picking on Skye, sometimes harshly. She figured he’d turn out like most men did; arrogant and controlling towards their women. But the prince had grown into a man worthy of Peggy’s greatest treasure: Skye.

“Ima so excited, Peg! Ye have no idea! Come! I shall greet me parents, then I must show ye! Please have everything in and on the stagecoach brought to me room.. You’ll never believe it! ‘Tis incredible!” Skye ran off in a whirlwind.

“Aye, my lady! Just slow down! ‘Tis nighttime, and yer bound to trip if yer not careful!” Peggy chided after Skye was nearly to her parents and husband.

Skye looked at her father, but veered to her mother with open arms instead. Lucas had noticed the odd look in his daughter’s eyes, but didn’t think anything was amiss. Tidas yelled inwardly about his father-in-law’s ineptitude. The man was a good person, just not always perceptive of the feelings of those closest to him. Tidas decided it would be best to warn Lucas of his impending interrogation, or risk greater damage to his wife’s heart.

Skye talked with her mother for a few moments before she looked around, then asked; “Where’s Maevis and Nicolas?”

The question was met with uneasy features by anyone she looked at. Her father cleared his throat and explained that they’d received a message from their queen. They were currently discussing it in her room, as they’d expected that to be the first place Skye would go, once she’d returned and dealt with her meet and greets.

“Why don’t you go and see them while I tell your parents a little bit about our adventure? I’ll save the Dragonhorn part for you, Eir,” Tidas smirked, then kissed the top of his wife’s head after he’d finished speaking.

“Aye, I can do that. It’ll give Peg time to set up a bath for me,” Skye replied.

.....

After Peggy finished directing a few of the servants, she walked over to the group and stated; “I sent some of the footmen to start heatin’ the water for yer bath as soon as I heard ye comin’ down the road.”

“Of course you did,” Tidas said under his breath.

Best

Peggy hadn’t heard his words, but she’d caught his tone. As the old woman faced the prince, a cold shiver ran up his spine. She placed her hand on her hips and grinned mischievously at him. Tidas straighten his back and quickly apologized to her. Her smile growing; Peggy took a single step towards the prince and spoke in a flat tone.

“I look forward to servin’ ye and me lady for many, many years, me prince.. Cleaning yer clothes, freshening yer pillow, and most importantly: helpin’ to Cook yer meals... Can’t trust that to just anyone; ye might get poisoned...”

Peggy had locked eyes with the prince as she’d spoken. Tidas didn’t think she’d really poison him, but the look in her eyes made him question his certainty on the matter. He felt like an ant under a magnifying glass as she glared him into submission. Skye laughed at the constant banter between the two she loved most in the world, before breaking them up.

“Stop torturing me husband and come along, Peg. I have Much to discuss with everyone, and am in desperate need of a real cleaning,” Skye was already walking towards the main doors to the castle when her husband called out to her.

“Are you saying I didn’t do a good enough job?!” Tidas chuckled slightly as he joked with his wife.

“Aye! Sorry love, but yer fired from that particular job!” Skye countered; making Tidas’ laughter grow as she disappeared into the castle.

After Peggy followed, the prince turned to Lidia and asked; “Does Lucas ever realize when a woman is mad at him?”

Lidia turned to Lucas and locked eyes with him as she replied to Tidas; “Not until he’s being screamed at, normally. Although, throwing something at him usually gets his attention..”

Tidas chuckled before asking; “How the bloody hell does he not notice after that?!”

Still maintaining eye contact with her now-squirmy husband, Lidia replied; “Depends on how good my aim is that day..”

As soon as Skye entered her room, she was warmly greeted by Maevis and Nicolas. They’d been sitting on the doll furniture that they’d used the night of her wedding. It had been set up on her vanity table, next to her brush and things. Skye was happy to see them, but their expressions turned almost panic-like as they fluttered over to her.

When Skye asked what was wrong, Maevis looked to Nicolas a second, then replied; “The Queen wishes to meet you before we head to the capital.. She’ll be here some time mid-afternoon, tomorrow.”

“Oh.. Is that a bad thing? I’d like to apologize for swattin’ her, and actually meet her as well! Officially, I mean... The first time doesn’t count, since she was unconscious,” Skye added with a nervous grin.

The two elder Fae shared a worried look. They knew Skye was just joking, but the situation made it difficult to be humorous. Their queen was a very kind person, similar to Skye. Aero, on the other hand; was generally against humans. Maevis and Nicolas needed to prepare Skye for the King Consort’s expected opposition.

“I’m sure she’s anxious to meet you, too. But Aero doesn’t like humans.. He doesn’t think we should expose ourselves to the ‘eventual cruelty’ that all Fae suffer from humans; in his opinion,” Nicolas had fluttered over to hover directly in front of Skye as he’d made his case.

“Aye, humans can be cruel.. But we can also be compassionate, when we want to be,” Skye replied as footmen knocked on her open door, and carried in the trunk from the coach.

After setting the trunk down, the footmen asked if there was anything else their lady needed. When Skye declined, they checked if the tubs for her bath were taken care of, and then left to get the bundles of leather. After the temporary interruption was finished, the three continued to talk as Peggy buzzed about between the room and her closet.

“When the Queen comes, you must do your best not to antagonize Aero. He is the King Consort.. And as good of a person as Celestia is, she will side with her husband; if he is utterly opposed to our plan,” Maevis partially chided Skye as the lass walked over to the large trunk that the footmen had brought up.

As she opened the lid, Skye retorted; “So long as he isn’t openly rude to me and mine, I think it’ll turn out fine..”

Peggy had come out of the closet door to inform Skye that her bath was ready when she saw the lass picking up a spherical, shiny black rock from the trunk. She didn’t think anything of it at first, until she saw her lady cradling it like a child. When Maevis and Nicolas mouths dropped open at the sight of it, she finally asked; “What’s with the shiny ball? It looks like a piece of the gate from Dragonhorn-”

“WHERE DID YOU FIND A DRAGON’S EGG?!” the two elder Fae yelled out in unison, startling their human friends.

Skye smiled cheerfully at them before replying; “At the Real DragonSnare Cottage! Tidas and I were, Umm.. Exploring.. And I fell through a hole in the ground! Long story short; we have journals made by a man named Roland Snare-”

Nicolas nearly fell out of the air at the name. He knew the history behind Dragonhorn, but not many details. It was something the Empress has discussed with him over the years. But he Never thought to have a chance to see a real dragon! Well, other than a Wyvern.

Being a Tamer, Nicolas had researched as many animals, creatures, and Fae as he could’ve. Like Zas, Fae can recognize others, but they don’t automatically know the species or intent. That knowledge was only completely known by one person: the Fae Empress.

“Snare?! That means that this egg came from Lazarus?!” Nicolas hovered closer to the egg, and stared at it in wonder.

“Aye, but Ima surprised ye know of him. Not much is.. But I’ve been slightly obsessed with the gates around Dragonhorn since childhood. Tidas remembered that and planned our honeymoon around it,” Skye blushed prettily and beamed her joy as she continued.

“He’d done research and discovered the skull of Lazarus. I was admiring it when I fell into a cave that had the real DragonSnare Cottage in it!”

Skye explained most of the events that lead them to discovering Zazzy. Maevis had given Nicolas a panicked expression. He knew what she had deduced; that Skye might be tapping into a Tamer trait. However, Nicolas shook his head in quiet disagreement.

Dragons weren’t like any other animals. Tamers could control some low level Fae with Takeover, or the two parties could willingly create a companion bond. Dragons have far greater magic than any existing Fae; except for the Queen and the Empress. The only way a bond could even be made between a Tamer and a dragon was if the dragon deemed the human worthy.

Nicolas placed his hand on the egg, and sent a small amount of magic to it. In a fraction of a second after he’d done so, Nicolas was sent flying through the air by a magical shockwave. He bounced off of the back of the small couch that sat in Skye’s room, facing the large, newly repaired window. The back wasn’t nearly as cushioned as the front, but enough to break his fall instead of his bones.

The old Fae slid across the floor, landing fairly close to Skye’s feet. When she bent down to see if he was ok, he’d begun to laugh almost hysterically. Maevis and Skye shared a worried looking before looking back down at jolly old Nic. After partially catching his breath, Nicolas sat up and said; “I’m fine, I’m fine, hahaha! She just thought I was trying to hurt her mother..”