Chapter 154

154 Royal Tension

Tidas stared his brother down, waiting for him to make a move in his direction. Future king or not, if he raised his blade near Skye for any reason, he’d be dead before his body hit the floor. Everyone that was at the table was on their feet, and approaching the hostile situation with caution. Maevis instantly readied her magic to part the floor, and drop the crowned prince below.

Skye had gripped Zazzy to her chest, and turned her body in a defensive manner before she’d seen Tidas rush to her rescue. As Tidas glanced over his shoulder, he realized that his wife was willing to take a blade to her shoulder to protect the baby dragon. Which he found slightly ridiculous, considering Ralph had swung his blade down on Zazzy full-force, and nothing had happened to her.

One of Magnus MacArthur’s greatest fears was taking form right in front of him. He’d done everything he could to get his sons to get along, but nothing had seemed to work. Now, they were holding blades against each other..

“STOP! RIGHT NOW! I forbid either of you two from moving an inch! Skye!” the princess flinched at the harsh tone behind her name; “Front and center right now! What is that?!”

“It’s an abomination! It needs to be killed, right now!” Karena screamed indignantly.

“She’s NOT an abomination! She’s a bloody Dragon! It’s Zazzy! She hatched on Yuletide! I was gonna surprise ye all after dinner, but she seems to have gotten loose, so... Surprise?”

Skye held up Zazzy after she’d spoken to allow Magnus a clear view of her. She made little trill noses as she sniffed in Magnus’ direction. The king tilted his head slightly as he looked at her, and Zazzy mimicked him. He’d tilted his head side to side, amused as the baby dragon did the same. When he smiled and chuckled lightly at Zazzy’s antics, she’d mimicked him again; making an adorable snorting noise in place of the chuckle. But she did manage to smile at the king, which melted his icy anger.

Magnus laughed like a wee laddie before he spoke; “By the gods, it truly is a dragon! Look at those arms! And that snort; she’s adorable! She looks to be about the size of a my hunting hounds! How is she so big already?! Can I hold her?”

“Father, you can’t be serious. If it is a real dragon, then we should kill it now while it’s manageable,” Marco hadn’t taken his eyes off of his younger brother.

.....

Tidas narrowed his eyes at his brother; “How about putting your sword away before speaking?”

Lawrence approached them with his hands up in a cautious manner; “How about you both put your swords away? Marco won’t hurt the dragon without father’s permission, and he’s not giving it; right father?”

“If he values his people, he’ll give the order to kill that dangerous thing!” Karena yelled from the other side of the room.

“Her name is Zazzy, and she’s harmless, I swear! She hasn’t hurt anyone; even when struck with a blade! She just ran off!” Skye gripped Zazzy to her chest against, causing disappointment to spread across Magnus’ face.

A shocked expression covered Magnus’ face; “By who and why was she struck? How is she alive?”

Skye quickly told her tale while Karena paced about on the far side of the room. She fumed with rage at the treatment she’d revived from everyone, or lack there of. Everyone focused on the overgrown lizard in Skye’s arms, and ignored her fall completely. Not even Marco had helped her up; he didn’t even offer to.

Karena stared at Skye a moment with pure anger. Not only had Magnus chastised her in front of everyone, but he’d even told her to act more like Skye. As the princess talked, the Crowned princess retreated into her mind..

‘She’s Common born! Of course she has a pleasing disposition! She was born to Serve! She’s nothing like me! I’m a Born a princess! That two-bit commoner dullard is nothing but a pretty face and penny! If it weren’t for her father, she wouldn’t even be here! She’d be out in the barracks with the other commoner mages!’

‘What’s so special about her?! I’m prettier; she looks like a dying person with how pale she is! Her hair is a gaudy yellow-reddish color; it’s just weird.. I would rather shave my head and wear a wig than have that color!’

Karena began to lose herself to her envy and anger. This was normally the moment that she’d begin targeting whomever had triggered her internal bluster. Considering her pending target was Skye, she rethought on the possible outcomes. Magnus adored her, and would take her side in an instant without substantial evidence against her. Not to mention Skye’s building reputation as a supposed goddess, which irritated her to no end.

The fact that a commoner could be gifted with so much went against everything Karena believed in. Common born were meant to serve, nothing more. Even rising up through merit wasn’t enough of an excuse to her to bestow a title outside of the bloodlines.

Lucas Moonstone was a dangerous man to Karena. His reward for simply doing his duty had been Far too gracious to her. Wealth on top of trade licenses and a betrothal was outrageous in her opinion.. If it were up to Karena: the Moonstones would be stripped of their title, land, and wealth, and returned to the muck from whence they came..

Skye finished explaining their meeting Zazzy, and waited for Magnus and Marco to respond. The way Magnus looked at the baby dragon reassured the princess that his curiosity would work to her advantage. Marco, on the other hand, looked like he was seriously evaluating the situation. He kept eyeing both Zazzy and Skye like he was deciding which toy to put away.

Sheathing his sword, Macro turned towards Skye; “And were did you get a dragon egg in the first place?”

Skye quickly told the fake story of receiving the egg from the Fae, which made Marco simply nod as he accepted it. The way Karena saw it; Zazzy belonged to the crown, not Skye. She was given as part of the land treaty, and Lucas had no right to give away Alconian land in the first place. Only the crown had that right. Just because he lived on, worked, and maintained the land, didn’t make it his.

“That creature belongs to the crown then. It should be taken and locked away, if not outright killed. I know how big those things can get; do we really want something like That flying around the kingdom?! Eating and killing whatever it wishes?! It’s just an overgrown lizard! It shouldn’t be allowed to exist, let alone be out in public!”

Karena was now standing to the side of the group as she glared at Skye and her dragon; “Why the Fae gave it to you it beyond me. Commoners should know their place-”

“That is Enough, Karena.. If you don’t have anything intelligent to add, then go back to our quarters,” Marco cut her off with a seemly flat tone, but Karena knew better.

The underlying ice in her husband’s voice made Karena hesitant, but she continued; “She doesn’t deserve what she already has! Why would you want her to have more power?!”

Skye looked to her sister in law with a pained expression; “I don’t want power! I never wanted it! Zazzy will die if I don’t take care of her! I won’t give her up just to be locked away! She’s a good lass who would never hurt anyone! Not unless they tried to hurt me or her!”

“I believe I should say something here..” Maevis fluttered over to be directly in front of Magnus and Marco.

Tidas was immediately at her back now, still holding his sword. Maevis nodded for him to put the sword down, which he did with a huff. It was much easier to talk to someone who didn’t have a weapon pointed at their neck.

“We gifted Skye with the dragon egg because she resonated with it. We thought the egg was dormant, but Zazzy reacted to her presence. Dragons bond to humans, like the dragon riders of old. I believe that if you take the babe away from the princess, she’ll die.”

“The knowledge we have on dragons is limited, but we do know that that. Zazzy feeds off of the special blend of magic only Skye is capable of producing.. If you take her away or lock her up: you would be killing the last verified dragon in existence!”

A heavy silence fell over the group as the king and crown prince considered their options. Marco turned to him father, and looked him in the eyes, sharing a look of unease. Skye’s stomach felt like she would puke with the tension.

Lawrence looked at his brothers and father as he said; “If you don’t want them, I’ll take them..”

Tidas stared daggers at his brother for the suggestion. Lawrence lived in the southernmost part of Ruscovic. It was in the northern part of the Star continent, like Alcon, but on the other side of the continent. Tidas was a prince of Alcon, and the Commander of the RMC. Even if that was their only option to save Zazzy, he wouldn’t be able to go to Ruscovic with his wife.

Before Tidas could protest, Magnus stated; “No, there’s no need. Skye may have lied about her powers, but both her and her family have been loyal to the crown their entire lives. I know how much she loves Tidas, so I know she’d never betray us.”

Magnus faced Skye head on; “I know you care for the creature, but what guarantees do I have that Zazzy won’t hurt my people?”

“I swear on my life that she won’t hurt anyone; unless in self-defense. She’s highly intelligent; no one saw her on her way here, right? Or the palace would be in chaos? I can’t say Ima one-hundred percent sure she’ll always obey everything I say, but she’ll know not to put herself at risk.”

Zazzy shifted in Skye’s arms as she trilled in response; shocking all present. They weren’t sure if the reaction was a coincidence, or if the baby dragon truly understood what they were saying. Either way, Magnus had decided...

“She may stay as long as she doesn’t pose a threat to the people or property of Alcon,” Magnus stated with a small smile at his relieved daughter in law.

“I still think we should kill it now,” Marco added as he placed his hand on the handle of his sword.

Tidas tensed again, but relaxed a bit when Skye nudged him with her elbow. She looked at him with a pleading expression to not do anything. Instead, she stepped forward with Zazzy to speak; “If you want to kill Zazzy, then you’ll have to kill me too..”

Marco looked as his sister in law with surprise. She was willing to die with the creature if need be, and he admired her for her dedication. A soft smile crept onto his lips, one his wife had never seen before. It held a kind of affection that he’d never shown her before, and it infuriated the crowned princess.

“Then slice them both in half and be done with it!”

The smile on Marco’s face was lost as his wife began ranting again. His patience for Karena’s attitude was lost now. He looked down at the ground to collect himself a moment, then snapped at his wife.

“Like I said earlier; if you have Nothing Intelligent to add, then Go Back to our rooms Now. I will deal with you later,”

“But you Just said-”

“NOW Karena! Don’t make me repeat myself.. You know I don’t like to do that..”

Karena visibly flinched at her husband’s ominous words, huffed angerly, then left in a muttering windstorm. She locked eyes with Skye as she left, basically letting her know that she was on her radar now. Skye exhaled the breath she’d felt like she’d been holding since Marco first spoke.

The crown prince stared at Skye with affection as soon as his wife left, making Tidas’ blood boil. Marco asked her a few more questions about her knowledge of dragons, but Skye didn’t tell him of the Roland Snare journals. She’d simply told him of ‘books she’d gotten from Dragonhorn’ that contained the information. Plus the knowledge she’d supposedly gained from the Fae.

As her nerves calmed, Skye thanked Marco for listening to her side. He reached his arm out, and cupped her cheek, much to Skye’s shock, and everyone else’s. He looked into Skye’s eyes as he spoke softly to her, “I don’t kill things that I find value in.. And you, Skye, are quite valuable to me..”