Chapter 156

156 True Nature

Skye awoke to something heavy hitting her stomach. She shot up in bed, ready to murder whomever had awakened her in such a terrible way. Looking down at her lap, all her anger drained as Zazzy sat wagging her tail. Her wide eyes and human-like smile reflected pure joy and love as she stared at her surrogate mother.

Peggy was already in the process of readying Skye’s things for her shower when she spoke; “I tried to stop her, but as soon as I said it was time to wake ye, she lost it! Stupid lizard; ran into the door in all her excitement too. Ima surprised it didn’t wake ye.”

Skye chuckled; “Pretty sure I was dreamin’, but I can’t remember what about.. Something with clouds, but I don’t know. It felt real, but it’s not there anymore.. It’s odd.”

“Sounds like a standard flyin’ dream to me,” Peggy replied as she finished gathering the princess’ things for the day.

As Peggy laid out a dress for the princess to wear at the end of her bed, Skye commented; “Sorry Peg, but I’ll be needin’ me riding clothes today. I don’t want the hassle of a skirt; I have too much to do. I need to stop by both Olympus and Helm’s Smitty, I need to speak with Magnus about me training, and I need to track down Shasta.. STILL.”

“Aye, that’s right! The king ordered her to train ye, and what does she do? Avoid ye for how many days straight?! Like I don’t see her leavin’ the banquet hall as soon as yer announced! Wish he would’ve picked someone friendlier to train ye. Or at least someone that Would Actually train ye!”

Skye sighed as she helped Peggy gather her riding outfit; “I wish I knew what her issue with me was. I don’t recall ever wronging her.. We’ve been back for a week, and she’ll not answer a letter or a direct summons from me. I don’t know what to do.”

“Can’t the one who’s showing ye the basics to swordplay teach ye it all?”

“No, I’m just passing time with her until I can track down Shasta. Besides, I already knew most of what she’s shown me so far. Genie was a good teacher; he believed in diversifying my abilities.”

.....

“Ack! Ima gonna smack that lad next time I see him! I swear he did more corruptin’ than teaching!”

Skye laughed loudly at Peggy’s bluster as she sat down to eat; “Oh, I wish I could trade out Shasta for Nadia, but she just passed her trial. She needs time to adapt to her new life. Plus; Shasta is a Pillar; Ima lucky Magnus ordered her to train me.. Even if her attitude is crap.”

Peggy huffed; “Maybe she’s just feral.”

Skye smiled at Peggy’s quip, but didn’t quite agree with her. Tidas swore she was a good person, and had told her various stories to back the claim. However, and the days of avoidance ticked by, it became harder for him to keep saying it. Not only was it a direct order from him, but Magnus himself had appointed Shasta to train her.

By avoiding Skye, she was willingly ignoring a direct order from her King. Tidas was becoming angry with her over it, and Skye suspected that it only added to the reasons she didn’t like her. It was difficult for the princess to be angry when she didn’t know why Shasta didn’t like her. Skye thought that maybe she resembled someone from her past, or felt her friendship with Tidas threatened; she just didn’t know..

One thing Skye did know for sure was that something Terrible had happened to Shasta in her past. Bakenekos were created by a few different ways, but all were tragic. As much as Shasta irritated the princess, Skye knew she was just lashing out due to personal pain. It wasn’t an excuse to act like a bitch, but the princess couldn’t help feeling sympathetic towards her. Which was most likely the reason she hadn’t gone to Magnus yet.

After Skye dressed and ate a decent breakfast, she bid Peggy and Zazzy farewell until before dinner. Tidas told her the night they returned from Moonstone Castle that he’d be working most days, and wouldn’t see her until right before they ate. It saddened her, but she understood that he needed to catch up on his work. Their trip to see her parents had left his work desk piled high with papers to go over. It was a growing issue, but one that could be addressed later.

Upon exiting her room, Skye was pleasantly surprised to find Zas, Klaus, and Ronnie waiting for her outside her hallway. She hugged Ronnie and Zas, and shook Klaus’ hand. The three were shocked to see her outfit, but understood it’s necessity after she explained her plans for the day.

It was still a little odd for them to see a princess in pants. The outfit complimented her figure, causing Klaus to find it hard to look at her. Ronnie whistled at her in a benign way, but still incurred a smack to the back of his head from Zas for it. He chided him afterwards; explaining that a certain amount of respect and decorum was required to be a Royal Guard.

Skye beamed at her friends as she spoke; “Do what now? Royal Guards?! That’s amazing! Congratulations!”

Zas grinned as he put his hand up in a halting manner; “Just some early training. They can’t officially be members until they pass the Mage Trials next year.. But both Prince Tidas and King Magnus have given special permission for them to begin now. Ye know, since they were hand-picked by me.”

Skye quirked an eyebrow in confusion; “Picked for what?”

“To be your personal guards,” Zas replied.

Skye’s eyes lit up as her excitement erupted. She liked the two quite a bit, even with Klaus’ bad start. They were akin to little cousins to the princess. She was happy to have someone assigned to her that she could chat with. Most of the guards that had watched over her so far had been to intimidated by her title and husband to really converse with. At least Ronnie would treat her like a person; Klaus was a work in progress..

As they came close to the stables, Skye made an expression akin to realization, and took off at a jog. Once inside, she quickly scanned the the stalls until she saw Thoth. He nickered upon seeing Skye’s approach. He hadn’t seen her in nearly two weeks, and jumped about like an excited colt due to it.

Walking up to Thoth, Skye apologized for not coming and seeing him sooner. She stroked his mane and scratched his chin, causing the giant horse to nuzzle her in response. As the three men entered, Thoth huffed loudly at them. The stablehands put the saddle and gear on him for the princess, then quickly took care of three more horses for Zas, Klaus, and Ronnie. About fifteen minutes or so passed, and the group was off to do their errands.

Their trip into the city had been quite long. It was simply to drop off some of the dragon leather to Athena at Olympus Blacksmith to study, then stopped by at Helm’s Smitty to bagger Sven into going to see his daughter. He was a little hesitant at first, but the temptation of the dragon leather was too much to resist.

After the blacksmith shops, Skye stopped by the commoners’ hospital. She’d been stopping by and healing people here and there since she’d gotten back from her holiday. Nothing big; mostly fevers and small injuries. Skye was currently studying everything involving her Shaman trait: from basic biology to medical procedures. She was also learning swordsmanship and the basics to one-on-one combat. Anything to keep busy.

In truth, sky was avoiding the palace as much as possible. She didn’t want to run into Karena, or especially Marco. The fact that he’d attempted to use magic on her both frightened and infuriated the princess. Confronting the Crowned Prince was coming, but not until Skye felt capable of protecting herself. Until then, she’d pull a Shasta and avoid him as much as possible. Or at the least; always make sure she had another person with her at all times.

Once Skye finished up, it was nearing lunch time. The group of four stopped by a tavern that Zas had recommended. The smell of freshly made stew and bread wafted through the air as they entered. They sat at a booth and ordered their food after some pleasantries with the owner.

The stew and bread were delicious, causing them to eat heartily as they all chatted. The owner was a retired RMC member, and former designated field cook due to his talent. He was known for only using the freshest ingredients daily, and donated anything not used or left over to the local orphanage.

Skye was finishing her third bowl of stew and second loaf of bread when she saw Shasta come in. She was ready to scream and holler at her, until she saw a little old priestess with her. Confusion was written all over her face at the sight of it, prompting Zas to smile and explain.

“VC helps out the orphanage down the way there whenever she can.. Shasta’s got a soft spot for kids.”

“Should ye be telling me that, Zas?” Skye questioned, concerned about Shasta being angry with him for it.

The General thought on it a minute before he spoke; “Na, she won’t care, I don’t think.. But then again, she’s be ducking you since Magnus ordered her to train you, right?”

Skye spoke as she ducked under the table to get out of their booth; “Aye, we’ve been back for five days now, and nothing. It’s like tryin’ to find a cat in a cornfield.. I need to talk to her before I lose sight of her again!”

Zas’ ears flattened in frustration as Skye took off out the door after Shasta. Klaus was right behind her, but stopped to look back at Zas as he got up and called after him. The general set money on the table, told Ronnie to get their horses, and for Klaus to trail her until they caught up. Nodding in acknowledgment, Klaus took off after the princess.

As Skye trailed and watched Shasta, her suspicions were confirmed. A mean person wouldn’t help an elderly priestess carry bags of food to an orphanage, then play with the children afterwards. They kicked and chased a ball around together; laughing and smiling without a care. Skye smiled to herself as she watched while the three tagalongs gawked at the Vice Commander’s true nature.

The more Skye had asked around about Shasta while looking for her, the more she came to realize how kind she actually was. Since Magnus handled the general cost of her cream, the VC spent the majority of her earnings on local orphanages. She even spent some of her down time doing repairs for them. Going as far as to ‘recruit’ some of the newer members of the RMC to help whenever major repairs were needed.

Feeling determined now, Skye left her little nook from where she’d been spying from, and approached Shasta and the children. Several of the wee ones ran up to her, excited to see the kind lady from earlier. Shasta visibly stiffened after sniffing at the air several times. She knew it was Skye and Zas, and felt the urge to keep up her game of seeker. However, she didn’t want to bolt on the children. Plus, Zas would thrash her later if she did.

Shasta turned to face Skye with a smirk and said; “The mouse has finally caught up to the cat, I see..”