Chapter 179

179 Tank

Klaus was a bit surprised by the Vice Commander’s sentiment, but he still believed that she just wanted to spar. He explained that it was mainly about how she talked to the princess. Her title aside, Skye was a generous and kind person by nature. Nothing she was doing or did had earned her hostility.

Shasta didn’t want to tell him about her mistaken jealousy. Now that she knew Skye better, she understood that the princess wasn’t that kind of person. She still wanted Skye’s side of the story about the time she’d seen Marco carrying her, but Shasta couldn’t even remember how she’d gotten to her room. The last thing she clearly remembered was dancing on the table with Skye as she played the violin. All Shasta knew for sure afterwards was that she’d seen Marco carrying Skye, and that she’d slept great that night.

As the two paused in their conversation for Shasta to think, Ronnie came walking back from delivering his report. The prince seemed to be in a particularly good mood. Ronnie assumed it had something to do with why the princess’ arse was bared earlier. He smiled and blushed at the memory, but lost his jovial attitude as he realized it was the Vice Commander that Klaus was talking to.

The pep in his step was lost as he reluctantly walked up to the two. They were staring at each other uncomfortably, making Ronnie nervous. He wasn’t sure what to do, so he decided to ask where the princess was.

Maintaining his demeanor, Klaus replied; “In her room. She doesn’t wish to be disturbed.”

“Oh.. I guess I can give her this message from the prince in a wee bit then,” Ronnie said as he held up a folded piece of paper.

Without warning; Shasta snatched the paper from Ronnie’s hand and yelled, “I’ll do it!”

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“She doesn’t want to be disturbed! WE will give it to her when she comes out for dinner!”

Shasta smirked; “What if it’s something about dinner? Like for her to stay put, or go to Marie’s quarters for their meal?”

.....

Klaus huffed testily as he thought about an alternative. He didn’t want Shasta to bother Skye. She seemed to have needed the time alone to collect herself after whatever had happened at the arena. The two guards weren’t sure what had transpired, but Skye was blatantly depressed about it. Letting her have some time to organize her thoughts seemed crucially needed.

Right as things were beginning to get awkward, a palace servant came out of one of the other quarter hallways. As soon as Klaus saw the woman, an idea popped into his head. He flashed a cocky grin at Shasta as he said, “Peggy can give it to her.”

Shasta narrowed her eyes at the young guardsman in training as she rebutted; “We don’t know when she’ll be back. Skye wasn’t supposed to be back for another half hour. I can give it to her. If she wants to be alone, I’ll leave without a fuss. I just need to see what she’s doing.”

Maevis had been fluttering by the ceiling unnoticed; watching the entire thing unfold. She liked the two lads that were to be Skye’s daily guards. The old fairy thought Tidas had made the right call trusting them. They seemed to genuinely care for the princess. The one named Klaus in particular.

From what Maevis could remember Skye telling her; he was the one she’d nearly killed. It amused her that he seemed almost devoted to her now. The way he was talking to Shasta made him come off as confident, but Maevis could clearly see his fists shaking. Whether it was from fear or anger, she wasn’t sure yet.

Maevis fluttered down from the ceiling as she spoke in a calming voice; “Alright, that’s enough you two. Klaus, was it? You know why we’ve been following you three all day. Unless we want to look like peeping perverts, this is the only way for the Vice Commander to see what Skye is up to. Would you please allow her to pass?”

“Diplomat Maevis,” Klaus replied as he gave her a short bow; “I’m sorry, but the princess said not to disturb her. Though I appreciate your Manners.”

Klaus had purposely turned to look directly at Shasta when he’d emphasized the last part. She glared at him as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“You do know I can beat you into the ground, right?” Shasta asked rhetorically.

“That’s fine with me. I serve the Princess; no one else. Fighting on her behalf is my job. If I have to do that so she won’t be bothered, then let’s head to the arena,” Klaus’ voice was utterly serious as he spoke.

Shasta smiled at him; “Best to keep thoughts like that to yourself, or at least include the king in there somewhere.”

“I fight for Princess Skye; no one else,” Klaus reiterated.

“H-He’s right! We pledged our lives to Skye.. We follow her!” Ronnie added enthusiastically.

Maevis spoke in a hushed tone; “Shh! Keep your voices down! Don’t say it like that, you fools! Or someone might mistake your words.”

Fluttering over to hover between the two, Maevis chided them both; “First of all: you two are not fighting. It’s ridiculous that such a simple argument could come to that so quickly. I admire your commitment to Skye, lads.. But you do realize that Shasta will also be one of your commanding officers after the trials, correct?”

The two men exchanged looks before Maevis continued; “Shasta can simply set the note down somewhere visible in the room. She doesn’t need to be in there long, she just needs to see what Skye is doing.”

Klaus and Ronnie stared at each other a moment before they both sighed and agreed. They both made it clear that she was not to bother Skye unless she engaged first. When Shasta asked why, all three smiled.

“Let’s just say she has a tendency to get absorbed into whatever she’s doing. You’ll probably see..” Maevis said while looking down the hallway.

After thanking the two, Shasta went down the tiny hallway, knocked, then opened Skye’s door. The first thing she noticed was the random piles of books everywhere. Skye was sitting at a small, four-person table off in the corner. She had stacks of books on the table and floor all around her.

The topics ranged from military strategy, to Botany, to tomes she couldn’t read. Every book had multiple little pieces of colored papers sticking out of them. Shasta was shocked at the amount of reading Skye must’ve done already to be able to mark the books like she had.

Skye sat silently at the table as she read. She hadn’t noticed Shasta enter the room, but Zazzy did. She came running up to Shasta as she tried to sneak closer. She was curious about what the princess was reading that had her so preoccupied.

As Shasta crept closer, Zazzy tried to get her to play. She was hopping back and forth with her tail in the air, and her upper body crouched. Shasta tried to wave her off, but the baby dragon was too insistent.

As Shasta watched Skye, her tail swayed back and forth aimlessly. Zazzy saw the rope-like thing waving back and forth slowly, like a taunt. Assuming Shasta was playing with her, she batted at her tail like a playful kitten. Realizing it preoccupied the wee beast, Shasta tempted fate by tempting Zazzy.

The baby dragon couldn’t touch her tail right away. Shasta was moving it away too quickly. In a ditch effort; Zazzy pounced at Shasta’s tail, caught it in her mouth, then bit down.

Shasta screamed so loudly, she thought the entire castle guard might come running. Skye knocked over about three stacks of books when she was startled out of her reading zone. Not thinking; she threw the book in her hand, and imbedded it into the wall. Where the noise had come from. Thankfully Shasta had already bent down and was holding Zazzy by her tail; refusing to let her go.

“You think you can bite my tail and get away with it?! You got another thing coming, you future pair of boots!” Shasta yelled as Skye got up and walked over.

“Oh shit! Are you two ok?! What the Hell is goin’ on here?! When did ye get here Shasta?! What happened?! Are ye both ok?!” Skye’s face was riddled with worry.

Shasta released Zazzy as she said; “We’re fine; just teaching scaly here not to bite the tail that plays with her. Nice throw by the way....!!!!”

Skye and Shasta froze as they stared at the book in the wall. Skye had tapped into her power again, and Shasta now knew exactly what trait was: Tank. Only a Tank trait cold allow her to throw the book that hard.

Shasta did consider that Skye had awaken her Manic trait, but this was clear evidence of a Tank trait. Manics infused their magic into items by marking them with their blood. Skye had been bleeding quite a bit in the arena, and had gotten plenty of it on Shasta. But the book had no scent traces of blood on it.

“Tank! It’s a Tank trait! It’s gotta be!” Shasta nearly yelled out.

“Tank.. Of course! How could I have been so Stupid as not to see it! Me senses have been off the charts lately,” Skye replied with equal enthusiasm.

The two smiled at their mutual understanding before Shasta added; “Training is gonna be Fun..”

Skye grinned awkwardly, then asked Shasta what she was even doing there. Holding up the note, she told Skye that Tidas had sent it. She told Skye she’d forgotten to give it to her after their match earlier. After handing it to the princess, she prayed Tidas didn’t contradict her in anyway within the note.

As Skye read the note, she smiled warmly. Shasta wanted to ask what was in it, but decided not to; figuring it was too personal to share. Instead, she randomly picked up books and tried to read the titles. After about the second book, the princess giggled as she set the note down on her table. She turned to Shasta and thanked her for delivering the note before she asked if there was anything that she needed.

Before Shasta could reply, Peggy bustled into the room. She was a little shocked to see Shasta standing there, but considering they had just trained together, she must’ve been there for a specific reason. Setting her basket of clothes down, a dark spot on the wall caught her eye. When she looked over and saw the book sticking out of the wall, all color drained from her face before it turned bright red with anger.

Squaring her shoulders and placing her balled-up fists on her hips, Peggy spoke in a terrifying tone; “I Am NOT cleaning that up..”