Chapter 216

216 Life Problems

“WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Skye screamed after ice-cold water had splashed over the top of her head.

Jumping to her feet on the bed, Skye ranted and cursed at her faithful servant. If there was one thing Skye absolutely hated, it was being woken up harshly. The one time her father had done it, she’d hit him. The handful of times Peggy had done it to her, she’d instantly snapped; just like how she was now. As she finished screaming like a banshee in her birthday suit, Peggy did everything she could to keep her poker face straight.

Both Peggy’s expression and voice were completely nonchalant as she spoke; “Well, ye wouldn’t get out of bed.. Ye left me no choice, me bairn. Now hurry up; yer husband has requested yer presence at the Research and Development Department. I told him ye would join him after yer Shaman rounds at the Cat’s Paw for lunch.”

Skye’s ire was at a boiling point.. Until Zazzy poked her head up from the side of the bed. Her tiny ears were bent back out of fear, and her eyes looked moist with tears. Skye immediately began to apologize for scaring her, which made Peggy laugh inwardly. It was odd how expressive the baby dragon could be, but then again; what did she know?

Wanting to tease her a bit, Peggy heckled her with mock indignation; “Ohh.. I see how it tis.. The lizard is more important than the woman that’s raised ye, hmm?! I get all yer yellin’ while the wee scaly beast gets affection?!”

Skye had looked ashamed the moment Peggy raised her voice. She’d chewed her out without real cause, not that it affected her st all. Skye knew she was just messing with her for yelling, but she certainly had the guilt tripping down to an art. After profusely apologizing, Skye made her way into the shower.

As the hot, soothing water trickled down her back, Skye decided that she needed a day of rest soon. Working towards one’s goals was important, but rest was also required to prevent her from burning out. Her Shaman trait could heal her fatigue, but that didn’t mean she wanted to need or use it.. It kinda felt like cheating to her a wee bit, as silly as that sounded.

Once out the restroom, Skye dressed quickly. Peggy has set out another one of her riding suits at Tidas’ suggestion. The library, RMC Headquarters, and the palace were all within the inner walls of the capital, but the Research and Development Department was along the outskirts, near the main walls that protected the capital. It would take an hour to ride there themselves, so a carriage would take too long.

Tidas knew that his wife hated wearing dresses while riding, so he knew she’d be appreciative of his suggestion to Peggy. When she’d told Skye that it was her husband’s suggestion, she beamed like the sap that she was for him. Peggy rolled her eyes, but on the inside, she couldn’t be happier for her bairn.

.....

There had been several times where Peggy seriously wondered if Tidas would be able to take care of Skye properly. With the Nomads, then Jacob, then her insane powers popping up one after another.. Peggy thought she’d have to figure out a way to live forever. It wasn’t until she’d overheard the two talking in her room at Moonstone Castle that she realized it wasn’t only about Tidas protecting her.

Before Peggy had realized it, Skye had grown into a beautiful, extremely capable young woman. She was kind, generous, and generally a happy person. She took pleasure in the simple things instead of caring about the courts, or people that weren’t worth her time. Skye had the life she wanted, so she didn’t care about what anyone thought of her. Why would she care when she was basically living a fairytale of her own? Complete with a baby dragon.

It took some time for Skye to actually get out of her room. Zazzy Really wanted to come with her, but listened after some coaxing. Peggy had to promise roasted lamb for her dinner. A treat they usually only gave her on special occasions. Skye had to guarantee the treat, and reaffirm her promise from last night. The look on the wee dragon’s face as she closed the door nearly made Skye give in, and drag her throughout the capital with her. If not for the possibility of losing Zazzy over it, she would.

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‘I wonder how fast she can go now? She hasn’t really had proper room to run since we got here. Maybe I should try to get Maggie to let me take her out for a wee bit? No.. He’d never allow it. Since Zazzy can’t fly away if she gets into trouble yet, so I can’t really bring her into the city.. Ack! If we were at me father’s castle, she’d have all the room to run she could ever want! Damn it..’

Inwardly lamenting her lack of options and space, Skye absentmindedly made her way up to the Medical Ward with Klaus and Ronnie in tow. They seemed to be as distracted about something as she was, so she was a little happy about the lack of interruptions to her thoughts.

The three walked in silence until they’d reached the top level. Pausing her thoughts, Skye greeted Dr. Gohan as he met them at the top of the steps. Lord Reinbolt was in and vehemently requesting Skye tend him. Knowing she always did her Shaman rounds in the morning hours, he’d become a regular. Even though he was technically healthy now, his arthritis was quite bad.

Healing him daily took all of thirty seconds, so it wasn’t a bother for Skye. The interaction also allowed her to keep up with the current intrigues at court without having to involve herself with it. Magnus had told her at the end of their dinner that he expected to see more of her in the banquet hall, then laughed when she’d made a disgruntled face and indignant sound. Knowing how much she disliked the court, he’d told her twice a week as she’d left. She’d agreed, then went to her quarters to meet up with Tidas and Maevis to discuss the legend..

It hadn’t taken long to finish going through the few patients within the ward. Skye had chatted about various thing with Dr. Gohan as they went room to room; mostly about her training and such. He was still quite curious as to Skye’s limit with her Shaman trait, or if she had any. He’d gotten a good laugh when she’d explained that she could make herself and others sober when too drunk.

“That could be dangerous,” Tien said out loud.

“I thought the same thing!” Skye replied, then they both burst into a small fit of laughter.

Skye much preferred Tien to Dr. Stein. The man wasn’t rude or ignorant to her, he just gave off two distinct vibes that triggered internal warnings in her. One: he’s faker than Skye’s story about her hair.

Thanks to her father and husband, she could easily spot a smoozer a mile away. He always complimented her more often than would be considered professional, and self-deprecated to attempt to boost her ego. It was an attempt to get her to compliment him back, then he would say something charming again, then she would, then he would.. Resulting in a manipulative loop to destabilize her.

Of course, Skye hadn’t played his little game. She would simply say ‘thank you’ or ‘that’s kind of you to say’, then move on to the next patient. It was clear how flummoxed he’d become, but Skye didn’t care. The other vibe he gave off screamed hinky. She tried not to judge people, knowing there’s a difference between being observant and being self-righteous.

Knowing he was a Dark magic user gave Skye a strange pit feeling whenever she was around him. Like his magic was constantly active how Tidas’ was. Considering Dark and Tank traits were so vastly different, it made little sense to her. It was almost like instead of him having life energy, he only had his magic.

‘Maybe that’s just how it is for Dark magic users? Tanks circulate their magic throughout their body like a Shaman or Manic would. That’s the way they are because they’re physical traits. Elemental magic normally doesn’t work like that though.. And why does he even have his magic active in the first place?!’

The amount was so subtle that if Skye didn’t spend so much time around Shasta and Tidas, she most likely wouldn’t have even noticed. The situation set off warnings bells in her head every time, but she couldn’t figure out why. He wasn’t trying to use his magic on her, so what was the point? Did Dark magic hold a similar benefit? Unlikely but possible, so Skye kept their meetings short, and her distance long.

After the Medical Ward in the palace, Skye did her daily visits. There were a few more patients to tend to than yesterday, but not enough to make them late. Skye had been particularly happy that Peggy told Tidas to meet her at Alfred’s. His cooking was amazing, and she was looking forward to seeing what deliciousness awaited her today.

Mouthwatering smells assailed her nose as she took a few steps into the tavern. Cranking her head, she was pleasantly surprised to see her husband lounging in a booth with a smile. He was chatting with Alfred, who sat across from him talking at a rapid pace. She wanted to tap into her powers to hear them, but Tidas would notice the use of her magic.

Very slowly, she extended her hands to the sides, and backed out the door. Ronnie nearly ran into Klaus’ backside before he saw that it was the princess walking out backwards. When he asked what she was doing, a mischievous glint shined in her eyes.

“Tidas is in the booth nearest the kitchen’s door. If I sneak around and come in the back, I bet I can surprise him!”

Ronnie grinned conspiratorially at Skye, but Klaus’ face was pensive; “Do you have permission to go in through the back?”

Skye scrunched her face slightly; “No, but I don’t think Alfred will mind. Ima not gonna touch anythin’, I just want to cut through the kitchen to get to Tidas. Do ye think I shouldn’t?”

Klaus shifted back and forth in his spot; “I’m not sure, but I don’t think he would want anyone back there.”

Ronnie smacked his shoulder; “Aww, come on! Tis a wee, harmless prank. I bet Alfred gets a good laugh out of it, too. He’s literally got a front row seat to it.”

While Klaus looked at his friend with exasperation, Skye commented; “Well, Ima doin’ it. If Alfred gets mad at me, I’ll say that ye two tried to stop me, so you’ll be fine.”

Not waiting for an answer, Skye turned on her heels and headed for the alleyway on the side of the tavern. As she turned the corner, she saw a hooded figure crouched down by the window closest to Tidas. She could see the bottom hem of a somewhat bright purple dress under the heavy cloak, but other than that, she couldn’t see any details of the woman.

“Hey?! Whatcha doin’?!” Skye yelled as she gathered her Earth magic for possible defense.

It was a moot point; the woman ran away as soon as Skye called out to her. There wasn’t much snow left on the ground, so tracking her would be nearly impossible. She peaked in at Tidas as he talked and laughed with Alfred.

‘Was the person lookin’ in on Tidas, or Alfred? Why? Was it a fan or the like? Was it a threatening person? Why else would they run away? Did they run because Ima his wife?’

Klaus came around the corner right after the woman had disappeared. He asked what was wrong, but she just told him she was making sure that Tidas was still preoccupied. If she told him of the woman. He’d want to stop what she was doing and inform Tidas right away. ‘I’ll tell him of his admirer after I have me bit of fun. She was smart enough to run away from me, I doubt she’ll be a bother..’