Chapter 265

265 Alcon And Fae Alliance

After the announcement, the group ventured into the banquet room for a light snack and refreshments before they went over the details of the treaty and trade agreements. Magnus explained that they had a private meal ready for after the signing, and that the food and drinks were just to hold them over.

Celestia insisted upon sitting next to Skye during the meal, so they could talk. This irritated Karena to no end. ‘I Am The Next Queen! She should want to be friendly with ME, not that commoner whore!’

Marco barely noticed that his wife was furious, or that the Fae weren’t talking to him. The only thing he paid attention to was Skye’s conversations. He was curious as to how she and the Fae Queen seemed to know each other so well, so he listened in..

Their talks mostly revolved around the different Fae that were involved in the parade. It intrigued him that Skye knew so much about all the different species. The more he listened to her exchanges, the more certain Marco became about ‘Skye being his rightful Queen’.

Marie, Maevis, and Shasta commented on their conversation fluidly. Skye knew exactly when to speak, when to add to an opinion, when to change a subject, and when to mediate between one. Just like the Queen of the Fae did.

The more he listened and stole glances, the more certain Marco became. ‘Skye will be my Queen. I’ll break her, then build her up how I see fit. She’s going to be so much fun to train..’ As dark thoughts swirled within Marco, he didn’t realized that he, too, was being watched...

Aero hadn’t liked the Crowned Prince the moment he’d laid eyes on him. Strong Ether magic leaked from his necklace in an attempt to cover the traces leaking out of him. From everything Nicolas, Maevis, and his spies had reported; Marco MacArthur wasn’t supposed to have magic of his own.

The story said that Marco had lost his magic when his uncle had stabbed him with the Ethereal Spear when he was young. Aero always wondered how the humans came to the conclusion that he had Lost it. That wasn’t how the spear worked.

It was true that the spear drained every drop of magic that it came into contact with, but it didn’t kill the ability to re-cultivate magic within those it had damaged. Aero knew this because of the Empress, but never voiced the fact before, except to Celestia.

.....

‘Why is he trying to keep his magic hidden? Does he fear for his throne, and wants to have a card up his sleeve? ...And why do I sense a small amount of Dark magic in him as well?! Is it his own, or is it artificial?’

‘No, it couldn’t be his own.. Skye is the Only human with multiple elemental traits I’ve ever heard of. Even that Sync King only has one element-based trait. I don’t like this; I don’t like the aura around him.. It’s, it’s sinister..’

As Aero watched Marco imperceptibly, Magnus watched everyone from his seat whilst his head servant readied the documents. Skye was chatting away with most of the present Fae and Marie. Tidas and Lawrence talked with Nicolas, and the two Centaurs that came along as personal guards.

Magnus may have been busy with Olsen and the documents, but it was his belief that Marco should’ve been socializing with the Fae. He and Karena had sat at their spots as soon as they’d entered, and hadn’t moved. It irritated Magnus greatly, but there wasn’t anything he could do until later.

‘It seems that lad needs a stern lesson in diplomacy again.. He’s the future king! He and Karena should be over there, too! What is wrong with those two lately?!’

As Olsen began to ask if he’d gotten the order of the papers correct or not, Skye’s group began laughing boisterously. The subject of Shasta’s past had come up when Celestia asked how a Fae became the Vice Commander of the RMC.

Maevis was talking about how she and Aero had to chase Shasta out of the Fae Nation when Lawrence’s interest was piqued. He left Tidas’ group to listen in on the story he’d only heard bits about.

Feeling embarrassed, Shasta actually apologized to Maevis(for the second time), and Aero. The expression of shock and confusion he’d flashed at her words sent Celestia into a fit of laughter that was hard to restrain. When her ears flopped slightly due to the Fae Queen’s amusement, she immediately apologized right before Aero spoke.

“You were more beast than Fae back then. I’m happy to see you’ve changed. Although I am surprised it was due to human influence,” Aero sipped on his thimble of fresh apple juice after he’d spoken.

“That was a backhanded way to complement someone,” Maevis said it low, but everyone close heard her.

Nicolas smacked one of her wings, making Maevis drop a couple feet before she could find her rhythm again. She looked furious when she became eye level again, but the look Nicolas flashed her was a bit scarier than normal.

Maevis had forgotten for a split second about all the years and effort her friend had put into making peace between the humans and Fae. Remembering it, Mae apologized to Nic right as the doors opened.

Zas came walking in with a blinding smile on his face. He had worked with Nicolas on his last attempt at peace during King Edmund’s time; Magnus’ grandfather. It had failed, but Zas had been very helpful this time around, too. Tonight, they would revel in their shared the victory together.

Skye felt a touch awkward around Zas, now that the Mage Trials were a few days away. He had asked her twice more to back out of them, but Skye refused to back down. She was irritated with him because he wouldn’t fight her one-on-one, so she could prove herself capable.

Zas had no idea that Skye had a Tank trait now. No one did except for Shasta, Maevis, and Zazzy. She didn’t want to tell Zas because one never knew who was listening, so he left her with no options but to show him during the trials.

‘But how do I do that, and not let Tidas learn of it before I face him?! Thanks to Jakub’s Stupid idea, Tidas might be able to see!’

Skye thought about the project that she, Sheri, and Jakub had worked on and completed in the past two weeks. Four giant monitors were now suspended over the center of the arena. Tilted so that the crowds could see the live feed being sent from on the ground, inside the arena as the Mage Trials happened.

‘It’s me own damn fault for tellin’ Magnus about ancient forms of entertainment.. But it still pisses me off that Maggie made me waste all me extra time on it! I was gonna spend the time strategizin’ since I know what the majority of the competitors are capable of now.’

Skye had to do a few training sessions with Shasta at the arena, due to her training as a RMC instructor. She didn’t mind that she had to wait for a turn most days because it allowed her to both scope out potential teammates, and gauge rival competitors. Everyone was trying to get some last-minute training in..

Before Skye could delve too deeply into her thoughts, Magnus called everyone over. Among the oddities that Skye had created since regularly visiting the R&D Department, Magnus loved her ‘automatic pen’ the most. He had always hated using ink wells and quills to write with. Her invention had made his life quite a bit less messy.

Celestia and Aero fluttered over, and reviewed the documents. At a glance, everything seemed in order. Aero noticed an odd gap in between some of the lines pertaining to their ownership of Warrick Forest, but all the words were the same as the draft that they had pre-approved of with the empress.

Aero was about to mention it, but felt a spike in Marco’s magic for a second. As they locked eyes for a moment, Marco asked; “Is there a discrepancy you wish to address? Or is my handwriting too terrible to read? I apologize if it is.”

Keeping his calm, Aero replied; “Not in the wordage, but the lines here have-”

“Is there a reason that this is taking so long? We still have dinner to go through,” Karena complained, irritating Aero to the point of breaking his calm.

“I’m sorry, is the signing of a Peace and Barter Treaty between a kingdom and a Nation eating into your socializing, child? Aren’t you supposed to be the next Queen?”

Not thinking, Karena snapped back; “I AM the future Queen of Alcon, and you’d best remember that-”

Magnus slammed his hands down on the table; “Karena! How Dare you speak that way to a King?! You are yet a princess, and Only barely so! Keep it up and I will do what we had discussed before! Understand?! Now sign the documents, and leave my sight before I have you whipped!”

The entire room was silent as Karena huffed with a beet-red face. She scribbled on the documents, glared in Skye’s general direction, then stormed out.

As soon as she left, everyone except Marco breathed a sigh of relief. They didn’t know what the hell had happened, but Aero had to wonder.. ‘Did the Crowned Prince just provoke his wife with his magic? To what end?’

Before Aero could think too deeply about it, Celestia acknowledged that she’d finished reading the documents, and that they were ready to be signed. He marveled at the ‘automatic pen’ for a moment before nodding to the Centaurs.

One trotted over with a small pouch in hand, and gave it to Maevis. She looked questioningly at it, then opened it to see why the guard had handed it to her..

Maevis gasped, then looked up to Celestia with a shocked expression as she asked; “WHERE did you find it?!”

Celestia flashed her a sad smile; “An Alven found it when she was traveling through the great river, near the Moorhead Dam. She gave it to us as a gift because she could feel the magic coming from it. She had no idea what it was..”

Maevis nearly climbed inside the bag to get to the reddish-purple stone inside. The look on her face was a mix of happiness, confusion, and heartbreak. Skye and Nicolas wordlessly moved to her sides as unshed tears filled her eyes.

“What is it, Mae?” Tidas asked in as sensitive of a voice as he could.

Maevis swallowed hard as she continued to stare at the rock; “It’s called the Lady’s Tear. It’s a magical item created by a water spirit known as the Lady of the Lake. She loved a human king, but couldn’t take physical shape.”

“In their desperation to be together, they combined the magic of six mages, and created the stone. It was meant to last forever, but only lasted three nights. On the third night, the lady turned back into a water spirit. Because she was in her lover’s arms, in their bed at the time.. She died when she became water again.”

As Maevis finished her tale, Skye was nearly in tears, but Tidas didn’t understand; “What does the story have to do with you?”

Maevis cleared her throat; “The stone’s power, technically, is about ‘giving shape’ to be with the one you love. I..I used to use it when Tiberius was alive; to be human-sized. But we lost it shortly before his parents announced his engagement.”

“If we would’ve had it back then, Tiberius and I would’ve ran away together.. I suppose fate had other plans,” Maevis smiled as she looked up to the MacArthur men.

Lawrence perked up at the name drop; “You mean our ancestor? How did you know him? Are you really that old?”

As Shasta lightly smacked Lawrence’s arm, Maevis chuckled, then replied; “Oh, King Lawrence.. If the laws of nature weren’t set against us: you’d be part Pixie and calling me grandma..”