Chapter 285

285 Highland Preparations

When Marco went into the banquet room to find Skye, she was dancing with Tidas. She smiled radiantly as he spun her around to the music, then giggled when he pulled her back into his arms. They stared at each other with mutual love reflected in their eyes..

Marco felt his ire rising as he watched his little brother enjoying the company of his future bride.. ‘It would make it easier if he died while fighting Richard. I could be a caring shoulder for her to cry on, and not even need to influence her.. But the chances of that are too slim to invest any assurances into; besides..’

‘I am looking forward to the expression on his face when my plan comes to fruition. Should I take Skye in front of him? Watch him crumble while the woman he loves chooses to love me right in front of his eyes?’

A devilish smirk appeared on Marco’s lips as the crowds parted for him. Noticing the people clearing a path, Skye and Tidas looked up to meet Marco’s gaze. They both stiffened automatically, then glared at him.

Tidas gave off a vibe that said he was ready to tear his brother’s head off, but Skye was different. She radiated defiance..

“What do you want, brother?” Tidas asked through gritted teeth.

Marco’s smirk never left his face as he replied; “Father has requested Skye’s assistance with something of a medical nature.”

Her eyes narrowed in seriousness; “Take us to him.”

It sounded more like a command than a request, but Marco agreed. He extended his hand to her, then waited for her to grab it. When she did, Tidas huffed low.

.....

It wasn’t obvious, but Marco knew his little brother’s mannerisms well. Whenever Skye would spend time at the palace, his every waking minute was spent watching her and Tidas playing or talking. He never wanted to interact with them, just bide his time until Skye was old enough to take from his brother...

After they cleared the majority of the guests, the three hurried through the halls to the king’s quarters. Magnus was sleeping in his chair when they had entered the room. Skye didn’t even wake him before she’d started to heal him.

Magnus’ heart rate was incredibly low, has his breathing was shallow. Skye gasped at the amount of dark, malicious magic that was within him. It was more than she’d ever sensed before, and she was honestly surprised that Magnus was still alive.

‘Oops.. Almost ruined my own plan with that,’ was all Marco thought as he watched Skye work.

The magic she exuded while using her Shaman trait was warm and comforting, but not to Marco. He saw her as a weapon to be utilized, and a toy to be played with, and nothing more. As he watched color and life return to his father, Marco smirked at the idea: ‘With Skye at my side, No One will be able to even touch me..’

Tidas was very weary of the aura his brother was giving off as he stared at Skye. If he could, he’d punch that self-satisfied look off of his face. But if he did that, it’d be the dungeons for him.. ‘It’s still damn tempting, though..’

As Magnus came to and saw Skye’s smiling face, he murmured something, but Skye didn’t catch it. She was too distracted by the waves of murderous intent coming from behind her. Both Tidas and Marco were now glaring at each other, looking ready to kill.

Skye sighed heavily; “Will ye two put the measuring stick away and focus on yer da?!”

Tidas had the sense to look forlorn, but Marco just looked at her with a smug expression. It irritated her, but Skye knew that he was trying to provoke her and Tidas. She just wished that she knew why...

After Skye double-checked on Magnus, she and Tidas went back to the party. Magnus and Marco stayed behind to work on something, but wouldn’t say what. Only that they would tell them about it later...

************

The party ran late into the night. Skye danced and played with Shasta, which Genie found hilarious. Skye never used to like to play in front of people before, but now she seemed to greatly enjoy it. He left right after she’d finished playing because he had to wake up early..

When Skye and Tidas had finally crawled into bed, they had fallen asleep almost instantly in each other’s arms. They were only sleeping for a few hours, then they both had to get up..

Tidas was in charge of double-checking their supplies for the Highland Raid while Skye needed a quick lesson with Zas on how to handle her duties. Since she had no formal military training, Skye would only be in charge of a single platoon.

A platoon was made up of five squads, with five to seven people within each squad. Skye would be responsible for over thirty people during the raid, as well as have separate duties due to her unique set of traits. She was attached to the Scouting Platoon since she could feel out the terrain with her Earth magic, and detect people by combining it with her Shaman trait.

Tidas didn’t sleep long because he was so anxious. He woke up half an hour before a servant temping for Peggy came in to wake them.

Laying there watching his wife sleep was very soothing to him, but was also causing Tidas problems. They’d simply stripped and crawled into bed once they had made it back to their quarters, so Skye was completely naked under the covers..

It took everything in him not to make love to her right then. Skye’s shoulders and the upper part of her back were exposed as she slept on her stomach. Her skin looked so soft and inviting that he was unable to completely keep his hands and lips from her.

Tidas trailed tiny kisses along her shoulders and neck, eliciting a groggy moan from her. Stirring, she stretched like a cat waking up from a nap..

“I think you’ve been spending a little too much time with Shasta,” Tidas joked.

“Hmm? What did ye say, love?” Skye asked groggily as she sat up, and rubbed at her eyes.

“Nothing, love.. Come here,” was all Skye heard before Tidas was gently pulling her into his arms.

“Are you ready for today? We leave after we break our fast.. You don’t have to go if-”

All the sleepiness left Skye in an instant as she cut her husband off; “I want to go, Tidas.. I Am goin’ with ye.”

Tidas stared at her a moment before saying; “I was just asking a final time.. Once I’m done with my final walk-through, let’s go see Zazzy before Breakfast..”

Skye sighed despairingly. She didn’t want to leave Zazzy behind, but they had no choice. She was too big, and ate too much for them to take care of her while traveling. She would just have to stay back in Alcon..

Peggy was supposed to stay with her, but she couldn’t be moved at the moment. Her cold had turned into a full-blown flu; complete with throwing up randomly. Skye didn’t want to leave her behind either, but it had been the original plan to begin with.

Peggy was supposed to stay behind, and watch over their baby dragon while staying at Zazzy’s Place the whole time. Because she was sick, Skye had to find a last-minute dragon sitter.. Thankfully, Genie was more than happy to have the baby dragon all to himself for a little while.

They had discussed it last night when they’d gotten back from healing Magnus. He looked oddly nervous when Skye had mentioned getting summoned to the king’s quarters, then looked relieved when she’d specified that it was to ‘fix’ him. She brushed it off, but would come to regret not pressing him about it later...

After Skye’s lessons with Zas had finished, she’d made her way to Zazzy’s Place. She and Tidas had agreed that if one of them was running late, then they’d simply meet up there.

Tidas got held up because Marco tried to short him on medical supplies. He wanted to bring extra, in case the Highlanders had already started fighting amongst themselves. Marco saw it as ‘less enemies to deal with later’, so he’d denied the original request.

Arguing over whether or not Petrie had succeeded took more time than he liked, but Tidas had won in the end when they had involved Magnus as their tie-breaker. The loss of time pissed him off, but he kept the thought to himself.

It was almost like he was delaying them on purpose when Marco Knew that the longer it took them to leave, the more likely it became that Murdoc would be killed. As Tidas left his father and brother’s company, he swallowed hard as he pushed back his thoughts.. ‘Alcon is screwed once Marco got the crown..No. I won’t let it happen...’

Sadness and determination covered Tidas’ features as he walked through the hallways. Knowing in his gut that one day: he and Marco would finally face off against each other...

************

When Skye had gotten to Zazzy’s Place, Genie was Still there with Zazzy. They were sitting together inside her oversized barn, reading a book together. Looking at how Zazzy read from over his shoulder, she realized that her scaly bairn must’ve been doing it to her for a long time.

When she was studying for the Mage Trials, and the weather was nice; Skye and Zazzy would sit together in the exact same way. The memories of her baby dragon from last Christmas popped into her mind’s eye, then progressed through until she’d reached the size that she was now.

Since Zazzy had hatched, Skye had never been away from her longer than a couple days. And even then, she was just at the palace. The Highlands were so Very much farther away than that..

As Skye approached, Zazzy’s head shot up. Genie had been leaning against her as he read, and didn’t notice Skye’s approached. At least not until he fell backwards from her jumping to her feet, then running at her mother.

Since Skye didn’t need to hide her Tank trait anymore, she held out her arms,braced herself, and waited for Zazzy to slam into her.. And she did with her full force.

Genie had actually yelped in fear for her, but Skye just laughed as her feet dug into the ground for stability. When Zazzy slammed into her, Genie thought that she was a goner..

The dragon came to a sudden stop as soon as she’d connected with her mother. Skye had literally caught the giant animal with ease, astounding Genie as she did so. She weighed tens of thousands of pounds now, and Genie didn’t think that even a Tank of Tidas’ standing could hold Zazzy back.. but Skye did.

As she jumped around with Zazzy like she were merely a puppy, Genie felt more confident in his choice to talk to Magnus and Marco.. ‘She may hate me after she finds out she’s going to Sai, but I Know she’ll do it.. She can save them..’

Right as Genie walked over to them, Tidas came barreling into the field. When Zazzy saw him, she immediately took off to run at him, like she had done to Skye. As the over-excited Zazzy charged, Tidas grinned widely and called out; “There’s my scaly little princess!”