Chapter 334

334 Scouting Ahead(Part One)

Skye and Tidas spent the next week going back and forth between the RMC bunker, and the fields. She not only got potatoes and corn for the RMC, but helped along the other fields, earning her and Tidas a couple extra nights in the extra bunker.

Skye had decided that each RMC member, plus a few others; would get a small basket each. They would have a large bag of potato chips, a bag of kernels to pop into popcorn, and a personal-sized bottle of whiskey in each one.

With Murdoc being a middleman, Skye had worked out a deal with several people that could weave. So long as she provided the materials, they would work for a higher wage, and be paid later. When Murdoc went to the Alconian Capital to sign the official treaty with Magnus, he would collect from Skye on their behalf..

It was the same deal for the whiskey barrels, and the bottles she needed to fill. Tidas was a little perturbed at how much she was spending for a single Yuletide, but it didn’t actually matter to him. Skye had her own money, and it was up to her to spend how she saw fit.

As she chatted with Murdoc about colored strings for the the baskets’ ribbons, Tidas grinned at how exhausted the Highlander King looked. She had been running him ragged the entire week with her ideas and trades. Because she could provide almost any material required for what she needed: Skye was impossible to say no to.

As she walked off to find Klaus and Ronnie for something, Murdoc approached Tidas with a tired expression; “How the hell do ye keep up wit her?!”

“She heals my fatigue when I ask,” Tidas replied smugly.

“...You are the luckiest bastard that ever lived, ye know that?!” Murdoc said as he smacked Tidas’ shoulder a little harder than what could’ve been considered friendly.

“I know,” Tidas replied as he flashed a cocky smile, then sipped at some water.

.....

After Murdoc cleared his throat, his tone turned serious as he asked; “Are ye sure ye want ta bring her on a scoutin’ mission? She’d be more useful here.. And safer.”

Tidas shook his head; “No. Skye would never stay behind, anyway. With her powers, if anything goes wrong, we can distract the thing while everyone gets away.”

Tidas quirked an eyebrow at Murdoc; “Why are you going? You’re the King of the Highlands: how are your people not stopping you? At least the Council.”

Murdoc shrugged; “I suppose tis the same reason yer takin’ Skye.. I’ll just sneak out anyway, haha!”

Tidas chuckled as they watched RMC members running around. The Highlanders had machines they called snow mobiles, and they’d offered to let the Alconians use them to go check out the Old Capital. The snow had been coming down for a week straight, so the vehicles were needed.

“Are you sure our horses are alright?” Tidas asked as he set his cup down on a table.

Murdoc chuckled; “Are ye kiddin’?! Ye might be goin’ home wit some foals! Thanks ta Skye’s extra harvests, we got plenty of food.. That woman is somethin’ else..”

Seeing Murdoc making dreamy eyes at his wife still irritated Tidas, but he was slowly becoming used to it. He was an honorable man, and would never touch Skye without her permission, but still..

Smacking his shoulder, Tidas said; “You know it’s creepy the way you stare at her, right?”

Murdoc smiled and laughed; “She’s a beautiful woman! She’s meant ta be admired! Like a piece of art!”

Tidas shook his head; “I really hope I’m there the day you get punched in the face for saying things like that..”

Murdoc chuckled again; “Come ta Mead Hall on a Friday! I get hit plenty! But I never go home empty-handed, haha!”

Tidas chuckled as he walked over to double-check their provisions. The outer doors were open as soldiers took supplies out to the snow mobiles. It was complicated a bit by Zazzy constantly sticking her head in to look for her parents.

She missed them, and wanted them to play in the snow with her. Her presence was becoming so troublesome that Skye and a few of the RMC members had to go out and play with her so the others could finish loading up.

Tidas stood in the doorway as he watched Skye chucking snowballs at the other RMC members. Zazzy was using her tail to protect Skye from the barrage of snowballs they were returning to her. It was all fun and games until Zazzy made a snowball, and buried a particularly aggressive soldier with it.

Tidas laughed hard as Skye and the others panicked to dig him out. Zazzy walked over to him, and nuzzled his shoulder as he regained his control. As he scratched her behind her horn, he said; “Good lass! That was a fine snowball!”

It was her first one, so Zazzy was extremely happy to hear her father praising her. Skye was too busy apologizing and healing the soldier to hear what he’d said, which was probably a good thing. The man gave her a smile, and told her not to worry.

“I was havin’ a snowball fight wit a dragon, kinda expected somethin’ like this ta happen,” the soldier stated with an unabashed grin.

After their little incident was cleared up, Skye had Zazzy apologize as well. It did freak the soldier out a little to hear a dragon come damn close to saying the word ‘sorry’, but he ultimately laughed about it.. ‘So long as she’s on our side..’

As the man disappeared inside, Skye and Tidas readied to leave. Petrie had thrown a fit about Murdoc forbidding him to go, but he insisted that he stay. Amara was the same; she wanted in on the action, but her position was too important.

“What about you?! Yer the bloody king! If anyone shouldn’t be allowed ta go, it’s you!” Petrie bellowed.

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Murdoc grinned cockily; “Aye, but because Ima king, I get ta choose. So Ima goin’. When yer king one day, you’ll get ta choose.”

Petrie scoffed; “I don’t know why ye chose that as yer fantasy, but that’s what it tis. Ima the bastard son of a Southerner who killed his stepfather. No one will ever choose me ta be king.”

Sighing, Murdoc walked over, and placed his hand on Petrie’s shoulder; “Ye risked everythin’ ta try and stop the war. Drexel nearly killed ye, fer cryin’ out loud. The people know what ye have done for ’em. And they know that these peace talks happened cause of you..”

As Murdoc straightened up, he added; “Yer sellin’ both yer self, and yer people too short, laddie. Add up yer worth before ye slap such a shotty price on yer self..”

As Petrie nodded his general understanding, Mickey came into the bunker. When he saw him, Petrie flagged him over as he said; “Ah! Perfect timin’, Mic!”

After greeting his king properly, Mickey looked to Petrie and said; “Ima ready ta go.”

Murdoc finally realized that he had his winter gear on, and had a sack with him. He’d been so used to seeing the RMC members and his own men running in it, that it didn’t register with Mickey right away. Before the king could ask what was going on, Petrie answered him.

“Since I can’t go wit ye, I want Mickey boy here, ta go. He’s already packed and ready ta go,” a cocky grin stretched across his face as he finished.

Murdoc was about to protest, but Tidas walked up behind Mickey and said; “He can go.. I understand both of his reasons.”

Petrie and Murdoc looked at the Southern Prince with surprise. They figured that Tidas would still want to kill him..

“Yer not givin’ the okay so ya can kill him out there, right?” Petrie asked, not mincing his words at all.

Tidas chuckled; “If I wanted him dead, he would’ve been over a week ago. Na, Mic and me are good.”

Mickey smiled at Tidas; “Only cause Zazzy likes me.”

Tidas patted his shoulder in a friendly manner; “Well, she’s like the Tyrion of dragons: she’s an excellent judge of character.”

Murdoc’s eyes bulged; “When the hell did ye find the time ta watch Game of Thrones?!”

“That’s what Skye and I did on the nights you let us have that mini-bunker. Like I said, she can heal fatigue, so we just didn’t sleep,” Tidas said matter-of-factly.

Murdoc gave him a flat expression; “Wit a woman like that, all ye were doin’ was watchin’ TV?! ...Yer an idiot.”

Tidas chuckled lightly; “No I’m not. That came first..”

“What came first?” Skye asked as she walked up to the group.

Tidas sputtered in search of an answer, causing Petrie and Murdoc crack up. Mickey stifled his chuckles, but Skye still noticed him laughing. He’d been playing with Zazzy every day while Skye and Tidas were off within the Highlander’s city for one reason or another.

It surprised Skye that she liked him so much, considering Zazzy knew that he’d caused problems for her parents. She was aware of everything that they were doing on a daily basis because Skye and Tidas made it a point to tell her.

They found it very sweet that the RMC members even told her whenever their plans changed. Since they understood how intelligent she was now, they treated her like a five year old kid. Smart enough to understand them, but can’t express the best.

Zazzy was actively trying to talk, but the jaw muscles she needed to form human sounds weren’t developed yet. They would become stronger over the next year or two, but the chances of her talking before she was two were practically nonexistent..

Nonetheless, she still tried as they strapped down the final pack on the last snow mobile. Skye, Tidas, Arthur, Ronnie, Klaus, Kari, Murdoc, Mickey, and the RMC scouting squad were all about to head out for the Old Capital. Murdoc was also bringing about five men aside from Mickey.

Tidas didn’t like such a large group going, but Murdoc swore up and down that the creature would be sleeping right now. If it woke up, or if Murdoc was just flat-out wrong, then managing to protect so many people at once could turn out to be difficult...

Skye was saying goodbye to Zazzy as everyone else got a crash course on using the snow mobiles. She and Tidas had messed around on them when Gavin had first showed them. Zazzy had chased them through the snow on them, and had gotten excited when they had first started to show up.

“Amara and Petrie both promised to check on her. Plus Ralph said that he would make shifts for the troops to come out and play with her. He’s gonna call it an ‘exercise regimen’,” Tidas stated, relieving some of his wife’s worry.

“I know, I just.. Got this weird feelin’ like she should come with,” Skye stated with a dower expression.

After a bit of back and forth, Tidas convinced Skye to get on the snow mobile with him. She still felt like Zazzy should go, but kept telling herself that it was her ‘motherly instinct’ to bring her everywhere.

After they said goodbye to their scaly bairn a final time; Skye, Tidas, and the others rode off to start their hunt...