Chapter 374

374 New Era(Part Two)

“Ima no pheasant ye shot outta the sky! Put me down! Or I’ll sick me dragon on ye!” Skye yelled as he face turned red.

Zazzy looked at Murdoc and huffed, signaling that she would side with her mother. He laughed as he said; “All the snacks I give ye, and ye still choose her?”

Zazzy nodded, then stood up to her full height as a tiny stream of smoke escaped the corner of her mouth. Murdoc chuckled as he set Skye down, then got an overly hard smack on his back from Tidas. He smiled at the Highlander King broadly as he said; “Thanks for catching my wife,” then walked over to Skye.

Murdoc chuckled low, then followed after them as they headed for the mostly-cleared path leading to the strath. The riders would have to enter by twos, so they had time enough to reach them. As they came closer, horses started to appear; carrying the Moonstone crest.

A half moon created by two saber-like swords against a round shield. The shield had green and white on it, with two words in the middle: Luan Sgiath. It translated to ‘moon shield’, but Skye thought that it meant ‘the moon’s protector’ when she was a child.

It was a strange memory to have, but the man and woman that approached her were the main reason she’d had it..

Captain Prigle and Lieutenant Donnelly had been a part of the Moonstone guards since she was around eight years old. Teresa Prigle was promoted to Captain a year before Tidas had supposedly died, and Michael Donnelly had been granted his rank right before Skye’s first wedding.

They both had a terrible time chasing after Skye in her youth. She felt bad about it now, but they never held her antics against her. They never understood why Lord Moonstone didn’t let her attend the school in the capital, and felt bad that the only kids her age she got to be around were generally just suckups.

Tidas was one of the few kids that didn’t form a friendship with Skye to get at her family’s connections. Since he was a prince, and the King was already friends with Lucas, he had no ulterior motive to befriend her.

They were contracted to be married, but that didn’t matter to children very much. Tidas visited Skye because he genuinely liked her as a person, which evolved into love over time. Memories of chasing the two through the woods, then losing them for hours made the two guards smile as they trotted up..

.....

“Greetings to you my Princess, my Prince.. You two look well! I see they Highlands have treated ya well!”

Skye beamed at them; “Tis good ta see ye too, Captain Prigle! How’s Hank and yer bairns?! I bet Nathan’s gettin’ big!”

“Oh, aye! He’ll be joinin’ his brothers and sisters in school this year! Compliments of yer husband and our lord..”

Teresa looked over at Tidas; “I can never thank ye enough for puttin’ that school in. Our wee Bestie is at the top of her class! Her brothers hate it! They think the teachers will expect them to be just as smart as she is, haha!”

Tidas grinned broadly at the Guard Captain; “I’m happy to hear your lass is doing so well! How’s Moonie doing these days?”

Teresa laughed boisterously before she replied; “I love that you still call him that! He does well. He spends most of his time in the capital with the king. Apparently, they both miss their children terribly, and drunkenly bond over it nearly nightly.”

Skye and Tidas both scoffed as Skye added; “Oh, I doubt their drinkin’ has anythin’ ta do wit us.”

Turning towards the Lieutenant, Skye asked; “And how’s yer sister doin’, Mikey? Still with that Jeremy lad?”

Michael beamed; “Aye, my Lady. She’s set to marry him in the summer, and she wants to decorate hers with colors of heather, like yers was. She hasna stopped talking about it since..”

Skye chuckled as more and more soldiers arrived in a steady stream. Lord Reinbolt had sent several of his strongest men to help deal with Tidas’ uncle. It made Skye smile to see them after being north for so many months.

As the last of them joined, Skye introduced Murdoc to them. Many of the older ones shot him dirty looks, but Murdoc brushed them off. He understood that it would take the boarder lords longer to come around to peace. The RMC members had adapted extremely quickly, but living together under the same roof all winter probably had something to do with it.

As the soldiers dismounted, Murdoc was surprised to see women in armor amongst them, like the Moonstone Captain. When he asked Skye about it, she explained that her father and Lord Reinbolt were a little more advanced than the rest of Alcon when it came to women’s rights..

“Both me father and uncle told me that ‘when war is on yer doorstep, it doesna care what gender ye be. All die in war. How is a daughter, mother, or wife’s life more important than a son, father, or husband’s?’ I’ve never forgotten that, and I think tis why I was given so much freedom as a lass. So I could grow up as strong as I wanted ta be.”

Murdoc grinned as he thought about how soft Lucas really was when it came to Skye. She may not have known it, but Murdoc was well aware of who the Lieutenant was. He’d seen him several times delivering reports to Lucas about Skye when he would come to trade with them in the boarder village.

As the soldiers walked their horses off to the side, Skye used her Earth trait to make a kind of naturally fence pasture for them. The Alconians marveled at her abilities, then herded their horses into the pasture. As they finished the RMC members and Highlanders welcomed them to the feast..

The Alconians were leery at first, but relaxed as they watched the majority of the RMC mingling with the Highlanders. The three groups came together to eat, drink, and have a good time before setting out in the early morning hours.

Skye, Tidas, Murdoc, Petrie, Amara, and Gavin all sat at one of the long tables, talking with those gathered around. Along with the Moonstone and Reinbolt Captains, Klaus, Kari, and Ronnie hovered about as they talked. Still aware of their duty, which made Tidas ease up quite a bit.

Arthur and Ralph were drinking with Murdoc and Wallace, as well as several of the Council members. The only person that Skye was shocked to see among the group was one of Marco’s lackeys..

Kari was doing her best to avoid Connor Arnold, but he kept popping up and shooting her nasty looks. Klaus walked between them several times, and wrapped his arm around her, but the guy just wouldn’t take the hint.

After a few drinks, he finally got up enough courage to approach her, and grabbed her by the arm. As he started to drag Kari away, he screamed at her about how ‘his future wife better still be pure’, and that ‘she had no right to be playing soldier’..

Klaus chased after them, and punched Connor squarely in his nose when he tried to act tough with him. Smacking at his chest like an animal, and scream-asking if he wanted to ‘die tonight’. The surrounding spectators erupted with laughter when he went down like a sack of potatoes from one hit.

Drunk off of mead and adrenaline; the Highlanders and RMC members cheered for him as he dipped Kari, and kissed her in front of everyone. Her face had instantly turned red, but she didn’t push him away.

Skye walked over to Connor as he gripped his bleeding nose, and rolled around on the ground like a dog. When he rolled onto his back, Skye put her foot on his stomach, and gave him a warning..

“I dinna know if it’s yer family, Marco, or just yer plain greed that drives ye, but Kari has Rejected You! Get over it, man! Yer fuckin’ pathetic fer tryin’ ta force her to yer ways. She loves Klaus, who is a Far better man than You be..”

Pressing her heel into his gut, Skye leaned down and spoke in a threatening tone; “If I Ever see ye touch her again without her Expressed permission, they’ll be findin’ bits of you in Zazzy’s shit piles. Got it?!”

Conner looked like he’d seen a ghost, he was so sickly pale. Skye pressing her heel into his stomach didn’t help, either. After he had nodded in agreement to her, Skye lifted her foot to let him crawl away.

He had gotten about three feet from her, then puked up the little bit of alcohol and food that he’d consumed. Connor had been too preoccupied with finding Kari to focus on the fact that he’d barely eaten for a full day. As two of Reinbolt’s men helped him up, Connor thought over his situation..

Both his parents and Marco were on his ass about securing Kari as his wife. Because of Skye and Tidas, her family had refused to sell her to him, leaving him in a bind with his parents. He had already told them that he had her heart and hand so they could go through with a deal.

The two royals had completely screwed up his plan, and Connor was utterly useless to his parents and Marco without her. He was desperate, and desperate men did stupid things..

‘If I can get Klaus out of the way, then Kari won’t have a reason to say no anymore! I heard that falling into the monster’s ooze kills a person.. So I just need to knock him over tomorrow. Then Kari and her power are mine..’

As Connor walked away while plotting, Klaus and Skye watched him go. It was obvious what he was planning, but they would have to wait and see when he would try something against Klaus. As Kari and Tidas called out to them to rejoin the party, the two shared a look, a nod, then went back to the party as if nothing had happened.

Skye did ask Tidas why he just sat there, then actually looked into his eyes. A rage that she hadn’t seen in a while burned in them as he replied; “Because if I would’ve gotten out of this chair, the party would’ve been ruined..”

“How so? Did ye not hear the cheers when Klaus hit him?” Skye asked as she took a sip of whiskey.

Tidas smiled darkly; “Exactly.. Klaus hit him: I might’ve killed him..”

Skye smiled at Tidas; “I almost did. Took everythin’ I had not to.”

“You’re stronger than I am, wife,” Tidas said as he pulled Skye into his arms; “My darkness is too strong sometimes. Especially when it comes pieces of shit like him..”

Skye squeezed him back as she looked up at him and said; “Well, don’t worry, love. I’ll always be here ta make sure ye don’t go too deep into it.”

A cold chill ran up Tidas’ spine as he replied; “I’ll hold you to that..”