Chapter 388

388 Future Problems

Skye woke up several hours later, drawn from her semi-coma by the delightful aroma of food. The moment that she stirred, she was surrounded by people. All clamoring to see if she was alright.

Klaus, Ronnie, Kari, and Murdoc were the first ones she saw. Ronnie told her how happy he was that she was alright, then took off to find Tidas. He’d been called away just a few minutes ago to sign off on the casualty report being sent to his father, so he shouldn’t have been far.

Klaus and Kari hugged as happy tears streamed down her cheeks; “Thank the gods! You’re finally awake! I thought we’d lost ya!”

As Skye sat up groggily, Arthur and Ralph shoved the two lovebirds aside, and started to ask her a mixture of questions. Ranging from how she was feeling, to whether or not she was hungry. As they handed her a glass of water, Tidas came rushing into the tent.

As soon as his eyes fell on her conscious state, Tidas sighed in relief, then walked straight over, and kissed her. Skye smiled as he pulled away, and asked how long she was out for..

“Just a few hours, but you wouldn’t wake up for anything: not even smelling salts.. What happened to you out there Skye?”

“Aye.. I’d like ta know where the black shit went,” Murdoc said as he got up and stretched.

As Skye handed off her cup, she replied; “Back to the Source..”

“Source?” Arthur asked with a confused expression.

“The Source of All Magic.. Where the Fae all came from. Don’t ask: it’s a Really long explanation,” Tidas replied as he rubbed as his forehead.

.....

Arthur nodded, albeit still curious. He fully planned on bugging Tidas about the answer later. But for now: they had more pressing issues...

The fallout from Richard’s words had the soldiers divided. Some wanted to demand a proper investigation into Prince Marco’s involvement. While others called them traitors for uttering a single negative word against the future king.

There were far more against Marco than for him, and the ones siding with him all held high ranks in one form or another. A few were in fact grunts, but their families and outside ties had them connected to Marco in very biased ways.

They would support him because he makes them wealthy, not because he would make a good king. The other soldiers understood this, and called them traitors to the kingdom for siding with the Crowned Prince. As the turmoil started to escalate, Skye and the others could hear the anger from inside of the tent.

Tidas muttered a string of curse words as he headed outside to try and quell the fighting. Skye was attempting to stand up when Amara came into the tent. Skye smiled at her as she teetered forward, and was caught by a super-fast Murdoc.

Klaus glared at him since he had to knock him out of the way to catch her. Klaus was perfectly capable of catching Skye himself, but the Highlander King had muscled his way past to do it himself. And to make it worse; he glanced at him and smirked.

Klaus was ready to punch him, but Kari put a hand on his shoulder, and spoke in a hushed tone; “Don’t mind it, love. He’s actin’ like that because we’re leaving soon.”

Murdoc had heard Kari’s words, and had instantly lost his smirk. She was right, and it annoyed him to be called out on it so easily. After coughing a few times, Murdoc suggested that Skye say something to the soldiers.

Amara slapped his shoulder before saying; “Are ye daft?! She just woke up, ye bloody bampot! And ye want her ta go out there and play mother ta a buncha screamin’ children?! Tis not her place! Tis her husband’s as the Field Commander!”

Murdoc didn’t even blink at her playful smack as he replied; “Aye, but she’s the ‘Hero Goddess’ right now. I think right now’s the best time ta use her sway, ta get the numpties in line. Especially wit how it’s escalatin’ out there..”

The yelling had intensified, and the word ‘traitor’ was being tossed around like a potato between school children. Between the noise outside, Murdoc and Amara arguing, and Tidas being away: Skye was at her patience’s limit.

Righting herself, Skye looked between Murdoc and Amara, then said; “I’ll handle the soldiers if you two simmer down yer selves, aye?”

Turning to Klaus, Skye asked if he would help her outside. He hesitated at first, sure that she should be resting instead. But.. ‘With all that racket, who the hell Could sleep?’

Complying with the Princess General, Klaus helped Skye out of her tent..

Those that saw her fell silent, setting off a chain reaction that reached all the way to the two main instigators. The now Head Captain of the Reinbolt men, and a few RMC generals continued to argue with several RMC and Highlander soldiers of varying rank. Even as Skye approached, they kept at it until Tidas called out to her by name.

To be honest, he was happy that she had come out. He would be annoyed that Murdoc had suggested it, but grateful to Skye all the same for her appearance. Almost every soldier felt indebted to her, and Tidas knew that any request she made would be accepted by the lot of them...Or so he hoped.

As Klaus passed Skye off to her husband, she thanked him for his help, then addressed the soldiers..

“What the Bloody Hell is WRONG wit you people?! There be injured people all over the place! And here ye are! Screamin’ at the top of yer lungs like ye got Me doin’ Now! Have ye no decency?! No respect fer yer brethren?! Now SHUT IT! Or I’ll Shut it for ya! Ye ken?!”

One cocky general stepped forward, but as soon as he uttered a single word: a blunt spike shot out of the ground. It hit him squarely in the gut; knocking the wind out of him, and sending him slumping to the ground. Skye glared at the crowds around her, then yelled; “Anyone Else?!”

Seeing not even a blink amongst the soldiers, Skye added; “Can ye all wait until we return to the bunker to officially discuss the events of earlier?!”

“Aye!” the soldiers chorused.

“I appreciate it! Now, if ye don’t mind: I need food..”

A small silence was had before most started to chuckle. Skye’s appetite was known amongst the RMC and Highlanders, but not so much with the remaining Reinbolt and Moonstone soldiers. The former monster-prince wasn’t the only thing that they had wished to discuss..

Captain Prigle and Lieutenant Donnelly were well known and liked by the two reserve groups. They had lost them, and many other good soldiers to Zazzy, and wanted guarantees that she would be dealt with for her transgressions. Skye was about to snap on them, but Tidas had beat her to it.

“Zazzy is beloved by both the people, and my Father. She was possessed by the Dark and Ether magic that Richard used. She didn’t attack because she wanted to.. You would know the difference.”

“And what do you mean by that, exactly?” a rather snooty, tall man in Reinbolt armor asked.

Tidas grinned darkly; “I mean that if Zazzy Wanted us dead: none of us would live..”

The soldier shrunk back at Tidas’ words and expression. It was threatening in a very obvious way to anyone looking at him, which sent up a warning flag in her mind for some reason. She didn’t think that Tidas would hurt him, but..

Before she could stop him, Tidas announced to everyone at the camp; “If Anyone! And I mean ANYONE were to try to hurt Zazzy: they would have to go through Me First!”

The Reinbolt and Moonstone men looked around at the hard stares that they were receiving from the RMC members, and Highlanders. Zazzy wasn’t just a cute mascot to them: she was a dear friend. One that they would defend along side their Commander if need be.

Before things could escalate further, Kari came running in to announce that the food was all ready. That seemed to defuse everything, but Skye got the sinking feeling that the situation needed to be explained, or it would come back to bite them in the arse later.

Catching up with the Moonstone soldiers was relatively easy. They had all seen Zazzy when she’d hatched, and knew that she wasn’t a beast. They had still wanted some form of punishment for her killing Teresa and Michael, but Skye managed to talk them down, once they heard from a few of the other survivors about the ooze.

They all described it the same way: a dark, cold void that you can’t escape, no matter how hard you try. Climbing, fighting; it all translated to physical thrashing about in reality. Many of the soldiers had parished not from their wounds, but from the Dark and Ether magic poisoning them.

Once the other soldiers had testified, the Moonstone men agreed to not say anything unless directly asked about it. Before she could speak to the Reinbolt men, however, they had all retired for the night..

There was no party or celebration for their long awaited win. The cost weighed heavily upon the survivors’ shoulders as they talked about friends and kin that were no longer with them. Some stories were about loved ones lost long ago to Richard, while others were about more recent events.

Skye had thought that a victory feast was going to happen, but Murdoc crushed her dreams when he said that they would have to return to the bunker first. A feast would’ve attracted the Reinbolt soldiers..

Tidas saw how fidgety Skye was being, and asked what was wrong. She told him that it was nothing, and tried to brush off the feeling, but something foreboding nagged at her. Warning her to not let the Reinbolt men near Marco.

He looked over at the grouping of tents that were theirs, then smiled cockily; “We Could just say that Richard-”

“Don’t even finish that joke, husband. We’re not tyrants. I’ll simply explain it ta them like I did wit me Da’s men.. That should cover all of our bases..”

Tidas sighed heavily; “What are you so worried about the Reinbolt men for?” Tidas asked, his curiosity peaked.

Skye shook her head; “I canna put me finger on it.. Just somethin’ tellin’ me that they be a future problem if we canna convince ’em ta forgive Zazzy before we reach Alcon...”