Chapter 419

419 Missed, Or Avoided?

It was just a little after eight in the morning when Skye and Tidas made it to the first hospital. There weren’t too many patients, but the crowds swarmed them on the streets after their second hospital stop on the western side of the capital. Most were there simply to see and praise the two heroes, but some had specifically stopped to beg Skye to heal them.

She had to temporarily turn a few away due to the nature of their illnesses, but had sent them to the nearest hospital until she could treat them the following day. They were mostly cancer patients, and weren’t in immediate threat of death or harm. They had too many people to see in too short a time, so Tidas helped her along with a little re-directing.

He had helped Skye set up a kind of trust from all of the donations that had been made instead of her accepting payments from people. There had been a short period of time where the nobles had competed with each other to see who could donate the most after being treated by Skye. It went on for a month or so before Karena had put an end to it.

The money had been more than enough to cover the costs of the hospitals while they were gone in the Highlands, and there was still plenty left to cover the people he sent their way now. By the time they had sorted and healed everyone in and between the four hospitals, it was almost eleven o’clock..

“Ima starvin’, husband.. I used up too much magic tryin’ ta be quick.. I NEED food, or I’m gonna pass out,” Skye stated after a struggle to mount Thoth her final time for the day.

Tidas grabbed his reins, then hers as he said; “How about I steer while you lean? We can stop at that little bakery shop down the street, and buy you a pie if you’d like?”

Skye chuckled weakly; “Don’t ya mean buy You a pie? I need somethin’ a wee bit more substantial than that. Oh! Smell that?! I want a quiche! Oh, I can smell’em from here..”

Tidas stifled a laugh as he watched his wife swallow back her drool. The savory smell wafting in the air was enticing, but the light, sweet scent that accompanied it was too delicious for him to turn away. It reminded him of Peggy’s homemade pumpkin pie, which he had missed terribly in the Highlands around Yuletide.

After following the scent a few blocks, Tidas dismounted, then helped Skye down. They were in the northwest part of the capital, and were at the edge of one of the noble districts. As they went to enter, many people either bowed, praised, or whispered as they entered..

.....

Skye was wearing a light-blue jacket with a white undershirt, khaki-colored pants, and her favorite black boots. Tidas wore a similar outfit, but with dark blues and browns paired with his boots. They complimented each other well, and were attracting a crowd outside of the bakery.

The older woman grimaced at Skye for wearing pants until she looked at her hair color. The Princess was the only person in the kingdom with actual gold-colored hair, so everyone knew who Skye was when they saw her. Not to mention that almost every Alconian knew who Tidas was, so even if they didn’t know what Skye looked like; they knew who she was.

The rumors had been boarderline brutal when it came to Skye’s relationships with the MacArthur brothers, but no one had ever heard rumors of Tidas being unfaithful. The closest ones were centered around Angelica Bibalow, but no one had believed them. She was known to be obsessed with the Third Prince, and to be unstable, to say the least.

A few of the more vicious spectators tried to say that the woman with the Prince wasn’t Skye, but they were quickly ridiculed out of the area. Tidas was an unwavering symbol of good to them, and proof that the nobility could actually be noble. Those that tried to drag his name through the mud in front of the general public were never treated kindly...

As the Gossip Mongers gathered and shared their tidbits, Skye and Tidas ignored them, and ordered their food. Tidas got a two pumpkin and sweet potato pies with buttered brown sugar drizzled across the top. Skye got three bacon, cheese, and spinach quiches with extra cheese melted on top.

After their sizable snack, the two headed back to the palace to deal with the part of the day that they had been dreading: talking to Marie about Richard’s death. They still weren’t sure if they should tell her about Petrie’s sister, but were leaning against it.

“All it will do is cause her pain,” Tidas had said as they dismounted.

Skye sighed deeply as they climbed the stairs to the palace; “I ken, but it might also give her peace. She clearly still loved him, and Petrie’s sister is a small piece of who he used ta be. Do we really have a right ta keep it from her?”

Tidas stopped off to the side within the foyer; “Do we even have a right to say anything? Has Mrs. Heughan even told her who her biological father is yet? What will happen when Marie shows up out of nowhere to meet her?! How-What would she say?!”

Skye huffed in frustration; “Who says that she’s gonna wanna-”

“Meet her?! You know she will!” Tidas exclaimed in a hushed manner; “We can’t tell her about Regina until Regina knows who she is! How traumatizing do you think that would be.. We can tell her about the letter, but not about her, understand? We have to agree, Skye-”

“I heard ye! I ken what yer sayin’: I won’t say anythin’ ta her, okay?! At least not until I’ve talked ta Petrie about it,” Skye replied testily.

Tidas nodded in the positive, then sighed; “I didn’t mean to yell.. I’m sorry, Skye. It’s just a very complicated matter for me-my family, in general. I want to tell my father and get his opinion, but he’ll tell Marco, and I don’t want to put her in harm’s way.”

Skye had smiled as soon as Tidas had apologized, then wrapped her arms around his waist as he had spoken. Tidas had in turn, coiled around her in response, and kissed her forehead when he had finished speaking. Skye agreed not to say anything again, then they exited the foyer, and headed off towards Marie’s room..

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

As they went up one of the spiral staircases, they could hear echoes of multiple people yelling. Both Skye and Tidas thought that one of the voices was Shasta, but wrote it off as coincidence. They knew that she was with Karena practicing her dancing, but a heavy feeling followed them as they went.

Marie’s quarters were on the second floor, on the other side of the King’s private library. She didn’t like to be bothered, and liked having a variety of books easily accessible to her. With Magnus’ office on the other side, she was rarely bothered unless he needed her council, or she invited people.

As they walked up to Marie’s doors, a young servant lass came out with an older woman behind her. They bowed and smiled pleasantly to the Prince and Princess, then asked if there was anything that they could help with. Tidas grinned cordially, then asked if his aunt was busy.

The older woman responded respectfully, but Skye was irritated by the way the young lass pushed her boobs together, and practically out of her shirt. Tidas ignored her as he talked with the older servant, but it was a little difficult for Skye to..

The girl literally kept glancing and smirking at Skye in between flaunting her cleavage at Tidas. She was about to walk over and say something to the little wench, but the older woman beat her to the punch..almost literally.

As she was smirking at the princess, the older woman snacked her in the back of the head hard enough to make her ears ring. The lass instantly fell to her knees and covered her head, like it was a frequent motion for the two to go through.

“How dare you act so Disrespectfully to the Prince and Princess! Pushin’ your teats up like you gotta pair! Your uncle owes his life to this woman! As does your mother! And stop actin’ the trollop in front of a married man! Have you no self-worth? Go on! Git!”

The young lass looked mortified as she got up, and ran off. The older woman huffed in irritation again as she picked up the basket that the girl was supposed to take, and apologized for her behavior. Skye assured her that it was fine, and that it happened more often than she cared to keep track of.

After the servant had bowed and left, Tidas went to guide Skye back the way they had come. She stopped him and flashed a confused expression, which drew a lazy smile from him..

“Were you so distracted by that lass’ breasts that you didn’t hear Meredith? My Aunt Marie left this morning to go to Dragonhorn.”

Skye’s cheeks flushed with frustrated embarrassment; “I was distracted by how hard she was tryin’ ta distract you! Twas disrespectful, like Merida said!”

“Meredith...Her name was Meredith, and you were far more distracted than me.. Is this something I need to worry about?”

Skye huffed at her husband; “Yer infuriating.. So you admit that ya were a wee bit distracted?”

Tidas laughed as they started to walk away; “It’s not like I could avoid them, but Still not as distracted as you..”

After a bit of banter back and forth, they decided to track down Genie. They had a decent amount of time left before they needed to meet Maevis and Nicolas for lunch, and the ballroom that Shasta was practicing in was near his quarters. As they descended the stairs, they yelling from earlier grew louder.

Looking down the stairs, they saw a servant running up the stairs with a frantic expression, until his eyes landed on Skye and Tidas. Relief touched his face before gut-wrenching anxiety covered it again. Stopping in front of them, he bowed, caught his breath, then spoke as quickly as possible..

“Vice Commander Shasta and Princess Karena have been fighting all morning! VC Shasta is trying to leave! She’s screaming about calling off the wedding and eloping with the King of Ruscovic if Princess Karena doesn’t give her a break! And th-then..”

Tidas sighed deeply; “What happened?”

The servant swallowed hard; “Princess Karena has ordered her guard to Kill the Vice Commander!”

“Oh shit,” Tidas said before he and Skye took off towards the ballroom.

As the royals left in a whirlwind, the lad sank to the floor, and sat down on the step a moment. He was happy to run into the Third Prince first, and made a mental note to pray for Sai’s diplomat for pointing him in their direction. As he finished catching his breath and dusting himself off, the lad took off to find the King and Crowned Prince..