Chapter 462

462 Hunting Trip(Part One)

Skye felt a jolt of fear surge through her, but stood her ground against the man of her nightmares. The seemingly innocent nickname was what the dark man from her dreams called her, and this was the second time that Marco had called her by it. As the door to the King’s quarters creaked open, Skye glared at her brother-in-law..

“I think yer tryin’ ta get him killed, and I’m here ta tell ya that he’s not the one that’ll die..”

Marco smirked at Skye as the guard stood in the doorway with a confused expression. He wanted to continue their little back and forth, but he had limited time, and needed to tweak the hold he had on his father before leaving. After acknowledging the guard, Marco locked eyes with Skye as he replied; “My dear, sweet Skye: I look forward to seeing which one of us will succeed first..”

“Please, feel free ta hold yer breath,” Skye snipped before she turned and left.

Marco smiled and chuckled lightly before turning to the sleepy-looking guard, and said; “Wake my Father and tell him that I’m here to bid him farewell.”

The guard flashed a small smile as he bowed, then closed the door to go wake his King. Marco stood waiting for about seven minutes before the door opened again, and the guard led him into the King’s bed chamber. He could hear his father clearing his throat as he entered the room.

“For the love of the gods son: why so early? I’m an early bird myself, but the bloody birds aren’t even awake yet,” Magnus grumbled as he shifted in his bed.

The king was laying down, comfortably propped up in his bed as an older female servant handed him a glass of water. After a few gulps, he handed it back to her, then looked at his oldest son..

Marco shrugged; “I want to get a good start on building my camp. I won’t be staying in any taverns or the like, and Sheri said that it will most likely rain during our trip. So I want to establish a campsite before the ground becomes soft.”

.....

“Make sure you take all of your guards with you. We can’t have the Future King getting killed while hunting elk,” Magnus replied as he waited for the servant to bring his robe and slippers to him.

Marco nodded at his father; “They are all awaiting me in the stables. I’m even bringing along Doctor Stein, just in case.”

Magnus sighed; “I would prefer to send Skye with you, but she’s already promised to help Shasta. Besides, I highly doubt that she would agree to go right now.. Are you sure that you can’t stay until the afternoon? Even if you only addressed the nobles about what happened between you and your brother, then the rumors-”

“The rumors would still continue to happen,” Marco cut his father off mid-sentence as he walked over to the bedside, and placed his hand on his father’s shoulder; “I think the best thing that can be done for now is to sweep it under the rug.”

Magnus waved the servant off, then turned back to snap at his son; “How is that helpful in any way?! You could easily clear this up by waiting-”

The room fell silent as Marco started to funnel some of his magic into his father, and his eyes glazed over with emptiness. Marco needed the rumors to fester and spread while he was gone. Which was why he had secretly sent word to his supporters that ‘he was going into the countryside to recover from his wounds under the guise of a hunting trip’.

In the message; Marco had specifically told them to ‘keep spreading the word of his brother’s true nature’, and that ‘he had no doubts that Tidas would try and have their Father cover up the incident’. He also said that he didn’t want Skye getting swept up in his brother’s plot, so they should just focus on him wanting the throne.

Marco knew that with a bit of tweaking to his father’s wording, he could make it seem like he was covering up the incident. Which would support the other part of the rumor: that Tidas wanted the crown. The love angle between him and Skye was mainly to ensnare the female nobles, and it was working wonderfully with the ones not aligned with his wife.

‘Most of her female supporters can be kept in line by their husbands, so Karena’s following won’t be very hard to deal with.. It’s the men that she’s ensnared that will be an issue. Oh well, I’ll just have Ahriman take care of them. At least she was smart enough to involve herself with no-name nobles.. If I offer them something pretty or shiny to preoccupy themselves with, then they won’t think twice about her disappearing. And the ones that refuse can be left to Ahriman..’

As thoughts bombarded Marco’s mind, it dulled the pain from his crushed fingers. Skye had broken each one in multiple places, and the fragments felt like they grinded together every time his heart beat. He quickly finished modifying his father’s thought process, and added a few trigger words that would all but guarantee his father’s uneasy avoidance of the incident.

Once Marco had finished up, he adjusted the servant woman’s and the guard’s memories a bit, then headed out the door. He fast-walked down the hallway, back towards the front of the palace. As the pain started to build, he caught sight of his group of guards following behind Doctor Stein; minus Sheri.

After sending a pulse of his magic to her to recall her, Marco motioned for them to turn around. When they realized that he was holding his hand, his guards rushed over. First they bashed Sheri for not protecting him, then they started to make empty threats aimed at the one who had hurt him.

A light smile flashed across the Crowned Prince’s face as he said; “If any of you touches Skye without my specific order: you’ll die first.”

They exchanged a few surprised looks between them before Benzo asked; “So it was Skye? Hahaha! That lass is feisty!”

“She did it last night as we left,” Sheri commented as she joined the group.

Draco smirked; “I guess she was too quick for you, huh?”

“...Something like that,” she replied with a bored look on her face.

“Is the pain back, My Ki-Prince? I brought all kinds of medications with me, in case you needed them,” Doctor Stein added as he looked over Marco’s fingers.

“No, I’m fine for now. We need to leave or we won’t have time to scout the area properly. Sheri and Draco will ride with me while Norvis and Benzo ride along side.”

“What about Ahriman?” Sheri asked as they passed through the main doors to the palace, and descended the steps to the courtyard.

“He has a head start.. Jin Laos has been causing him grief, so he left last night. He’ll rejoin us once we arrive,” Marco replied.

Doctor Stein had been adamant about reaching the caves before the new moon, and that was only three days away. They needed to leave due to that, as well as have recon time. As Marco stepped into his stagecoach, he glanced back at the palace a final time..

‘Enjoy your time with her, brother, while you can.. Build up as many memories with her as you can.. It’ll make the moment she chooses me all the more entertaining..’

A dark smile stretched across Marco’s face as his thoughts turned deviant. Sheri fought back a shiver of disgust as she watched him staring out of the window. As the stagecoaches started to pull away, a small sigh escaped her..

‘This is going to be one Loooong trip..’

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

It took several days to reach the outskirts of Dragonhorn, then an additional day to finally be within monitoring range. Ahriman had arrived the previous day, and would be scouting until Marco signaled for him to return. As the other guards set up camp, Marco peered into the darkening woods.

The forest was expansive, and they needed to know a rough estimate of the Fae that lived there. Since Ahriman used Dark magic, he wouldn’t easily be discovered; even by the Fae. It wasn’t a place that men ventured into since it was known to be home to Barghests, Lichts, Goblins, Trolls, and other malevolent creatures.

Marco grinned devilishly to himself as he listened to the very noises coming from the woods. Birds, squirrels, bugs, and other natural forest dwellers were nowhere to be seen or heard. Only the occasional rustling or growl echoed through the greenery..

“This is my kind of place,” Marco commented as he stared into the foliage.

“We’ve finished setting up, My King. What would you like us to do next?” Sheri inquired as she came to stand at her master’s side.

“We’ll wait until Ahriman returns and reports before I send any of you out. I can’t afford to have any of my precious tools being broken before I start my main project..”

Sheri partially bowed, then peered into the darkness with her king. Something was definitely moving around fairly close to them, but they couldn’t tell what it was. She thought that she’d seen eyes watching them through the trees and bushes, but she couldn’t tell without going to check.

Dragonhorn rarely had issues with dark Fae and other creatures due to the Cu Sith that had befriended the people of the town, thanks to Skye. Marco had enjoyed reading the report, and knew that if the worst came, they could rush into the town, and have the Cu Sith and civilians take care of whatever was after them.

‘Not that That will happen.. If I hadn’t poached them, my guards would be the leaders of the RMC by now.. The only ones that could challenge them would be those three..’

Marco grimaced as a mental image of Tidas, Shasta, and Zas flashed through his mind. The first two would cause him problems later, but Zas was already handled..

“Are the General’s family members still being shadowed?” Marco inquired.

“Aye, My King. We assigned regular soldiers loyal to you to handle it until we return. They were told not to wear armor, and not to get too close,” Sheri replied as she tried to focus her sights on a shifting bush.

“Good. When we return, your orders will come swiftly. Make sure that the others know that mistakes will Not be tolerated,” Marco replied as the bush began to shake even more.

Sheri stared at the bush with a leery expression as she called to Draco and Benzo. Since they were Tank mages, they were the most qualified to handle whatever was stalking them. As two massive red eyes stared at them from the foliage, Marco smiled inwardly as he said; “Kill it..”