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General Zas eyed Skye as she stepped forward. When she’d removed her hood, Zas whistled loudly before saying; “Damn, Tidas! Got yourself a pretty one!”

“You must be Lady Skye Moonstone. I’m General Zas of the Royal Mages Corps. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, young lady.. Or should I address you as Princess Skye?” Zas flicked an ear as he spoke.

She grinned at him before saying; “Skye will be fine, if ye don’t mind. I just cannot seem to get used to the title..”

Zas laughed loudly before saying; “Skye it is, then. What brings you all in on this fine day? Did you hear about the sickness over at the hospital yet?”

The group shared a knowing look amongst themselves before explaining to the general what had happened. He’d listened intently, only shifting strangely at the mention of Skye’s powers. At the end, he looked to Skye with an odd expression before asking: “So how many traits do you have?”

Skye looked to Tidas before saying; “Three: Shaman, Earth, and my original Water trait. At least so far..”

.....

Skye’d said the last part under her breath, but Zas had heard it. Tidas’ wife seemed intelligent and genuinely kind to him. He’d decided during their tale that he would go speak to Dr. Martin himself, after they’d left. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Tidas and the others. It was simply that Zas hadn’t gotten to where he was by taking things at face value. There were plenty of things others noticed that another might not.

The group spoke on the topic until Tidas asked why the general was even there. His ears perked up as he smiled, bringing a smile to Skye face. He looked just like a large cat called a panther. She’d read about them in one of her ancient tomes. Apparently there used to be all kinds of large cats all over the world. The ones that existed now resembled a few, but were much bigger.

Zas’ grin turned prideful as he scoffed and said; “Don’t tell me you don’t recognize my cooking, Das!”

“Das?” Skye flashed Tidas a confused expression at the nickname.

The prince chuckled before he replied; “Just a nickname.. Zas, Das, and Shas: the Three Pillars. He tried to get it to stick, but no one calls us that but him, haha.”

“Hey! I heard that,” Zas flicked his ears back irritably.

“And I wasn’t trying to hide it,” Tidas rebutted with a smirk.

General Zas made a kind of snarl sound before saying; “You really don’t want to eat, do you?”

Tidas’ opened his mouth like he was about to speak when Skye smacked his arm. She glared at him for being rude, even though she’d gotten the feeling that they were just messing with each other. She was looking for a reason to stop their banter. Skye was becoming ravenous, and wanted them to pause their conversation at least until they sat down and ordered.

“Yer being quite rude, husband, and Ima half-starved. Forgive me lout of a husband, General Zas. We would love to eat yer delicious-smellin’ food,” Skye’s smile had lit the room as she finished speaking.

General Zas smirked when she’d smacked Tidas’ arm. He’d also perked his ears up again at the princess’ compliment. She seemed the independent type, which fit the prince’s description of her. Over the years, he’d talked about her constantly; boarder-line obsessively. It drove Shasta to start a fight with him on many occasions. Not due to any feelings of romance or anything like that. She’d just gotten sick of hearing about her.

Zas returned the princess’ grin and said; “Thank you, Skye. YOU may eat whatever you wish; on the house. The rest of you have to pay. Tidas: you’re paying double..”

Skye beamed her delight at the general’s offer. She’d never felt so hungry before, and the smell made her stomach churn with approval and anticipation. It grumbled loud enough for all four of the men to hear, triggered chuckles all around.

Zas looked to the tiny woman as he laughed harder at Skye’s blushing cheeks. Instead of shrinking away, she laughed with them; taking no offense to their innocent amusement. She suited the prince well, from what he could tell. Especially after they’d told him of her re-routing the gifts back to the hospital. It was exactly like something Tidas would’ve done.

The group took seats at the bar and ordered their food before continuing to talk. Ronnie and Klaus filled the general in on their training, and he suggested a good trainer for Ronnie, once he reached the capital. The lad looked like he might faint the majority of the time the general spoke. Meeting two of the three Pillars in a day nearly overwhelmed the poor fanboy.

Zas offered to train Klaus, but he turned it down at first. He didn’t think he deserved to be trained by the general, considering the type of person he was up until a little bit ago. He even elaborated by telling him about the incident with Skye earlier. Zas just laughed at him and told him, “That’s what happens when you getting some sense knocked into you..”

“Do you think that I never made a mistake? Never did anything wrong in my life? I killed humans, Klaus. They were attacking a village, and I slaughtered them all. Only after did I find out that they were mostly starving peasants from the Sync Kingdom.. I committed a terrible sin that is far worse than all of yours combined.. The previous kings may have pardoned me, but I carry that with me; use it to guide my future actions. You can do the same.”

The general’s words resonated with him, and Klaus reaffirmed his internal decision from earlier. He would continuously become stronger, and de his life and service to the princess. For that purpose; he accepted the general’s offer.

As they shook hands, Zas added; “You might have to accompany me to the capital, though. We have the Mage Trials soon.”

Skye perked her ears up as she sipped a cup of watered wine, waiting for their food. She knew what they were: a competition that also served as a final test to be accepted into the RMC. Five teams of six people run a giant obstacle course designed to test various abilities, skills, and teamwork.

It was ideal to see who was best suited to join the RMC. If one didn’t score high enough in their personal marks, you were denied. If one didn’t have sufficient teamwork skills, you were denied. And most importantly: if one wasn’t strong enough to make it through until the end; you were denied. The only way to be accepted into the ranks of the RMC without finishing the course was to be on the first place team.

It was exciting to think about to Skye because she’d never seen them. It wasn’t a holiday, but all of Alcon treated it like it was. People flooded the training arena, and those who couldn’t travel or afford to go inside gathered outside the arena, and around the kingdom’s broadcast radios. They were located in the center of every village with a population of five-hundred or more. It was mainly used in case of wars, natural disasters, or royal announcements. But every year there was the exception.

Skye’s father had refused to bring her; saying it was too violent for a young lady. The past couple years, she hadn’t wanted to go due to her circumstances. Even though her father had finally offered to take her. She imagined it was far more exciting to watch than to listen to.

Looking to her husband expectantly; Skye asked; “Are we to go as well?”

Before Tidas could answer his wife, Zas replied; “Of course! We have to do a special show this year, apparently.”

Tidas grunted as he looked to Zas with irritation. He hadn’t gotten to tell Skye of it yet; or much else, for that matter. He was getting quite angry that everyone kept discussing things with his wife before he had a chance to. But at least this wasn’t exactly important. It was a proposal that his brother had made to draw more people in. It was also going to double as the Pillar’s Competition. To see if everyone was keeping their ranks.

Tidas smiled nervously as his wife looked at him. She was about to start questioning him, but a short old woman who resembled Peggy slightly came shuffling out of the back. She had a large round serving tray in her arms, and an aggravated expression on her face.

She glared at general Zas before yelling: “Get yer furry arse in that kitchen and help me bring out the food, ye damn cub! Or I’ll skin ye for a fur coat!”

Skye literally saw the general’s fur fuzz out at the old woman’s threat. She was shorter and older than Peggy, but just as scary. Zas apologized to the old woman, then nearly ran into her in his haste to do her bidding. Tidas chuckled, but quit at the old woman’s glare.

“I apologize, Mary. But it’s funny to see Zas act like a frightened wee kitten,” Tidas laughed loudly as he finished speaking.

Mary grinned widely at the prince before saying; “He is a large kitten, to me, haha! Most others, he’s a beast. But he’s a good man, as ye well know.. Now it’s time to eat up!”

Mary turned her head and looked at Skye; exclaiming: “Oh! Such a pretty lass! Ye must be the Princess! Honor to meet ye, dearie. Ima Mary Trogdow; General Zas’ manager for Thistlewood Tavern. Pleasure to meet you.”

“Ima La-Princess Skye Moonstone.. But please, call me Skye; and the pleasure be mine,” Skye smiled and nodded her head in acknowledgement.

The steaming beef stew that was placed before her caused Skye to forget that she was talking. Her eyes feasted on the thick chunks of hearty beef, green beans, corn, sweet peas, carrots, and daikon. The smell of garlic, onions, the vegetables, and beef stock made her mouth water to the point of drooling.

Mrs. Trogdow laughed out loud before she said; “Eat, lass! You can have as much as you like. You need to get some meat on those bones!”

Zas came out of the kitchen carrying three large bowls; one each in of his hands, and one with his tail. He set the bowls down, then went back for two loafs of bread and a large dish of butter. He sat by Skye as Tidas began talking to Klaus and Ronnie about waiting until next year to try out for RMC.

“Do you like the food?” Zas asked he twitched his nose at Skye.

“It’s amazin! I can’t believe the General of the RMC is such a good cook! Ima sure ye must make yer men happy whenever ye cook,” Skye took bites of bread dipped in the stew in between speaking.

“Thank you, and they are.. It’s better than not eating at all, like whenever your husband attempts to cook, hahaha!” Zas’ laughter drew looks from the others, but they went back to their discussion quickly.

Skye was looking at the general as well when something Maevis had said popped into her head. She put her chunk of bread in her bowl, and leaned towards Zas slightly. His ears perked up as she nodded for him to follow suit.

In a low voice, Skye asked: “Do ye mind if I ask ye a personal question, General Zas?”

After nodding his approval; Zas leaned forward as Skye asked: “I hope it’s not rude to ask, but.. Exactly what type of Fae are ye?”