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Shasta lifted Skye up by the shoulders and shook her lightly as she said; “Please don’t be dead! For the love of the gods, Please don’t be dead! I’m dead if you’re dead!”

When the princess stirred, Shasta felt the reaper lift it’s hand from her shoulder. If she would’ve caused Skye’s death, Tidas would’ve hunted her to the ends of the Earth; friend or not. She was that sure of the prince’s love of his wife.

Scooping Skye up into her arms, Shasta took off like a bat outta hell towards the palace. The royal physician would hopefully be in and available to help the princess quickly. It wasn’t his day to visit the hospital, so the likelihood of him being in his office was high. Unless Magnus had called away for him.

Shasta had purposely taunted Skye before, when she mocked her worth. To Tidas, nothing on the planet was more important to him. He’d flat-out told Shasta and Zas one night that his life was meaningless without her, and the declaration had infuriated his friend. She’d screamed at him about all the good he’d done and people he’d saved; including her..

Tidas had every right to his own way of life, but Shasta hated that he felt he lived and died with her. She told him that his worth was far greater than ‘just being a husband’, and gotten a chiding for it in return. He explained that his love for Skye was what drove him to make the world a better place.

“To be honest; I’m a rather selfish person. I do everything I can to make Skye happy with the world she lives in. That’s why I save people.. In the back of my mind, I know it would sadden her to see others suffer.”

“I was trained by the best at court to ignore the problems of commoners, but Skye showed me..people are people. When all the words are stripped away, we’re all the same. Scared of pain, scared of being alone.. Deep down: we’re all the same. And Skye is the reason I can understand that.”

Shasta didn’t care to understand the prince back then, but the lass before her now made her wish she would’ve listened more closely. Shasta assumed that Skye was after Lawrence based on what she’d seen, but now it didn’t feel right. The royal couple would get the same dreamy look about them whenever one spoke of the other.

.....

Shasta had seen the pure determination burning in Skye’s eyes when she’d used her power. Insulting her love and dedication to Tidas had triggered something within the princess, or forced her to realize something; maybe even both. Either way, she’d reestablished her gumption.

The single hit was nothing but a hindrance to the Vice Commander, but she did say at the beginning that Skye wouldn’t land one at all. Due to it, Shasta found herself liking the princess a bit more than before; which annoyed her greatly. She smiled in spite of herself as she raced through the streets with Skye in her arms.

Shasta was much faster than a horse, even while carrying Skye in her arms. Living in the city for years had taught her which routes to take at what times, as to avoid running into anyone when she was using her magic. She wasn’t at her top speed, but still much faster than a horse would’ve been as she weaved through the side streets.

As Shasta reached the palace gates, the guards had to jump out of the way as she sped into the courtyard. Her breathing was heavy and erratic as she rushed up the steps with Skye still unconscious in her arms. As she quickly walked through the halls, Shasta quietly repeated to herself, “Please don’t let him see me.. Please don’t let him see me.. I don’t want to die today,” like a prayer.

Climbing several staircases, Shasta was rounding the corner to the medical quarters when Lawrence came into her view. ‘SHIT! I didn’t want Him to see me either! What do I do?!’

It was too late: “Shasta? What are you do-Skye?! By the gods! What happened?! Is she ok? Are you ok?”

Lawrence’s hazel eyes were filled with concern. Not just for Skye, but for her as well. Shasta’s heart beat hard against her rib cage as Lawrence came inches from her. His masculine smell was almost intoxicating to her as he looked over Skye for wounds. She was momentarily hypnotized by him until a nurse came out from a patient’s room.

Seeing the Vice Commander carrying in a person wasn’t that out of the ordinary. She’d done it on several occasions when there wasn’t enough room in the wagon or cart to transport her defeated challengers. It was surprising to the nurse, however, to see the beast woman concerned over one of her victims.

Shasta regrettably passed Lawrence, and went straight to the nurse with a panicked expression; “Please! Please help me! She needs help now! She was glowing, and then she slammed me into the wall, and now she’s.. She’s not moving!”

The nurse immediately directed Shasta to place the unknown woman on a cot so she could check her vitals. After she checked out the lass, she turned to Shasta and the joining Lawrence to explain.

“Her pulse is strong and steady. Her pupils reacted how they should, and she stirred a bit when I shined the light in her eyes, so that’s promising. All and all; I think your friend should be fine, but we best admit her and have the doctor check her over regardless. Now,” the nurse paused to grab a clipboard with some papers on it; “What’s her name?”

Lawrence spoke up first; “She is Princess Skye Moonstone. Wife of my brother, the Third Prince.”

The nurse’s pencil skewed slightly on her paper at the name; “The princess?! The one everyone has been talking about? The Shepard healing folks for free?!”

“Aye, that be her..” Shasta replied with a desolate tone.

The nurse’s face softened as she spoke; “So this be the woman that saved my grandson.. I swear on my life I’ll see that she gets the best care possible.”

Confused, Shasta asked; “What do you mean? Do you know the princess?”

“Not personally. She’s been making rounds to the hospitals within the capital and healing people at no charge. The ones that do try to pay her, she just tells them to donate it to the hospital. She lives up to her namesake, I’d say,” the nurse kept her gentle smile as she’d spoken.

Shasta quirked an eyebrow; “What namesake?”

The nurse flashed a jovial smile and replied; “Eir; everyone calls her the goddess Eir.”

Shasta scoffed with a smile, then shook her head slightly. The reaction prompted Lawrence to question what she found so amusing about it sarcastically. Shasta looked at Skye with a smirk before she answered the foreign king.

“Do you know who Eir is?”

“A goddess of Mercy, I thought,” Lawrence replied .

“Some think that; that she was just a goddess of healing and mercy.. But did you know she’s also the goddess of protection?”

Lawrence shifted his body as he absorbed the knowledge and said; “Ok.. I still don’t see how that’s amusing, though.”

Shasta turned towards Lawrence with an almost enlightened look in her eyes; “If you’d seen her in that arena today, you’d get it. This girl; she’s something else.. Something different.”

Lawrence grinned at the VC; “I’ve never heard you talk about someone like that before.. Does this mean you’ll train her without issue now?”

“Yes. Yes I will. If she doesn’t die, and your brother doesn’t kill me,” Shasta looked down at the floor with dread.

Lawrence chuckled at Shasta’s sarcasm before he retorted; “Well, we can’t be having that now, can we.. This world needs all the beauty it can get! Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from him.”

Every sense Shasta had went into overdrive at Lawrence’s compliment. Her tail flicked happily without consent as she celebrated internally. ‘He said I was beautiful! He thinks I’m beautiful! He. Thinks. I’m. BEAUTIFUL!’

As Shasta did a happy dance in her head, the doctor came around the corner with two nurses following behind him. The one from before, and another woman who looked like a younger version of the other. They rolled Skye into a private room, and had Shasta and Lawrence wait outside as he examined the princess.

About twenty minutes later, the two nurses left the room, and came back with a large machine. Shasta began to panic again, afraid that she might’ve internally injured Skye. Reflecting back on her actions, Shasta realized she’d gone too far. The idea of Lawrence being with anyone was upsetting to her, to say the least.

Not thinking beforehand, Shasta asked flat-out; “Are you and Skye... Umm, you know..”

Lawrence stared at Shasta a moment in confusion before he started laughed out loud; “What?! No! I mean, I would’ve liked to, but no. Tidas loves her, and she Clearly loves him.”

Shasta narrowed her eyes at Lawrence; “I think the ‘clearly’ label goes to your brother.. He loves her far more than the other way around.”

Now it was Lawrence’s turn to glare; “I think they’re pretty close.. Skye suffered a lot when she thought Tidas was dead.”

“And how do you know this?”

Lawrence smirked as he answered; “Let’s just say that the two Fae are quite chatty when they’ve had a couple of drinks..”

“Oh, you’re so on Nicolas’ naughty list now..” Shasta laughed as she joked.

“It was worth it. Skye’s been through far more than you think..”

Lawrence told Shasta about almost everything Maevis and Nicolas had told him. From the full story about Skye being kept in the dark about Tidas, to the Nomads, to what Jacob put her through; everything he could remember that wasn’t sworn to secrecy. Before they could finish their discussion, however; the doctor poked his head out into the hallway to call them into the room.

Skye was sitting up in an actual hospital bed with a gown on. They had to remove her armor to examine her; to make sure she didn’t have internal bleeding. It was a common injury for the Vice Commander’s sparring partners, so they needed to check.

According to the doctor, Skye was fine for the most part:

“She seems to be ok, but I must ask: did you do anything to the princess’ arms and hands?”

Shasta squinted at the doctor in confusion before she replied; “No, nothing done to her hands and arms by me. Just her face and gut. Why? What’s wrong?”

“I told ye she didn’t do anything! She was training me, and I went too far! It’s not Shasta’s fault!”

The Vice Commander was dumbfounded. She’d thought Skye would be one of those ‘poor me’ types, but Shasta was rapidly learning that the princess wasn’t normal in any sense of the word. But then again, Shasta always found the weird ones to be the best people.

“Why do you ask, doctor? Is there something wrong?” Lawrence inquired, breaking the tension.

“I ask because I’ve never seen such extensive damage in a functioning body part before!” the doctor turned towards Skye and looked her square in her eyes; “If it wasn’t for your Shaman trait young lady, your hands wouldn’t work at all.. I can’t imagine the pain you feel daily..”

Trying to remain calm, Skye asked what the doctor meant. He looked at a nurse and held out his had. She handed him a piece of paper that looked like a blown up picture of sawdust and wood chips. He held the paper up for Skye to see before he explained.

“This is a reinvention of an ancient machine called an X-Ray. Long story short, it allows me to see the damage done to your bones. This is a picture of your left wrist.. Honestly, I can’t comprehend how your hand functions at all..”