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Cursing under his breath so as not to wake Skye, the thought crossed his mind; ‘It’s a sign: today is going to be rough..’

The sun hadn’t even risen into the sky yet when had Tidas left his wife asleep in their bed. He signaled the hidden guards that he was leaving, then took off towards the palace. It was a day filled with tedious tasks, but Tidas would endure.

Before they’d left the banquet room last night, Magnus had pulled them aside to talk. His father had given them the night off, under the condition that they discuss their rolls within the Mage Trials. They would most likely be fighting each other during it, and needed the time to come to an understanding about their situation.

They had been confused by what he meant, so Magnus explained; “You two are married! You think that duking it out with each other will end happily if assurances aren’t made prior?”

Magnus looked squarely at Skye as he spoke; “I don’t know what strategies you’ve cooked up with Shasta’s help, but she assures me that you’re ready, but what will you do if you lose to Tidas before one of your teammates crosses the finish line? How will you feel towards him then?”

Turning to Tidas, his father started in on him next; “And you: don’t just Let her win, either! I know exactly what you’re capable of, son, so I’ll know if you’re holding back with her.. And so will the crowds. Are you fully ready to swing your sword with intent, at your Wife?”

Watching each of their expressions muddle over in thought, Magnus finished his lecture with: “You two don’t realize how badly this could all blow up in your faces if you don’t talk it all out beforehand..”

Tidas had contemplated their conversation nearly the entire day. Through training drills, debriefings, and paperwork: he’d been distracted. The trainees weren’t used to seeing the Commander so inattentive, but the RMC members figured why.

.....

Due to his trait, Tidas could hear an occasional uncomplimentary comment, but a more veteraned member or trainer would warn them about their Commander’s keen hearing. They would then explain Who was joining in the Mage Trials this year..

The roster was public knowledge, so anyone with an hour to spare could’ve found out that Princess Skye was joining. Of course, that wasn’t how everyone had found out over night: that would be Shasta’s doing.. And she’d done it in the worst possible way.

In front of Many of the nobles participating in the trials, Shasta had drunkenly declared that Skye was going to, “Beat the crap out of her husband, and anyone else that tried to stop her from Winning the Mage Trials.”

The provocation had just plastered a giant target on Skye’s back with people that already didn’t like her. She didn’t care about their approval, but she was trying to stay under their radar for a reason. Now, even with the good will she’d earned from healing their loved ones factored in; Skye was screwed.

‘Great.. So much for gettin’ a wee bit more trainin’ in. Why does Shasta get so cocky when she gets drunk off of cream?! ..There’s gonna be two reactions; one is hate, the other is acknowledgment...’

Looking around the room with an awkward smile plastered on her face, Skye affirmed her thought.. ‘Aye, definitely a lotta bad vibes in here now.’

Zas in particular had not looked pleased by Shasta’s declaration. Skye seriously doubted that his animosity was aimed at Shasta for stirring everyone up. He was pissed either because Shasta was drinking to excess, due to Skye’s ability to heal her, or..

‘Pretty sure he’s just glarin’ at me because I refused to back out of the trials..’

Shortly after Shasta’s little outburst, Skye and Tidas had tried to leave. That was when Magnus had called them over to talk for a few minutes. After the jarring discussion; Celestia and Arro had said that they’d come see Skye first thing, so she had to tell them about Zazzy’s Place.

Both Aero and Celestia insisted upon seeing the baby dragon, regardless of the fact that it was nearly midnight by then. Fae didn’t typically require much sleep to maintain themselves, so it wasn’t an inconvenience....To them.

Skye did get a kick out of seeing Zazzy playing with Aero’s Wyvern. They had flown on him to get there, while Tidas ran to their destination with Skye in his arms. It would’ve taken almost three times longer if they had traveled in a carriage or the like.

Zazzy arched her back like a weary cat upon seeing them land. Since they’d arrived a full two minutes before Skye and Tidas, guards swarmed them as soon as they’d landed. Celestia gripped Aero’s arm in fear as Aero kept his Wyvern ready to attack.

When the royal couple had arrived, they’d instantly defused the situation. Aero was still on edge as Skye and Celestia introduced the two, but he’d felt better after Tidas had explained the purpose behind their little home. Looking at Zazzy’s size; he completely understood why she wasn’t allowed within the palace anymore.

The two dragons were leery of each other, at first. Zazzy sniffed around Nightwing, which was what Aero had named him. He looked at Zazzy with calculating eyes as she sniffed at him and jumped around, trying to get him to play.

They were nearly the same size, even though Nightwing was much older than Zazzy. She hopped around enthusiastically until he’d had enough of her overexcited antics. Quickly and firmly; one of the times Zazzy had lowered her head, Nightwing used the small paw on his wing to push Zazzy’s head to the ground.

It was funny to see the unimpressed Nightwing, and the utter shock on Zazzy’s face when it’d made contact with the ground. Celestia profusely apologized for the Wyvern’s attitude, but Skye just said; “Tis fine! Zazzy needed to be put in her place.. She shouldn’t have been jumpin’ around him like that anyways.”

As Skye watched the dragons play, she also worried about Zas interfering during the trials. ‘If he can knock me out before a member of me team reaches the finish line, I’ll be disqualified. Same thing that Magnus warned me about Tidas.. That will most likely be his goal: knock me out beforehand..’

Seeing the contemplative look on his wife’s face, Tidas squeezed her hand as he said; “We’ll discuss the trials tomorrow night.. I know that you understand that I’m not your only challenge, either..”

Skye didn’t know if Zas had approached Tidas or not, but she was willing to bet that he had. When they had their mini-date night tomorrow, she would ask about it then. As well as determine if Tidas could handle losing to her.. ‘Or me to him.. That would be the most probable outcome.’

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

After making it through a long day filled with preening trainees, dignitaries, and diplomats; Skye and Tidas were finally getting some alone time. They’d met up in the palace’s foyer, but didn’t get any farther than that. Right as they went to leave, guards began to call out from the inner walls surrounding the palace.

A stagecoach was careening towards the palace walls with the Moonstone insignia on it. Hearing her family’s name, Skye and Tidas stayed put and waited as the gates were opened, and the coach came barreling in. The driver almost flew out of his seat when he’d stopped.

As soon as it wasn’t in motion anymore, the stagecoach door was flung open. Revealing a distraught-looking Lucas, followed by Petrie and Ralph. Both were injured and bleeding, which instantly sent Skye into Shaman mode.

Panic lined with confusion covered Tidas’ face as he asked; “What the hell happened to you two?! Did Murdoc do this?!”

Anger bubbled up in Petrie, but he kept his cool so as not to aggravate his injuries. He’d motioned to Skye to heal Ralph first since he was in worse shape, but Petrie himself was still pretty bad off. Shallow sword gashes covered him, but he was still conscious and talking; unlike Ralph.

“No, it wasna him! Twas a man named Drexel McLeod. He opposed Murdoc when he’d told the council about the purposed treaty. He thought that if he could kill us and blame it on the Southerners, then the council would break the treaty..”

“Drexel is a warmonger. He’s too happy raidin’, pillagin’, and rapin’ to want peace.. Tidas, he’s gonna try to kill Murdoc. If that happens, ye can kiss any chances of peace goodbye! WE HAVE TO SAVE HIM!”

“Mmm..”

As Petrie started to panic, Ralph began to regain consciousness. Skye eased him up, then told him to go slow until his equilibrium came back. Once she knew he was fine, she turned her attention to Petrie.

Skye had intentionally activated his endorphins to help him calm down, which worked long enough to get them into the palace and situated with whiskey. Tidas sent one of the guards to fetch the king and Marco. Magnus happened to be with Marie, so she accompanied him.

Marco apparently wasn’t in the palace, which disturbed Tidas greatly considering none of his men had reported seeing him leave. Brushing the mystery to the side for now, Tidas and everyone in the room focused on Ralph. After taking several shots of whiskey, Ralph gave his full report..

While hills and mountains were normal in Alcon, the farther southwest one went, the more the geography leveled out. The capital was basically in the middle of the kingdom. It was situated where the hills and numerous valleys began to transition over to open plains.

The farther northeast one went on the Star Continent, the more mountainous it became. Starting from there, the mountains gradually gave way to large rolling hills, which then created valleys. Once the valleys flattened, the ground was nearly completely level throughout the rest of the continent.

Ocean waters were filtered through the mountains and valleys as they stretched across Alcon, then out to the other kingdoms. The western highlands were flatter, but mostly barren except grass. The eastern side was lusher, but had a lot of craggy mountains and ravines.

The Olde Capital was on the northeastern seaside, and one had to go directly through a specific mountain pass to reach it. Treacherous cliffs and jagged rocks were on all sides until it opened up into a large valley that lead directly to the Old Capital.

A large bay that fed all the major rivers on the Star Continent was the backdrop as Ralph had approached the castle. If not for the state of the of the castle itself, the scene most likely would’ve been beautiful, but..

“No One could look upon that castle and see anything but Hell.. It was worse than any nightmare I’d ever had, before seeing it.. Now they’re pretty damn vivid..”

“Focus, Ralph.. Tell us what you saw,” Tidas replied while handing him another shot of whiskey.

Ralph took the shot while Peggy bustled into the room with another two bottles, then spoke; “From where the entrance to the main courtyard starts, going all the way up the sides of the walls near the doorway: human and animal bones cover everything.. All plastered in place with the foulest smelling, most disgusting black muck I’ve ever seen.”

Ralph held out the shot glass, prompting Peggy to pour him another shot before he continued; “That wasn’t the worst part. This, th-thing, came out of the castle.. Tidas, it wasn’t human.. It was covered in the same black goop as the bones.. It wasn’t human, but.. It’s face...”

Skye’s stomach dropped out as Ralph turned towards Magnus; “It looked like the King...”