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Maevis and Nicolas shared worried expressions between themselves before Maevis said; “So this Doctor Stein is treating the king?”

Lawrence nodded; “Apparently.. He’s my brother’s doctor, though. Doctor Gohan has been detained for some reason. Marco wouldn’t say in front of everyone.”

“How do you know? You didn’t ask him,” Shasta commented.

Lawrence shrugged; “Because he said Tien was being detained for questioning. He’s not going to elaborate on an ongoing investigation in front of a crowd of suspects.”

Shasta’s pacing kicked up a notch as she said; “Does anyone else see the connecting factors to us all here? Doctor Gohan, the Highlanders, the Fae, Us.. We’re all Tidas and Skye’s friends.”

Lawrence quirked an eyebrow at her; “What does that have to do with anything?”

Maevis fluttered forward; “I think I get it.. If Magnus is on his death bed, then that means Marco will be crowned the new King once he passes. The only other person that Could be named is..”

“Tidas,” Lawrence replied, then added; “But he doesn’t want the crown.”

.....

“If your brother turns out to be a shitty ruler, then Tidas won’t stand by and do nothing,” Shasta said as she stopped pacing, and faced her husband; “Think about it, Lawrence. What are your brother’s views? About the Fae? And commoners? Do you honestly think he plans to rule like your father?”

Lawrence sunk back against the wall with a sigh. He knew that the situation would happen at some point, but his father was perfectly healthy this morning.. ‘Why did Father have to be poisoned Right after Tidas left?! Should I send a message to him recalling him and Skye? Should I just recall Tidas?’

As the questions swirled about in both Lawrence and Shasta’s minds, they could hear footsteps coming down the hall. Everyone in the room froze as the footfalls went past them in a rush. As they all sighed with relief, Shasta told Maevis and Nicolas that they should stay in the room..

“We’ll go with you two to get tested, to make sure you don’t disappear into a bird cage,” Shasta suggested in a low voice.

The two elder Fae shared a leery look, then Maevis replied; “Alright, we’ll wait for you two here. Click your tongue three times when you return, so we know it’s you. We’re going to hide until you get back.”

“Why do we have to hide? We’ve done nothing wrong,” Nicolas stated in a gruff tone.

Maevis smacked his shoulder; “You know as well as I do that innocence must be proven, not the other way around when it comes to us Fae.”

“Just with Marco.. Even I can tell that humans have changed a bit,” Shasta commented with a small smile at her husband.

Lawrence grinned; “Aye, not all of us are ignorant fools.”

“Prove it by coming back quickly,” Maevis replied briskly.

“We’ll return as soon as we check on my Father,” Lawrence stated, then quietly opened the door, and peeked out.

Once he had made sure that the coast was clear, he and Shasta stepped out, and headed down the hallway like nothing was amiss. It only took a few minutes to reach the King’s quarters. Two large guards were standing outside of the door, and barely flinched when Lawrence came up to them.

He had to argue with them for a moment, but they agreed to let him enter as long as they could watch him. Lawrence reluctantly agreed, and entered his father’s quarters with the guards following behind him. As Shasta stood outside of the doors waiting, she could hear the faint sound of voices coming from down the hallway.

Straining to listen with her Tank trait, Shasta caught the end of a very disturbing conversation between Sheri and Draco.. ‘I knew I’d seen that bastard before! But what the Hell is he doing in the palace?! Where’s Karena?! What happened to them?!’

As her thoughts started to race, Shasta focused on the voices..

“I understand his orders, but why must we involve children?” Sheri complained.

Draco huffed out of exasperation; “Because they’re his biggest weakness, that’s why. The VC might not be enough to convince him to side with our King, so they’re insurance. They won’t be hurt.”

Sheri scoffed; “Unless he refuses.”

“He Won’t refuse if we have all three. Our King knows what he’s doing.. Lawrence will bend the knee just like the others will. His government won’t risk betting on Tidas..”

As the voices came closer, Shasta began to look for a place to hide. With no other option, she quietly ducked inside the King’s quarters. As they passed by the door, Shasta heard Draco add; “We’re late to the banquet hall.. Let’s hurry before they go somewhere else..”

As Shasta listened to their retreating footsteps, her heart sank inside her chest.. ‘Marco wants to capture me and the children?! What did they mean about siding with Tidas?! I don’t understand what’s going on!’

“What are you doing in here?! Only King Lawrence was supposed to-Ah!” the guard screamed as Shasta hit him in the gut.

Hearing the commotion, the other guard came running right into Shasta’s fist. After she had knocked him out as well, she took off into the King’s bedroom where Lawrence was. As she entered, Shasta sighed with relief to see that no one else but Lawrence was in the room.

“What are you doing in here?” he asked with appropriate shock in his tone.

Shasta took in a calming breath, then quickly told Lawrence what she had heard. As first he brushed it off, but the look on Shasta’s features was too real to be a prank or anything the like. As the reality of the situation set in, he looked at his new wife, and said; “I think it’s time we went back to Ruscovic..”

Lawrence looked down at his father’s frail-looking figure. He was pale and barely breathing, making him look much older. For the first time, it finally sunk in that his father wasn’t immortal, and that this was most likely the last time that he would see him..

Holding his father’s chilled hand in his, Lawrence spoke with a tremble in his voice; “Thank you for everything you’ve taught and given me, Father.. If you don’t wake up, I just wanted you to know how much we all love you.. And that you will always be a part of our family.. I love you, Dad..”

Lawrence inhaled sharply as he stepped away from his father’s bedside. Shasta placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, then turned and looked at Magnus..

“You took me in when I was just an animal. You gave me a chance when you had every reason to give up on me.. No matter what, as long as I live: I Will protect our family, Magnus. From Any threat. I promise..”

As memories from years past began to flood her mind, Lawrence’s sniffles snapped Shasta back to reality. As Magnus shallow breaths echoed in the empty room, Lawrence wiped his eyes, then turned towards his wife with a hopeless expression..

“I think my Brother is killing my Father.. What do I do?”

Shasta’s heart ached to see the love of her life hurting, but she knew what she had to say. Taking a few steps, Shasta placed her hands on both sides of her husband’s face; “We protect what we can. Magnus...isn’t long for this world. His heartbeat is too shallow..”

“I know,” Lawrence quickly answered; “I know I can’t save him.. I’m a fucking King! He’s my Father! He’s right here, and there’s nothing I can fucking do-”

Shasta instantly wrapped her arms around her husband as he started to yell, and said; “Shh.. I know, love.. But we need to get you and the children out of here. Maevis and Nicolas, too. I think things are about to get really bad, and I want my family safe. And Tidas and Skye will need a safe place to come home to as well.”

Lawrence shook his head as he leaned back, and commented; “That’s right.. He’s probably going to target our brother next since he won’t get you or the children. I need to get word to him in Sai. I haven’t seen Aunt Marie today, either. We need to find-”

Shasta released her husband as she replied; “We can worry about Marie later. She’s damn-near tougher than I am. Right now, we need to get you and the children on your way. Your brother has already ordered Draco and Sheri to trail you. He probably plans to take them hostage as soon as your father passes.”

Lawrence glanced at his father a final time; “If Marco did do this, I’ll kill him..”

Shasta grabbed his hand, and gently started to lead Lawrence towards the door as she said; “I second that, but right now we need to get you and the children out.”

Lawrence stopped in his tracks; “And you.”

Shasta hesitated as she opened the door; “Not right away..”

Lawrence was about to start yelling when they saw the two guards stirring. Shasta immediately went and knocked them out again, then dragged them into the King’s parlor. After locking the door, they took the servant’s hallway that ran between all of the rooms.

The side halls only went so far before they connected with the regular halls. That way, there was only one way into the King’s quarters. As they quickly backtracked to the room they’d left Maevis and Nicolas in, Shasta and Lawrence had to dodge groups of palace guards and military personnel. It took longer, but they had made it without being seen.

As soon as they had shut the door, Maevis popped her head out, and asked; “So how’s the King doing?”

Lawrence’s expression turned crestfallen, letting her know that it was exactly as they had feared..

“So Magnus truly is dying,” Maevis stated as she turned to look at Nic; “We need to inform Celestia as soon as possible-”

“We need your help first,” Shasta cut in, then explained what she had overheard.

At first Maevis was as confused as Shasta was by Draco’s appearance. But unlike the Vice Commander; she figured that Marco had a hand in their disappearance as well. As she tried to think of a reason why Karena wouldn’t have returned with Draco, Shasta begged them to help get Lawrence and the children to safety.

Without even looking at Maevis, Nicolas smiled and said; “Of course we’ll help. There’s something more going on here than just a power grab, and we need to know what that is before we report back to Celestia and Aero.”

Fluttering down to the floor, Nicolas went over to a small hole in the corner behind the door. Moving his beard to the side, he pulled out what looked like a whistle from his red robes. Putting it to his lips, the old Fae blew on it as hard as he could.

No sound was heard from the whistle, but the light sound of tiny skittering could be heard coming from the walls. A few moments later, a mouse popped it’s head out of the hole. As Shasta and Lawrence watched the mouse emerge, they saw a tiny person on it’s back.

Dismounting the mouse, the tiny man put his hand over his heart, bowed, and said; “Lieutenant Trist reporting, great Elders. What are your orders?”

Maevis and Nicolas shared a small grin between them as Nicolas replied; “Gather your troops, Lieutenant. We’re gonna need lots of distractions..”