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Shasta sighed as she slowed her horse, then stopped. Irritated, Maevis fluttered down, and started to yell at her about needing to go save Nicolas before it was too late. Grabbing the snippety fairy out of mid-air, Shasta stuffed her inside her cloak as she said; “If you wanna talk, then you’re gonna have to travel right here. I’m not yelling out loud to seemingly nobody as I ride down the rode.”

“...Fair enough,” came the old Fae’s curt reply before Shasta took off again.

As they rode along, Shasta explained her theory; “Think about it.. The Highlanders will side with Tidas because of Skye, right? And I bet the Sai Republic will follow whoever has their sacred dragon on their side, which’ll be Skye and Tidas. Marco married Karena for her brother’s ties, right? And Ital’s representative follows Marco around like a lost puppy dog..”

“The only kingdoms still up in the air are Sync and Ruscovic. Sync may side with Marco if they’re Ital’s ally, but if Lawrence sides with Tidas, that damn-near draws the freakin’ continent down the middle, in a matter of speaking.”

Maevis’ jaw dropped as Shasta finished. She hadn’t realized that things were so close to blowing up, and now she was seeing that the fuse was already lit. As much as she didn’t want to admit it: Shasta’s death may save the entire continent from the ravages of war..

“You would have to kill him.. Can you really do that?” Maevis inquired quietly as they passed through the gates, and headed back into the city.

Shasta nodded; “Easily, so long as I can get a clear shot at him. The only thing I’m worried about is where his guards are. I can handle one or two, but Sheri’s different. Her Water trait makes it difficult to track her. If she uses that one trick she taught Skye: I’m screwed.”

Maevis’ voice had a touch of arrogance to it as she replied; “Then we just need to make sure that she’s one of the ones distracted by the Brownies..”

.....

After they had paused their conversation for a while due to the crowds, Maevis asked Shasta sincerely; “I’m curious.. Is it just Tidas and Skye that you want to save? Your family’s safe now.. Are there others that you’re willing to die for?”

Shasta nearly had to stifle a laugh before she replied; “Honestly? I kinda hate the people here. The way they treat each other is down-right sickening sometimes.. But kids are innocent, and Tidas and Skye showed me that adults are shitty because they’re just trying to survive. If everyone were given an equal chance, then the world would be a much better place.”

Maevis chuckled low; “That was obviously paraphrasing..”

Shasta huffed; “Of course. Like either of those two would ever call any generalized group of people shit. That’s my own version of...artistic linguistics.”

As Maevis tried not to laugh too loudly, Shasta dismounted her horse, and was now casually walking it and the other towards the palace. Guards, soldiers, mages, and servants were running around like the castle itself was on fire. It made slipping inside easier, but it also made Shasta very nervous..

‘I thought Marco put the palace on lockdown? Why are there so many soldiers and guards running around? They can’t all be looking for my family, could they? Something else must be going on..’

As a sinking feeling started to fill Shasta’s chest, Maevis told her to duck into the closest room. A servant had just come out from cleaning the one nearest, so she went in and locked the door when the servant had her back to the door. She tapped on it and asked if the room was sufficient, forcing Shasta to mask her voice and thank her.

It wasn’t normal for nobility to thank ‘the help’, but Shasta hoped that the woman wouldn’t think anything of it. What she didn’t know was that the servant had recognized her voice, but walked away like she hadn’t. She didn’t know why the King was looking for her, but wasn’t about to put herself in the middle of it.

As Shasta listened to her receding footfalls with trepidation, Maevis flew out of her cloak. As she dramatically gasped like she wasn’t able to breathe before, Shasta rolled her eyes at the old fairy before saying; “Stop acting so dramatic and tell me what the actual plan is! We can’t be here for long, and we need to find the Brownies. And Nicolas.”

Maevis smiled as she instantly stopped her act, and said; “Don’t worry so much. I’ll have any left in the palace here within ten minutes..”

Taking out and using a whistle similar to the one Nicolas had used earlier, Maevis stood fluttering in the middle of the room. About three minutes had passed when five Brownies appeared in front of them. Shasta couldn’t tell where they’d come from, or how they’d gotten in the room..

‘No wonder they’re Celestia and Titania’s go-to Fae for spying..’

As the thought passed through her mind, Shasta asked; “Is this all that’s left?”

An older Brownie shook his head; “Na, miss. There’s one more, but we thought he should keep an eye on Nicolas while we came ta see who was calling us. I thought that you two escaped earlier?”

“Where is Nic?” Maevis inquired.

The Brownie furrowed his brow; “He was caught and locked inside of a bird cage. He’s currently being watched by Doctor Stein.”

Shasta quirked her head; “I thought that he was in charge of caring for the King? Why is he looking after Nic?”

The five Brownies exchanged leery expressions before the oldest spoke in a saddened voice; “I’m sorry to tell you this, miss, but.....The King has died. That’s why everyone is running around like the world’s on fire. The new King has locked down the palace, and issued a gag order until everyone has been tested for poison.”

Shasta now understood why her nerves where on edge. Magnus had barely been breathing when she and Lawrence left his bedroom earlier.. ‘He must’ve passed shortly after we left.. Oh Magnus.. Rest well, my old friend.. And forgive me for what I have to do..’

Looking at the five Brownies, Shasta was direct; “Long story short: I’m going to kill Marco. If you don’t want to be involved, then just stick with Maevis. She’ll need help rescuing Nicolas from that creepy doctor.”

The five exchanged reserved expressions, then the elder answered; “We’ll do as ordered, miss. We know what kind of human the new King is, and we’ll help you however we can.”

Shasta and Maevis flashed each other a small smile, then began to discuss what they needed and knew. The guards Draco and Sheri were currently trying to track Shasta, Lawrence, and the children. The ones named Benzo and Norvis were with the current King, and Doctor Stein was in the Medical Ward going through their inventory.

Apparently, King Marco had replaced Doctor Gohan with Stein as the kingdom’s Head Doctor. He was now acclimating to his new wing of the palace while keeping an eye on Nicolas. Shasta asked if any others were with Marco as Maevis discussed the best route to get to Nicolas..

“Do you know if there’s any palace guards, soldiers, or RMC members with the king?”

The old Fae shook his head; “Not that I saw, miss. Other than the two that’s always posted outside of the doors. We did see the General heading that way before, though..”

Shasta grimaced as soon as the Brownie had finished speaking.. ‘I don’t know why Zas sided with Marco in the banquet room, but I don’t think he’ll try and stop me...will he? Zas doesn’t like Marco, and he knows how horrible of a person he is.. Would he really try to save a shitty person like Marco just because he has a crown?’

‘No.. If anything: Zas would probably try to stop me in a misguided attempt to save me, not Marco.. Would he if he saw I had a clean shot at Marco? Dammit! I wish I could talk to him! I guess I’ll just have to trust him not to make a move..’

“Did you hear me, miss?” the old Brownie chimed in, interrupting Shasta’s thoughts ; “I said that we don’t think the King will remain alone for too long. He did send out orders summoning his guards right after we had check on Nicolas. We heard the palace guards complaining about not being errand boys.”

Shasta looked at Maevis; “So who’s goin’ with who? I need at least one or two to help me.”

The older Brownie smiled; “I’ll go with the miss here and Wendel, and you three go and save Nicolas. Whether the miss here succeeds or fails: one of us will run the information back to you and Lieutenant Tryst.”

Maevis sighed with relief; “Tis good to hear the crank is still alive. Since he wasn’t here, I feared that the worst had happened to him.”

The older Brownie smirked; “Oh, ya don’t need to go worrying about the Lieutenant. That one’s older than I am, but acts two-hundred years younger. He should’ve retired by now, but refuses.. Claims he’d get too bored outside of the palace.”

After a light exchange on the Lieutenant’s leadership methods, Shasta huffed and asked; “So you’re leading me to Marco? Let’s go then. I don’t want to risk the other guards showing up. If that happens, I won’t be able to get a clean shot in on the Bastard.”

As Shasta glanced around the room for anything useful, Maevis fluttered over to her with a serious expression; “Is...is there anything that you want me to tell Lawrence and your children? In case you don’t make it..”

Flashing the group of small Fae a weak smile, Shasta stated; “Thanks Mae...Just tell them that I love them. And that I’ll be watching over them until it’s their time.”

Maevis reflected her expression; “Are you sure that’s all?”

Shasta stared at the carpet a few moments before the weak smile from before reappeared as she said; “Tell Lawrence that his third time will be the charm, and not to give up. That man was meant to be loved, and so were Victor and Anna. I don’t want any of them to give up because of me..”

“I know that I’m about to die, Maevis. And I’m okay with that because they’re safe. I just need five seconds after I see him, and Marco won’t be able to threaten Any of my family Ever again..”

Maevis locked eyes with Shasta; “You know what his endgame is, right? Or rather who?”

Nodding in the positive, Shasta spoke firmly; “Marco is trying to get to Skye.. The rumors, his behavior, what Skye’s told us: it makes sense that he would want to get rid of Tidas.. And don’t get me started on what I think he did to Magnus..”

Maevis’ expression darkened; “I have no doubt that he killed his own father.. A person capable of murdering a good father and king like Magnus doesn’t deserve to be the next. I’m just sorry that it’s costing another good person’s life to stop him.. I’ll make sure to deliver your message to your family.”

“Thanks, Mae. And tell Skye and Tidas not to blame themselves. I know them, and they’ll torture themselves over the timeline of things,” Shasta added as the Brownies moved to check if the hallway was clear.

As they gave a silent signal for the all-clear, Shasta whispered; “Oh, and Mae: good luck saving Santa..”