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Panting from his efforts, Nicolas tried to coax the prince; “Tidas, my boy! How would you like to help me make a bunch of children, and your wife; smile, ear to ear?”

Tidas put down his fourth sandwich, cleared his throat, and said; “You had me at wife. What do you need of me?”

Nicolas beamed his delight as he replied; “I need you to run as fast as you can to the edge of Lord Reinbolt’s land at his southeastern boarder. It’s the closest one to here, and has the best sleigh I ever owned. You’ll find a Kringle’s home near the fields there; they’ll have my original sleigh.”

Tidas nearly choked on air as he realized the distance. It wasn’t quite as far as Dragonhorn, but still too far to make it on a horse in time. He would have to run at his top speed there and back in order to make the trip in two, to two and a half hours. And that was just by himself.

“How much time do I have to get this done? And how am I supposed to make it back with a sleigh?” confusion was apparent in his tone.

The old Fae grinned mischievously; “Don’t you worry about the getting back part; just focus on the getting there part. You’ll only have about forty minutes or so to get there.”

Tidas wolfed down the remainder of his sandwich, grabbed his cloak, and told Ralph of his plans. His guard captain didn’t like him going alone, but knew the prince would be fine if he was running. He’d heard Nicolas talking, and knew the effort was for a good cause.

Tidas left in a flash; leaving a gust of wind in his wake. Nicolas turned to face the other two in the room, knowing what was next. He stared at Lucas a moment before he asked; “Do you have any extra decorations? Or ones we might borrow to put on the sleigh?”

.....

Lucas smiled in his seat; “So long as ye tell me how Tidas is supposed to get back here in time.”

Nicolas chuckled slightly before answering; “Let’s just say: I hope he’s not afraid of heights..”

Lucas followed the old Fae’s meaning instantly, causing him to burst out in laughter as he said; “Aye! Let’s hope so!”

Nicolas turned towards Petrie; “How do you feel about helping put some smiles on some children’s faces for Yuletide?”

Petrie put his sandwich down; “Don’t really care one way or the other.. But the Moonstones have been good to me and mine; that includes their servants. So I suppose I’d be open to helpin’ out the wee ones.”

“Good lad! Thank you! You can start by gathering up some garland, candy canes, and ornaments. Make sure that the ornaments are red, green, gold, and silver,” Nicolas had fluttered over to Petrie as he’d spoken.

“Can’t I finish eating first? I’ve only had three bites, and I got a lot more on me plate,” Petrie pleaded as he looked down at his food.

Nicolas continued to hover closer as he spoke; “It’s a sandwich: it’s mobile! The rest you can eat after.”

The Nomad leaned back as the old Fae came too close for his comfort; “Aye, I’ll do it! Just, please; don’t stare at me like that anymore! Gods! It’s like I could feel ye placin’ me on yer naughty list or something!”

Nicolas smirked as he replied; “Something like that..”

Tidas ran as fast as his legs would take him. It wasn’t snowing around Moonstone Castle yet, but the further west he went, the thicker the flakes became. The storm would probably hit the castle within the next few hours, but not before the children got to see Nicolas. As long as the prince was on time.

It wasn’t easy to avoid being hit by branches and the like as Tidas sped towards the southwestern boarder of Lucas’ property. The day was cold and brisk, and the snow stung like thousands of tiny pin pricks on his exposed skin. Normally he had his armor on when going at such high speeds, but there hadn’t been time to change. If his cloak wasn’t as thick as it was, he’d been covered in tiny cuts from the shrubbery and trees.

As the prince neared his hopeful destination, a group of reindeer came into view. They stood together, twisting their heads about like they were looking for something. When Tidas came into their view, they began trotting towards him as he slowed in an effort not to hit them.

Coming to a leery stop; Tidas watched as the reindeer nodded, then beckoned him to follow them. Hesitantly, the prince followed them. Praying to the gods in his head that they were some of Nicolas’ companions the whole way. A small, two story farm house lay at the base of a decent sized hill. As they came closer to it, several people came out of the building; five in total.

The snow made it difficult to see much. The Kringle family was surprised when a random person approached their home with a reindeer escort. They could recognize Nicolas’ reindeer anywhere, but had no clue as to whom they’d brought with them. Especially at the start of a nasty storm.

After getting the mystery man inside, the oldest man of the group spoke; “My name be Michael Kringle, and this is my family. Did the reindeer save ye from the storm?”

Tidas had immediately gone straight to the fire to warm his red hands before speaking; “Aye, as well as helped me to find you. It would’ve been impossible without their help.”

The family exchanged looked between themselves before the father asked; “Were ye lookin’ for us? Why, if ye don’t mind me asking?”

“I apologize for my manners. My name is Prince Tidas, and Nicolas sent me to retrieve his sleigh..”

After their shock abated, and the prince quickly caught the Kringles up on his circumstances, Michael laughed out boisterously; “That’s sounds just like Nic, to just spring something like this on ye. He does similar things to us when it comes to Yuletide prep.”

After some pleasantries; the group made their way outside to the barns. The farthest one was where they housed the sleigh. It looked ramshackled for from the outside, but the inside was well insulated and dry. The sleigh was covered by a dusty cloth tarp to protect it.

Michael lifted the cloth to reveal a pristine white sleigh with gold and silver metalwork. The three children carried out red reins and rope straps to hitch the reindeer to the sleigh. The straps had intermittent silver and gold bells inlaid into the rope.

It didn’t take long to get the reindeer into their harnesses; they’d done the process yearly most of their lives. Tidas had been gone just over half an hour, and had no idea how he was supposed to get back to the castle on time.

Mr. Kringle smiled and asked; “Have ye any experience flying?”

Tidas blinked at Michael several times; “Huh? What?! Wh-What do ye mean, ‘fly’? Of course I haven’t flown! I’m human! My feet Generally stay on the ground!”

Michael chuckled at the prince’s reaction before he replied; “Not today, if ye want to make it back in time..”

“Come off it, Mister Prince! Dada takes me! It’s super fun!” the youngest child chided.

“It’s really not that bad! Me sisters go up with me father and I on occasion..” the young lad taunted; “A Pillar most certainly can handle a wee flight, in a wee blizzard..”

Tidas huffed at the young lad who couldn’t have been any older than fifteen. The two girls looked to be about ten and six. The oldest girl just stared at the prince with dewy eyes, while the other had moved her attention to the reindeer nuzzling her cheek. It was a solid white reindeer that Tidas hadn’t seen with the rest.

It’s pure-white coat on the massive beast matched the sleigh like the two were made together. It’s crystal-blue eyes shimmered as they peered into his soul. After a moment of uncomfortable staring between him and the overgrown reindeer, Tidas asked; “Will you help me and Nicolas surprise my wife and some villagers?”

When the reindeer nodded in the positive, Tidas thought he was losing it until Michael commented; “Oh! Yer lucky! Odin here, never acknowledges humans but us. But I suppose a King should acknowledge a prince; be rude not to..”

Tidas looked back to the beast in front of himself with shock and asked; “King of the Reindeer?”

Michael beamed as his youngest answered; “No, silly! King of the forest! He’s the White Stag! But I named him Odin! He likes it!”

Tidas looked confused as he smiled at the little girl. Reindeer, stag, it made no difference to him; so long as they left now. It hit the forty minute mark, and Tidas wasn’t sure he was going to make it. He’d never flown before, and the idea of his first time being in a blizzard wasn’t exactly helping his anxiety on the matter.

“Will they know what to do without anyone really directing them?” Tidas asked as he climbed into the sleigh.

Michael smirked as he handed Tidas the reins; “Oh, don’t ye worry yer pretty head about it. They’ll hone in on Nic; all you have to do is enjoy the ride, and.. try not to fall out.”

“WHAT?!”

Michael smacked the prince’s shoulder as he replied; “Just kidding! It’s only happened a handful of times! Just keep the reins tight, and you’ll be fine!”

“Da! Should I help? I mean.. He is The prince,” the oldest lass sputtered as she looked down and shuffled her feet.

“Great idea Gretchen! That should make takeoff easier!” Michael beamed at his oldest daughter.

Before Tidas could ask; Gretchen lifted her hand up like Skye, and a gust of wind opened the barn doors. It immediately forced back the snow that tried to blow in from outside with ease. As the young girl stepped forward, the snow and wind receded outside; creating a clearing for the prince to take off from.

The prince was astonished by the young lass’ capability. She had as much power as some veterans mages he knew, and wielded it almost as accurately. If her family business wasn’t so important, Tidas would look forward to the day she joined the RMC. With the thought; he assured Mr. Kringle that he wouldn’t say anything to anyone about today.

Michael simply smiled and said; “I never thought ye would. We owe everything we are to Nic, and what he did for our ancestors. So any friend of Nic’s is a friend of ours!”

“AYE!” the rest of the family chimed.

Tidas grinned broadly at the family before snapping the reins, and moving out of the barn. The white stag led the eight other reindeer up into the sky as Gretchen cleared the way with her Wind magic. The family and the prince waved their goodbyes as the sleigh climbed higher and higher into the fluff of grey clouds above them.

Tidas’ heart felt like it was going to explode as his face touched the moisture of the cloud banks. He’d never felt such biting cold air before, and it was more difficult to breath. After a few minutes, the reindeer burst through the tops of the clouds. It was like a vast sea of white foam piled on top of a deep, dark ocean.

The scene was beautiful, and Tidas wished that Skye was with him. Her sweet smile popped into his mind as he thought about what her reaction was going to look like. The image drove him to flick the reins with haste in mind, and a smile of anticipation on his lips.

Tidas called out to the reindeer as he funneled his magic into the reins; “Let’s make a new speed record, lads!”