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It was common knowledge that the King of Alcon doted on his younger brother, and that their bond had been key to stripping their father of his power. When Rick betrayed Magnus it shocked everyone around them. No one had seen it coming.

Not only did he try to kill Magnus, but he had also tried to kill Marco. Stabbing him with the Ethereal Spear had drained his magic, and all but severed his connection to the Source. It was the second and final time Magnus had ever seen his oldest son cry. The first being when his mother had passed away.

Magnus hated his brother for what he’d done to him, his son, and his own wife. Marie was a good woman, and he knew that the man loved her deeply. ‘I still don’t understand how everything turned out the way it did.. It’s not like he woke up and just decided to throw his life away! What happened to you Ricky?’

Before Magnus’ mind could wander, Skye started to tell them about her dreams. ‘Ah.. So this is what she held back from me at dinner awhile back. She must’ve thought I’d refuse to let her participate in the Mage Trials if I knew.. She’s partially right. But the nobles would’ve forced my hand anyway.’

Skye didn’t know it, but the king had received quite a bit of backlash from his nobles over ‘hiding her’. When she and Tidas had first arrived, she’d wisely worded herself to make it sound like Magnus was aware of her powers. If Skye wouldn’t have done that, she would’ve Had to have been punished.

The name ‘Eir’ had made it’s way into the ear of nearly every person in Alcon, and a good chunk of the Star Continent. Once the diplomats and dignitaries left, Skye’s reputation will reach every corner of the world. People were already traveling from every corner of the kingdom to come and be healed by her.

Magnus had daily requests from his nobles to send Skye to various places to heal sick relatives, but refused them all. If he started sending Skye out for house calls, she’d never have any other aspects to her life. Her Shaman duties would take up all of her time instead of the majority of every morning.

The king was extremely proud of his daughter-in-law for all of her hard work. He got regular reports about everything his family did, but hearing about Skye’s exploits for the day was usually his favorite part of the reports. He still didn’t know exactly what kind of training she and Shasta were doing, but the reports always mentioned some sort of sound akin to an explosion.

.....

Knowing Skye was working on strategies for the trials was exciting, but she guarded them well. Whether she was in the arena or at Zazzy’s place, Skye always had a barrier up when she trained. Only extremely loud noises could be heard.

Hearing about her Shaman rounds always brought a smile to Magnus’ face. She never asked for anything from the people she helped, and gave whatever she couldn’t turn away to the hospitals and orphanages.. Except the occasional sweet, from what he was told.

Hearing about Zazzy’s training was also another highlight of his day. The report always had some hilarious story attached. His favorite one was of when Skye got Zazzy to fly higher than six feet off the ground for the first time.

She’d been running alongside Zazzy as she’d built speed when Skye had gotten her sleeve caught on one of the baby dragon’s tail spikes. She passed Skye in take-off and swung her tail at just the right moment to catch the material. When she gained air, she’d yanked Skye up with her for several feet before the fabric ripped, and Skye landed on her ass mostly uninjured.

The report even had the string of profanity she’d screamed as she’d rolled around, gripping her ass. It could’ve just been the way the report had been read to him, but Magnus laughed so hard he’d had tears in his eyes. It was made even funnier to him by Marco’s reaction after he’d finished speaking. He’d actually chuckled as well while reading the reports out loud to him like usual...

What’s an Ethereal Spare?” Petrie asked, breaking Magnus from his thoughts.

Skye huffed; “Not ‘Spare’! Tis called the Ethereal Spear, ye fool. The spear is a key, of sorts.. Or rather one half of a key. The other half is somethin’ else, but we don’t know what or where it is.”

Tidas and Shasta both knew that Skye had already learned that the other half was the Northern Star. The legend called it the Celestial Key, and the disembodied voice had called it Heaven’s Tear. Nicolas had confirmed with Maevis that the supposed moonstone around Skye’s neck was a piece of it.

They had lost the rest of it, but Skye still needed to ask Nicolas about it. Maybe they could search for it? She’d never know until he’d told her the full story behind it’s disappearance...

By the time Skye told Petrie about the legend and generally got him up to speed, their break was nearly up. He’d quickly explained that their plan was to wait until Ralph healed, then Murdoc himself was going to take the Alconian to scout out the old capital. Tidas was not happy.

He wanted to go straight there, but he knew it wouldn’t work; at least not until the games had ended. There were too many high-profile people about, and security couldn’t be spared. It was beyond frustrating to him.

“Out yer head, love.. Yer place is here, with me..”

Skye had spoken so low that only Tidas, and possibly Shasta had heard it. Petrie was telling Magnus, Lawrence, and Lucas a bit about Nomadic politics when she’d spoken. No one else had noticed.

Grabbing her hand, Tidas forced a small smile and thanked her. Now wasn’t the time to get lost in his thoughts. They still had to get through the Sheaf Toss, the Shot Put, and dinner, but he was already exhausted.

Skye saw him sigh and squeezed his hand. When he looked back to her, she had a mischievous smirk on her face. Before he could ask, he felt his wife’s magic flooding his entire body with warmth. As it reached the back of his neck, he felt the slight tinge of a headache he was developing completely stop.

After about three minutes, any physical fatigue Tidas had felt was completely gone. Genuine happiness covered his features as he stared at his wife with admiration. He missed her healing him, but he missed her basic touch more. If it wasn’t for Zazzy’s Place, he’d probably never see her.

While everyone was chatting away, Shasta sat back and listened. She was happy Tidas had Skye now, especially seeing the effect she had on him. Not spending nearly as much time with him anymore made her sad, but she still saw him daily for at least an hour or so altogether.

They would talk about everything from work, to their relationships, but they never drank or hung out much anymore. Only when Skye yanked him away for dinner, or she forced Shasta to stay for dinner at Zazzy’s Place. She did it often enough that she didn’t miss her best friend as much as she thought she would.. But again, that would be Skye’s doing.

The lass had a way about her. It was like she could sense when someone was in distress. ‘I wonder if that’s due to her Shaman trait? That would explain her freaky intuition about sick people too; like Magnus.’

As the men became loud and animated about something, Shasta turned her attention to them. ‘Leave it to Skye to befriend a Nomad.. She’d probably befriend a Barghest if she had the opportunity. That girl is something else.’

As Shasta watched everyone interact, an event steward poked his head in and said; “Pardon me, Your Majesty, but the crowds are getting restless.. Should we start the next event without you and your party?”

Magnus hoisted himself to his feet with ease as he replied; “No, no. We’re coming now. Thank you, Jimmy.”

The man bowed and scurried off, nearly running into Zas on his way. He’d been standing a few feet away from it when the steward had approached. He assumed that he was waiting for everyone to come out, but he realized very quickly that the others hadn’t been aware that he was there.

Knowing that the General was a Tank, and what that entailed, he knew right away that he must’ve been eavesdropping. As he watched Zas walk up like he’d just gotten there, Jimmy shook his head as he walked away.

‘Not my place, not my place, I saw nothing..’ The poor young steward mumbled as he went to check the hay bales for the next event..

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

The Sheaf Toss and Shot Put were basically uneventful. Skye was most amused by her father’s nervousness whenever they threw the sphere. No one they knew participated in those two, although Petrie talked up a storm about “Highlander Domination”, next year if the treaty proved to be sustainable.

The deal was that Alcon would supply provisions, farming equipment, and help deal with their monster problem. In exchange, the Nomadic Tribes would stop all pillaging, and share the ancient technologies and tomes that they had.

Petrie didn’t out-right say it, but how he spoke about ‘his home’ made Skye think that they had far more goodies than he’d told them. He talked about how “primitive but amusing” the Summer Games were. He also went off about how they played many of the same ones in the north, but had “Much better games”.

Throughout dinner, nobles stared at him with disdain, but Petrie found it humorous. He particularly pissed them off when he, Magnus, and Lucas all started talking and laughing with the Sai diplomat. It was literally their largest thorns chumming it up with the king.

By the time dinner and the entertainment ended, Petrie had a very large target on his back. Skye fretted over it because Tidas had told her that he heard a few voices whispering about getting rid of him. She’d also heard bits herself; people were not hiding their antipathy at all.

When Skye told him everything, Petrie laughed with a cocky as he said; “Bring ’em on! I got a bag of gold that says I can at least out-run ’em!”

“Not with that Sealing Stone off, you can’t.. And I still owe you for trippin’ me up at the end of the race..”

Shasta took a menacing step towards Petrie as she added; “AND for that comment!”