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The moment Tidas touched the dirt, he watched Skye hike up her skirts, and run across the field. The second he saw the familiar glow from her Shaman trait, Magnus slumped back in his chair. His coloring slowly coming back to him.

Marie had never seen Skye use her magic before, but knew from discussions that it must’ve been what she was doing. The golden glow shimmered through the dust cloud, pulling a large sigh of relief from her as well. She walked over to the chair that Lucas had previously occupied, and slumped down into it with a huff.

Lucas was still watching his daughter. He hadn’t seen Skye use her powers before, except the one time involving Jacob and Felicia. He seriously thought that Tidas was going to die based upon the way he fell.

When he saw the dirt catch the prince, Lucas figured a mage had saved him, but he hadn’t expected the hero to be his daughter. A ridiculous amount of nobles had come crawling out of the wood works to ask him to send his daughter to heal a relative or friend.

His answer was always the same; “She may be me daughter, but Skye is her own person. Tis up to her who she heals and where. Take yer loved one to one of the capital hospitals, and she’ll heal them there. Tis all I can tell ye.”

Even with the noble’s constant requests, Lucas had to remind himself sometimes that Skye even had magic. She’d hadn’t told him when she’d gotten it, and didn’t reveal herself until the Fowler incident. It made situations like this seem surreal to him.

As Lucas watched Marco help Tidas to his feet, Marie and Magnus chuckled low between themselves. There was exhaustion mixed in with their mirth, but to be fair: they were getting pretty up there in age now.

“I think I’m getting too old for all of this.. We still have the Jousting Tournament to get through, too.”

.....

Magnus chortled at Marie’s comment before adding; “And the Dance Competition, and the Feast.. I already want to go to bed. I’m seventy-four years old: I should be able to do what I want!”

Marie laughed boisterously; “It’s your party, Magnus.. You can cry if you want to..”

The king looked to his sister-in-law with surprise, then joined her in jovial laughter. She was referencing a song that his mother used to sing any time he or Rick fussed. Even when it was no where near their birthday.

The memories were bittersweet, but Magnus still cherished them. Their mother would sing-song it whenever he was being stubborn. After she died, Rick used to sing it whenever he complained, now Marie referenced it on special occasions.

He’d lost a lot of loved ones in his time, but Magnus still kept going. There had been times where he wished it could’ve been him instead; like with Sorcha. He still had no clue as to her murderer, but prayed every night for Sorcha’s happiness, and for the perpetrator’s punishment to be in the deepest pits of Hell.

The field was cleared quickly as the equipment for the Jousting tournament was brought out. Skye healed Lawrence and the other competitors of any injuries as they waited. Everyone seemed to be in grand spirits as they waited; even Marco.

He was talking with Magnus and Marie with Karena clinging to his side like a bad rash. She ran her hand up and down his bare back a few minutes, then rested her hand right above his butt. No one could tell that he’d squeezed her hand in a painful manner to get her to stop.. Karena was a very good actress.

As Marco talked with his father and aunt about the feast, he’d kept a tiny smile on his usually placid face. ‘It all went exactly how I thought it would.. Tidas stuck to the outside, and Lawrence separated us, the fool. Had Tidas been the one to be nearest me, Lawrence would’ve won and ruined my little side plan..’

‘Tidas would’ve kept me occupied long enough for Lawrence to win, and that beast would’ve been Queen for a day, but now..’

“Did you hear me, nephew? I asked if you know who your Queen will be for the feast?”

Manus scoffed; “Well, that’s a silly question, Marie. Tis quite obvious that it will be Karena.”

Marco stared at his aunt, who stared back at him. ‘Ah, of course Aunt Marie would notice. She’s quite a thorn in my side. She’ll be one of the first to go once my plan fully starts. Along with Tidas..’

Magnus saw the awkward stare down between the two, but Karena interrupted them with indignation in her voice; “Of Course I will be his Queen! That was cruel, Auntie.”

Marie turned towards Karena with an apologetic expression; “Forgive me, dear. I was just clarifying because of the uncharacteristic display Marco had done when he came onto the field before. In the olden days, the ‘king’ usually picked a commoner to be the Queen for a Day. I was just wondering if my nephew was going to reinvigorate the tradition, that’s all.”

Karena fumed at her in-law. ‘What is she Doing?! I’M Supposed to be the Queen! I’M Marco’s wife! What is this bitch trying to pull?!’

As Karena attempted to hide her contempt, Marie inwardly chuckled. ‘She doesn’t deserve to be a Queen on Any Day, but I understand her ire. I’ve got this terrible feeling; like he’s going to ask Skye to be his queen for the day. I don’t get to talk to her often anymore, but Maevis sees her every couple of days and tells me what’s going on with her.’

‘I don’t like anything she’s told me about Marco’s interactions with Skye, or what she’s told me about his powers.. I wish there was a way to destroy that amulet, but he’d probably just commission another. All I can do is steer him away from Skye.’

Before Marie could add anything else, Marco’s smile widened as he stated; “I think Aunt Marie may be on to something. It would get more commoners on my side if I picked one to be my Queen for a Day. I shall take your advice under consideration.”

Marie would’ve jumped for joy if she could’ve. Karena was never going to be picked. She was the only one who believed differently, which made Marie pity her a bit, but it wasn’t the good kind of pity. It was the kind you felt for fools too arrogant and selfish to see their mistakes until they’d already made them.

If Karena had stepped outside of her own little world for longer than two seconds, she would’ve seen how her husband really was. Rumors within the palace said that the Crowned Prince had been particularly brutal to his lovers lately. Several female servants had either asked for duty changes, or had quit altogether.

Karena had practically tortured the few women she Knew were sleeping with her husband. But her growing number of victims had started to become concerning; even to her.

Marco was going through women at an alarming rate. To the point that the Palace Steward had to assign strictly men, or older women to cater to the Crowned Prince. He was particularly going after redheads and blondes, so anyone with those hair colors were restricted. It didn’t take a genius to figure out whom he was trying to substitute..

The rumors and gossip were embroiled with Skye and Marco. Some said that they broke it off, and that was the reason he was leaving a string of abused women in his wake. Some said that Tidas caught them, and that was the excuse for his actions. They were becoming more outrageous by the day, and none of them addressed the true reason: Marco was a psychopath.

After a bit more time, the Jousting Tournament finally started. Karena sat stewing the entire time while Marco, Magnus, Lidia, and Marie discussed the feast. Tidas, Skye, Lucas, and Petrie stood off to the side chatting as the competition commenced.

Lucas gushed over Skye for a good ten minutes before getting into a discussion with Petrie over his early loss. It was pretty funny to watch, but Skye couldn’t help but look past them to her mother.

She still hasn’t come over to see her daughter, but had had the nerve to smile and wave at her a few times. Like she was an old acquaintance she was avoiding actually talking to. As sadness started to creep into her expression, Tidas wrapped his arms around his wife as he spoke into her ear.

“Thank you for saving me, my love..again. I honestly thought Marco had finally got me.”

Skye smiled brightly at her husband as she replied; “Like I’d ever let anythin’ happen to ye right in front of me?! It’s when Ima not around that I worry..”

Tidas kissed her forehead, then replied; “You don’t need to. If I would’ve had my powers, he couldn’t have touched me. This was a special circumstance.”

Skye spoke low so only he would hear her; “And now he knows how to create more special circumstances..”

Pointing to a pile of the Sealing Stone bracelets, Tidas got her meaning. It was true; if he had even one of those put on him, Marco would be on almost equal footing with him. Add his brother’s personal guards into the equation, and it was a losing formula for him.

As Tidas watched his oldest brother, Lawrence walked up behind him and said; “Don’t tell me you’re sulking because you lost?”

Skye looked around them; “Where did Victor and Anna go?”

Shasta and Lawrence shared a look before Shasta answered; “They were kinda freaked out by their uncle nearly killing their other, so we sent them off with their nanny until after the feast. If it wasn’t for Magnus requesting their presence, we’d keep them in our quarters.”

Tidas quirked an eyebrow; “Oh, so it’s ‘our quarters’ now? That was fast.”

Shasta looked flustered, but Lawrence wrapped his arm around her and replied; “Why waste time? We know how we feel about each other. That’s all that matters, right Kitten?”

Shasta’s eyes bulged from her head as her ears went back in hostility; “THAT is reserved for Privacy!”

Tidas chuckled; “But you Do let him call you that?!”

Shasta growled low and said, “Not Anymore!”, then stormed away in a huff.

Lawrence went to go after her, but Skye stopped him; “I’ll go. She’s likely to scratch yer eyes out if ye go now. I’ll cool her ire enough for the feast. We need to change anyway, so we’ll see ye two at the feast!”

Skye was already in a jog as she took off after Shasta. Both Lawrence and Tidas looked like sad puppies as she left. Lawrence, because he’d said something stupid again, and Tidas didn’t get a goodbye kiss.

The two shared a look of understanding, then turned their attention back to the jousting. Just in time to see Arthur Tanner come out in all of his glory. The two laughed and talked as they watched the tournament. Unaware of their brother’s true intentions..