Chapter 118

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Skye and Karena had chatted their entire way. It’d mostly been about the crowned couple’s trip. She spoke at length on the weather, countryside, current fashions, and how much she’d missed it all. Skye could relate, but she couldn’t get the words in. Karena was talking a mile a minute, which was normal when she was excited.

The crowned princess was beautiful; she had hip-length dark hair, with tan skin, and olive undertones. Her eyes had a warm brown hue to them, and were slightly slanted and almond-shaped. She had a naturally melodious voice, making her a natural singer. Skye could easily outplay her singing, but she didn’t have a death wish.

Most of the time, Karena’s attitude matched her looks. She was graceful, and usually shined as the life of the party. But the moment she became displeased, everyone around her suffered for it. She’d scream at the servants, and would complain for hours on end after the issue was resolved. Karena knew she was going to be Queen someday, and reminded anyone who crossed her of the fact.

The group walked down the hallway with only Karena’s voice echoing. Marco wasn’t one for chitchat, so once he’d discussed what he needed to with Tidas, he simply stopped talking. The prince was gradually becoming annoyed with his older brother as he kept staring at Skye as they walked. He wanted to say something to him about it, but not in front of Karena.

The crown princess was known for her jealousy, and Tidas didn’t want Skye on her radar for Marco’s immoralities. She’d been known to be quite cruel to servants he’d had dalliances with in the past. After a stern warning from the king; she began sending pretty servants to work in the kitchens or laundry. To keep them out of Marco’s field of vision.

Skye and Tidas wouldn’t call the reason Karena did it, love. It was more like she didn’t want to have her public, or personal image tarnished by her husband seeking another lover. She was beautiful, and knew it. To have the future king not in her bed was detrimental to her perspective. She couldn’t say anything to Marco about it, but she could terrorize any woman stupid enough to catch his attentions. Whether they wanted them or not..

The Harald announced their arrival as they came through the doors of the banquet hall. The future king and queen wore matching clothes, similar to what Skye and Tidas had worn at the feast the night before. Karena’s dress was a dark purple color with black lace trim. Her bust line was the lowest Skye had ever seen on a dress, but she had the body for it. Men fawned over her as she went down the aisle, but not as many as usual.

Many of those present, men and women; were focused on Skye and Tidas. It irritated the princess, but she shrugged it off. Skye was the shiny new toy that all the boys wanted to play with, right now. It tweaked at her that the women were admiring her, but she just wrote it off as the same excuse. Even though she was wrong.

The courtier women admired Skye for how she’d handled herself the previous night. Karena blatantly flirted with their men and sons, while Skye declined any amorous attentions from them. She was obviously happily married, and made it perfectly clear to all. Unlike the crowned couple, who only pretended marital bliss. Commoner or not; at least she had integrity. And to the women at court, that was an unusual trait.

.....

Breakfast had almost exactly the same dishes as dinner the night before. Skye was surprised that the cooks didn’t at least repurpose some of the food into new dishes. Then again, the amount and variety of food that they already offered; it would take a person several days to try everything. When Skye asked her husband about it, he’d told her that it was always the same dishes within the banquet hall. The recipes chosen were simple ones, and easy to make for large groups.

The prince explained; “If you ever want something different or specific, order it sent to our room. We can eat there, in peace.. Like my aunt often does in her quarters.”

Skye looked about; “Like now?”

Tidas took a large bite of bacon after saying; “Exactly.. She’s far smarter than I am.”

Skye chuckled as she loaded her plate with slices of ham; “Because she thought of it and you didn’t?”

The prince grabbed some ham after Skye had finished getting her portion, said, “Aye,” then took an impatient bite.

Laughing hard; the princess reached out as a servant passed. Skye flashed a dazzling smile, and politely asked if they would bring her a few things. She requested two loaves of bread, some cheddar slices, and some of the apple butter from the Dragonhorn orchard. Tidas chimed in with an equally charming smile, and just as politely asked if she’d double the order. The servant was taken aback a moment by their manners, but realized who they were.

After a few minutes, the servant woman came back with what the royal newlyweds had asked for. Tidas thanked her normally as Skye squeaked her thanks; gaining an endearing smile from the servant before she departed. With a giant grin, Skye sliced the bread down the middle. It was still a wee bit warm, and would make the cheese soften a little. She placed the cheese and ham on the bottom, and smeared a generous amount of the apple butter on the bread. Lifting her creation up to examine it; Skye’s mouth began to water.

Magnus had been watching the two since they’d spoken with the servant. He was curious as to what his son was eating before the demonstration, but was shocked to see Skye eating just as much as he was. It’d taken him a minute to remember she was also a magic user. He was still angry at her for not telling him, but she’d earned points by not disclosing that fact to anyone. If she had, he would’ve had to have made an example out of her. To stop others from attempting to avoid indoctrination.

Magnus watched Skye and Tidas take bites of their respective sandwiches. He couldn’t tell what they’d spread on it, but the combination looked interesting. He recalled Lucas liked to make sandwiches from his food, and smiled at the fact that the trait had passed on to his daughter. His curiosity getting the better of him; Magnus bellowed out into the room; “What exactly are you two eating?”

The entire banquet hall went silent at the sound of the king’s booming voice. Skye and Tidas looked at each other like two children wondering what they did wrong. Skye took a napkin, wiped her mouth, then stood to speak clearly.

“It’s a sandwich our coachman introduced us to outside of Dragonhorn. We stopped for a wee picnic, and he made one. It’s quite simple, but utterly delicious!”

Skye’s enthusiasm and the touch of her commoner tongue had caused laughter and jeers from some of the nobles that surrounded Marco and Karena. Magnus instantly swiveled his head and barked his disapproval at them. A rebuttal from the king had them curling into pathetic little balls of embarrassment. Marco said nothing; he just stared at Skye. Karena was too preoccupied with the fact that they ate with their coachman.

In truth; Karena didn’t like Skye. She felt that the girl wasn’t prettier than her, but the princess’ attitude and talent made her a threat. Magnus had always loved Skye, even though she’s common born. The fact that she had to treat Skye like a noble had always made he gut turn. It wasn’t right in her mind that Skye was even allowed at the main table.

There was no breaking the bond that the king and Skye shared. It had always irritated her not to be the king’s favorite daughter in law. Even before the two were married; Magnus had picked Skye. She was similar to him in many ways, like their thirst for knowledge, but Karena wasn’t the studious type. She much preferred clothes, gossip, and such things, like most girls and women. Only the old boring ones cared about history and learning, and Karena was much too trendy for that.

After a thorough verbal lashing from the king on manners; Magnus asked Skye if he could try her sandwich. Completely unaffected by the insults from before; Skye beamed as she offered the king her second one. He happily accepted it, and ordered a servant to bring it to him. The servant offered a plate to place the sandwich on for the king, and transported it to him.

The room was still and slightly tense as Magnus bit into the sandwich. He chewed a few seconds before a large grin appeared, and stretched ear to ear. After swallowing his bite, Magnus looked over at Skye and his son and said; “That is delicious! What did you say was on it? Apple butter? Haha! Olsen! Make sure to write that down! Bread, ham, cheese, and Dragonhorn apple butter!”

The room exploded with conversations. They ranged from food palette pairings, to Skye in general. The one thing that Marco and Karena found disturbing, was comments being made about how commoners were possibly misunderstood. That their worth was greater than what they might’ve thought. Those closest to Karena heard her make some remark about Skye being ‘a diamond in the rough’. That most commoners couldn’t handle real societal manners and expectations.

Tidas looked completely placid, but raged inside. He wanted nothing more than to kill every noble that snickered at his wife; the ones that surrounded his brother in particular. Marco was also quickly climbing up to the top of his death fantasy. The way he stared at Skye seemed like the same off-putting stare that he gave everyone, but Tidas knew better.

Marco watched every motion Skye made, like he was studying her. Tidas knew from life experience that his brother only did that to things he was extremely interested in. From his studies, to the girl he’d seen his brother beat; he looked at both things, as on the same level. Living or a literal object; the only thing that mattered to him was their worth to him.

The Crown Prince personified the words cold and calculated. Everything was about numbers, and how to crunch the numbers to his will. He had connections to most of the royalty on the Star Continent. He had their father’s ear in almost every matter. Between Marco’s ideologies, and the power he’d already accumulated; Tidas brother could turn out to be a very dangerous person.. The worst part of all: when they’d all met up in the hallway, Tidas had sensed magic from him...