Chapter 150

150 Familial Bond

*****Content Warning! Language*****

Skye was not looking forward to telling her father what Zazzy had done. He always liked to say that he was rich because he didn’t spend frivolously. Skye had her own money and could pay for the damages, but she knew her father well. Whether she paid or not, he would turn the experience into a story.

How they came to meet Zazzy was comical, but rumors of her destroying property could cause problems. Skye knew that if the baby dragon got a reputation for being violent or destructive, Magnus might take her from them. Even if it meant she might die.

The princess was already expecting to have to fight to keep Zazzy. Magnus might be on her side, but he was the King of Alcon first and foremost. If a good amount of his nobles wanted Zazzy under lock and key, he’d be hard pressed not to give in to them.

“What happened?!” Skye exclaimed as she shivered in the doorway.

Peggy stood in the snow, unaffected by the cold; “I was just tryin’ to light it! I couldn’t get the flint switch to spark, and was yelling at it when she just..”

“Lit it for ye?” Skye asked with her arms crossed on her chest.

Peggy looked at Skye with surprise as she said, “Is that what it was? Huh..”

Skye shot her servant an irritated look; “Huh?! That’s all ye have to say?! Ye made it sound like she was being destructive for the sake of it!”

.....

“How the bloody hell was I suppose to know she was tryin’ to be helpful?! She a Dragon! Not like she told me what she was doing,” Peggy voice was as loud as her lady’s in defense of herself.

Skye was going to continue, but the pain in her arms was too distracting. She rubbed at them, but it wasn’t to ward off the cold. The pressure felt nice until she neared her wrists. Peggy saw her wince and chided her for not seeing a doctor yet. They argued back and forth as Peggy gathered everything that she needed, and led Skye down to one of the guest rooms. The tub was nearly filled as they entered with Zazzy trotting in behind them.

The servants stopped and stared at the baby dragon with awe before Peggy snapped them back. Everyone on the Moonstone property knew of the baby dragon’s hatching, and were clamoring to see her. Skye let the two rub Zazzy’s belly before they left. She could hear their excitement as they went down the halls; not many people had ever touched a Dragon.

Skye took her time bathing since she could. As much as she loved the showers in the palace, nothing beat soaking in the tub at her parent’s castle. All of them were standardly massive to accommodate Lucas’ larger business associates whenever they visited.

The tubs at the palace were surprisingly smaller than the ones at her father’s. Skye wished she could’ve brought her tub from home, but her father had them bolted down for extra stability.

It felt odd not to be in her own quarters, but it didn’t really matter as long as Peggy had everything. She’d gathered up all of her necessities, and was now arranging them as Skye stripped what she could by herself. Zazzy seemed curious about the water until she yawned noisily, then curled into a ball on top of Skye’s nightgown, and fell asleep.

Skye carefully stepped into the steaming tub, and instantly began to feel the chill melt from her bones. She soaked in the soothing heat until her arms quit hurting, and her wrists felt better. Peggy wound up needing to use a heat box that Skye had created. Her mind wandered as she placed the box under the tub.

It was basically a way to keep the water warm without adding more or needing coals. A long metal box was filled with three to four inch-sized soapstone rocks, heated over the fire, then placed underneath the tub. Skye hated the smell that coals made, and wanted a stinkless alternative. She knew from her studies that soapstone had a high heat tolerance and retention, but was soft due to it’s composition.

It’d been a very inexpensive solution since the rocks were far cheaper than coal. Lucas made a pretty penny refurbishing a bunch of old cast iron bed heater boxes with the rocks. He sold them as bath heater sets that only needed replacements rocks every few years. He’d made a small fortune off of the nobles, then dropped the price to ridiculous lows so commoners could afford them as well. The only difference between the two models had been a shine job.

Lucas took all of his daughter’s ideas and thoughts to heart, not that she knew it. Skye would say something offhanded or invent something, and Lucas would run with it. He’d known how smart his daughter was since she was four, and secretly saw her as his muse. Skye’s father might not’ve spend much time with her, but he always listened whenever he did. He also got regular reports from Peggy, but she was under strict orders to never tell Skye that.

The old servant never told him anything that was truly private to her bairn, even when it came to her powers. Skye would’ve never forgiven her, and Peggy told Lord Moonstone as much when he confronted her about it. He had pulled her aside after the first Jacob incident to admonish her, but got an earful for his efforts instead. He’d dropped the subject afterwards, and hadn’t brought it up since.

“Peggy! PEG! Snap out of it, would you?! Geez, yer as bad as me!” Skye yelled as she waved her arms in the air.

After about the third wave, Skye jerked her arms back down with a grunt of pain, drawing Peggy’s attention. She tried to play it off like she had slept on it wrong, but the old servant knew better. She used to complain about any little pain; from stubbed toes to cramps. Since she’d made the armor for Tidas, however, Skye had barely complained about anything. If she was wincing in pain, what she was feeling would be excruciating to most anyone else.

“That’s it! The minute we get back to the capital, yer seeing a doctor! Ima in No mood for back talk, so shut it and let me wash yer hair!”

Skye grunted her disapproval, but left it at that. She didn’t want to say anything that might anger Peggy further. She was obviously still irritated about the Zazzy situation, but the princess felt that her anger level didn’t matched up. Something else was upsetting her, and Skye wanted to know what was wrong.

The princess glanced up at her faithful servant as she finished washing her hair; “Alright, what’s with the prickly attitude? I know yer upset with Zazzy, but why get snarky with me?”

Peggy got up, grabbed the rinse bucket, and dumped it on Skye’s head without warning. Because it was so cold outside, the water was nearly room temperature already, which felt icy to Skye as it hit her head. She yelped as the water sloshed about in the tub from her standing up.

Skye turned on Peggy; “What the fuck was that for?! I Just asked ye what was wrong! The Hell Peg?!”

Peggy’s head shook slightly as she realized what she’d just done; “Damn it! I thought it’d still be warm. Ima so sorry me bairn! I truly didn’t mean to! I just.. I feel selfish..”

Skye gawked at Peggy; “How could You Possibly think yer selfish?! Yer one of the most patient and generous people I’ve ever met.. Most of the time. Where is this comin’ from?”

Peggy balled up her hands together as she apologized and explained; “Ima sorry.. I just got so mad at yer husband and mother, and the rest. Ye been so busy lately with either studying, socializing, or spending time with yer husband... Yuletide is Our thing, and they invaded it!”

“I feel terrible for gettin’ angry over it. They did such a wonderful thing for the children. But.. I just wanted to spend some time with ye on Our holiday.. Ima terrible person..”

Peggy had tears gathering at the corners of her eyes after her confession. It wasn’t like her to be so emotional, but she’d hardly seen her bairn except to preform her duties. While she was getting on alright with the staff at the palace, Skye was special. She was the only person Peggy claimed as family, and maybe the idiot prince by extension.

Feeling remorseful for neglecting her surrogate mother, Skye sat back down in her water and apologized; “Ima so sorry Peg.. Tis all my fault. Yer the farthest thing from a bad person I’ve ever seen. A bit gruff, but that just makes ye more lovable.”

The two women exchanged a smile before Skye continued; “I know we haven’t been able to talk as much lately.. And to be honest, it’ll probably get worse once we get back to the capital-”

Peggy cut Skye off; “I know me bairn, I know.. Yer married with yer own life, and tis not fair of me to pout about it. I just miss ye, and was lookin’ forward to our tradition. Ima happy everyone did somethin’ so amazing for our people. And that yer mother wants to carry on for us.. I guess Ima just jealous I can’t have ye all to me self any longer.”

If Skye wasn’t naked, she would’ve hugged Peggy right then. Having finished her bath, Skye stood up, and wrapped the towel around herself. As soon as she’d secured the little notch, the princess hugged her servant with all the love she felt for her while telling Peggy her feelings.

“When I thought Tidas had died, you and Genie were me rocks. Throughout everything I have gone through, you have always been there for me. This next year will be hectic, and I won’t have much time for anything except me training.. But I’ll always need you in me life, Peg. Yer more of a mother to me than me own: Never doubt that. If somethin’ is troubling you, ye need to tell me. How else can I make it right?”

Peggy sniffled against Skye’s wet hair as she thanked her bairn for her loving words. She felt like a child that was complaining for attention, which was a very disturbing role reversal to her. It was part of life for children to grow and leave their nests. Peggy felt lucky that her actual position allowed her to stay by her bairn’s side.

She knew that sooner than later she would have to leave Skye. Peggy was no spring chicken, and it took everything she had daily just to stay on top of everything. Adding a dragon care plan to her daily tasks seemed nearly impossible before, but now she had hope. If the dragon truly was intelligent, then maybe she could prove useful..

As the two women broke their hug, Zazzy stirred in the corner. She’d been napping for the forty-five minutes or so it took Skye to wash and talk. The baby dragon stretched lazily, then looked about the room. She made a trill noise, drawning a squeak of delight from Skye as she said, “Aww! Zazzy’s so cute!”

Still half asleep, all the baby dragon heard was her mother saying her name. Assuming she was being called, Zazzy walked towards the tub that Skye was still standing in. Peggy shouted and cursed at her while Skye begged her not to do it, but it was too late.

Zazzy crawled over the edge of the tub, and slipped into the bath water. She nearly knocked Skye out as she sloshed water over the edges. Peggy helped catch Skye before she fell, but couldn’t stop the couple gallons of water from spilling all over the floor.

After Skye righted herself, she turned to see the baby dragon relaxing in the tub on her back. She’d spilled enough water out that her head poked over the water line perfectly. She purred while slowly flicking her tail back and forth. Skye smiled at Zazzy while Peggy yelled. When she saw Skye smiling at the messy dragon, she grinned evilly and said, “Ye won’t think it’s so cute when yer helpin’ me clean it up!”