Chapter 418

418 Morning Rush

Tidas grinned as he wrapped an arm around Skye’s shoulders, and replied; “We’re off to check on Zazzy, then Skye wants to do her Shaman rounds before we pay Aunt Marie a visit. After that, I have a quick meeting, then it’s lunch with Maevis and Nicolas before we go and beat-I mean talk, to Genie. Would you two like to join us for lunch?”

“Yes please! It’ll give me an excuse to ditch Karena early,” Shasta replied enthusiastically.

Skye quirked an eyebrow at her; “Why would Magnus pair ya wit her in the first place? Tis known that ye two hate each other.”

Shasta mimicked Skye’s face; “You’d have to ask him that. He keeps avoiding me now.. Your language skills have gotten worse, by the way.”

“Really? I canna tell,” Skye replied with a cheeky smile, already formulating a plan in her head.

Shasta grinned back at her broadly; “By the gods, I missed your ditziness! Oh, I mean that in a good way.”

“I ken yer meanin’, and I missed yer snark, too. Where will ya be around two o’clock or so? We’ll come save ya from the twit.”

Shasta chuckled; “Your language has gotten colorful, too.. I’ll be in the ballroom, practicing ‘proper’ dancing. Lawrence here, will be with King Magnus all morning apparently..”

Shasta shot Lawrence a testy expression, which he averted his eyes from guiltily before she continued; “I’m about ready to cut my feet off so I don’t have to deal with her anymore. She’s taken over almost every aspect of our wedding! And don’t even get me started on my dress.”

.....

Skye put her had on her friend’s shoulder; “Ima sure yer soon-ta-be husband is workin’ on it. You’ve handled beasts much worse than her before-”

“Yeah, but I was allowed to kill Them,” Shasta quipped.

Skye sighed in exasperation; “Well, ye canna do that here! Ya gotta find a way ta co-exist wit her.”

“Says the person who Just got back from nearly nine months in the Highlands! You haven’t even seen her yet! She’s gotten worse, Skye.. She’s taking all the joy out of our wedding.”

“If she keeps being unreasonable: you can rub the fact that you’ll be a Queen before she is in her face,” Tidas commented without thinking.

Shasta laughed evilly as Skye glared at him, and said; “That’s Not helpful!”

“Okay,” Tidas said as he clapped his hands softly; “Think of it this way: she’s going to be your sister-in-law soon, and you’ll need to figure out how to handle her either way. But if things get tough, remember that Skye is also your sister-in-law.. And it doesna hurt that she’s my father’s favorite person.”

“Shut it, I am not!” Skye replied as clearly as she could.

Tidas grinned playfully at her; “It’s fine, love. I don’t mind at all, and I don’t think my brothers care, either. Actually, I think the only one it upsets Is Karena. So, ya know: bonus there.”

Lawrence chuckled as he smacked his brother’s shoulder in a friendly manner; “You’re starting to sound like your wife there, brother..”

Turning to Skye, Lawrence continued; “Tidas is correct: I don’t care if my father favors you. And I don’t think Marco cares for anything that doesn’t affect his crown, so if you could sway father to give authority of the wedding back to the bride..”

Skye smiled and nodded; “I’ll do me best, brother.”

Lawrence smiled at Skye, then extended his arm to Shasta; “Alright, love. We better head over to the ballroom before we start to hear her screams of impatience from here..”

Skye and Tidas laughed loudly as he asked; “Why don’t you have Lawrence teach you how to dance instead? He knows how to dance: all three of us were taught.”

Lawrence shook his head; “Tried and failed already..”

“I told you that I can’t read your mind! You have to Tell me how to dance, not just show me!” Shasta bellowed as she looped her arm in his.

“You said that you learn better by first-hand experience, so that’s what I tried!” Lawrence nearly yelled in his defense.

“Okay!” Skye yelled, gaining everyone’s attention; “This is obviously a bad subject fer ye two, so let’s just drop it. Shasta, I’ll see ya around two, yeah? Lawrence: dinna be dumb, and let yer mouth run away wit cha. Tis a habit you’ve had since ya were a lad.”

As Lawrence cleared his throat like he didn’t know what she was talking about, Tidas told his brother that he would see him before the official ceremony. After that, the two couples went their separate ways. As they split, Doctor Stein watched them walk off, then went to find Prince Marco..

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

Thoth and a horse for Tidas were waiting for them when they came out of the front of the palace. Usually after such a long journey, horses needed a rest, but Thoth was rearing to go. He shocked the stable hands with how fast he recovered from such an arduous trip.

His age alone should’ve disqualified him from traveling to the Highlands, but Skye insisted that he get a physical. To prove that his health was excellent, and that he could make the trip and back without issue. The trainers, breeders, and veterinarians were all shocked: they had never seen such an old horse in such unbelievable shape.

According to the professionals, it was physically impossible for Thoth to be his age. But Skye had raised him from a foul, and knew for sure how old he was. After Tidas had vouched for her, the breeders had turned clamorous for a chance to mate him with the palace horses. But Thoth had never been a breeding horse, and had no drive for it.

It seemed that the only thing the stubborn, demon-of-a-horse wanted was to follow Skye around. None of the experts could figure out why, but they hadn’t had much time before the Highland Raiding party had left. As soon as he was in the stables, Thoth was being pestered.

When he was taken out and readied for Skye to ride, the horse had literally done a happy trot to the front gates. On top of his unusual vigor, Thoth seemed outrageously intelligent for a simple horse. It made the stable hands wonder if Skye had experimented on him, or that he was secretly a Fae, but all of his tests had come back saying ‘average horse’...

After taking their steeds and mounting up, Skye and Tidas immediately took off for Zazzy’s Place. They wouldn’t be able to stay there for a few days, but planned on having a ‘family weekend’ as soon as they could. Skye and Tidas had gotten used to seeing Zazzy whenever they felt like it in the Highlands, and already missed her being close.

As they rode up, Skye and Tidas felt their worry building as Zazzy’s empty home came into view. She wasn’t in the field, and the Stable Master’s son was no where to be seen. As they jumped from their horses and sped around screaming for her,Larry came out of the back of the overgrown barn.

“Where’s Zazzy at?!” Skye stopped and yelled as soon as she saw him.

Larry flashed a confused look at them that turned into a panicked expression when he glanced at an empty pasture. After his head swiveled about a few moments, he screamed back to Skye and Tidas in a crackly, teenaged voice; “She was Just here a few minutes ago! I was testing her food! It just arrived while we were playin’! I don’t know where she coulda gone to!”

Skye froze in fear as her mind raced.. ‘Is this what me dreams were about?! No, no.. Why would I think that? Calm yer self, Skye.. Be rational.. Tis Zazzy: she wouldna go far with food on the way.. She can’t be far..’

Calming the frantic voice in her mind, Skye focused on Zazzy like she would if she were trying to talk with her sitting in front of her. As she started to feel a familiar warmth in her chest, Tidas ran over to her..

Seeing Skye so still, he ran over to his wife and asked in a strained voice; “Did you find a clue, or know where she might’ve went? She wouldn’t go back to the Highlands, would she?!”

Skye shook her head; “Calm yer self, husband. I know she’s close.. I wanna see if I can talk ta her our way.. You should try as well..”

Tidas wasn’t sure how he did it in the first place, but tried regardless. He focused on Zazzy, and thought of all the memories he had of her when she was tiny. A warmth started to grow within him, then next thing he knew, he was hearing her heavy breathing..

“I hear her!” Tidas yelled enthusiastically.

Skye grimaced with her eyes still shut; “Shush it! I’ll lose my connection!”

As she felt the familiar aura of Zazzy, Skye spoke in her mind; “Time ta come home, me scaly bairn. We need ta talk to ya about our next adventure, and Larry’s done gettin’ yer food ready..”

Silence filled the field before a loud wooshing noise broke the calm, followed by a large, dark shadow overhead. As the wind kicked up to near hurricane levels; Zazzy landed right next to them with an earth-shaking thud. She made happy little trilling noises as she enjoyed a loving embrace from her parents.

As they broke away from her, Tidas and Skye chided her for taking off without letting anyone know. She tried to say that ‘the guards saw her fly away’, but that just irritated her parents more. After she she promised to never leave without permission again, they explained their coming trip to Sai, and that they were going for two main reasons..

The first was to secure the treaty between Alcon and Sai by introducing her. Zazzy wasn’t thrilled about leaving again, but perked up a bit when they said that it was ‘because she had fans’. She puffed her chest as she practically pranced her way to her food dispenser; she was so excited.

After she ate a bit, they explained that the second was to protect Mei. Skye had told Zazzy many stories about ‘Auntie Mei’. Even though they weren’t biologically related, the two considered each other family, and they knew that Mei would love to call Zazzy family as well.

Not just due to how the people of Sai viewed dragons, but because Skye and Tidas saw her as their first child. When they said as much, Zazzy stopped eating, and curled around them for another family hug. She knew that they loved her like their own, but it still made her happy to hear it.

After they spent a bit more time talking with their sweet dragon, Skye and Tidas went and grabbed their horses. Thoth had led his horse over to the stall next to Zazzy’s Place after Tidas had jumped from him at the same time as Skye. As they mounted up and bid Zazzy farewell for the day, Tidas stared at Thoth with a curious expression..

“You know, I’m beginning to wonder if the stable hands were right. Maybe he is a Fae of some sort? Sent to spy on us or something?”

Skye outright laughed as she nudged Thoth into a steady trot, then replied; “Since I was a child? Don’t ya think I would’ve noticed somethin’ hinky wit him by now?”

Tidas scoffed and muttered low enough that he thought Skye wouldn’t hear him; “I think you’re the only one who Hasn’t noticed he’s not normal..”