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Genie chuckled and shut them up by saying; “Come now, gentlemen. How did you not notice them? They were laughing throughout half of Skye’s berating.. Where does she get that temper from?”

“Her mother,” Lucas and Magnus said at the same time.

The two looked at each other and grinned as Tidas kissed Skye’s cheek, and told her that he would see her when he had finished up with a discussion with his father. Maevis and Nicolas were already in the hallway waiting as they said their goodbyes, and Skye whispered in his ear; “I’ll be waitin’ up fer ya. We got quite a lot to discuss before we can sleep.”

Tidas flashed her a smoldering smile; “Or do anything else..”

Skye chuckled softly, then gave him a quick peck on the lips before saying; “I doubt we’ll have the time if we wanna get any sleep. Ima not kiddin’ when I say we have A Lot ta talk about..”

Catching the underlying tone to her voice, Tidas nodded, then watched her walk out the door.. ‘I knew something was bothering her when she had arrived. I would bet money that it’s got something to do with those two flying tree toppers..’

As the thought crossed his mind, Magnus called out to Tidas to rejoin them. They wanted his point of view on Skye’s victory over Richard, and to know about the Spear. Originally Magnus was going to ask Skye about it, but her fury had short-circuited his thought process.

Tidas sighed heavily as he realized that he and Skye never got to plead their case to retain the Ethereal Spear themselves. Skye was the only one that could touch the thing without going insane, and turning into a monster. Not that he was going to mention it, but Tidas didn’t want his oldest brother anywhere near it, either..

.....

On their journey back from the Highlands, Skye and Tidas had talked multiple times about the many risks of leaving the Spear unguarded. They knew that the chances of convincing his father were slim, but Skye was hoping that her special standing would give her an edge with Magnus. With the news of their new journey blindsiding them, Skye had left before they could discuss it.

‘She was the key to getting Father to agree, and she’s gone off with the Fae.. Should I wait to talk to Father about it? Until Skye is with me? But then I risk Marco arranging something behind my back..’

Tidas imagined him saying something along the lines of; “It’s been moved to a safe and secure location,” then keeping it, and turning into a monster like their Uncle Richard.

As Tidas walked towards his father, he stalled by explaining everything about the battle. How Skye had jumped from Zazzy, dropped into the palace to get the Spear, then the crazy make-shift stairway she had created to attack Richard. He hesitated at the end, not sure if he should tell his father all of the details.

Seeing his level of discomfort, Lucas distracted Magnus by asking where the Spear was now. Tidas had ordered the RMC to guard it twenty-four hours a day with a minimum of four guards on each shift. Lucas thought it was a touch overkill, but the others didn’t. The MacArthur men had obvious reasons for wanting it guarded, but Genie agreed with them based off of history.

He patted Lucas’ shoulder as he spoke; “Any time that thing has popped up in history, catastrophe always follows it. In my ‘Master Ninja’ opinion: Tidas should have six. Four obvious guards, and two hidden.”

Lucas and Magnus looked at Genie with surprise, but Tidas just chuckled before replying; “If I announced that I had hidden soldiers, it would defeat the purpose..”

Genie grinned with pride at the youngest prince. He may not have trained Tidas as much as Skye, but Genie still considered him one of his pupils. He had taught Tidas along with Skye about history, geography, and hand-to-hand combat on occasion.

Skye was like a younger sister to Genie, so he wanted to make sure that Tidas deserved her. After getting to know him a bit, he had found the prince to be a good lad that would grow into a fine man for her. Tidas becoming the Commander of the RMC had been surprising to say the least, but it was a believable outcome when his life goal was considered.

As the four men stood making jokes about Tidas and Genie’s inability to relax, Tidas choked back his nerves, cleared his throat, and spoke seriously to his father..

“I know that this may seem a bit unorthodox considering the power that the Spear is linked to, but I must request that Skye be assigned guardianship of the Ethereal Spear. She is the only one that can handle it without being consumed by it’s magic, and as the Commander of the RMC, I feel that she is the best choice for the job.”

Lucas and Magnus shared a look that Tidas couldn’t understand, by Genie had an idea as to what they were thinking.. ‘They’re worried for Skye..’

Magnus took a long drink of his whiskey, then locked eyes with Tidas; “I understand Skye’s capabilities, but I don’t think it’s wise to have one person guarding such a powerful weapon. You just said yourself that you have four people guarding it right now-”

“Six,” Genie added.

“Six? I thought he said four before?” Magnus asked with obvious confusion.

Lucas chimed in; “Nevermind the number of guards! Wouldn’t Skye become an even bigger target if she’s walkin’ around wit the damn thing?”

Tidas shook his head; “It’s not like she would take it with her on her Shaman rounds! She would simply hold the highest authority, next to my father, whenever it pertained to the Spear.”

Magnus rubbed at his beard as he tried to think of specific reasons that the Spear had to stay in the palace. He didn’t understand why he wanted it there so badly; it was like an uncontrollable impulse. All the king knew was that the Spear needed to be locked away, and never spoken of again...

Right as Magnus was starting to tell Skye no again, Genie spoke up with a very valid point; “I believe everyone is forgetting the biggest point of all: Skye is the Catalyst. And the Ethereal Spear is meant to be with her.”

Magnus sighed heavily; “I understand your point, Genie, but you are also forgetting the fact that she is going to Sai in barely over a month. I cannot allow her to take such a high-powered weapon into another kingdom: engaged in peace talks or not.”

Genie quieted down after Magnus had basically rubbed salt into his wound. Not only was Genie responsible for them going to Sai and not telling Skye about Mei, but now his actions might affect the outcome of the legend..

Skye was meant to have both the Ethereal Spear, and the Celestial Key. If she didn’t have them whenever the time came, the worst outcome would come to pass. As a sinking feeling started to fill Genie’s chest, Tidas continued to plea with his father.

Magnus was being unusually stubborn about the Spear leaving the palace grounds, even to Tidas. He barely managed to talk him into allowing it to go to Zazzy’s Place..

Tidas had originally wanted to keep it at his castle indefinitely, but Magnus flat-out refused. After a half hour of debating, and a bit of help from Lucas; Tidas had finally talked his father into allowing Skye to be the Spear’s Guardian while they were still in Alcon, and when they returned.

It wasn’t exactly what Tidas had hoped for, but would have to do for now. His men would guard it while Skye was out of the palace, or not going to Zazzy’s Place for the night. Not even Peggy or Zazzy were allowed to watch over it while Skye was away: it had to be left with armed guards.

Tidas write his father’s attitude off as being overly cautious, but Genie sensed something...off, about him. A shred of Dark and Ether magic would flare whenever the Spear was brought up. It worried Genie greatly, and he planned on talking with King Magnus privately about it later, but was too distracted to focus on it at that moment.

With the complication of the Spear thrown in, Genie could feel a deep, gnawing instinct trying to scream at him. He strained to listen, but all that stuck out was an old legend that had been reduced to a common child’s tale..

‘Something about a girl, her dragon, and the Void of Calamity.. What was it? I’ll have to see if the library here has a copy of the original legend..’

As Genie filed the thought away in his mind for later, he returned to the conversation at hand...

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

When Skye had closed the door behind her and turned around, she came face to face with Maevis, Nicolas, and Lawrence. The two Fae were hovering in place as they told him details about Skye’s extreme chiding. Lawrence had heard bits and pieces through the door, but was soon rolling as Maevis filled him in on the parts he had missed.

Skye placed her hands on her hips; “What are ye doin’ here? Eavesdropping? Not very king-like of ya.”

Lawrence laughed hard before replying; “Like I was going to miss the show! I doubled back as soon as Marco did his disappearance act. He’s gotten extremely good at it since you left. It’s gotten rather creepy.”

Maevis and Nicolas nodded in agreement before Nic said; “He even gives the Brownie spies the slip, and frequently. Tis like he melts into the walls!”

Skye chuckled, not realizing that Nic was actually being serious. Marco was a dangerous piece on the game board, and not one that the Fae liked losing track of. Karena was beyond simple to follow, but it was like chasing ghosts when it came to Marco.

“Come off it, now. He canna be that hard ta follow around,” Skye commented, hoping someone would back her up, but no one did.

The two Fae shared a glacé before they turned to Skye and said at the same time; “Yes he is..”

Skye rubbed at the bridge of her nose; “Alright, I’ll take yer word for it.. Were ye only here ta eavesdrop, or was there somethin’ else? How’s Shasta?”

Lawrence huffed; “Oh, you know her: ready to kill someone. Karena is driving her insane. That’s actually one of the reasons I had circled back. I have a favor to ask you, Skye..”

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

As they started to walk towards Skye and Tidas’ quarters, the eyes of a person in a portrait behind them shifted and watched as they walked away. Anev smile spread across Marco’s face as he watched his future wife walking away.. ‘Once they leave for Sai, the Spear will be easy to get. I just need to be patient..’