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“What the Hell, Murdoc?! Ye canna just offer me up like a damn trophy! Ima Not a prize!” Skye yelled as she stared at the Highlander King before her.

“...Not wit that temper,” Petrie muttered low, but Skye had heard him and glared.

Murdoc shrugged as he said; “Most here would compete fer a chance ta dance wit ya, so you’ll be bait! Ya really should take it as a compliment.”

Skye had whipped her head back when Murdoc had spoken, then narrowed her eyes on him as she yelled; “Ima not a prize ta be won!”

“You could always compete and win, to pick who You want to dance with,” Genie suggested.

Skye looked at him with a different kind of intensity than the others as she replied; “I wanna yell atcha, too....but that’s a good suggestion..”

“I’m sure you will be yelling at me plenty later, but for now: you should focus on winning,” he replied with an air of relief to him.

Genie knew that he had a good chiding coming his way from the two, and he would accept it. He knew that she and Tidas were still agitated with him for how he’d gone about getting them to go to Sai. But that wasn’t the part that he knew would make them angry..

.....

The Senate was breaking down into factions, and one in particular was gaining momentum: the Aristocratic Party. They believed that a Kingdom was far better than a Republic, and were slowly trying to win the public to their side. They would cherry-picked their history, and give inspirational speeches about ‘returning to the days of honor and glory’.

Any new body of government needed time to establish itself, but the people of Sai’s patience was wearing thin. They were much more advanced than the majority of the other kingdoms. The only ones that could truly compete with them when it came to societal development were the Highlanders.

They had government-funded hospitals and schools, but their justice system was as bad as Alcon’s. Money made a massive difference in the quality of life for everyone, but it was to the point that if a noble’s child robbed a store and killed someone in the process, money could keep them from punishment. The Senators justified it by saying that ‘a new government needed funding to make effective changes’, which Genie found to be a bunch of bulshit..

‘All governments need funding regardless of their level of establishment. Sai could be a thousand years old, and would need money to function.. Simple math shows that the citizen’s taxes should be enough to cover all overhead.. I know why it’s not, and where the money is going, I just don’t know how..’

As Genie listened to Murdoc apologize to Skye, then announce the rules of the game, he glanced at Tidas...

It was true that Skye was his main goal, but Tidas was nearly as important to him. Since he was a child, the young prince had been gifted when it came to math. He had struggled with most other basic subjects, but his ability to handle numbers well was the reason that Tidas was able to do his projects.

The schools, hospitals, and other projects that he funded all had to be balanced and accounted for. He was so good at it that all of the RMC’s final counts went through him before they went to Marco, who was the only person better at math than Tidas was. Inventory checks, resource distributions, armament counts; Tidas was responsible for it all on top of his routine responsibilities as the Commander.

Shasta and Zas handled a lot of his physical work. Like training the troops, giving briefings, and running the day-to-day tasks that the RMC and general military handled. Tidas still made it a point to involve himself in his troops’ training, but it wasn’t anything near the amount of time that he wanted, or so he had told Shasta.

Genie had learned quite a lot able his two former students while they were gone. Anyone that had ever interacted with them looked for excuses to talk, or flat-out brag about meeting them. The Cat’s Paw was a particularly interesting place to hear stories, especially if Alfred got a little alcohol in him.

Renee was completely honest about not liking Skye at first, then told him stories about everything she’d experienced with her. Bibalow’s attack, her encouragement despite Renee being such a bitch to her at the beginning. She also had a bunch of the regulars tell him about Skye’s kindness, and Tidas’ heroics.

Skye’s skill with her Shaman trait would definitely go over well with the Senators, but it was her connection to Zazzy that they would be the most interested in. Tidas would come across as the doting, protective husband, but Genie had a purpose to have him along..

‘He’ll be angry at me for it later, but I need his skill at accounting to check the Revenue Department’s records.. And he’s not going to like how we have to go about it, either..’

A gnawing guilt that had been building within Genie went into overtime as he thought about his mistakes. He was so used to acting underhandedly to get done what he needed done that he forgot it was unnecessary with Skye and Tidas.. All he had to do was ask.

As people began to run around trying to collect strong, proper shields to play the game with, Skye looked directly at Genie. He smiled at her like nothing was amiss, but they both knew that there was a storm brewing on the horizon. And that it was directed at him.

Skye could always tell when something was off with her mentor. Genie was an excellent spy and ninja, but he never spent extended time with many people. So only a select few could tell when he was forcing his suave demeanor..

‘When he moves all stiffly like that, tis easy ta tell something’s goin’ on wit ’em.. Is it somethin’ here, or Sai? I’d bet gold that it’s got somethin’ ta do wit Zazzy..’

As Skye’s thoughts raced, Genie walked over to Magnus, and started to chat about who they thought would win the game. Murdoc wanted it to be fair, so he said mages had to have sealing cuffs on. Tidas wasn’t thrilled about falling from five feet off of the ground without his Tank trait, but as far as anyone knew: Marco had no magic.

Only a handful of top-tier mages could sense magic without the amount being overwhelming, like Tidas and Maevis. Shasta and Zas could as well, but the majority of the RMC couldn’t. Murdoc wasn’t the adept type, but Wallace and Amara were..

Because of their involvement in the fight with Richard, they could tell that he had similar magic. It was barely registrable, but one didn’t forget the kind of aura that Dark and Ether magic gives off. As everyone discussed the rules in detail, and figured out the order in which they would play, Amara walked over to Skye..

“So he doesna have ta wear the cuffs?”

Skye turned her back as to block their conversation from Marco’s view; “Na.. Tis the same as last year’s Summer Games. But if he cheats this time, Ima callin’ him out on it..”

Amara quirked an eyebrow at her; “But you agree ta be the prize?”

Skye grinned cheekily; “That’s cause it’ll be me and Tidas out on the dance floor at the end.”

Amara barked a sharp laugh; “Are ya psychic now? How could ya know?!”

Looking around at the young lords gathered, Skye’s grin turned mischievous as she stated; “Tis easy ta tell what they think. Since we’re mages, they think we use our powers fer everythin’.. But they’re idiots fer believin’ it.”

“Why’s that?” Amara asked as Tidas called Skye over.

Before heading over, Skye replied; “Magic only be as strong as the mage!”

As Skye came to stand next to her husband, she could hear Amara’s laughter echoing behind her. It wasn’t long before she became swarmed by pompous nobles. Some were trying to figure what it was about Amara that made her the Head of the Highlander Council, but others were simply there to try and seem superior to her.

It backfired terribly when they tried to one-up her on economic-based knowledge. Amara had been a key drafter in many of the rights and distribution developments in the Highlands. In her youth, only the old families could own property, a business, or hold a political position. She had also helped rewrite an array of other elitist-driven laws, which made some of the nobles feel uneasy.

Sai had no royalty, and their nobles barely held any power. It was becoming clear that even though Murdoc held the title of King, he didn’t really hold the power that was expected to come with a throne. When Amara started to explain how the nobles had their influence and privileges restricted to ‘ensure prosperity for the many instead of the select few’, whispers started to spread..

Questions about whether or not non-monarchal kingdoms were a good idea to be allies with began to pop up in random discussions. The commoners outnumbered the nobles by a lot. They worried about the impact and influence that seeing a functioning, flourishing society would have that ran on merit versus blood rights and bank accounts.

‘The grass always looks greener on the other side.. People don’t understand that Sai struggles as well, just not over such basic things like healthcare and basic sanitation.. But we still have archaic practices..’

As the conversations around him sparked Genie’s thoughts, Skye asked; “Are you gonna participate too?”

Genie laughed lightly; “No, I’m not. A man my age enjoys depending upon my magic for most things. I’d fall after the fourth step without my Wind magic.”

Skye chuckled; “At least ye can admit to yer faults. Most in this room can’t.. Just so ya know though, Genie: you’ll be havin’ a discussion wit us after dinner. So dinna go too far this evening, ya ken?”

Genie nodded in agreement smoothly, even though he was freaking out inwardly. Skye had an uncanny ability to spot his tell, and would know whenever he was either holding back, or flat-out lying about certain things. There were things he wanted to tell them, but not until they were already on their way to Sai.

Genie needing Tidas’ help, Zazzy’s true importance to Sai, who and why someone was after Mei and her child; the list was overwhelming to him. And it was only the tip of the iceberg...

If Sai was to remain free and independent, then Skye, Tidas, and Zazzy had to go. But Genie was no fool: he knew that if he pissed Skye off enough, then it wouldn’t matter what Magnus ordered her to do. As he watched her take her heels off to take on her first challenger, Genie prayed to the universe that she had matured with her age..

As she hiked up her skirts and had Wallace help her up onto a shield, Skye called out; “Alrighty! Who’s me first victim?! I’ll kick All of your arses!”

As Lawrence and Shasta exchanged amused expressions between each other, Magnus quirked an eyebrow and asked; “Has she been drinking already?”

The two looked away..