Dawning Skye

530 Common Morning Commotion

Slipping into a pleasant and deep sleep, Tidas cuddled against Skye for most of the night. They had barely moved at all when Peggy had come in to wake them up in the morning, with their clothes and a metal pitcher in tow. While pulling the curtains back to let the sun in, Peggy spoke in a chipper voice; “Rise and shine, ya two! Time ta get outta bed, and start the day!”

“For the love of the gods, why?” Tidas groaned as he buried his face in his wife’s hair.

Skye barely moved enough to cover her face from the daylight, then immediately went back to sleep. It was a talent that Peggy had been battling with since she was a child, and knew exactly what to say and do to get her moving..

Yanking off the sheet, the old woman scoffed before she said; “Glad ta see ya two are decent. Just took us bein’ in another kingdom, but I’ll take it.. Skye, if ya dinna move yer arse now, Ima gonna dump this pitcher of water on you..”

“Nay ya won’t. This isna our bed,” Skye replied sneakily with her eyes still closed.

Peggy narrowed her eyes; “First off, do ya think Genie will blame Me fer the mattress bein’ soiled? No. He knows yer stubbornness, and willna say a word ta Me about it..”

“Secondly, as a Water mage, ye should be able ta sense the water in the pitcher above yer head right now,” Peggy’s tone turned almost diabolical as she’d finished speaking.

Skye shot up in bed with her eyes aimed up, and braced herself for the cold rush she’d experienced countless times. The pitcher was tilting too fast for her to activate her Water magic, to sense and divert anything that spilled. As Peggy tilted the pitcher, Tidas rolled off of the bed like he was avoiding a bomb.

Skye yelped as she closed her eyes, awaiting the icy blast of liquid...but nothing happened.

.....

Looking up at an empty pitcher, Skye sighed as Peggy burst out in laughter. She put her arm down and held her gut as Tidas poked his head up from the side of the bed. As he got to his feet and Skye’s anger started to kick in, Peggy chortled loud enough for the entire castle to hear.

“By the gods, yer face! And Tidas-haha! -Rollin’ off the bed-hahaha! I canna! That was Hilarious! Hahahahaha!”

“The bloody hell, Peg?!” Skye exclaimed.

As Peggy started to settle down, she replied; “Oh, calm yer self. If ya woulda used yer Water trait like I said, then ya woulda sensed that there wasna any water.. Some Water mage you are..”

“I didna have the time-”

“And you, Tidas MacArthur: what was that? Tis water, not acid. Who are ya? Shasta?” Peggy cut Skye off as she set the pitcher down, and put her balled-up fists onto her hips.

As he walked around the bed, Tidas commented; “I rolled off because I know that you used to use frigid water on Skye, and I have yet to relieve myself.”

“What does takin’ a piss got ta do wit it?” Peggy inquired as he walked passed her.

As Tidas headed for those bathroom, he called back; “Well, would you rather I piss on the bed, or do it in the toilet?”

“...Fair point. Grab yer clothes and get goin’ while I get yer wife movin’,” Peggy yelled back as he did as she said, then headed into the bathroom.

Skye huffed loudly; “Ima right here, and I can get up on me own.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Peggy muttered as she turned around, and grabbed Skye’s clothes.

Knowing that they were going shopping, Peggy had made it a point to pick one of Skye’s least revealing dresses. The woman who had showed her around the castle last night explained a bit about Sai’s culture, at Genie’s behest. He knew that if he didn’t warn Peggy preemptively, then Skye might do something in public to draw attention to them.

While Skye could easily defend herself, Mei didn’t have any magic. Which was the reason Genie had assigned Hana to guard her. Kari was going along as well, and could help to protect Mei if things got dicey, but it was still difficult to convince her husband to let her go..

Skye prayed to the universe that her husband would agree, but Genie’s demeanor towards him seemed too hostile for her to have much hope. She didn’t know him aside from Mei’s broad descriptions of him from her letters. When they had first wed, she had seemed so excited, then there was a gap.

Around the time that Skye’s father had signed her away to Jacob Fowler, Mei had stopped responding to her letters. She had later explained it as her becoming pregnant and enjoying her married life, but Skye now wondered if it had all been a lie..

‘Did she ever have feelings fer her husband? Were her letters nothin’ but lies? But why would she? -Unless he hurt her.. If that’s the case, then he’s a walkin’ dead man already.. But Genie woulda killed him by now...Unless he doesna know. Maybe he suspects? I dunno.. All I ken is that I will kill him if he’s hurt me sister..’

As Skye’s thoughts turned dark, Peggy interrupted her while tightening the straps on her back, and said; “Dinna go makin’ such a terrible face when yer out in public, or you’ll scare any wee children runnin’ about.”

Skye made a low growl-like noise to express her displeasure at Peggy’s attitude before the old woman quipped; “Ya know, you two spent way too much time wit that cat woman before we left. If ya hiss at me, I recall will dump water on ya..”

Skye smirked; “I think someone misses that surly cat woman.”

Peggy huffed with displeasure; “What, that furball? Na....Well, maybe I miss razzin’ her a bit..”

“Finally hitting your crazy cat lady stage? I’d start with a kitten, if I were you. Shasta’s not house-broken,” Tidas joked as he came out of the bathroom.

Peggy howled with laughter before saying; “Oh, she’d scratch yer face off if she’d heard ya say that!”

“I guess I just won’t tell her that I said it then,” Tidas replied as he picked up his overcoat from the back of a chair.

Peggy chuckled; “Hehe, but I will.”

As the two stared at each other, Skye did her best to hide her amusement. They were always poking at each other, and it reminded Skye of a comedy skit that she had seen while in the Highlands. As Tidas and Peggy sent zinger after zinger at the other, Peggy finished lacing Skye’s dress.

It was one of the oldest ones she had, and couldn’t have a zipper replace the strings like on her other dresses. There was off-white, intricately-embroidered lace around the holes that would be ruined during the conversion. Peggy didn’t mind having to lace her bairn up, but Skye didn’t miss the tugging and pulling involved.

They would be taking a carriage into the city, so she wasn’t worried about the dress. But if any problems arose, it would be difficult for Skye to fight in it to her fullest. Not that she was expecting any issues, but considering everything that had happened since they had arrived in Sai: Skye was worried.

‘Assassins are probably still after Mei, which is probably why Genie’s assignin’ Hana ta guard her.. But why are they after her?! Ta get at her da? That makes no sense...Unless they’re tryin’ ta kidnap her instead of killin’ her..’

“Did you hear me, love? I said the food’s here,” Tidas stated, repeating himself to gain his wife’s attention.

As soon as his words had registered, so did Skye’s sense of smell. Savory aromas filled her nostrils, making her mouth instantaneously begin to salivate. As she wiped at her mouth to keep her drool in check, a woman around Peggy’s age set a large tray down in front of her.

Miso soup with chunks of daikon, cabbage, and a few other vegetables in it sat in a bowl accompanied by some bao buns. The steamed buns were filled with a sweet and spicy pork mixture, whereas the miso was soothing, yet delicious in it’s own right. The meal was a bit heavier than they were used to, but both knew that they would need the extra energy for the day ahead.

While Skye was with Mei and the others shopping, Tidas was going to make Genie train him a bit. And if Genie refused, then Tidas would simply find a healer, and practice his Shaman trait. It would have to be someone that Genie vouched for, but other than that, he didn’t care who it would be.

Despite Tidas’ efforts, Marco had found out that he had another trait. There really wasn’t much of a point in hiding it in Sai, just in Alcon. As far as he could tell, the people were rational to a degree, but Alcon would be different..

People might think that Tidas had gained his second trait from Skye. She was known as the Catalyst by anyone who knew of the legend, or ‘the Goddess Eir’ by everyone else.. ‘It wouldn’t surprise me if some idiots actually thought that such things were true.. But then again, that’s what I’m thinking..’

Tidas had been able to transfer some of his Tank abilities to his horse for many years now, and he had just assumed that it was part of his Tank magic. Skye was the first to ever suggest that it could be anything else, then confirmed it while they were in the Highlands. But he still couldn’t actually heal anyone other than himself.

‘Maybe Skye’s right? Maybe my Shaman trait is limited to myself.. It wouldn’t surprise me if it were a bit stunted in it’s capabilities. I completely focused on my Tank trait, and never even questioned how I could transfer magic to my horse.. I wonder if I’ll get a Tamer trait, too?’

“Ya ken that the longer ya keep yer head in the clouds, the more likely ya are ta get rained on,” Skye quipped as she smiled sweetly at her husband.

Tidas suppressed a bout of laughter as he replied; “That was a good one. I think I may have to use that with my troopers , after we return to Alcon.”

Skye lightly shook her head at him; “Focus on yer food, husband, or we’re gonna be late.”

After wolfing down his food, Tidas and Skye followed behind Peggy, to meet up with Mei, Genie, and Hana. Kari followed after them while still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Apparently she and Klaus had had a similar night to Tidas and Skye’s, and she was still quite tired.

As they made their way down the hallway, Skye prayed that Mei’s husband wasn’t as controlling as everyone was making him seem. Walking down, Skye sighed with relief when she saw Mei, Hana, and Genie standing near the entrance to the castle. Until she had gotten a glimpse of their faces..

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