Dawning Skye

305 Warricks And Winchesters

Once Skye had finished shaping the door, she made it so that it could slide open, and go inside the rock wall. It made the entrance wider, and left them the option to bring large things in and out of the bunker. Plus, she knew that Zazzy would throw a fit if she couldn’t pop her head in on occasion to see everyone.

Zazzy wasn’t used to having so many people around her at once anymore. It reminded her for following Peggy through the palace, and she was loving the extra attention.

No one had expected such an intimidating-looking dragon to be so sweet and intelligent. At least not the Alconians, anyway. The Highlanders seemed to understand that she was a good lassie, and would never hurt an innocent person on purpose.

A few of the Alconian soldiers were still a bit leery of her, but most acknowledged her as a kind of mascot. The only thing that seemed to bother anyone was her tail. Zazzy was still adjusting to being aware of it at all times, and wrecked several tents whenever she walked around.

Skye had to repair several holes and tears from the fabric catching on her spikes. Each tent only took her about three minutes to repair, but there were around sixty tents. It took her around three hours to repair them all, then she had to eat extra food to recover all of her magic.

She wouldn’t admit it, but Skye had come dangerously close to overusing her magic during the battle. If it wasn’t for her self-healing ability, then she probably would’ve passed out right after Zazzy showed up.

‘Speakin’ of self-healin’.. I need to have a wee talk with me husband..’

Skye hadn’t forgotten about her realization from when she had to funnel her magic into Thoth. Tidas had done the same thing to his horse around the time that they’d gone into Warrick Forest, and they fought the ‘Nomads’.

She had to combine her Tank trait with her Shaman one to transfer her power to Thoth.. ‘Did Tidas do the same thing? Or is his Tank trait different from mine in some way? There’s too many considerations.. I need to examine him to find out..’

.....

As Skye finished shaping the tracks for the door to slide on, the Highlander elders were flabbergasted by what they had just witnessed; especially Amara. They’d never seen an Earth mage capable of manipulate multiple kinds of elements before. Not since the Pixie Maevis had visited.

She had come through with another Pixie named Nicolas several decades ago in search of a gemstone that had been lost. They searched the massive river for months until it grew too cold to swim any longer. Maevis seemed to think it was better off lost to the world, but Santa the Claws felt very differently about it...

Before Amara could delve too deeply into her thoughts, one of the elders asked; “Is it wise to trust a Warrick that would marry a MacArthur? She clearly doesna know her own history..”

Amara chuckled; “Oh, Malcolm.. Ye act like women get a choice in the matter. I don’t trust him, but I trust the obvious love between ’em. We’ll keep a close eye on the MacArthur until we know his intentions.”

“Or you could just ask me outright,” Tidas stated loudly and clearly as he walked over to them.

One of the other elders looked at the Alconian Prince with obvious disdain; “Were ye eavesdroppin’ on us?!”

Tidas smirked; “Kinda hard not to when I use my magic at all times. My soldiers are going to start coming this way, and it’s better for me to here what you say than them.”

“Why? Do ye not trust yer men?” one of the elders asked in a snarky tone.

“Aye. I trust their blades, not their mouths,” Tidas replied, implying a great deal.

“We we’re discussin’ yer wife.. Does that bother ye?” Amara baited.

Tidas looked at her placidly; “Aye, but only because she’s not involved in the discussion.”

Amara sauntered over to the Southern Prince; “What are yer intentions towards her?”

“To love her, and protect her whenever I can,” Tidas replied, not missing a beat.

“And if ye were ta find yer self below her in rank and standin’, what would ye do?” Amara asked as she came to a stop in front of him.

A confused expression overtook his features; “Support her.. Why do you ask?”

Amara shot Murdoc an odd look, prompting him to nod at her in response. After seeing it, she turned back to Tidas and spoke with an amused tone; “Good answer.. Especially for a MacArthur.”

Becoming irritated, he asked; “Why do you keep calling me by my last name?”

Amara’s grin widened; “First, what was yer mother’s maiden name?”

Tidas’ confusion grew; “Why does that-”

“Just answer her man, or we’ll be here all day. Her married name’s McLeod due to Drexel, but Amara’s maiden name was Keith. They’re loyalists of the Warrick family, and still are ta this day,” Murdoc commented, knowing that the conversation could easily turn sour if he pissed her off.

Sighing deeply, Tidas replied; “My mother was Elizabeth Winchester.”

Amara laughed boisterously as the rest of the elders eased up too. Even Murdoc huffed in relief upon hearing the name, which made him all the more curious, and frustrated.

“If we’re going to keep on this subject, then we need to move away from my men,” Tidas stated, then started walking.

When they had moved a short, but decent length away, Tidas asked; “What? Why should my mother’s name matter to you?”

After Amara calmed herself, she replied; “The Winchester family was essentially the right-hand of the Warrick Queen, back in the day. They were the ones that rebelled against the other kingdoms after the Warrick Queen died.”

“I thought that the original Alconia was ruled by a Warrick King? And that he grew corrupt?” Tidas asked; it was what he was taught growing up.

“Psst-ha! No. Alconia was Always ruled by a woman. Tis why peace lasted so long, in the beginnin’. When the Warrick Queen died, her daughter wasna old enough to rule, so her father was named King Regent until she could accept her crown.”

Amara took a deep breath; “The king was a MacArthur, and according to the old texts, there were rumors that he had poisoned his wife to gain his power. Although some do say that he was merely a grievin’ man who was taken advantage of.. Either way, he did nothin’ when it came time for push to shove.”

“The other kingdoms were formed, and a giant war broke out that overtook the entire continent. The Winchesters were nearly wiped out of existence because they refused to acknowledge any other kingdom, and kept people inspired to keep fighting.”

Amara narrowed her eyes on Tidas; “The MacArthur King remarried, and disowned his daughter. Stripping her of her rights as a royal, and passed the crown down to his newborn son instead.”

Amara pointed to Skye, whom was busy handing out the tents that she’d repaired; “That woman right there is the last Warrick, and our True Queen. As well as Alcon’s.”

Tidas eyes bulged as he considered the implications. He’d already known of her bloodline, but didn’t know that the throne had been usurped by his ancestors in such a despicable manner.

When a certain realization hit him, Tidas turned to Murdoc with a scowl. The current Highlander king shrugged, guessing correctly at what he was thinking..

If Skye were to step up to the Highland throne, he would gladly step aside. The Campbell family were also loyalists, just like the Winchesters. Both names were mix in the thirty-thousand people that called the Highlands home.

The only name that had nearly been wiped out of history was the Warricks, and for a reason. If a descendent were to step into the world’s spotlight with the full truth now, the revelation could send the citizens of every kingdom into a frenzy.

The history of the kingdoms wasn’t well known, and the ones privy knew the same version that Tidas did. If proof of the Royals’ lies was exposed, and the Warrick Heir seemed a better option to them than their current ruler; civil wars would break out everywhere. All culminating into one continental war...

“What do you plan to do with this information?” Tidas asked nervously.

Amara smirked; “Sit on it until our Queen tells us otherwise.”

“You’ve gotta stop calling her that around my men,” Tidas paused to make sure that no one coming towards them was obviously listening in.

“Why? Tis the truth,” Amara quipped in a low tone.

“Because you don’t know my brother.. He’s quite sensitive about his position,” Tidas replied, hoping that she’d catch his meaning.

“Scared of a wee bit of competition, is he?” Amara had asked with a smirk, but gave off a cold and threatening aura.

“Somethin’ like that,” Tidas cut himself short as the RMC members started making their way over in drones now.

After he realized that they wouldn’t be able to talk privately any longer, Tidas asked; “Is there anywhere we can go to talk more privately?”

Amara nodded; “Yer bunker is connected to the rest of our home. There plenty of rooms we can use a wee bit further in.”

“Good! Ima comin’, too,” Skye called out as she ran over to them; “If yer gonna be talkin’ about me, I should be present, right?”

“Told you,” Tidas said with a cocky grin as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“Aye, he did. I heard him,” Skye added as she wrapped her arm around his mid-section.

Amara giggled at them for a moment, then replied; “Aye.. I’ll keep in mind that one means the other..”

Tidas was confused by the way she’d worded herself, but Skye had gotten the meaning. Amara now understood that to talk to one of them was pointless, so she might as well save her breath, and talk to them at the same time.

As the group approached, Zazzy had made her way down to the bunker’s entrance with the troops. She had a sad expression on her face as she looked at the size of the hole in the giant mountain.

Skye’s heart twisted as she worried about her scaly bairn. She was a dragon, and had the thick hide needed to stay warm in the winter, but Skye didn’t know to what extent. Neither the journals from Snare, or her Dragon Rider’s manual from Dragonhorn had answers in it.

As the came to a stop in front of the overgrown baby dragon, Skye said; “Don’t ye worry, me sweet. I’ll build ye a shelter as soon as I finish talkin’ with these people, okay?”

Zazzy nodded, but kept a sad expression until Murdoc said; “I believe I owe someone a roasted lamb? Don’t I?”

Zazzy instantly perked up, prompting Skye to pet her and lovingly call her a glutton. As the dragon nuzzled her mother, Amara couldn’t help but feel hope bubbling up within her gut. Alcon wasn’t the only kingdom suffering, and it was obvious that Skye could help.

‘If the Fates chose the last Warrick to be the Catalyst, then we’ll just have ta do all we can ta support our Queen..’

As the thought crossed Amara’s mind, Murdoc and the elders thought along the same lines. After they placated Zazzy, the group headed into the bunker. Unaware that they had already said what Marco’s spy was hoping to hear...