Dawning Skye

307 Love And Life

Tidas knew that something having to do with a fight was going to happen, he just didn’t expect his wife to be the instigator. He and Murdoc were discussing possible ways to handle conflict between their two groups when someone called to him.

About twenty seconds after Murdoc walked away, the Highlanders had approached him. At first, it was basic insults about being from Alcon, which didn’t bother Tidas in the slightest. When they started talking about his men, he’d become irritated, but still showed no outer signs of being perturbed.

When the men began saying things about his uncle, and started questioning his Aunt Marie’s character; Tidas’ eyes flared with simmering rage. Seeing that insulting his family was the best way to get a response, they started talking badly about Marco.

Seeing his features turn slightly amused by their taunts, the Highlanders switched their focus to Magnus. Tidas clenched his teeth as they called his father a ‘Mad King’, and said something about how ‘they could see him burnin’ people alive with a smile’.

They spoke as if in reference to something, but Tidas didn’t know what. His fists were tightly balled, forcing his nails to dig into his skin. The pain distracted him enough not to lash out at the young, ignorant fools trying to bait him into a mistake.

The elders were watching his reaction with scrutinizing glares. As if they were waiting for him to screw up, and fight them. Examining their countenance, Tidas couldn’t help but wonder if one of them had provoked the men into it..

The prince was handling himself well until they started to speak ill of Skye. At that point, even the elders started to glare at the young men. Her bloodline alone should’ve made her immune to their jeers, but the men were too self-involved to realize that they’d screwed up..

Tidas turned and smirked at the men; “Keep runnin’ your mouths off about my wife, and I’m not the only problem you’re gonna have.”

Finally getting a rise out of their target, the man in front cackled; “Oh! Ima shakin’ in me boots! Is that the kinda vague, bulshit threat that ye say? Does it ever work?”

.....

“Only with the smart ones,” Tidas replied, shifting his stance to be ready for anything.

The man eyed with with pure hatred, then started shouting about how only cowards backed down. That he may be used to other Southerners backing off with his empty threat, but Highlanders wouldn’t.

That was the point at which they started talking about him needing to bring his wife to the battlefield. First it was because he was too weak to fight on his own, then Skye and Amara had come out and caught the end of the man’s rant..

The entire ordeal had only taken around five minutes or so, but it was long enough for word to spread to the other Highlanders. They in turn, told others, and now a large crowd was beginning to form around them. Clogging up the hallway, and giving Skye a large audience.

She was hoping that word would spread quickly, and draw out any possible troublemakers. The situation could also help flush out possible schemers, too.

“Will ye give me a boost, husband?” Skye asked as he sheathed his sword, and came to stand by her side.

Knowing what she meant, Tidas bent over, and had Skye sit on his shoulders so she could speak to the gathering Highlanders in one go. The more people that heard her direct words, the better.

“Since there seems ta be a shit-ton of festerin’ resentment, we’re gonna have a quick fightin’ contest! Anyone is welcome to challenge Tidas and me! We can go one-on-one, or a group of ye can fight both of us!”

“If this alliance is ta hold, then we cannot be goin’ at each throats! Or tryin’ to provoke each other like children! If ye still wish ta fight, we’ll take ye on! But after this, I best not hear of a single fist thrown in anger! Or I’ll come for ye me self!”

The crowds worked themselves into a frenzy as Skye added; “Tomorrow! Outside of the RMC bunker! We’ll show ye just how much alike we all are!”

The crowds clamored to start the fighting now, so Murdoc stepped in; “Oh, come now! We need ta give the Southerners the night to situate themselves! Otherwise they might make excuses tomorrow!”

The crowds turned from disgruntled, to understandingly cocky in the matter of seconds. Murdoc was one of the most charismatic people she’d ever met, and thought that the title of King suited him well.

He reminded her of Lawrence and Tidas; beloved by their people. Even though Tidas wasn’t the next ruler, Many people in Alcon wished he was...

Amara watched as the people cheered for their king with a small, devilish grin on her face.. ‘It’s been some time since I fought. I should probably use tonight to warm up a wee bit..’

As her grin stretched, Amara was unaware of the eyes upon her. The elder that had spoken out before, Malcolm, was simmering in his anger. He watched the Southerners and Murdoc turn the volatile situation, which defeated his purpose of riling up Mickey in the first place.

Murdoc left most of his major decisions to the Highlander’s Council, therefore Amara. He’d always favored her opinions over the other elders, and it infuriated him. Malcolm was not only older than Amara, but had served on the Council far longer than she had.

‘My opinion should hold more sway than hers, but tis like the bitch put a spell on him!’

As he glared at Amara from the other side of the hallway, Tidas set Skye down. She had a contemplative expression on her face seconds after he’d set her down. After a moment, she looked up at her husband and said; “Sorry for pullin’ ye in to this, but you’ve got the biggest target on yer back.”

“I know.. We’ve been fighting the Highlanders for generations. It won’t be easy to take away their hate,” Tidas replied with a sigh; “But you did a good job by making me a target rather than the soldiers.. Accept for making yourself one too.”

“Ima the cause for the battle endin’ peacefully, and Ima sure that there’s a few here that weren’t too happy about that. We need to know who might become a problem,” Skye stated as she looked around with suspicion.

One of the elders was eyeing her with obvious disdain, proving her point to her husband. He didn’t turn away until Amara and Murdoc came into his line of sight again.

As things began to settle, Amara looked over to Skye and said; “Care to finish our wee chat?”

“Sure, if we can,” she replied while looking over to the other elders.

“Nevermind them. They know we weren’t finished.. Come on; before they say somethin’ about it,” Amara said as she grabbed Skye’s hand, and tugged her along.

Tidas shot her an amused expression just as they reached the door to the utility room. He was usually the one to deal with diplomatic situations, so it was amusing to him that Skye was their main focus instead of the Commander of the RMC.

If Skye were anyone else, Tidas would’ve insisted on being involved, but he trusted Skye wholeheartedly. When they were done speaking, and the two had a moment alone together, he would ask about what she’d said..

When Amara shut the door, the first thing she words out of her mouth were; “Twas a brilliant idea ta hold a bout. It’ll give the people a chance to vent their frustrations, but can you and yer husband really fight all of ’em? I can think of at least a thousand that would like ta fight.”

Skye smirked; “So long as the thousand that are hostile show up tomorrow, it’ll all work out. If there’s one thing that I learned from bein’ in the capital: appearances can both motivate, and demotivate a group if not done properly.”

Amara quirked an eyebrow; “And which did ye plan to do?”

“Both. Motivate them ta work with us, and make ’em think twice before pickin’ a fight with the soldiers again,” Skye replied with a small, cheeky grin.

Amara looked at Skye with a soft smile. She was intelligent, quick, and decisive; everything that the stories said the Warricks were..

“Are ye sure that ye don’t want ta be our Queen? Murdoc wouldna object ta givin’ up his throne ta you. Or ye could marry him,” Amara suggested with a straight face.

Skye laughed out loud; “Not that he’s not attractive, but I love me husband, and want for no other.”

Amara shrugged; “Here, ye could have them both. There be some men with multiple wives, and some women with multiple husbands-”

“Haha! Hell no! Ima good with wthe man I got. I don’t want anyone else but him,” Skye’s voice went soft as she finished speaking.

Amara recognized the light in her eyes; “Ye truly love him, don’t ye?”

“Aye,” Skye voice was as warm as her expression as she spoke; “He’s me best friend, and the love of me life. I’ve know him since we were children..”

Skye told Amara of their arranged marriage, a few memories from Warrick Forest, his fake death, and his grand entrance into her almost-wedding with Jacob Fowler. By the time she’d finished, Amara completely understood why they were so loyal to each other.

Theirs was a bond built upon memories and understanding. They accepted each other’s faults, and loved without judgement. It was the rarest and truest kind of love, and one that most wouldn’t fully comprehend, but she did..

“Did ye know that Drexel was me second husband?” Amara asked after a bit of bantering back and forth about Tidas.

“No, what was yer first husband like?” Skye inquired, hoping it wasn’t a rough subject for her to talk about.

A thoughtful expression covered her features as Amara replied; “An asshole to most, but I loved him deeply. He was opinionated, stubborn, and selfish. Always concerned about himself and his life more than Ours, but I loved him.. He died defending a group of our people from the beast.”

Skye’s faced turned sympathetic; “Ima so sorry for yer loss..”

Amara grinned, but it was edged in sadness; “I still wonder what would’ve become of us if he would’ve lived, but I had to move on..”

“Did ye love Drexel?”

Amara sighed; “That was more infatuation than love, I think. I had liked Drexel when we were young, and he treated me like a lady when we dated. Reggie never really took me out before, but Drexel showed me off.. It was nice.”

Her expression turned hard; “But he was a greedy fool who reached too far.. Tis hard to believe that he tried ta kill Murdoc, but that’s probably just me not wantin’ ta believe it.”

After they talked about their love lives a bit more, Skye turned the conversation more serious; “So, about that Catalyst comment before..”