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Tidas watched Skye disappear towards the stairs, and figured she was heading for the balcony. There was only one stairway that led to there, and it was usually guarded whenever in use by the king and his guests. It was odd that she wasn’t there, but the turn was easy to miss when people crowded the hallway.

The three slowly made their way towards the balcony for the king’s announcements. Tidas knew most of what his father would say, but Magnus was well known for his impromptu speeches and declarations. They’d discussed the Highland raid, but it wasn’t a for-sure thing yet. Not only did his uncle’s whereabouts need to be verified, but releasing Any details of it could be detrimental to the mission.

Tidas anxiously gritted his teeth as his father looked about himself in confusion. Due to the noise from the spectators, the prince couldn’t heighten his hearing to find out what his father was looking for. He could still heighten his eyes, however; and was put on edge when he realized that the king was looking for Skye.

The princess should’ve been on the balcony by now, but she was nowhere to be seen. Tidas hoped she’d simply taken a wrong turn again, but his gut refused the notion. Skye had made it a point to keep her hair and dress as tidy as she could for her presentation to the kingdom. No way was she going to be late or miss it. A sense of foreboding filled his head and heart as his father began with his announcements.

“I welcome all, to Alcon’s Mage Trials! And I would also like to wish my son and his bride, Princess Skye Moonstone, a long and blessed life together!” Magnus cleared his throat to refocus on the crowds.

“Tis a tradition that our kingdom has held for a thousand years! It is a right of passage for mages that wish to join the higher ranks of the RMC, as well as being a place to test one’s strengths. We have never had so many attempting the trials all at once, and next year holds even greater promise. At the behest of my council, I had decided upon these alterations to the trials. To ensure everyone gets an equal chance.”

Lawrence handed his father a sheet of paper, but kept watch on the balcony’s entrance as his father read from it; “First: there will be two rounds of trials next year. Secondly; the teams will have an average of six members, as opposed to this year’s eight. Third, and the biggest change: the Pillars will serve as final obstacles to the competitors.”

The crowds exploded chaotically. The spectators were torn over the king’s third decision. If the Pillars were participating, the trials would be over in a blink of an eye. Not to mention that no one would ever be able to reach the finish line. They were far too strong and experienced to be directly involved, or so the people thought.

.....

Magnus raised his hand to quiet everyone, then continued to explain; “The increase in mages is a good thing! That means more and more of Our people, are being born with magic! But it also makes it harder to identify and nurture the gifted. Reaching the finish will no longer have an impact on passing or failing. The overall score of the team will decide if all are accepted, or none are.”

“The individual scores of the competitors will determine their ranks upon entry into the RMC. Overall; this makes it fairer for all who compete, and allows more to join the RMC! And, I haven’t gotten to the best part!” Magnus paused momentarily; distracted by loud noises originating from the stairway.

“The first person that can get past our Pillars to the finish line, will automatically be ranked as a Division General! The risk is great, but so is the reward!” the crowds cheered and clapped for their amazing king, but he was incredibly distracted now.

“We will have more information available at a later date,” Magnus cleared his throat to muffle an odd noise coming from behind him.

The entire time the king had been speaking, he could faintly hear yelling, banging, and a strange, gravelly, grinding noise. The yelling had gotten louder towards the middle of his speech, and he could’ve sworn that it was Skye’s voice he was hearing. Right as he was calming the crowds, the grinding sound had been ridiculously loud. He’d nearly turned around to yell, but was focused on keeping his people docile.

It was right after the king had finished with his speech that the grinding sound seemed to be directly behind him. As the king turned around, he saw the completion of a rock wall in the entryway. He turned back to look at the three below him with panic on his features.

“Something’s wrong,” Tidas stated, getting the attention of Shasta and Zas.

The two Fae had just started talking about the trials. Tidas had watched his father shifting around while he’d talked. The prince thought that the king was simply uncomfortable from eating too much, but that wasn’t it either. The pit in his stomach became an abyss as he saw the fear on his father’s face.

The three immediately rushed at the stands; towards where Skye had been standing. Going inside and making their way through the crowds of people would take too long. The prince and the Fae scaled the walls by sword and claw, making holes in the concrete as they quickly climbed. None of them cared about the damage they were causing: lives always took precedent.

Tidas slowed his pace a moment to give orders: “Zas, my father! Shasta, my brother! Priority! Secondary: subdue or kill all threats!”

The two Fae roared in acknowledgement, then Tidas nearly jumped all the way up to the top of the balcony in one go. He stabbed his sword into the concrete to catch himself, and readied himself to jump again. Right as he was about to, an explosion went off. Pieces of rock and dust flew over the edge. The crowds gasped and screamed at the scene.

“SKYE!” Tidas screamed as he lept up, grabbed the railing, and pulled himself over.

As the dust cleared, most of an unknown man came crawling out of a hole. The assassin had jumped backwards and used his weapons like shields against the blast. However, he didn’t have enough to cover all of him.. His legs had been blown off at different lengths, as well as part of an arm. He had deep gashes all over, and several daggers were protruding from his shoulder, gut, and one of his partial legs. The few servant women that were on the balcony screamed repeatedly before huddling together in hysterics.

Tidas didn’t recognize the man, but that wasn’t his main concern at the moment. Skye wasn’t on the balcony, and the prince knew she’d been on her way there, before his father’s announcements had begun. His heartbeat pounded in his ears as he called out to her, over and over.

Zas and Shasta jumped over from the landing that Skye had been standing on earlier. It hadn’t been easy; the spectators were watching the events unfold, and didn’t want to risk missing anything by moving. The prince was nearing a panic as they’d hopped over. As their feet touched the ground near the royals, Skye replied to her husband’s frantic calls.

“Hang on! I need to get this bloody wall down! Ima not crawling on me hands and knees in a dress!” Skye yelled through the hole.

While Tidas felt relief, the man on the ground obviously felt anger at Skye’s survival. He cried out in both pain and hatred as he focused in on Magnus. With a blood-curdling scream, the man pulled the dagger out of his shoulder. He sat up the best he could, grinned like a demon, and started laughing maniacally.

He lifted the dagger into a throwing position, aimed for Magnus, and said; “Regards from the Sa-”

Right in the middle of his threat, Skye brought the wall down on top of him; crushing him instantly. She was going to make it crumble, but she’d heard his creepy laughing. And nothing good ever came from laughter like that. Since she could tell that he was still close to the doorway; Skye just.. pushed it.

As she came through the doorway, Skye was embraced by a blur. Tidas had zipped straight to her, and nearly knocked her over with the force of him stopping. Her hood was pulled down, but Maevis was still curled up in the flap of it. She hugged him back tightly, but carefully. After a few moments, she leaned back, and spoke in a spirited tone; “Ye have Got to stop doing that with short distances.. Yer gonna give me a concussion one of these days!”

Without warning, Tidas kissed her earnestly. His heart pounded and his head felt dizzy due to his worry. Skye was the most precious anything to him, and the thought of something bad happening to her made his blood freeze. That realization brought on a whole new set of issues, but it was something he’d have to deal with later. Right now, he needed an explanation.

Before Tidas could say anything, Shasta stomped over; “What the hell happened?! Who’s this guy?!”

“Aye, I’d like to know as well,” Magnus came walking up behind Shasta as he’d replied.

“We were on our way over here when I almost ran into this guy in the stairway. I don’t know him; I just asked if he was from Sai, or if he just liked their clothes,” Skye answered with a shrug.

“Why did you ask?” Lawrence now joined in.

Skye looked at the Ruscovic King and replied; “Because of the shoes he was wearing.. I’ve only ever seen Genie wear ones like them before. He called them his ‘sneaky shoes’. Said he only wore them when he didn’t want to be noticed.”

Magnus stepped closer with a pondering expression; “Did he say anything?”

“Aye. He said he had ‘business with the kings’.. But that’s not the weird part,” Skye looked over at the blood pool that leaked out from under the rocks; “He said he’s from Sai, but his accent was completely wrong. And he said a word I know, but I can’t put my finger on it.”

“What was the word?” Zas inquired as he joined in too.

“He said something like ‘morte’, or mertay’... Something like that,” Skye bit the tip of her thumb in contemplation.

“Muerte,” a deep, familiar voice came from the entryway of the balcony.

Skye whipped her head up to see Marco standing in the doorway, next to a mortified Karena. Her hands covered her gaping mouth, and her eyes bulged at the blood. She yelped loudly before she turned back around, and left. Muttering about who she was, and how dare anyone make her see something so disgusting, as she left.

Skye stared at Marco unflinchingly and asked; “Aye, that’s it. Have ye heard it before? What does it mean?”

Marco walked over to Skye, and stopped inches front of her. Tidas had stepped up to be even with her shoulder; partially glaring at his brother for his proximity to his wife. He didn’t like how his brother didn’t understand boundaries, but since he was the Crowned Prince, there wasn’t anything he could say or do.

Marco leaned down slightly as he replied in a disconcerting voice; “It’s the language of my wife’s ancestors.. The word means death..”