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As they shared stories about what had happened in the Highlands, Murdoc could see something was bothering Skye as well. No one seemed to feel the magic coming off of Marco except Skye and Genie. She recognized it from her interactions with the Spear, but Genie could feel it due to his vast experience.

Tidas thought that he could feel something heinous emanating from his brother, but wrote it off as part of his usual creepy aura. Skye and Genie both felt a kind of vibe from him that could only be described as threatening. Which made no sense, considering that they were surrounded by friends.

Genie had largely avoided Marco at first because he found him to be unpleasant. The few interactions they’d had were stiff, short, and generally one-sided. It wasn’t until Genie had realized the correlation between Marco and Ahriman’s presence, did he start making frequent attempts to talk to the Crowned Prince.

As the discussion regarding the treaty’s new terms began, Skye kept Marco within her peripheral vision..

Murdoc was the first to suggest an increase in raw ores, which he knew were most likely being used to create armor and weapons. He continued to refuse to refine it for Alcon due to the time and cost, but was more than happy to increase the amount. Marco understood their examples for refusing, and tried to say that it was the same reason that they should be the ones to do it..

Marco stayed seated and statuesque as he spoke; “According to the reports, the Highlands are more advanced than us, correct? How long does it take you to-”

Murdoc held his hand; “I see where yer goin’ wit this, and Ima still refusin’. We have similar methods ta ya fer strippin’ the ores. Keeps the purity levels high, but is just as time-consumin’ as the process Skye spoke of. If anythin’, Ima happy ta share our methods wit ya, but then ye get no increase in surplus.”

Marco turned towards Skye and smiled; “Do you know their methods?”

.....

Skye forcibly kept her expression pleasant as she replied; “Aye, but Ima not sayin’ anythin’ without Murdoc’s say-so.”

Magnus looked between his daughter-in-law and oldest son nervously as he said; “I’m sure King Murdoc will willingly share his knowledge without issue. It would be more valuable than an extra twenty percent of raw ore.”

Lord Moonstone raised his glass to friend’s words as he said; “Aye! Our king understands the value of time! Comes with livin’ ta be a hundred..”

Magnus glared at Lucas; “I’m in my seventies! And you’re barely younger than me!”

“Ten beautifyin’ years,” Lucas quipped before taking a long pull of whiskey from his cup.

Magnus was about to start yelling when Amara interceded; “In truth, yer Majesty: the only thing that we will nae budge on is our people. Our resources, records, and technologies are all open to ye fer negotiations. We just feel it necessary to establish our limits from the start.”

Marco perked up, which made his brothers shift where they stood. He was the driving force against Tidas every time he brooched the subject of indoctrination limitations based on age and competence. Marco wholeheartedly agreed on the competency part, but his opinion on the age limit was completely different.

When the RMC had first been established, it was more like a school for magic users. As war became commonplace, it turned into a military institution with the sole purpose of turning children into soldiers. Once Tiberius’ rein came, he changed the age limit from fourteen to sixteen.

Magnus’ grandfather had changed the age limit to seventeen, but Magnus had changed it back to sixteen years ago. It was at the suggestion of Marco during a time when the Sync Kingdom and Highlanders were causing issues at the same time. He had wanted it changed to fourteen, but Tidas had convinced their father to not allow anyone younger than seventeen to participate in the Mage Trials.

No one could physically serve in the RMC on the battlefield until they had passed the Mage Trials. Unless the kingdom itself was being directly attacked, recruits were not permitted to fight. They could act as support members, but that was the limit...for now.

‘Who knows what Marco will lower the age to when he becomes king.. I pray to the gods that father does live to be a hundred..’

As the thought crossed Tidas’ mind, Marco sipped his whiskey, then said; “We only require your mages, no one else.”

Amara looked at the Crowned Prince with a neutral expression; “That’s not on the table, laddie. Mages are people, and we don’t sell our people.”

Marco made a scoff-like noise, but without the smile as he replied; “I believe we have a few slave traders rotting in our dungeons that would disagree with you. Maybe we should ask them what the going price for a Highlander was.”

The vein on Amara’s forehead started to bulge as she stared at Marco. It was quite hard for her to keep her mouth shut when he was being so blatantly antagonistic, so Murdoc saved Amara by saying; “Aye, but they were all sent here. Isna a single person dumb enough ta try and have a slave in the Highlands. Slavery problems always come from the south..”

“We no longer allow slavery in Alcon,” Magnus stated roughly.

Murdoc looked at him flatly; “Obviously that doesna make it gone. Ye still got a buncha nobles wit ‘servants’ that are Not servants.”

Magnus glared at the northern king; “And how do you know that they’re slaves and not servants?!”

Murdoc sighed heavily; “Regular servants don’t usually have shackle marks on their legs. Unless you Alconians are into some kinky-”

“Murdoc! Quit jokin’ around!” Amara yelled before he could finish his sentence.

After a quick shrug, Marco shrugged as Petrie spoke; “Tis true, yer Majesty. I saw many servants, even in this palace, that have marks on their ankles and wrists.”

Tidas stepped forward to speak this time; “Actually, the people here in the palace are former slaves..”

As Tidas explained the work program that he had established for former slaves to help them acclimate to a regular life again, Skye kept her attention on both Marco, and Genie. Marco for obvious reasons, but she watched Genie because he seemed just as interested in Marco as she was..

‘Does he feel the same magic from Marco as I do? How could he? Not even Tidas seems ta notice, so why does Genie? Ima still pissed at him fer abandonin’ me when he and father got word of Tidas’ false death, but I need ta know what he does..’

Skye walked over to Genie’s side as Tidas talked, and asked him to come to her quarters with them after the meeting was done. He agreed, as long as Maevis and Nicolas tagged along. He had a few things to discuss with the four of them, and thought that he was killing two birds with one stone by asking for them to be there.

As she nodded in agreement, Henie put his hand on her shoulder..

Suddenly, they both felt a surge in Dark and Ether magic from Marco. It took everything they both had not to whip their heads over to look at him. He was just standing in place, but Skye could sense the exact same kind of magic combination coming from Marco as from the Ethereal Spear.

Tidas had stumbled over his words for a moment, then glanced at Skye. His eyes told her that he now felt his power as well, and he was doing his best not to let Marco know. After she lightly nodded her understanding to him, a faint memory sprang up in the back of her mind’s eye..

The two Magics didn’t just feel similar, but the same. Skye could remember one of the legends that they had read in the palace library. It mentioned a Cataclysm brought on by a Void of Chaos and Darkness. Skye remembered it because the text from the Catalyst legend said something about a Chaotic Void.

As Skye tried to recall the entirety of it, Tidas noticed that she kept glancing at Marco. He knew that his message had gotten through to her, but there were still so many questions.. ‘And he’s going to answer them all for me. Whether he wants to or not..’

Tidas turned his attention back to the treaty talks as Skye and Genie started to chat about Zazzy. They needed a subject that was easy to talk about while still paying attention to Marco. Plus, Genie really did want to talk about her.

Zazzy’s flight to the Highlands had nearly given him a heart attack. He started to tell Skye about it, but she cut him off. She wanted to hear the whole story in detail, and that wasn’t possible now. Her attention was too divided for the story to have it’s intended comical impact.

The treaty talks took around two hours in total to complete. Magnus and Murdoc only butted heads on a couple of subjects, and they were mostly pertaining to mages. Magnus loved to collect powerful magic users, but Murdoc and Amara refused to budge on the matter.

They had a tense moment when Amara had mentioned that the Highland Council supported their king’s decisions completely. Marco had asked if the council had any actual power, which they did if the current king was more of a threat to the people than a leader..

Marco had huffed derisively as he said; “How can you call yourself a king if your people have the authority to take your crown?”

Murdoc smirked cockily in response before retorting; “I don’t call me self a king, me people do. I be just a man: like All rulers. And I get me authority from me people, so why shouldna they have a say?”

Marco shook his head and muttered something under his breath; “People are meant to serve royalty, not decide things for them..”

Murdoc looked at the Crowned Prince with amusement on his face, having heard him, and replied; “And kings should always make decisions that benefit their subjects, not Just themselves.”

Magnus laughed nervously; “Come now, you two. We can discuss philosophies after the treaty is finished.”

Murdoc quirked an eyebrow at the Southern King; “Tis not a philosophical debate..”

Magnus ignored Murdoc’s comment and finished writing down what they had agreed upon. The amount of goods across the board would increase by twelve percent, and they would teach the southerners their refining techniques. The Highlanders would also provide supplies and support during any wars, and would participate in the yearly the Summer Games.

Magnus wanted to make their participation in the Mage Trials mandatory, but Tidas convinced him to make it voluntary instead. Marco wasn’t happy about Tidas convincing him, but brushed it off.. ‘They can have the option this year, but next..’

Before Marco could finish his thought, his father was handing him the treaty to sign. Magnus, Murdoc, Amara, Petrie, Wallace, Lawrence, and Marie had already signed it. Tidas had offered to sign is as a witness as well, but Magnus told him not to worry about it.

No one had known it at the time, but Tidas leaving his signature off of the treaty would come back to bite him in the arse later...

As Magnus gave Marco the treaty to rewrite, Murdoc stepped forward with a humble smile; “Now that that’s done, I’d like ta discuss who yer sendin’ ta the Highlands as a diplomat..”