Dawning Skye

Chapter 187

187 Cats And Dogs

***THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS 18+ CONTENT. LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE. VIEWERS DISCRETION ADVISED***

Skye healed Shasta enough for her to lose the majority of her buzz, then ordered more drinks. Renee was about to pitch a fit, but Skye told them to put everything from tonight on a tab for her. Renee started to make snippy little comments about how irritated her husband must be that she spends all of his money. Unaware that both Shasta and Skye could hear her.

Skye didn’t say anything. She just grinned at the lass, which seemed to irritate her further. The princess assumed she took it that she didn’t care if she spent her husband’s money, when in reality she simply had her own. She’d been taught from a young age that, ‘not everyone will like you, no matter what you do’. Being told that her whole life, Skye believed that the only opinions she should care about were those of her loved ones, and herself. Making Renee’s opinion of her meaningless.

“Why did you let her talk about you like that?! I would’ve snapped at her,” Shasta snipped as she popped the cork on a fresh, chilled bottle of cream.

Skye smiled serenely; “Why would I waste me energy on someone I don’t know, that doesn’t know me, but clearly doesn’t like me? Better to spend it on friends and fun, in my opinion.”

Maevis smirked; “That’s a good lass! Screw her! You’re a good person; don’t let the ignorance of others bring you down! Alfred! You can be our waiter tonight! I’ll pay you a bonus for it myself!”

Alfred came over with amusement plastered on his face; “As long as I can still tend to my other customers, I can handle being your server. It’s getting rather late, so the crowds should start to funnel out soon.”

“How late is it?” Skye asked with a nervous undertone to her voice.

“I’d say a bit past midnight. Why? Will your husband be upset you’re out so late?” Alfred asked hesitantly.

.....

“Oh yeah..”

“No..” Skye and Shasta had spoken at the same time.

Skye mock-glared at Shasta for her accurate barb. Tidas would most definitely be annoyed that she was staying out so late, but if their situations were reversed; she’d be irritated too. He knew she was with Maevis and Shasta, so he wouldn’t actually be mad. Just a wee bit peeved that she didn’t heed the letter he’d sent her earlier..

Right as Skye was about to say something snarky to Shasta, the thought left her head as Alfred pulled out a bottle of dark, smooth whiskey. She nearly squeaked in delight as he poured her some into a glass he’d just cleaned. Watching the liquid fall, Skye’s mind went to her husband.

Klaus would’ve made it back to the palace quickly in the late hour, so Tidas would know where she was. Skye figured he was most likely at his desk in their parlor, or at his Commander’s desk in the RMC Central Headquarters. It was technically separate from the palace, but still attached by several bridges and walkways.

One wall was directly attached to the inner walls around the palace. It was the part of the ‘castle’ that housed the capital’s garrisons, and the majority of the RMC. It was more or less the general military headquarters as well, but only when not in a time of war. Skye figured Klaus would most likely find Tidas there.

Any time Tidas left the palace outside of his normal schedule, he always sent someone to tell Skye, and they each had a copy of the other’s basic schedule. Each knew where the other was at most times of the day, except for variations within the palace walls. Some might see it as slightly possessive, but Skye and Tidas saw it as being courteous to one another.

It made calling for, or sending each other messages easier for Peggy and the other servants as well. Skye did feel a bit bad for making him miss her, and was contemplating leaving shortly to try and catch him. When she told her friends her thoughts, Shasta had scoffed loudly at her before speaking.

“Screw him! You’re with Mae and me! We’re gonna stay and bullshit until the sun comes up!” Shasta announced boisterously.

“No,” Skye, Maevis, and Alfred all replied together.

“Downers and traitors! The lot of you..” Shasta said in a mostly fake, irate tone.

The three chuckled at Shasta before Alfred asked; “So are you going to tell them what happened to you, or just keep chugging and making Skye heal you? Which is a waste, by the way.. Of Skye’s coin, and my cream.”

Shasta quirked an eyebrow at Alfred; “I’m getting there! It takes a minute; you know that..”

Alfred stared at Shasta flatly before he stated; “Don’t word it that way. You’ll give people the wrong impression.”

“So we’re you two ever lovers?” Maevis asked bluntly.

Before Alfred could answer, Renee dropped a tray full of glass tumblers that she and Alfred had just finished drying and polishing. The four at the table, along with the few other people there, stared at her as her as her face turned a deep red. She quickly apologized to everyone for disturbing them, then very slowly started to clean up the glass.

The four at the table weren’t idiots, except maybe Alfred. Apparently, he didn’t realize that Renee liked him. Skye had realized it shortly after the lass had made the remarks about her spending. She’d also glared at Skye after Shasta had commented to Alfred about ‘barking up the wrong tree’ earlier. And now, she was very obviously taking her time picking up the glass to eavesdrop.

Not noticing his employee, Alfred chuckled and replied; “No.. No, no, no. Never; she’s like my little sister.”

Shasta took another drink from her bottle, then flashed an insulted expression; “You’re barely older than me!”

“No, I’m centuries older than you.. See?! I knew you weren’t listening to me!” Alfred yelled in fake indignation.

“She knows yer a Wepwawet!” Skye randomly added, feeling the whiskey hit her much harder and faster than the ale had.

Maevis sipped her tea, then asked; “How did you two meet?”

Alfred and Shasta shared a look before Alfred said; “We were both slaves.”

Skye’s face twisted like her heart did; “What the fuck! Does every Fae have to be enslaved before they can be acknowledged?! You, Shasta, Zas-”

“Tis why Fae have stayed hidden throughout most of history; aside from the occasion fairy tale. Humans enslaved each other just because of a difference in their features.. Fae knew what they would do-did, to many of us..”

It was strange for Skye to say what she did. When Zas, Nicolas, and Maevis had tried to create an alliance during Edmond’s reign, Aero had asked what every Fae feared.. “How many years of servitude must the Fae endure to live freely among the humans?”

It was a snarky comment meant to send rifts throughout the Fae on the decision, and it’d worked. Celestia denied revealing the Fae and creating a treaty with the humans under the advice of her council. However, that was then..

Maevis perked up and smiled at Skye; “But now we have you and Tidas. I don’t like the future king, but I believe in you and the prince.. You’re amazing separately; I can’t wait to see you two working together! Marco won’t know what hit him!”

While the three women cheered, Alfred’s senses were on high alert. He’d felt someone watching them for some time now, but it didn’t seem to be anymore in the tavern. Because of the temperature difference, the windows were slightly fogged. That, paired with the darkness outside; Alfred couldn’t tell if someone was watching them or not..

After the three finished their belligerent cheering, Skye asked; “So how did ye two become a slaves?”

Alfred snapped out of his thoughts, but kept his senses open as he explained himself; “I was tricked. I fell in love with a human girl, but she betrayed me and sold me. She needed money for her parents, or they were going to lose their home. While I know she loved me; back then, relationships with beast men were punishable by law. The current king’s father was a very chauvinistic man that thought humans should only be with other humans. And that they should generally stay within their class.”

“Wilma was scared and desperate.. The local magistrate wanted her for his second bride because she was a strong Manic. Her magic allowed her to manipulate up to fifty small things, or five horse-sized things; she was incredibly gifted.. And it gave him the excuse he needed to cross the class barrier,” Alfred tensed as his memories played through in his mind.

“He knew we loved each other, and when he told the king about us, he gave both of us to the Magistrate.. I was a wedding gift.”

Alfred cleared his throat; “I won a dozen fights before he sold me. Wilma came to save me, but wouldn’t go with me. She was already pregnant with the bastard’s child.. So I let them sell me. I fought nearly every day until I made it to the capital, where I met Shasta.”

Alfred smiled warmly at his dear friend before he continued; “She convinced me to fight to live, not just to survive. I had made peace with death, but she just could Not stop talking shit..”

Shasta grinned cockily before taking a large drink from her fading bottle, and commenting; “Oh come on! You were as stiff and stoic as a freakin’ gargoyle! I had to make sure you weren’t really one.”

“Uh-huh.. And the fact that I was the number one fighter had nothing to do with it..”

Shasta smirked as she replied; “Maybe a wee bit, but not as much as you think!”

As the group talked, Shasta backtracked and told her start from the Fae Nation. After the men had left her, she wandered through the jungles until an old woman from a village of centaurs found her. They raised her for seven years; training her and teaching her to survive, but never caring for her like they did their own.

After the elderly centaur woman had died, hardly anyone spoke to her. They didn’t like outsiders in their village. Even after seven years, that was what she would always be to them. After two months of no one acknowledging her, Shasta told them of how she had snapped out and defeated all of the village’s top warriors. After conquering the village and earning her ‘Warrior’s Right’, she went village to village; conquering them one by one.

Shasta and Maevis then explained how her and Aero had chased her all the way to the Star continent. They were returning to Warrick Forest anyway, but before they had a chance to deal with Shasta, she was caught and sold as a slave. Maevis explained that after that, they’d lost track of her as far as she knew.

“Although it wouldn’t surprise me if Aero knew. You are a Pillar, after all. I know he has Brownie spies in many noble households; he most likely does know, now that I think about it.. That ass! He could’ve told me! I’ll have a few words with that chit next time I see him...”

The three laughed as Maevis fumed a few minutes, then Shasta continued with her tale; “I only fought twice before I was sent to the capital. After that, I fought in sixteen matches before I was slated to fight Fido here.. By the time came, we were already friends. We were in the middle of making plans to attack the spectators; to have a chance at running when something every slave dreams of happening, happened.”

Skye leaned forward in anticipation; “What happened?!”

Shasta and Alfred shared a glance and a grin before Shasta replied; “Your husband happened..”