266 Tension
Maevis was still chuckling whilst staring at the stone when Nicolas broke her train of thought with a soft voice; “I think they gave that to you for a purpose, Mae.. Awfully hard to sigh a treaty when you’re barely bigger than the pen you’re trying to write with.”
Maevis looked up at her best friend with a flat expression; “You just can’t let me have my moment, can you? Fine.. Since the Empress and I are the only ones who know how to work it.”
With focus now etched on her features; Maevis told both Celestia and Aero to extend one hand each, and bring them together. She then placed the stone in their hands, and began chanting in a language no one understood... Except Skye.
Maevis was speaking fast, so she couldn’t catch all of it. ‘Bonded souls of Fate’s design.. A time to create a binding Remembrance.. Fate’s string of Destiny..’
Before Maevis even stopped speaking, the stone began to glow. Every mage in the room could feel the massive, unending well of magic that the stone was tapping into. A beautiful aura surrounded Celestia and Aero..
An overwhelming wave of magic was released that nearly brought everyone to their knees. When they looked up, Celestia and Aero still looked exactly the same, but human-sized. The Lady’s Tear had worked.
Aero casually looked at his clothes with little change in his expression. Celestia, on the other hand, fluttered her wings in happiness as she twirled around. Extremely grateful that their clothes grew with them, too. That would’ve been more than a little awkward, had they not..
Maevis outright laughed as she stated; “What do ya know? It completely worked, haha!”
Aero snapped his head up; “What do you mean, ‘completely’? What were you expecting to happen?!”
.....
Maevis put her arms up in a defensive manner; “Hey, I’ve only ever used it on myself. I didn’t know exactly what size you two would turn out to be, since TWO of you used it! Honestly, my money was on Leprechaun-sized..”
Aero wanted to swat Maevis like a fly, but Celestia distracted him; “Look, Aero! I can pick up the cup! With one hand! Did you ever think this would be possible?! How long will this last again?”
After thinking on it a few moments, Maevis replied; “Normally: three days. But I think since your size wasn’t affected, your time limit must be. Everything must equal out in some way..”
As everyone else started to join in on the conversation, Marco stayed in his chair; calculating.. ‘That stone is connected to the Source, just like the Spear. I don’t know what Maevis said to activate it, but it shouldn’t be too hard to get the information out of her. The only difficult part will be getting the stone away from the royal Fae..’
Feeling eyes upon him, Aero turned around to lock eyes with Marco. They were devoid of emotion, and full of chaos simultaneously. An ominous intent swirled around him as the two stared each other down.
The darkness within him spiked as he smiled and waved at Aero, catching Magnus’ attention. Nodding his acknowledgment of the gesture to keep the Alconian King at ease, the Fae King suggested that they get the signing started..
************
Making their way to Magnus’ private dining room, the king worried over the way everything was going. Skye and Tidas were charming, of course, but Marco was making no effort to talk with the Fae royalty. ‘Why was Aero staring at Marco like that?’
His apprehension only worsened when they came close to the room, and saw that Karena was waiting for them by the doorway. Magnus sighed as he realized how tense the meal was going to be..
Impatience was written all over Karena’s features as she leaned against the doorframe, tapping her foot. When she’d heard everyone coming, the Crowned Princess straightened up, and bowed to Magnus as she apologized. If she wasn’t the future Queen, Magnus would’ve sent her away, but since she was; his hands were tied.
Aero and Celestia were supposed to be seated between Marco and Karena at a tiny table, with Maevis and Nicolas. Due to the Fae Queen’s seating preference and their new size; the arrangement went Magnus in dead center, with Aero and Celestia to his left. Skye sat between Celestia and Tidas, and Zas was on the end.
To Magnus’ right sat Marco, Karena, Marie, Lawrence, then lastly; Shasta. Maevis and Nicolas sat at the table set for four, but it had replaced the overly aesthetic centerpiece. He was glad for the company..
Shasta and Lawrence talked about his children, and the ‘fiancée’ stunt he’d pulled earlier.. Skye and Celestia talked about food, clothes, and other various things that Celestia wanted to try while human-sized.
Tidas and Zas were in a deep discussion about possible reasons why Ralph hadn’t shown up yet. He was two weeks overdue, and both Tidas and Zas were getting anxious. Shasta was in the same boat, but otherwise engaged as they talked.
Magnus sighed in utter exasperation at his oldest son before speaking in a low tone; “Do you have Nothing to say to our guests? We just signed a bloody treaty and trade agreement with them!”
Marco sipped his wine before he replied; “What am I supposed to say? They seem perfectly happy chatting away with my brother and Skye. Why should I interrupt?”
Magnus fought back his ire; “Because You are the future King of Alcon, not Tidas! You are the one who should be building a bond with the Fae! Not your brother-”
“I can just make him the Ambassador for the Fae, since they like him so much already. He could even travel to the Fae Nation to meet the Empress officially. After all the Highland business is dealt with, of course.”
Magnus didn’t want to drop it, but his son did make a good point. Skye and Tidas were clearly already friends with the future rulers of the Fae. Why not work that to his advantage? However..
“You are the future king, and this is the Signing of the Treaty.. You Need to make an effort! You and Karena both!”
Karena had been listening to her husband’s exchange, and didn’t want to talk to the Fae either. Especially with Celestia full-sized, she was too beautiful. She was like a walking work of art, and it pissed Karena off to no end.
‘It not natural for anything to be that pretty.. I bet she uses some kind of magic to make herself look that good. She’s not human, so she’s practically worthless. I guess she has to be that pretty to at least try and make up for her shortcomings..’
As Karena smiled at herself for her stupid inner joke, Marco successfully convinced his father to drop the subject. He wasn’t happy about it, but was pacified by Marco offering to have a private dinner with just the four of them before the Fae left. Karena smiled to herself again as she thought; ‘Ha! That dinner will never happen..’
Shortly after they finished eating, Lawrence suggested that everyone head to the banquet room to socialize. Most of the other delegates had already shown up, except for Sai’s Representative, and the Sync Kingdom’s diplomat. They wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow, or the day of the Mage Trials.
Skye was particularly looking forward to Mr. Fuu’s arrival because he should be carrying letters from Genie, and possibly even Mei for her. ‘I wish he could’ve been here, though.. And Mei.. I miss them so much!’
As Skye started to drift into her thoughts, a light squeeze from her hand and the special words pulled her back; “Out your head, love.. Your place is here, with me..”
Focusing her eyes; Tidas was right in front of her. A pleasant wee smile spread across her face as he leaned in, and planted a gentle kiss upon her lips. Extending his hand, they both got up, and joined Celestia and Aero at the doorway.
Linking arms with her new friend, Celestia stole Skye away from Tidas, who laughed at her proclamation of doing so. Aero smiled as he watched the smile never leave her face. Things had turned out much better than he’d anticipated, but Marco set off warnings with him.
The fact that the Dark magic within him didn’t appear to be coming from an object greatly disturbed Aero. ‘The Only being who should be able to wield more than one element-based magic is Skye... Exactly what Is the Crowned Prince?!”
As the night progressed, Aero watched Marco’s interactions closely, but not obviously. He’d stepped off to the side and instructed one of his Centaurs to put a tail on him, specifically one of the Brownies Aero already had stationed within the palace. Once the night ended, he was meant to follow the Crowned Prince until further notice..
Celestia turned out to be a huge hit among the dignitaries and diplomats from the varying kingdoms. She listened and conversed comfortably with every human who approached her. The only one she didn’t seem to like was the Prince from the Fire Nation, to which Skye agreed.
As the women talked, played music, and danced, the men broke away to do a little socializing of their own. Lawrence and Tidas went off, but Aero still stayed close by, just in case Celestia needed him. Plus, he didn’t want to miss seeing her having fun.
Many people approached Aero about discussing trade deals. After the first couple, he explained that until their dealings with Alcon proved beneficial to the Fae, they would hold off on making others. The Ital representative wasn’t happy at all about his answer, and tried to push the subject again.
Aero was about to snap at the presumptuous man when Prince Tidas and King Lawrence came sauntering their way. Effectively scaring off the Ital idiot, and earning themselves a bit of gratitude from the Fae King.
The three stood together talking a bit until Lawrence’s Kingdom came up. Aero was more than a bit intrigued by a kingdom that treated their Fae residents the same as their human ones. Not even the Fae Nation could say that since humans were only allowed within the select port towns.
As they talked, one of the men from Marco’s group started making a scene as he told a vulgar joke. Tidas, Aero, and Lawrence all stared harshly in their direction before Aero spoke.
“Tidas, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but once Magnus leaves this world; our treaty will most likely be void.”
Still staring at his brother, Tidas replied; “I would have to agree with you. Although, the question is what side will break it first? ...I think we all know the answer to that.”
Lawrence grinned; “Well, my kingdom loves the Fae, so you always have an opportunity with us if the others don’t appeal to you and Celestia.”
Aero smirked; “You are the first one to include my Queen in your offer, which is reason enough to choose you. For some reason, everyone here seems to think that I run the Fae, but they’re fools for it. The Empress is the highest authority, then Celestia, then me. When we decide to have children, boy or girl; they will be ahead of me either way.”
Lawrence chuckled; “So all of these delegates that have been talking to you all night, should’ve been addressing Queen Celestia instead? Bahahahaha!”
As the Ruscovic King’s chuckle turned into full-blown laughter, Tidas and Aero looked at him questioningly.
Calming himself, Lawrence finally got out; “So much for being diplomats! They don’t even know what the Fae pecking order is! Some politicians! Chauvinistic asshats! Serves them right!”
Aero quirked an eyebrow and asked; “What’s an asshat?”
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