444 Dance Of The Shields(Part Seven)
When Peggy had seen her bairn running around on shields in the palace banquet room, and with her skirts hiked up to her thighs: she had nearly fainted from her bluster..
She had been helping the rest of the servants keep the food hot and at the ready for whenever the king declared the game over. When Peggy had entered the room with a tray of drinks for Skye and her group, she could feel all of her color drain away. People were whispering about how ‘very country’ she was behaving, and began to badmouth her family and upbringing.
Peggy was used to hearing nasty and outrageous things about Skye, but her behavior seemed much too crude to the woman who had raised her.. ‘The lass is a Princess now! What the bloody hell is she thinkin’?! There’s a reason that only men participated in this foolishness! Not even the damn stray participated!’
Glancing at Shasta as she came up behind Skye, Peggy wondered if there was a reason that she didn’t join in, but brushed it aside for now. Her bairn needed to change her clothes, and to have a proper chiding about her position and reputation. The second that she was within grabbing distance, she grabbed Skye by the earlobe, and tugged her along.
The king’s butler had seen to it that a set of clothes was brought for the Princess before he even told Peggy what was transpiring in the banquet hall. She had thanked him kindly, then immediately went and retrieved Skye to make her change. Peggy pulled her along like a problematic child as she scolded the Princess, causing everyone to avert their eyes in embarrassment for her.
They argued back and forth the entire time that it had taken for Skye to dress. Peggy reminded her that she was Tidas’ wife, and needed to behave properly unless she wanted her actions and reputation to reflect on the entire royal family. Skye argued that she was the only woman attempting the challenge because no one else knew how to play, and that there weren’t many females capable of playing; like she was.
“Ima freakin’ General in the RMC, Peg. Right after me trials! I’ve earned me spot, and Ima not gonna let a bunch of court sycophants bully me into actin’ like somethin’ Ima not. And tis not fair fer ya ta chide me over their projected inadequacies..”
Peggy felt a small sting from her pointed words, but she was still partially right; “Yer tellin’ me that it’s fine if a Princess runs around barefoot wit her goodies showin’ ta the entire court?! I surprised that the King hadna said somethin’ to ya beforehand.”
Skye huffed as loudly as she could; “I’m gonna be twenty in a week, Peggy. I think it’s time that ya see me fer the adult that I am.”
.....
Peggy scoffed just as loudly as Skye had as she replied; “Try sayin’ that without me help gettin’ dressed, then we’ll discuss who’s an adult or not..”
Skye could feel her ire beginning to smolder, as she snipped; “Ye dismissed fer now, Mrs. Stewart..”
Peggy’s eyes reflected hurt, then immediately switched to anger as she bowed, then went to leave the room. Skye had instantly regretted dismissing her like a regular servant, but was distracted by the chanting crowds outside of the storage closet. She and Peggy shared a concerned expression, then rushed out of the door...
************
Murdoc had finished his task of finding proper shield holders and Barriers quickly. Several of the replacements were guards and mages that he had basically badgered into playing, but the Barriers were specifically replaced with Highlanders. Murdoc thought that they would be the only ones capable of Possibly hitting one of them as they rushed by, and had asked Magnus to allow more of his soldiers into the room.
Magnus agreed easily, despite the sideways glance he had received from his oldest son. Marco didn’t like so many capable, formerly enemy mages in an enclosed area with both him and his father present. He couldn’t say it out loud, but the inference was hard to miss: he didn’t trust the Highlanders any more than they did him.
But with the two kings seemingly on the same page, Marco knew that voicing any further opposition on the matter was a waste of breath on his part. So he sat quietly, waiting for the show to start like everyone else..
All players were in their places and waiting to start, except for Skye, Tidas, and one missing Barrier. When they watched Murdoc step into the spot with a smirk, they both muttered at the same time; “Oh shit..”
Murdoc’s cheeky grin grew as he hollered to them; “Glad ta see that ya both dinna underestimate a real threat when ya see one!”
As Murdoc chuckled at his own joke, Tidas glanced at the main table.. ‘I know exactly who the real threat is, and I won’t miscalculate him again.. The question is: what can I do about him that won’t split the kingdom in two?’
As Tidas shook his head to clear the worry for later, he looked towards his wife. He smiled to himself as he watched her talk with Amara.. ‘I guess I’d better focus, or she’ll kick my ass in seconds.. Sorry wife, but I’m not gonna go easy on you..’
As the thought crossed his mind, Magnus called for silence so he could announce a final thought before the final match; “I think that I can speak for everyone here when I say that I hope you two give us a good show! To that effect, Skye: no powers passed your Tank trait, understood? We want a fair match full of entertainment!”
Skye nodded, realizing that using her other traits was always an option before.. ‘I Really gotta start rememberin’ that I got more traits.. Me Tank and Shaman are the two I use the most now, so I guess it makes sense that me Earth and Water would come ta mind less often..’
“Skye? Did you hear my Father? Skye?” Tidas said until she visibly jolted back into reality.
“Sorry bout that, love. I heard him: no other traits but me Tank, and Shaman if need be, correct? Have ya told yer da about yer Shama-”
“No, and I’d like it to please stay that way for now, alright? If he knows, then..”
Tidas had glanced at his brother again, but only for a second. No one in his party was paying attention yet, so thankfully they didn’t hear Skye. He didn’t want Marco knowing that he had unlocked a Shaman trait for many reasons, but the main one was the element of surprise.
“We’ll talk tonight.. Before I enjoy my prize,” Tidas replied with a smile and wink.
Skye looked at him with suspicion, but nodded in agreement anyway. They had a lot of things to talk about when the night finally ended, but for now: she would go along with him..
With a reflection of his gestures, Skye commented as she walked away; “Ya gotta win ta get a prize, husband!”
************
As the two climbed up onto their respective shields, the spectators clamored for the start. Magnus was barely heard yelling something about sportsmanship before he called out; “BEGIN!”
Skye and Tidas instantly started to speed around on the shields at least twice as fast as they had earlier. To many of the people watching, they looked like blurs as they zipped by. Only distinguishable by the colors of their clothes.
Tidas was the first to make a move..
He doubled his speed again, and was only a few shields away from Skye when she had noticed. She was trying to pay attention to the tells of the Holders and Barriers, but he wasn’t going to give her time to think..
‘Skye’s got a quick mind, so I need ta stop her from being able to think!’
The thought resounded within Tidas’ mind as he came up on Skye’s right side. They were both left-handed, so she had similar weak points to him when it came to her movements. As she went to block him, he tried to kick the back of her knee as she shifted her weight to her other leg.
The move would’ve made her collapse: had he landed the blow. Neither were at their full speed yet; making it easy to zip away as he slowed to raise his leg for the kick. As she reached the other side of the shields, Tidas started to match her speed again, and they settled into a loop for a few minutes.
The crowds were going insane over their display of skill and power. Even the Holders were being overly praised for handling the force caused by their speeds. The few non-military Alconians that had been approved by Murdoc to stay were shocked at the strength that it was taking to maintain their hold and placement of the shields.
The fact that it was a simple game to the Highlanders made many nobles question what they knew about their northern counterparts. Amara and Petrie shared a grin between themselves as more and more random courtiers started to acknowledge, and smile at them. They were just starting to mingle when Skye and Tidas started to go at each other again..
The Barriers were nervous as they tried to take out the impossible-to-hit royals. Skye was the best Shaman in the kingdom, and the only one who could heal severe damage quickly. If she fell and cracked her head open, then she’d have to wait until Doctor Gohan could show up to heal her, and that was if he was in time..
Tidas had lept past Skye as she caught herself. The shields were around the same size as the ones in the Highlands, but wider on the sides. He came back around within a few seconds, and almost knocked her off again as she found her footing. The only reason he’d missed her was because Murdoc had lunged at Tidas, and threw off his timing.
Skye had seen Murdoc guarding her, and became frustrated. She dove at Tidas recklessly as soon as he had passed her again. He had easily dodged his wife, causing her to nearly fall again. As she refound her balance, Tidas zipped around as fast as he could, and came up behind her..
Skye cranked up her speed to try and put some distance between them, but he was close behind her. One of the other Highlanders tried to take her out, but had almost gotten Tidas by the time his arm had swung down. The delay had given Skye the moment that she needed to gain some distance, and they moved in sync from a opposite sides of the shields for a few laps.
The crowds roared with excitement as the two royals moved faster than their eyes could follow. Only Tank mages could keep up with them, leaving all of the judging up to Shasta. As she watched the two going toe to toe with each other, she smiled to herself about Skye’s progress.
“Kick his ass, lass,” Shasta muttered as she watched.
As the words left her mouth, Skye’s demeanor shifted. She had been watching the Holders and Barriers as she ran, looking for anything that could help her. One of the holders near the curve of the shields had a habit of tilting his, to make it easier to take the curve, and hop to the next shield.
As she watched him grip and shift it in anticipation of her using it, an idea popped into Skye’s head..
The top of the shield would be tilted forward while the bottom was brought back. If Skye slammed her foot down on the bottom with her weight, then lept off of the topside with her other foot, then she could gain the extra momentum that she needed..
As her foot hit the bottom, the holder instinctively tried to compensate for the imbalance, and tilted the shield how Skye had predicted. She had instantly shifted her weight to her other foot, and launched her a quarter of the way across the room; right at Tidas..
As Skye sailed through the air, Tidas slowed slightly from watching her. He passed where she had lept from, and was heading to right where he was running. Unable to stop on the unsteady shields, he opted to speed up, which Skye was expecting. In an attempt to clear her landing spot beforehand, he had aligned himself with her almost perfectly.
As Skye’s upper half was about to hit him, she curled her arms in, and slammed into her husband with her full force and weight behind her. Tidas was in front of a Highlander when Skye came into contact with him, and took the two of them out; sending all three of them crashing to the floor.
As people liters jumped out of the way to avoid them, Shasta zipped around to see who had hit the ground first. Seeing Skye laying across the two men with Tidas’ back on the ground, she straightened up and called out; “The winner of the match: is Skye!”
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