Dawning Skye

254 Ugly Jealousy(Part Two)

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

Angelica took another step towards Skye with a sneer; “If you didn’t have your powers, you could never beat me!”

Skye scoffed; “Are ye daft? Ye don’t honestly think that, do ye? I’ve known self-defense most of me life, and I’ve been trainin’ for months. When have you ever trained?”

“I may not be as strong as you, but I bet I could still kill you if you didn’t have your magic,” Angelica taunted.

As Skye scoffed, Renee felt like something was off. Looking at the princess’ figure, one could easily tell that Skye was in shape. The woman in front of them looked like a stick that had gotten dragged through the mud.

‘Why would she think that she could take on Skye? There’s such an Obvious difference in their stature.. Is it the knife? That doesn’t make any sense either. Skye has a Shaman trait; she’ll just heal herself. Does she have another weapon? Maybe the knife is drugged or poisoned? That’s the only thing that makes sense.’

“Don’t trust her, princess.. I betcha she’s got another weapon! Or her knife’s been drugged, or somethin’!”

Skye smiled at Renee; “Oh, I figured it was somethin’ like that.. Her tryin’ to goat me into not usin’ me powers has made her intentions painfully obvious.”

Renee almost wanted to laugh at the twisted expression on Bibalow’s face. It was a cross between shock and indignation, making her look like one of those idiotic villains from a children’s book. If she didn’t have the knife in her hand, she wouldn’t seem threatening at all.

.....

With a beet-red face from her anger, Angelica screamed; “You think that you can mock me and get away with it?! I’ll kill you, bitch! And I’ll make sure your little commoner friend takes the fall for it!”

Any trace of humor Skye had instantly evaporated. It was one thing to terrorize her, but Bibalow was now threatening Renee. She didn’t particularly like the lass, especially since they were about to get into a tiff before Angelica distracted them. However, that didn’t give her the right to involve the na?ve waitress.

Skye’s eyes went hard and focused as she spoke; “So yer plan is to kill me, then pin it on Renee? Ha! Who would believe that?!”

“More people than you think. I’ve been following you and Tidas a lot lately. He and that mutt from the tavern think that she poses a threat to you..” Bibalow’s eyes shifted to Renee; “Are you sure you’re on the right side, here? If you help me, she can’t take that dog man from you: like how she took MY Tidas.”

Skye temper flared; “We have been betrothed at Age FIVE. We’ve loved each other for years: ye got nothin’ on that, skank.”

With that last insult, Angelica flung herself into a fury; directed at Skye. Blinded by her own rage: Bibalow charged at the princess. Upon her third step, she sunk into a waist-deep hole.

Slamming the blade into the ground, Angelica pulled herself out of the hole as Skye stated; “I’ll make the next one deep enough to bury ye in.. Don’t test me, Bibalow. I’ve been More than patient with you, but I. Am. Done. Understand? I will kill you the next time ye move against me.”

Angelica’s rage was almost palpable as it filled the air. After she had pulled herself up and out of the hole, her entire countenance radiated murderous intent. Angelica screamed loud enough to make a banshee blush, then leapt at Skye with her knife.

Instead of making a hole this time, Skye made a large, blunted spike shoot out of the ground. It hit the airborne Bibalow right in her stomach. It automatically made her lose her breath, and the tiny bit of food that was in her belly simultaneously.

As Bibalow choked, Renee digested the whole of the situation. She’d heard both Skye and Tidas talk about her before, and Alfred had scared her away a few times for loitering. ‘So she was spyin’ on the two, eh? That would explain why Alfred kept needin’ to chase her off..’

‘So she’s obsessed with Prince Tidas..Dumbass. Anyone who had seen those two together for five seconds would know that they stood no chance of comin’ between them.. Then why was I gonna snap at the princess over Alfred?’

As the cogs began to turn for Renee; Skye was still waiting for Angelica to collect herself. She was done taking it easy on the stupid lass. ‘Some people just don’t learn until they get the crap smacked out of them..’

The thought rattled around in Skye’s mind as she asked; “Are ye sure ye don’t want to go back to yer father? He’s got to be worried-”

“Don’t you even MENTION my father! He hates me now, because of you! It’s another reason for me to kill you!”

Skye sighed as she shook her head at Bibalow; “Ye really don’t get it, do ye? I suppose bein’ raised as a spoiled brat yer whole life, ye wouldn’t.. All yer misery is yer Own doing, Angelica.”

“Tidas has been spoken for, for well over a decade. Tis been nearly fifteen years since our fathers signed the contract-”

“And what is your Fucking Point?!” Angelica screeched.

“YOU are the one who set your sights on an unavailable man. YOU refused to take his NO for an answer, and raped him while he was injured. YOU refused to leave when I told ye to..” Skye took an intimidating step towards Angelica as she finished; “And now YOU are responsible for yer own death.”

Pure horror covered Bibalow’s features before she went insane with hate and fear. Running and stabbing wildly in Skye direction, she screamed and swore as her opponent dodged.

Undaunted by her speed and inaccuracy, Skye smiled at Angelica Bibalow before punching her hard in her face a single time. She fell backwards onto the ground. Pricking herself in the leg with the knife as she tried to catch herself, but wouldn’t let go of her weapon.

Five seconds after she’d done it, Angelica began to convulse violently as she writhed in excruciating pain. She lasted for about ten seconds like that before letting an unnerving scream escape her... Then nothing.

A rank smell began to fill the air as her body voided itself; the final sign of her demise. Renee was so shocked and scared from Bibalow’s death scene that she had literally jumped when Skye gently placed her hand on the lass’ shoulder. She was openly shaking.

After Skye checked her vitals, she called out; “I think ye should come out now, Alfred! I think Renee needs you! You too, Zas!”

Coming out from around opposing corners, Alfred and Zas revealed themselves. Renee, nor Angelica knew that they were there, but Skye could sense their building magic. Alfred in particular had quite a bit.

The power had drained right out of him when he saw Renee’s state. Skye grinned on the inside as she wondered if he had even realized that his held romantic affection for her. ‘That is Not the look, or attention of ‘just a friend’.. I think Ima gonna have to give them a wee nudge, hehe.’

As Zas examined Angelica’s wound and knife, Skye spoke to Alfred and Renee; “She’s in shock, but she doesn’t have any physical injuries. I suggest closin’ down the Cat’s Paw for the day, and keepin’ an eye on her. I’ll cover the costs for the day, with interest.”

Crouching down in front of her, Skye spoke directly to Renee; “Ima sorry again for flippin’ ye into that horse..pile. I’ll send me favorite seamstress over later to make ye a couple new dresses.”

Renee had snapped back when Skye had offered to pay Alfred for the day’s loss. She was shocked enough from that, but then the dresses..

“Why are ye bein’ so nice to me when-” Renee cut herself off; afraid to talk about earlier in front of Alfred.

Skye smiled at her with a knowing look before she answered Renee anyway; “Well all of this is me fault, in a way. Yer traumatized because of Bibalow, and can’t work. It only happened because she was after me.. And she’s dead, so it’s not like she can flip the bill.”

The princess had shrugged nonchalantly as she finished, which confused Renee. Seeing it plainly on her face, Skye added; “We’ll finish our talk later. Right now, ye need to rest: Shaman’s orders.”

Turning to Alfred, Skye smiled brightly; “Since Ima payin’ ye for the day, I expect ye to take good care of Renee.. We did take a tumble earlier, so maybe ye should watch her overnight as well. To make sure she doesn’t develop a concussion. She needs proper rest and food: make sure she gets it.”

“Ima fine. I don’t need-”

“Understood. I’ll take care of her until you come by for lunch tomorrow,” Alfred replied, cutting Renee off mid-sentence.

“Good!” Skye looked to Renee with a playful grin; “Are ye alright to walk, or do ye need Alfred to carry ye?”

Renee shot up to her feet, but immediately felt dizzy. She swayed slightly, which triggered Alfred to wrap his arm around her shoulders to steady her. With flushed cheeks, she looked up at him.

The genuine concern in his eyes and voice warmed her as Alfred asked; “Are you sure you don’t want me to carry you? Just until we get to the horses?”

As Renee’s heart threatened to burst from her chest, Renee replied; “Ima good-great! ...Umm... Can I lean against ye, though? I do feel a bit woozy.”

“See!? Possible concussion. Stick close to her, and if ye need me, send a message to the palace. I’ll come runnin’ to help,” Skye stated with a wink at Renee as they thanked her, and left.

Taking a deep, cleansing breath; Skye turned her attention to Zas and Angelica’s dead body. He was looking at the blade with a scrutinizing stare when she walked over. He didn’t even look up as he started to question her.

“Did you know she’s been stalking you and Tidas?”

Skye sighed; “We both did. This is far from our first encounter..”

To cut out a lot of time-consuming inquiries, Skye explained everything. From the incident that happened when they arrived in the capital, to the few other times she’d seen her skulking around, to the incident right before the Summer Games. When she added that Shasta was there for that one, he nodded before speaking.

“I knew of a couple of those instances, but not everything. I already knew that you weren’t at fault here, but thank you for telling me all of that. It’ll make the report easier to fill out later.”

Zas held up the knife; “Did you know this was poisoned?”

“Not for sure, but I figured as much. She’s not the type to fight head-on,” Skye replied as she looked down at the woman in question.

Zas smiled weakly at her; “It’s a damn good thing that this didn’t cut you.. Even with your insane level of skill, you wouldn’t have survived it Skye. It works too quickly. A simple scratch, and you would’ve died like her..”

On the outside Skye looked solid, but she was freaking out on the inside. Not because someone had tried to kill her again, but because of the unanswered question that hung in the air:

‘Where the Hell did Angelica Bibalow get the poison from?!’