It had been several days since Marco had left for his hunting trip, and the palace was more peaceful than it had been in months. At least until Skye and Tidas had to go to the banquet room to eat. Magnus was unusually insistent upon them coming to dinner every night, which caused nothing but headaches for Tidas.
He wrote his father's persistence off as genuinely wanting to spend time with him before they left, but Skye had told Tidas that she'd felt Marco's magic at first. The traces had faded before she could expell them herself, but the effects remained; as far as she could tell. Magnus' intensity and relentless pressure to have them attend dinners didn't fade, forcing them to deal with the nobles' ridicule.
