I own nothing but the storyline

Princess Azkadellia was sitting on the window ledge in her room gazing out over the lake. Her eyes were unfocused and had a blank look to them. It was obvious she was lost deep in her own thoughts, not paying attention to the world being acted out beyond her window.

She jumped up with a cry when somebody spoke and a hand was placed on her shoulder.

'Princess, the Queen and Prince Consort are expecting you in the throne room,' the maid repeated, looking slightly puzzled by the outburst.

'Sorry Ellie, I was miles away,' she murmured to the maid as she bobbed and walked away.

She looked into the mirror before she left her room to adjust her hair and dress. The dark circles under her eyes were painfully obvious and it was pointless trying to hide them with magic, Raw would always know.

She hurried along the corridors of the castle, only pausing outside the doors of the throne room to place a smile on her lips but inside she was still nervous.

When she was around her parents she could not help but see the premature signs of age, the graying hair and furrowed brows. Signs she could not but help to think she placed there when they were worrying about what she would do to the O.Z, worrying what she would do to them, to her sister and what she would do to herself. It seemed she had brought worry permanently into her families lives.

New rumors of renegade longcoats were circulating daily and the unrest in Central City was the current talk of the castle. She had brought this on her parents and on her sister after them. She was responsible for it all. Yet they all looked at her the same way. Eyes full of pity and sadness, no hint of hatred or resentment. They actually worried about the woman that ruined their kingdom. Even the newly appointed General Cain pitied her; the man who had been forced on her command to watch his family be tortured over and over again no longer feared her but was concerned for her. No, those who saw her every day could not hate her. She was too pathetic to hate, though it was all she felt she deserved.

The looks of disgust and fear came from the ordinary people though. The people who could not see past the face of the Sorceress. They could not see the haunted look in her eyes or how frail she had become. That she was tormented by personal demons and memories she could not suppress. They could only see the woman that ordered their demise not the shell that was left behind.

Many were skeptical about the stories of the witch and Azkadellia's completely passive role; none more so than Cain's son Jeb. Most people believed in the witch as many had seen the double eclipse and knew enough of their childhood lessons to realize what was happening but a lot of them believed she had naively invited the witch in to overthrow her sister. Her friends all tried to hide the fact that people still thought her a tyrant but it was painfully obvious to her. Jeb barely hid how he felt about her which caused his father to argue with him a lot. She could barely enter a room, other than her own, without hearing people discussing her.

This was another one of those occasions. As she pushed open the doors the room fell silent and all eyes turned to face her. Her mother, father and sister were seated at the thrones with Sir Glitch and Sir Raw standing behind the them and Cain and Jeb standing in front. Her family smiled, Raw bowed and Glitch's face split into a huge grin and he waved happily. Since his brain had been restored he had regained Ambrose's knowledge but also retained some of Glitch's quirks.

She moved to stand beside Cain when her mother laughed kindly, 'No dear, you are here to listen not to be listened to,' whilst motioning to the chair off to her right, next to her father.

She sat down, very aware of the look of contempt on Jeb's face. He clearly did not think he should have to justify himself to her.

Cain dipped his head in her direction before turning back to address the Queen. 'Your Majesty, your Highnesses, royal advisors we are here to give a report into the state of the Outer Zone and the best way to move forward. I have received reports from the commanders of the battalions I have stationed in the four quarters of the O.Z. as well as Central City and to be frank things could be much better. In the outlying regions life goes on as normal as the witch's touch was not greatly felt there but in Central City and the areas surrounding it there is a great deal of unrest. Many people are unsure if you have truly been reinstated or that this is not some elaborate ruse of the witch to draw out the resistance. Jeb has contacted as many resistance leaders as he can and asked them to spread the word but some are hidden so deep we have no way of contacting them.'

Azkadellia shuddered at the mention of the witch, her father leaned towards her and took her hand. She looked up just in time to catch the incredulous look in Jeb's eyes.

Jeb nodded before stepping slightly forwards to speak. 'Some resistance members, such as those spies we had in Central City, had to be exceptionally cautious to evade the witch and her army. We had no way of contacting them they always contacted us. By the time I had followed up the few leads I had they had already vanished without a trace. A few of these deep agents have resurfaced but some are still unaccounted for.'

'Do these agents pose a threat to Azkadellia?' Prince Ahamo asked?

'They were informants and nothing more. They were trained to gather information from the outside, as getting close to the Sorceress was too dangerous. They would not risk getting close, especially if they thought this was a trap.'

'How is the hunt for the escaped longcoats going General?' the Queen asked changing the subject quickly. She could sense both her daughters unease.

'Without Zero they are leaderless and without the Sorceress they have nothing to fight for only power for themselves. We are unsure how much of the bandit activity can be pinned to them but it is certain from witness accounts that they are raiding outlying villages and travelling merchants. I have already sent messages to the commanders to send men to the at risk villages but the army is not mobile enough to hunt them down. The army's power lies in numbers, that operation requires a small highly versatile groups. With your permission I think it would be best to assign the members of the old resistance to hunting them. They have experience of combat in many terrains as well as dealing with the longcoats.'

'Using the resistance sounds like a good idea but they do not have an overall leader. Who would they answer to?' Glitch inquired.

'They would answer to me as head of defense and security,' Cain responded.

'This is a large mission General. Would it not be sensible to appoint a man in charge of this operation, somebody who knew the resistance well? Somebody both sides could trust. Then he could be the one to field the reports and pass the information on to you,' said the Queen with a small smile on her face.

'I agree with you your Majesty. Such a wide spread operation needs a leader of its own. It would be a lot of extra work for you General. Having somebody else in the chain of command would be wise. Also appointing somebody the resistance trusts and reveres would reassure them as to our motives. They would not accuse them of working for the Sorceress,' cried Glitch.

'Do you agree General,' the Queen quizzed, fixing her intense lavender eyes on his face.

'It would make the operation smoother and cause less arguments and reduce the negotiations necessary.'

'Good, then I nominate Jeb to be head of this mission. He fits the criteria exactly. He has already proved himself in service to the crown spreading the news of my return to the throne. He can now further his work by bringing down those who oppose me. That is, unless any of you object?'

Everybody, except Azkadellia, agreed .

'Do you think me an unworthy candidate, Your Highness?' Jeb asked bitterly.

'No, I think you are exactly the man my mother described. I just do not think I should get a vote in this matter. The more removed I am from the operation the more likely it is to succeed,'

Azkadellia replied, trying to ignore his tone and his look of disgust.

The sentence hung in the air for a moment before DG opened her mouth to berate her sister for her negative attitude.

Before she could begin the Queen interrupted her. 'The matter is settled. Jeb shall be Captain of this mission. I think that is enough for today. Tomorrow General, Captain you will draw up a plan for this mission with the Prince Consort and Sir Glitch and report back to me next week.'

Azkadellia walked away from the throne room as quick as she could. She wanted to be as far away as possible form Jeb Cain when her sister would undoubtedly explode into a torrent of reasons for her not to feel any guilt and that the people would come round in the end. She had seen the look in Jeb's eye, it would take a lot to change his mind. Even being around her intermittently for the last three months, seeing the defenseless, weak woman that the witch had left behind had barely softened his opinion. She could not be as optimistic as her sister. DG had never experienced hardship she had only known love. She had no idea how hateful people could be.

Azkadellia knew first hand how twisted and warped by hate a mind could become. She had seen inside the mind of the witch, a dark, evil, wicked mind incapable of compassion. She had been linked to her for so long she had become unsure which thoughts were hers. The witch had told her that it was all her, she was the wicked one. She was the one doing all those terrible things and that the witch was just giving her the power and the freedom to do them. It was only when DG had taken her hand that she had truly found herself again. She felt love, glowing brightly within her when her sister stood before her. It gave her the strength to fight to rip herself away from the witch but that fortitude had faded quickly.

The taint was still there though. In her dreams the witch's voice was in her mind, spewing hate and lies to her. Azkadellia was free of her clutches but she was not free of her own mind. Sometimes, in the dead of night, she wondered if the witch was truly gone or if she was just hiding in the back of her mind. DG calmed these fears but they always returned.

She heard the running footsteps and slowed her face to allow DG to catch up with her.

'Az! Azkadee! Wait up. What went wrong in there. You've been doing well recently,' DG began.

'Well?' she question incredulously.

'OK then you've been doing better. Then Jeb or Cain opens his mouth and you… you…you. I don't what happens Az but it's not good. You go back inside yourself.'

'I wasn't that far out to begin with but the look in Jeb's eyes. It brought back all the shame and the guilt. I could hear her laughing! Deeg that hasn't happened in the day for ages. Every time I think I'm moving forward, however little it may be, reality catches up with me and pushes me back down.'

'Oh Azkadee!' DG cried throwing her arms around her.

Azkadellia smiled weakly as she pulled away from her sister. 'Go find Cain, he will want to talk to you about the meeting.'

'But…'

'I'll be fine. I would like to be by myself for a while.'

'OK but if you need me,'

'I know where you are.'