Title: Betrayal
Summary: The Cain men are targeted in a new threat to the OZ
Disclaimer: The Lady owns no rights to Tin Man, but owes much inspiration to the creative talents of the writers and to Mr. McDonough and Mr Cumming.
DESCENDING INTO MADNESS
Azkadellia hoisted her lantern higher, but the pitch-black darkness of the hidden passageway seemed to absorb its meager glow. The smells of mold and soot were stifling in the once-secret corridor that was designed as the royal family's escape route in the event of a rebellion and now was being traveled by the queen's mercenaries. Up ahead, the princess could hear the marching of their heavy boots.
A trembling paw patted Azkadellia's shoulder. "Where bad men going with Cain?" Raw asked.
"To the lower level of the south wing," she guessed. "It's so easy to get turned around in here. DG and I used to explore these passageways when we were little girls, but were never brave enough to go this far."
"Why not?" Raw timidly asked.
"Because it's supposed to be haunted." Azkadellia wondered if her two 'protectors' were ready to turn around.
"Zipperhead, better let go my tail," Raw growled.
"A small portion of the south wing was sealed off eons ago after a tragedy," Azkadellia recounted. "A lit candle was knocked over during a storm. The fire brigade quickly put out the blaze but a little princess, a distant family member of mine, died from smoke inhalation. Legend says she still skips the halls when the moons are full."
"Hey, I knew that." Glitch tapped his forehead. "I wrote about it in 'Spirits and Specters of the OZ.' Chapter 4. Let's see, I published that back before DG was born, when the queen and I were... She used to be my? My? My, all that mildew is making my sinuses flare."
"Shhh." Azkadellia laid her finger on Glitch's lips. "I'm eager to hear about DG's birth, especially your recollections, but now's not the time. We must help Mr. Cain first."
"I don't understand what's going on," Glitch whispered. "I may be shy some marbles but I know that last night Jeb didn't seem like Public Enemy Number One to me. We had a high time playing cards in DG's room. Even Cain cracked a smile or two."
Raw shook his furry head in agreement. "Suns come up. DG gone. Jeb in trouble. What happen?"
"It's like a bad espionage novel," Glitch compared. "Only this plot has more holes in it than my noggin."
Lowering the lantern, Azkadellia turned back to face Raw and Glitch. "I'm feeling the same way. It's impossible to make sense of the horrible things that Jeb is accused of, but he didn't force DG to climb over the balcony. I know that much. She went on her own free will. She left a note under my door."
Glitch stepped toward her, his nose within inches of hers. "Princess, you have pertinent information that could put a stop to this lunacy now and you've intentionally kept quiet?" The former advisor was more Ambrose now than Glitch. "Jeb's got a target on his back! Young Miles is dead! Cain may be, too!"
"I'm sorry," Azkadellia cringed in shame. "I didn't find DG's note right away. By the time I did, everything had gone crazy. Mother was ranting about Jeb being a traitor. Evanna was waving DG's nightgown around like a battle flag."
"Where DG, Jeb go?" Raw asked.
"Back to Kansas." She leaned against the dusty plaster of the passage's wall and buried her head in her hands. "My sweet, baby sister intended to make a quick journey back home to do something wonderful for a dear friend."
'Your mother would've never allowed her to leave," Glitch said furiously. "Princesses don't flip-flop from the OZ to the Other Side like it's some weekend getaway."
"That's why DG had to sneak out at night." Azkadellia tearfully looked up. "Jeb was supposed to be protecting her."
Glitch stared down at the lantern, his mind whirling with images of the troubling scene earlier in Cain's room. "So at what point did an act of youthful rebellion became kidnapping and treason?"
"And murder," Azkadellia agonized. "We've come to think of Jeb as a friend. Has he been deceiving us all along? Is he innocent or did he take... take advantage of DG's scheme to lure her away from the palace for a more sinister reason?"
"What's Jeb really like?" Glitch asked softly.
Raw lowered his head. "I know what in Jeb Cain's heart."
"That's right, Raw, you would," Glitch realized. "You've touched him for healing."
"What did you feel, Raw?" Azkadellia wasn't sure that she was ready for the answer. "A Viewer can't lie to us, even to save your friend Cain's son. Is DG in danger? Is Jeb capable of what my mother says?"
"No, Princess," Raw replied quietly. "Jeb unhappy with queen, but not take action. Cares for DG. Never hurt her. Barely a man, but honorable, good, like his father."
"Thank you, Raw." A grateful Azkadellia softly touched the Viewer's arm. From the brief contact, he could sense the relief rising above the shadows of loneliness and worthlessness that darkened the young woman's spirit.
Feeling a firm, masculine squeeze of reassurance on her forearm, she said, "Thanks, Glitch. I needed that." A bewildered Glitch just shrugged, unsure of what she was thankful for.
"Listen!" Raw whispered. Azkadellia picked up the lantern, which now glowed brighter than before.
"Sounds like the Brute Squad has stopped," Glitch said. "I hope Cain is alright. We've grown rather fond of that laconic lug." Raw heartily nodded.
The three peeked around a sharp turn in the passage and saw that it opened into a dim hallway. The queen tapped her silk slipper impatiently while the men re-positioned their holds on the unconscious Cain.
"Are we ready now, gentlemen?" the queen asked. Not waiting for a response, she forged on down the smoke-stained hall lined with sconces draped in spider webs until she came to a lattice gate made of steel. With two fingers from each dainty hand, she pantomimed lifting the formidable barrier. The gate rose as if it was no heavier than a window shade.
"Someone's magic is not as weak as I thought," Azkadellia muttered under her breath. Maybe there was more that her mother was hiding.
Bright light glared from two rooms and a stairwell near the end of the hall. A tall, trim, older man dressed in a black jumpsuit similar to the troopers stalked out of the first door and fell in step with the queen. His graying hair and stiff bearing distinguished him as the leader of the squad.
Glitch whistled as he peeked into the room. "It looks like a war room." Maps of the various Ozian territories lined the walls. Cigar smoke hovered over colorful charts scattered on top of a table.
The queen ushered the troopers into a stark and cold room with Spartan furnishings. Bare-bulbed lighting fixtures hung over a long, steel table in the middle of the room. A wooden stool and an oval mirror mounted on wheels were shoved against the stark white wall.
"Put him there." The queen rubbed her aching temple as Cain was hoisted onto the table. "You are dismissed!"
"Are you sure that you want to be left alone with him, Your Majesty?" Col. Ives, the leader, asked. "He's not a small man."
"I'll be fine," the queen assured with a squeeze on the colonel's bicep. "Now, please step into the hallway and close the door behind you."
Cain stirred, his pale eyelashes fluttering as he struggled to regain consciousness. He felt a small hand boldly search him.
"Settle down, Adora," he grinned devilishly. "Jebby's not asleep yet."
Eyes still closed, Cain drew the queen down into an intoxicating kiss, leaving her with no doubt of what he intended to do with his wife after their little boy was tucked in for the night.
The surprised, but appreciative, queen leaned down further so he could feel her warm breath on his ear. "Open your eyes, Wyatt. There'll be time for that later. Right now I need to speak to you."
Vague surprise registered in the crystal blue eyes rimmed in red, which opened to stare into her pale orbs of lavender.
"What do you want?" he asked, making no effort to hide his contempt.
She stroked his short blond hair and lightly laughed. "Many things. One would involve a holiday weekend with you at my seaside villa. But what I desire most now is information about your son."
"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't know where Jeb went with DG," Cain said, praying that his son hadn't done anything foolish. "I swear though that he'd never harm her."
"I want to believe you, Wyatt," said the queen, tracing the stubble on his jaw with her fingers. "But you'd do anything to save your only child, even if he is a traitor. You're fiercely protective. I admire you for that."
The queen stood before the mirror and lightly stroked the crow's feet beside her eyes, evaluating her aging beauty. She turned away as her vision blurred.
"Another thing I admire about you is the view when you turn to leave our morning security briefings," she smiled. "I also enjoy the shades of pink you turn while trying to ignore my subtle advances these past few weeks."
Cain tried to ignore her now by studying the bare light bulb hanging above him. "Why do you think Jeb is a traitor?"
"A maid found political materials hidden in his foot locker," the queen said.
The 'materials' were DG's political science textbooks, but Cain wasn't about to point that out or else the paranoid woman might accuse the princess of being an 'accomplice' to Jeb's alleged treason. Notions like free speech and freedom of the press were suddenly sounding good to him again.
"Evanna saw your son in possession of a legal document, perhaps a contract," she continued. "He was also overheard talking about a courthouse. What does that signify?"
"Maybe our crazy kids are eloping," Cain quipped. He was probably knotting his own noose, but the horrified look on the lunatic's face was priceless. "If I get the newlyweds a skillet set, would you buy 'em a coffee pot?"
The queen grounded her teeth together. "Is your son taking my daughter to the outer territories to promote the establishment of independent states?"
"You tell me, Your Majesty." Cain rolled his head to the side to look at her. "I gotta feeling no matter how I answer that your hired guns in black have a bullet ready with Jeb's name on it. Maybe one for me, too."
Cain and the queen glared at each other until the woman stomped her foot like a petulant girl throwing a tantrum.
"I'm terrible at implementing evil plots, aren't I?" the queen pouted. "Forgive me, Wyatt, but I'm new at this and improvising at this point. Jeb is rather young but your family's name and his reputation as a resistance commander carry a lot of respect in the Outer Zone. When I became suspicious of Jeb's political views, I felt the need take action to eliminate him. Unfortunately, I hired an inept person to do it."
"Wait a minute," Cain said. "The assassination attempt against DG a few weeks back?"
"Jeb was the real target," the queen confirmed. "After that debacle, I contemplated a 'tragic accident' that would rid me of both of you. But then to my surprise, our intrepid children provided an unexpected opportunity when they left on their excursion."
"You already know where Jeb and DG went?" Cain struggled to sit up on the table.
"Alas, no," the queen replied. "Jebediah did leave you a note in DG's room. Unfortunately, it was vague. He apologized for angering you, vowing to protect DG at any cost."
"He cares a great deal about her," Cain said. "I do, too."
"His penmanship is atrocious, I might add, but I doubt it mattered when he was killing Longcoats."
Cain gritted his teeth, his left hand and leg starting to tremble. "Where's Jeb's note?"
"Among the fireplace ashes," she replied, touching his knee as his tremors intensified. "My poor Wyatt, I'm afraid that you might be going into another seizure."
As Cain's eyes lost focus, the queen struggled to support him with one hand while digging into her gown's pocket with the other. She produced a small glass vial, which she uncorked with her teeth.
"Drink this quickly, darling," she coaxed. "That's it. This will bind the poison still in your bloodstream, though I doubt it'll repair the damage already done to your internal organs. That's a good boy. Now swallow."
Cain dutifully drank the elixir. It surely wouldn't harm him any more than the other poison. A drop of the sweet, syrupy potion clung to his bottom lip. The queen wiped the droplet with her fingertip, then tasted it while she studied the former Tin Man.
"I must say, Wyatt, that even in your decimated state, you'll still something to behold," she said. "What a shame for me that my baby went overboard tainting your drink."
"DG poisoned me?"
"Unintentionally, I assure you," the queen stressed. "The girl worships you. She thought she was giving you tigris root so you would sleep soundly. You have heard of tigris root?"
"My wife used to boil a tea from it to soothe Jeb when he was cutting teeth," Cain said. "Harmless."
The queen laughed dryly. "Well, not when Evanna adds a few secret ingredients to the cook's recipe and miscalculates the dosage for DG."
"DG tried knocking me out so I wouldn't stop them?"
"Apparently so," the queen agreed. "Imagine my elation when Evanna woke me after finding DG gone. A rope was hanging over the balcony. Jeb's note on her pillow. You were almost dead to the world. Fortune was smiling on me. What else could I do? My opportunity was ripe to quickly set a plan in motion."
"So you framed Jeb for kidnapping and assaulting DG?" Cain's voice cracked with emotion. "Then you stuck his knife in Miles' back?"
"No, Wyatt, I have people who do those things for me," she smugly replied.
"Why do you hate us so much?" he dreaded asking.
"Because your son is a threat to my realm," she said. "And you stand in my way of taking back DG's light."
"How'd I know that you'd say something off-the-wall like that?" Cain shook his head.
A large hand pounding on the other side of the door caused the startled queen to jump and Cain to lose his concentration. She blew a loose curl away from her face, then pushed his torso back down on the table.
"Stay right there," she instructed.
"Not afraid of me spilling the beans?" he asked, his eyes growing heavy again. "Exposing you as a murdering lunatic?"
"Of course not, my dear," she said, gently smoothing his eyelids shut with the pads of her thumbs. "The poison you ingested is quite effective at erasing some short-term memories and causing periods of disorientation. Babble to your heart's content, Wyatt."
"Hmmm, Adora?"
"Yes, my love," the queen said in a girlish voice as she toyed with the buttons on his shirt. "I've been waiting. Jeb's asleep now and this old cabin's been sooo chilly without my Tin Man."
"I'll warm up my girl." Cain eagerly reached for her again, but his arms fell back to his side when the trooper banged on the door again.
"Your Majesty, are you alright?"
The queen rolled her eyes and stalked to the door. Smoothing her hair and her gown's lace collar, she took a cleansing breath and opened the door, the essence of regal serenity.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I thought something was wrong," apologized Col. Ives, frowning at the open buttons on Cain's shirt.
"Colonel, step in and close the door," she politely ordered. "Report, please."
"Company A and I are ready to move out at your command." The colonel paused long enough to make sure that the famous Wyatt Cain was still breathing. "B and C companies are taking both forks of the old brick route since we have no credible intelligence on the princess and Jeb Cain's destination or direction of travel. D Company remains encamped near the main bridge over the OZ's crack, just like you ordered two weeks ago."
"What about E Company?" she inquired.
"Easy Company is on alert," the colonel said. "The men know that they might be called out for a search on the Other Side."
"Are they clear on their orders?" the queen wanted verification.
"My men know to initially use only necessary force to take young Cain into custody," the colonel responded. "However, he will not survive an ill-fated escape attempt."
"Very good," the queen complimented with an appreciative pat on his well-muscled chest. "I obviously picked the right man for the job this time. Now please move the far side of the table so we can make more room in here."
"Cain didn't provide any information?" Col. Ives asked.
"Nothing that would put his son in our hands," she said. "Certainly nothing that warrants his own trip to the gallows. Wyatt Cain is known for being cunning, not clueless. Time to change our tactics."
"I must warn you that the Princess Azkadellia, Ambrose and his Viewer friend followed us down here," he said. "They are waiting in the hall with my men."
"Then we have a show to do," the queen smiled.
As the colonel took his place on the other side of Cain, the queen opened the door again with a dramatic sob.
"We're wasting precious time that my angel may not have, Col. Ives," she said tearfully. "Mr. Cain cannot or will not help us. What do you recommend?"
"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures," the colonel loudly replied.
"Wait! What are you doing to Cain?" cried Glitch as he shoved his way through a wall of surly troopers. Azkadellia and Raw followed his lead.
"Azkadellia, darling, this may be disturbing," the queen warned. "Perhaps you should step out."
"Has it come down to torture?" Azkadellia asked. She crushed DG's letter in her pocket. The stakes of the game were soaring. If she confronted her wild-eyed mother now, she worried if any of DG's friends would leave the room alive.
The queen commanded: "Bring in my Viewer!"
