Chapter Two: Unexpected Alliances
The Longcoat lasted for nearly all of those fifteen minutes, like he was drawing it out to get everything he could out of Daisy. Glitch cradled Az's head against his shoulder, both of them curled up in the back of the closet to be as far away from the door and the other side of the room as possible. Jeb nearly had his ear pressed up against the door, his face tight and grim as he listened for anything that could be of any use. Ambrose tuned out the noises from Daisy's room, and between running a comforting hand over Az's hair, he watched Jeb Cain with worried glances. If the advisor had to guess, it would be that Jeb had been through something similar in the past. It was anything but comforting.
Jeb's eyes were focused very hard on the grain of the wood on the door in front of him. Something painful shined behind his gaze, but his eyebrows and mouth were turned down in concentration and something hard that his father also seemed to employ when it came time to turn out the emotions. Like he had a switch somewhere in his brain that could leave him without feeling. Ambrose respected him for it. Glitch was terrified by it.
At last, the Longcoat was through. The clinking of coins signaled the end of his relationship with Daisy, and she sifted through them to be sure that she had been paid properly. This was the time that Jeb would need to listen most, and he finally did press his ear against the door.
"You sound like you needed that," Daisy said, her voice still smokey. She, too, had a switch in her brain. She needed more than Jeb did.
"You got no idea, sweetheart," the Longcoat replied. "Boss has us working double-time out in the streets since he got back. Paranoid little son-of-a-bitch, but you try saying no to that look in his eye."
"I heard he's gone off the deep-end," Daisy remarked.
"He's so deep he's got a mouth full of molten rock," the Longcoat replied.
Jeb and Ambrose exchanged a subtle glance, and the advisor noted the tiny spark of worry in the younger's gaze.
"Why stick on his side, then?" Daisy asked, and something concerned snuck into her voice. "If he's likely to snap and kill a whole battalion of you in a fit, why wait around?"
"I'd rather be on his side when he snaps," the Loncoat answered, and Ambrose's eyes shot up at the shudder in his voice. "With what he's going on about, how he's gonna kill that Tin Man and his son, I'd rather not be standing in his way when he falls apart. You get my meaning?"
Jeb didn't realized that he was clinching his jaw shut until a shock of pain throbbed up through it.
"You're made of crystal, handsome," Daisy retorted.
"Conrad," the man's voice came again. "You can call me Conrad, dollface."
"Daisy," she replied. Jeb was surprised at the smile he heard in her voice. "But I like dollface, too."
"I better get back," Conrad said almost too quickly.
"On patrol tonight?" Daisy asked. There was movement on the other side of the door as Conrad pulled on his shoes and Daisy moved around to gather his and her fallen clothing.
"Back to the base," he corrected. "Zero's doubling his guard after Spurlock got in this morning. Rode all the way from the palace, nearly dead when he got in. Said the Cain boys are out for Zero's head."
"Go on, then," Daisy urged. "To the master with his tail between his legs."
The door opened and closed, and Daisy waited a good long time before she opened to door to the closet. Jeb nearly spilled out on the floor, but he was quick to pick himself up and brush himself off. Ambrose allowed Az to lean on his arm, and Daisy noticed tear tracks on the princess's face.
"No worries, Princess," Daisy said in a strangely comforting voice. "I'm used to it."
"It's barbaric," Az muttered, her voice thick and wet. "It makes my stomach roll to even think..." She trailed off, shaking her head.
"No more water works, all right, Highness?" Glitch asked, an encouraging smile on his face.
"I'm sorry," Az said with a hitch in her breath.
"We should go, too," Jeb said, looking away from Az to Daisy.
"Sorry you had to hear that," the girl replied, her gaze still stuck on Az, even if her voice was meant for Jeb.
"Your boy had some good information on him," Jeb said, trying to turn the conversation from unmentionables. "I wish he'd told us what theater. There's got to be over two dozen, including small-time dives."
"Count out The Twister," Daisy said, finally looking his way. "Zero had it torched to the ground as soon as he got in. I'd look for something high class, or edging on it." She pulled Jeb into a chaste embrace, lingering only slightly too long. "I'm sorry I couldn't help more."
"Don't be," Jeb advised, squeezing her back. "When we get the O.Z. back on her feet, you're getting out of this place. I promise."
Daisy laughed as she pulled away. "You can take the girl out of the whorehouse--"
"Please don't finish that," Glitch pleaded.
"Get going," Daisy urged. "Sounds like Zero's getting more paranoid by the second. The more you hang around here, the more he's increasing his guard."
"Will do," Jeb said, clutching her shoulder just once more. "See you."
"And you," she replied simply. "And Princess?" She asked as Glitch and Az walked by her. Az turned to look her in the eye. "You've got two gentlemen taking care of you. Way I see it, you're the safest girl in the city."
They shared a small, sad smile between them.
They wound down the back staircase, as they had come up. The hallway was still full of shadows, just how they had left it. The front lounge seemed oddly empty with the one glance Jeb threw over his shoulder, but he didn't have the time to worry about the amount of customers in a whorehouse.
He nearly made his way to the door when he saw the reason for so few customers. He froze in place, almost afraid to move. Jeb glimpsed several dark-clothed Longcoats standing in the front lobby, and the thought froze in his veins. They were grouped close together, talking amongst themselves instead of helping themselves to the girls on the couches. Their faces were dark and clouded, clandestine and focused on anything but pleasure.
This didn't bode well. Heart in his throat, Jeb took the hallway at a quick and quiet pace, headed for the way they had come in. Even more Longcoats waited in the back lounge. There wasn't a single girl with them. Two had their guns in hand and hefted them expectantly, ready to use them at a single word's notice.
Jeb wordlessly motioned for them to return upstairs, and Ambrose nodded firmly. He took a hold of Az's hand and followed Jeb up the winding staircase to retreat to Daisy's room. No one said anything. Az's eyes were full of too many emotions to let herself talk. Glitch could place every single one of them, and guilt overpowered them all.
Daisy was standing in her doorway, and her stoic eyes went wide upon seeing the three of them again. She gave a frantic look down the hallway in both directions and ushered them in with one quick motion of her hand. The sound of echoing footsteps that weren't their own sent tremors of fear up and down Jeb's insides. He made sure the princess and the advisor were in before he pulled the door shut after him.
"What the hell's going on?" Daisy asked once they were in.
"I don't know," Jeb replied. "Longcoats are all over the place. Not just outside, but in. They're not interested in the girls."
Daisy took a moment to process the information, and she took a slow seat on the edge of the bed. "You think they've found us out?"
"Maybe they're just loitering," Glitch suggested. "I mean, if they suspected something, wouldn't they have made their move already?
"He has a point," Az said quietly. "Longcoats were trained for action, not to sit about idly while there's work to be done." She took a slow swallow of her nervousness and straightened her back slightly. "I'm not sure how Zero is using them, but under the witch's rule, the Longcoats were a deadly reckoning force. There was no idling in whorehouses unless there was a reason to idle. They should already be on the move if we've been found out."
"Something's up," Glitch added, looking away to the curtained window. "They're swarming."
Daisy slowly pulled aside one of the curtains only slightly, and a visible chill went through her at the sight of several well-armed battalions marching through. Her eyes flashed up to Jeb's.
"Something went wrong," Glitch muttered, and the same worry fell into his face.
Then, the sound of heavy marching cadences filled the hallway outside. Several girls screamed, and doors slammed shut. Glitch pulled Az away from the door and fixed himself into a defensive position seamlessly. Jeb pulled out his gun to stand in front of Daisy, blocking her from view. Footsteps peeled away into branching hallways, and doors were thrown open with harsh voices accompanying them. A raid.
"I got this one," a gruff voice came from outside their door. Jeb and Ambrose didn't have time to surprise their attacker at the door before it flew open.
As soon as it had been thrown open, the door was shut quickly behind the Longcoat that entered. They didn't get a chance to get a good look at him as Ambrose was across the room in a mere second, his forearm pressed tight up against the Longcoat's throat with the force to press the man back up against the door with a thud. The Longcoat gave a choking gasp and tried to pry Ambrose's arm away. The royal advisor would have none of it, and his cold iron glare let his adversary know that he wasn't moving.
"Not a word," Ambrose advised. Jeb was quickly to his side to relieve the Longcoat of his weapon. Surprisingly, the man's gaze wasn't on either of the men surrounding him. It was across the room, on Daisy.
Her eyes narrowed at him, and he surprised them all by letting his shoulders slump in surrender. The way his eyebrows tilted slowly up softened Daisy's eyes only slightly.
"Why did you come back, Conrad?" Daisy asked.
The color drained from Az's face, which caused Ambrose's arm to press further into Conrad's windpipe. Jeb tried to hide his astonishment, and succeeded.
"Looking for you," Conrad coughed around the pressure to his throat.
"Call your dog off, if you would, Jeb," Daisy asked, taking a step forward.
"I know forty-two ways to kill a man just using my hands," Ambrose growled as he took only one step backward. He kept his hands balled near his waist, ready to use them. Jeb didn't drop his gun, however, and kept it trained on Conrad's chest.
"Now," Daisy said, "start again, Conrad. Why did you come back, and with all your friends?"
He was watching her with a strange, new expression on his face. One that was part awe and part confusion. They got the chance to finally get a good look at him, and noticed that he was surprisingly young for someone wearing the Longcoat uniform. He couldn't be over twenty-five, and he looked it. Thick, unruly brown hair topped his head, probably a little longer than it was supposed to be. He held a patch of hair on his chin that refused to grow into anything impressive. He looked more like a boy trying to be his father than part of an oppressive military regime.
"You'll want to start talking," Daisy advised him. "One of these men is trained in close combat, and the other won't hesitate to protect his princess."
Conrad's eyes--they were a brilliant blue against his dark hair--flashed from Daisy to the woman standing beside her. Where she might have quailed, Az held herself straight and firm. "I'm not against standing up for myself, if the situation calls for it," she refuted.
Ambrose's scowl at Conrad flickered into an appreciative little smirk from Glitch to the princess. She received it with one of her own.
"Orders came down," Conrad began, flashing worried glances between Az and Daisy. His voice wasn't nearly as gruff as it had sounded before, as if he'd been putting on an act and it had fallen away. "Every available soldier was to search the streets, right down to the pebbles. Zero got his hands on a couple of important prisoners." Before anyone could butt in, Conrad turned his eyes pleadingly to Daisy. "I wanted to get you out, before the inquisition started. I didn't think you had anything to do with..." His eyes trailed to Jeb, whose eyes watched for any unnecessary movement.
"What prisoners?" Daisy asked, though her brown eyes softened a degree at his candid admission.
"One of the princesses," Conrad said, his eyes lingering now on Az. "From present company, I'd guess the Slipper. And Wyatt Cain."
"You're lying," Jeb growled, suddenly shoving the gun into Conrad's side. His tone was dark and biting, and something harsh had curled up behind his eyes to nest. Ambrose also refused to back down, and his hackles uncharacteristically rose. Conrad backed himself even further against the door, and he looked pleadingly across the room at Daisy.
"And who were you supposed to be turning over whorehouses looking for?" Daisy asked, neither calling her boys off nor asking them to step in to finish him off.
"The princess's sister, and Cain's boy," Conrad admitted in a strong voice that spoke of his Longcoat training. His eyes moved to Jeb, who was watching him with a dangerous look. "I guess that's you."
"Damn right," Jeb returned, looking furious, like a dark, angry cloud. There was pride backing his voice, making him stronger. He looked over his shoulder to Az and Daisy. "I think he's bluffing."
The lithe little blonde girl made her way across the room until she was standing directly in front of Conrad. "Did you come back for me because you thought I would know something? That I'd lead you to the princess and the Cain boy?"
Conrad shook his head. "I came back 'cause I like you." A crooked, unsure little smile took his lips, and he was quick to push it down. "They're out killing anyone who refuses to talk, and I know you don't much like talking. I didn't want them to kill you."
"And you're not lying about Cain and the princess?" Daisy asked, never taking her eyes off of him.
"You got my word," Conrad assured her. "I didn't see them get taken in, but when I was headed in for my shift, the captain of my battalion let us all know that the new orders come down. I ran right on back, quick as I could."
"Give me something better than your word," Daisy asked, though some of her stony exterior seemed to have shifted away.
Conrad's face fell. "I don't have anything else."
Surprisingly, Daisy's smile ticked up, and it wasn't an act or a mask. It was childish, and it was more lovely than anything she'd ever worn. "Good answer." Almost unsure, Conrad's smile reformed, and it was equally as childlike, nearly naive and utterly confusing to the men threatening him.
Both smiles disappeared at the sound of doors continuing to slam open and closed down the hallway. Daisy's eyes returned to their sharp, normal selves, and she was back on her toes. As she went about gathering up her things and getting into traveling clothes, Jeb continued to question their newly-acquired Longcoat friend.
"How many are in the house?" Jeb asked, his gun not yet pulled back from pressing into Conrad's side.
"Two battalions," he reported immediately, as if to a commander. "They'll make quick work of it, and torch the place if the girls don't cooperate. Those were the orders."
"Son of a bitch," Jeb growled under his breath. "And what'd you hear about my father? I want everything."
"Just bare bones," Conrad replied. "He and the princess were found by a citizen and were taken into the opera house--" Az's hand flew to her mouth at the revelation of the location, "--and he's got them holed up there, so I heard. And, in Zero fashion, had the citizen executed."
Jeb's face went white and ashen, and he stumbled a step backward. Ambrose's face fell, but he never dropped his guard. Jeb was quick to shake off the blow, and his gun was again trained on the Longcoat.
"And what do you plan on doing now?"
Conrad took a longer time in processing this. "I wanted to get--" He looked up to fix his gaze on Daisy to find her watching him in return. "To get her out safe. She's been good to me." He switched his eyes to Jeb, and the younger man found determination there. "I got a plan, if you'd hear me out."
"How can we even begin to trust you?" Ambrose shot back, and Jeb was glad to have the man on his side for once.
Another smirk took Conrad's boyish face. "Well, the way I see it, I was following Azkadellia before Zero got himself locked up in a tin suit and a crack in the brain."
All eyes slowly turned to lay on the princess across the room, who had taken to silence in her concern. She folded her arms across her chest, meeting each pair of eyes with the same sad, almost empty look. Some inner turmoil played behind her eyes, and Ambrose's stare broke slowly into worry and something deeper and caring that made Az turn away to face Conrad. Her eyes were dark and strong, filled with something soft and trembling that Ambrose had set there. Then, her neck went stiff and straight, and she stared the Longcoat straight down.
"And you'll follow me now without question, even against your witless, spineless master?" Her voice almost wasn't hers, like she was borrowing it for the occasion.
"If you'd ask me, Sorceress," Conrad replied.
She winced, and the pain was back in her pretty face. "Don't call me that," she whipped back, and it was between cruel and hurt. "Azkadellia. Call me Azkadellia."
"Azkadellia," Conrad repeated. "I'd follow your orders if you gave them to me. My loyalty was always with you."
"Even now that you know which side I serve?"
"Loyalty isn't about sides," Conrad replied. "It's about picking someone and sticking to them as far as you can. Leastways, that's how I see it."
After a short, silent moment in which no one dared to speak, Az gave a slow nod. "Well then, Conrad, what's your plan?"
AN: Hey all, sorry for the wait on this! I had some school writing to do and had to wait a bit to rejoin our heroes here. Just to let you know, I'm having an absolute ball with this. Is it bad to love your OCs? Cuz I totally love Daisy and Conrad. I usually just think up a random name and stick with it, so no one shoot me for his name, please. (oh, and just in case anyone is wondering, their song is "House of Cards" from Radiohead's new album In Rainbows. Yep. Not sure if the lyrics follow them exactly, but the music is so preeeeetty. "All I Need" is def. their song too. Hmm. In fact, that album is pretty much the soundtrack to this story. I SERIOUSLY suggest it, to fans and newbies alike.) XD Ooh, and now Az is more involved! And I still love writing Jeb! It's like... mini-Cain, but with a bit of an anger problem at times. I especially loved Ambrose in this one. Much fun! Hmmm, anything else? Comments appreciated, especially on in-character-ness of all canon characters, and whatnot. MUCH MUCH love to everyone who's reviewed so far, and you have my eternal thanks! Love to all, and (I don't think I'll ever get sick of saying it) STAY AWESOME!!