Chapter Three - Homewrecker
You'll find me in the lonely hearts
Under "Looking for a brand new start"
And I don't belong
To anyone
Jeb jumped when Azkedellia slammed the last volume of the Official Records shut and glared at the shelves. She stood and returned the volume to the shelf, her brows knitted, and returned to her notes on the table. The frown deepened as she read over what she'd written down.
"Is something the matter, your Highness?" asked Jeb.
"That last book is from the annual the Witch took the throne," said Azkedellia. "Yet all records are spotty, from the census to the royal expenses. Why might that be, Captain Cain?"
"Perhaps there was something wrong with the record keeper?"
"Hmm. I wonder. The record of all deaths in the OZ is missing."
"Your Highness?"
"Yes?"
"Have you considered eating lunch today?"
Azkedellia blinked in surprise. "That completely slipped my mind. Lunch is an excellent idea."
The princess insisted that Jeb sit with her as she took lunch in her rooms. A large plate of assorted sandwiches was brought up for them. Azkedellia inhaled four before she paused for a drink of water. Jeb was amazed as she consumed half of the plate of sandwiches.
"I am very sorry for my bad manners," said Azkedellia. "I must have been hungrier than I thought."
"You're very dedicated to your task," said Jeb. "May I ask what you've found?"
"Mother, like most of the Gale dynasty, was very thorough during most of her reign," said Azkedellia. "There are records of everything about everything - including copies of her diary and Daddy's journals - right up until our last visit to the Northern Palace. After that, things begin to fall apart. There's too much information that is incomplete in the three years between that trip and the coup."
"What happened during the trip?" asked Jeb.
"DG's death and resurrection," said Azkedellia, "and the loss of Mother's Light. Daddy was sent away immediately afterwards as well. That was when Mother had to accept I was possessed."
"Why didn't the Queen tell anyone?"
"Because then people would ask her to recover me. And she gave up her Light for DG. She no longer has any magic that does not come from the Queen's Pendant, and that only ties her to the OZ. In essence, Mother placed herself in a position where she had to choose between her daughters, and she chose her favourite over the one who needed her."
That made Jeb double take. Azkedellia's face was well schooled, but in her eyes was a burning anger and an incredible despair. He didn't know that feeling, perhaps because he was an only child or perhaps because both of his parents had fought for him until they no longer could. Jeb was suddenly very grateful to Wyatt and Adora for showing him the strength of their love for him. He was sorry for the princess seated across from him.
"May I ask a favour of you, Captain Cain?" said Azkedellia. "Please never tell my sister what I just said. I do not need her to feel guilty for not trying harder to get Mother to save me when she could."
"Princess DG tried to have the Queen help you?"
"It was the first thing she did when I became possessed," said Azkedellia. "Mother didn't listen, though she knew that there was something off about me when I came back from the cave. And there was nothing Daddy could do."
"I see," said Jeb. "I promise not to tell Princess DG what you have just told me."
"Thank you."
"What will you do now, your Highness?"
"I am going to write a summary report of my initial findings," said Azkedellia, "and hand it over to my mother. At which point, it is someone else's problem."
"How can I help?"
"Would you double check my escort for the trip to the Tower?"
Later that evening, Jeb recounted that day's conversations to Queen Lavender, Prince Ahamo and - to Jeb's surprise - Glitch. When he mentioned her discovery that the Records were incomplete, all three flinched. His description of Azkedellia's feelings around the early days of her possession, Glitch cried confusedly and Ahamo cursed.
Lavender sighed. "I thought she might feel that way. I am afraid that I owe my daughters both an apology for the favouritism I showed."
"I think Princess Azkedellia would appreciate that, your Majesty," said Jeb. "I think she would like to spend some time with Ahamo as well, the way she did when she was a child."
"I can do that," said Ahamo. "Maybe the girls and I can do furniture building for charity together."
"Wonderful idea," said Lavender, smiling warmly at her husband. "Are you quite alright, Ambrose?"
"I don't understand why I'm upset," said Glitch, "but maybe I could spend some time with Azkadee too?"
"I think that right now, all the princess wants is for people to accept her," said Jeb. "We're to go to the Witch's Tower tomorrow."
"Please let us know how that goes," said the Queen. Jeb nodded and bowed himself out.
The ride out to the Witch's Tower was a quiet one, primarily because the closer they got the more Azkedellia shook. Her guards kept a wary eye on her as they went, but by the time they were five miles from the tower they had become concerned. An ashen Azkedellia called a halt and looked like she was trying very hard not to bolt or faint. Jeb pushed his horse closer to hers, wondering what might be wrong.
"I can't do this," Azkedellia whispered to Jeb. "I can't ride any closer. Captain Cain, I'm going to need help. And I might vomit."
"You don't have to go inside the tower," said Jeb. "I'll stay outside with you while everyone else searches for the documents. She's not there. The Witch isn't anywhere anymore. You and Princess DG saw to that."
Azkedellia bit her lips and nodded. She straightened in her saddle. "My apologies. Let's get this done today, shall we?"
They rode on. Azkedellia remained deathly pale, her lips pressed tightly together as though they were the only things keeping her from falling apart. It was difficult for Jeb to tell, but he was fairly sure that under her gloves her knuckles were white. They halted the horses near the entrance and dismounted, Azkedellia passing her reins to the nearest guard. She pressed her palms against the spiral seal that held the tower closed, and let her Light flood it.
Jeb picketed the horses and sat down facing away from the Tower. Azkedellia sat heavily beside him. She was a little less pale, and the shaking had stopped. She still looked like she was about to cry.
"Are you alright, your Highness?" asked Jeb.
"As well as I can be, under the circumstances," said Azkedellia. "So many horrible things happened here… There are records of everything. Holo-recordings, day-to-day legers, prison records. I think the Witch's diary is there as well."
"You seem sure of what we'll find," said Jeb.
"Everything she did, I saw," said Azkedellia. "That's where the idea for the suits came from. To have to watch something horrible over and over, and be helpless. I know what that's like as well as you do. This tower reminds me."
"I miss the Resistance," said Jeb abruptly. "The people I'd meet, the stories and the life in those camps."
"Tell me about it," whispered Azkedellia.
Jeb talked. He talked about the old couples who were always right where the other person needed them to be. He talked about the fledgling romances, the heartache of lovers lost, and the few who made it through the decade in the dark. He talked about the children born in the camps, and the ones who had come orphaned like himself. He talked about Adora, and about Yasmerie, who he'd thought he could maybe love. He talked of songs softly sung, stories told around fires of Ozma and of Dorothy Gale, founder of the dynasty, and of the days when the greatest concern was the weather and the harvest.
Azkedellia listened silently. Her lips quirked at the things that amused her, and her brow furrowed at the sorrows. "Thank you, Captain Cain, for sharing this with me. I am sorry I was unable to spare your friends the pain they suffered during the Witch's reign. But I am glad that there are people with the strength and the courage to live with their hearts in such misery."
"Captain, we've collected everything we could find," said a lieutenant. "And there was a lot of it. It could take days to go through."
"Thanks for the heads up, Joesh," said Jeb.
"I am sorry for my inability to be of greater assistance," said Azkedellia. "Thank you for all of your hard work. I am sure that this was difficult for you."
"Not as difficult as it was for you, your Highness," Joesh assured her. "We'll come back another day with a bigger crew to finish cleaning up. When you're stronger."
"Thank you for the vote of confidence," said Azkedellia. "Is everyone out?"
"I think so," said Jeb, doing a quick headcount. "Fifteen went in, fifteen came out. That's everyone."
Without a word, Azkedellia bathed the tower in white Light. In the space before the doors, she created a spiral shaped seal. In equal silence, she mounted up and lead the group back to Central City.