Hope this chapter doesn't come across as out of character...
Ahamo opened his mouth to speak, anger clouding his vision at first. A small whimper from the cradle reminded him why he'd opted to visit his youngest daughter and he took an instinctive step towards it.
The click of a revolver being cocked stopped him in his tracks.
The Consort froze and looked up to meet the icy blue eyes of the former Tin Man.
Eyes that were the exact same shade of blue staring up at him from the cradle at the foot of DG's bed.
"Let me take the baby to the other room," Ahamo found himself whispering, his gaze flicking to his daughter the noticeably softening. "DG needs to rest, Mr Cain. I daresay so do you."
Cain considered him for a moment before lowering the gun. "You go no further than the room next door."
"You have my word." Ahamo gave the smallest inclination of his head and bent down to swoop up the fretting baby in is arms. Cradling her with the experience of a father, he carried his would-be granddaughter into the lounge area of DG's suite.
It was no surprise to the Consort that Cain followed him minutes later. The only surprise was that GD didn't appear over his shoulder and take the little girl into her own arms.
Amelia smiled up at him, her features so much like her mother's as a babe that Ahamo found himself smiling back. "We had no idea you'd come back to the Palace," he said, addressing the hovering man and not the baby in his arms. "I'm glad you're here, Mr Cain. Your absence has been felt."
Cain snorted. "Not by Her Majesty, I'm guessin'."
"No." A flicker of a grimace ghosted over Ahamo's features. "You must forgive my wife. She feared that, had you stated, we would have lost our daughter again before we had a chance to get to know her."
"Doesn't look like there's been much of that." Cain made no attempt at hiding his disapproval. "With all due respect to Her Majesty, if she's worried about losin' the Princess, she needs to start acting like she cares. From what I've heard, DG's been mostly left on her own since I left. It's not somethin' that'll be happening again any time soon."
Ahamo nodded. "I expected as much." The two men were quiet for a while, both gazing at the infant sized elephant in the room. "Id' wondered," Ahamo began, "if I'd misread the situation when I first saw you with my daughter. When you left, I thought I must have been mistaken in my belief that there was something between you. I see now that I was correct in my initial suspicions."
"I won't be leavin' her again," Cain told him. "I know I'm no one's first choice of a partner for DG, 'cept maybe hers and for me, that's most important. AS long as she'll have me, I'm not going anywhere without her again."
"I can't think of anyone more suited for my youngest than you, Mr Cain." Ahamo lifted his gaze from the child. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that all a father wants for their child in their happiness. I truly believe DG will be happy with no other, and I have no doubt you will keep her safe and treat her in the manner in which she deserves. You have my blessing, for what it's worth."
Cain covered his surprise after a moment. "The Queen –"
"I'll speak to the Queen." Ahamo's jaw tightened for a moment. It relaxed as Amelia cooed up at him. "In the meantime, I trust you'll be here to help DG with this little one, both till her parents return for her and after."
"I will."
The Consort didn't need to see Cain's solemn nod. "Good." Gazing down at the child, Ahamo smiled again. "She truly is a beautiful little girl. So much like her mother was at this age." He sighed a little wistfully and reluctantly passed the baby to Cain. "Please tell DG I came by to see her. And let her know... Let her know my door is always open to her, should she need her father."
"Of course." Cradling Amelia against his chest, Cain watched Ahamo go and hoped it wasn't too late for DG and the Consort to start rebuilding their relationship. Glancing down at the child, at the face of the daughter he had no claim to but who felt undeniably like his, he smiled to himself and thought of his own relationship with her half-brother. "I suppose it's never too late, is it, my little Princess?"
Amelia waved her tiny fist as if in agreement.
#
Ahamo kept his word and spoke to his wife. The Queen formally invited DG and Cain to join everyone for a family lunch in the private dining room. Amelia, of course, was in attendance but the glamour spell was back in place, much to Azkadellia's disappointment. The older Princess finally had a chance to hold the baby as her sister sat stiffly at the table opposite her mother, and spent most of that time trying to see beneath the spell DG had carefully rewoven.
"I owe you an apology, my angel." Lavender said it with a sigh, holding out a hand for DG across the table. After only a short hesitation, DG reached out to take it. "I have handled this rather badly, haven't I?"
Deciding her mother meant the situation with Amelia, DG bit her lip. "I know it must've been a big surprise for you to have her suddenly turn up here. I didn't realise the magic my other self cast to get here isn't usual. Az and I couldn't find a trace of it in any book."
"Well, yes. Amelia's arrival was a surprise but I meant more than that, DG." The Queen was gone; the woman in her place was definitely just a mother addressing her daughter. "I haven't considered how you are with everything that's happened since your return to us. I allowed myself to lose sight of all you've been through, my angel, of the very different life you must have lived on the other side. I remember the difficulties your father first had adjusting to the OZ but spared no consideration to how difficult it must be for you returning to a home you barely remember."
"It's..." DG's voice trailed off mid-lie. She'd been about to say that it was okay but couldn't. It wasn't okay. "I just wish I could remember," she admitted eventually. "I still don't, other than the memories I unlocked in the search for the Emerald."
The confession clearly came as a surprise to her parents and sister. As DG lowered her gaze to the table, she felt Cain's leg move to rest against hers in an unseen reminder that she wasn't alone.
"Then that's the first thing we should do." Lavender tightened her hold on DG's hand, her grip remaining firm as she stood gracefully and brought her youngest daughter to stand with her. "Come and sit with me by the window, my darling. It would appear we have some work to do."
Confused, DG cast a look at Cain to see him shrug, as much in the dark as she was. She then looked at Azkadellia, who gave her a small nod and reassuring smile. The little girl in Azkadellia's arms made a sound of contentment, so DG followed her mother's instructions.
"Now, my angel," Lavender continued, settling in the window seat and waiting until DG did the same. "Close your eyes."
"If you're going to tell me to let the light flow through me..." DG warned, earning a badly disguised laugh from her sister and a delicate smile from her mother. With a sigh, she closed her eyes. "Okay."
"Now, think of one of the memories you do have," her mother instructed. "Where is it, DG?"
The first memory that came to mind was the vision Raw had shown her in the mirror at the Northern Palace. Pushing that one away, not wanting to relive her death, DG focused on being at Finaqua. She kept the bad memories at bay and focused on the lake, on the ripples in its sparkling surface as she and Az skipped stones under their mother's watchful eye. "Finaqua. Skipping stones with Az."
"Good, my dear. That's good. Finaqua was always a favourite place of yours. Can you picture the palace, DG? Your room there?"
DG tried but her memory was hazy. Her brow furrowed and she started to say no when she felt her mother's hand tighten over hers. She kept her eyes closed but sensed someone move towards them, knowing in an instant it was Az when her sister's hand covered hers and her mothers and their combined light began to warm her skin.
Images formed in her mind, a little blurred at the edges. Pale blue walls with a lemon trim. A canopied bed beside a dolls house almost as tall as she'd been. A rocking horse with a soft mane of white hair.
"That's good, Deege, keep going," Azkadellia encouraged, making her realise she'd been speaking out loud.
It was hard work and slow going, but slowly the palace at Finaqua came into her mind in crystallised clarity. After recalling a specific day spent there with both of her parents and her sister, a picnic followed by a ride over the lake in her father's hot air balloon, DG opened her eyes to find her father standing beside the three women in his life, his eyes glistening with tears as his youngest daughter recounted her first memory of him.
Tears shone in Lavender's eyes as DG slid her hand out from between her mother's and her sister's, only to jump down from the window seat and embrace her father.
"Hey, Spitfire," Ahamo murmured against her hair.
DG couldn't speak past the emotion in her throat, closing her eyes as she clung to him. If it weren't for Amelia choosing to cry from in Cain's arms, DG would have been content to stay within her father's embrace for a while longer. With an apologetic smile, she went to retrieve the baby, murmuring soft assurances to the little girl who wasn't hers.
When Amelia continued to cry, DG became aware of her mother moving to stand beside her. Lavender cleared her throat and held out her arms. "May I, my angel?"
DG glanced at Cain, who gave her the barest of nods. "Okay."
Smiling, Lavender took the baby and gazed down at her. Amelia gazed right back, her crying coming to an end as she studied the new yet familiar features of the woman who would be her grandmother. "Perhaps you would drop the spell, my dearest? Your father tells me she looks remarkably like you did when you were young."
Biting her tongue against pointing out that Lavender had already seen Amelia without the glamour spell, DG did as she was asked. The gasp came not from her mother but from Azkadellia, who had hurried closer to get a glimpse of the little girl's true form. If not for the nervous butterflies taking flight in her stomach, DG would have laughed at the way her sister looked from the baby to DG to Cain and back to the little girl in their mother's arms.
"She truly is a beautiful baby," Lavender said, rocking the little girl in her arms as she retreated back to the window seat. Her husband sat beside her, both gazing down at the child. "Hope for the future, perhaps." She lifted her gaze and it was the Queen looking out from behind her lavender eyes, taking in the former Tin Man who'd moved to stand beside her youngest daughter. "I'm sorry I made you hide her face, DG. Please believe me when I thought it was for the best. I thought I was protecting your reputation but having seen the way the household have taken to her, I realise now that perhaps the truth would be best."
Not knowing what to say, DG chose to say nothing. She bit her lip, relaxing only a little when Cain moved closer and put his hand against the small of her back, a subtle gesture but one not missed by her parents or anyone else in the room. Azkadellia's eyes widened again, Glitch almost fell off his chair and Raw merely smiled in approval.
"Since we don't know how her parents are faring in their battle," Lavender continued, "perhaps it would be prudent to keep the glamour spell at bay for not. It must be quite tiring to command your light to maintain the spell for so long and, for that, I commend you." She gave her daughter a proud smile. "You must be tired, my angel. Perhaps you would like to rest for a few hours? Your father and I can take care of Amelia for you?"
"Oh, you don't have to do that. I –"
"Please, my angel." Lavender gazed down at the babe in her arms. "It's been such a long time since I had the chance to take care of a child who actually needs me, instead of trying to see my grown daughters as the children they once were. Besides," her mother added with a touch of mischief in her eyes DG had a vague memory of from her childhood. "It might good for us to get some practice in. You never know when we'll be called on to take care of grandchildren."
It was Az who spluttered a protest, her cheeks red when DG glanced over at her curiously. A quick glance at Glitch saw the Queen's former advisor had taken a sudden interest in the ceiling and the pieces clicked into place.
Lavender merely smile serenely, while Ahamo's eyes narrowed at the pair. DG felt Cain's hand against the small of her back again and nodded mutely, allowing the former Tin Man to guide her from the room.
#
The Queen's U-turn will be explained, I promise.
