Disclaimer: Tin Man is not mine, at all, in any way.
If she hadn't been on high alert before they were ambushed she was now. This whole duck and run thing was getting old way fast. It was tiring come to think of it and now no one was talking. At least it seemed her parents and Glitch had a game plan. That was something they hadn't really had for the last week, at least not a plan with a reasonably high success rate. Her nerves were soothed ever so slightly by the fact that the Tin Man hadn't moved more than ten inches from her since the Eastern Guild had dropped by for a chat.
They continued walking as the first sun sank below the tree line. That meant they had another hour or so of light before they would be engulfed in the darkness that settled so thickly over the forest at night. She had actually been paying attention to the solar cycle as they had traveled, mostly because there were two suns. You know as in more than one. One sun, two suns… One more than normal. Who wouldn't be paying attention?
It wasn't the only thing she was paying attention to either. The stares she had been getting earlier had changed from curious to knowing. And she wasn't just getting them from the rebel fighters either. She'd caught Ahamo shooting covert glances at her twice now and Ambrose didn't even bother to turn his appraising eyes from hers when she caught him watching. What the hell? She was starting to get twitchy from all the attention. She would have really preferred to be left alone in the corner with her sketchbook and a pencil. She wasn't shy per say but she liked her privacy.
Cain started reacting to her edginess. "The Guild couldn't have scared you this bad." He said softly blue eyes directed straight ahead.
She huffed. "As if. Everyone is watching me."
She saw his lip twitch. "Of course they are. You killed the Witch."
"So? Do they need to gawk at me? It makes me uncomfortable."
"You? Uncomfortable?" Sarcasm was thick in his voice. "After the week you spent jumping all over me? I didn't think you had personal boundaries."
She let out an indignant squeak. "Totally different! And you make it sound so wrong! If anything I…" She searched for the right words. Ones that didn't make her sound perverted, as he seemed determined to do. "Was happy to see you." Wow that was lame.
He snorted his eyes darting to the side as he continued forward. "You pounce me without warning or provocation."
He was making her pissy because he was so in the right. So she went on the defensive, which of course made ridiculous things tumble from her mouth. "Fine! Wont happen again! It's your own damn fault anyway!"
His eyes glinted with humor. "How in Ozma's name is it my fault?"
She refused to answer him and stalked off toward Az. Hateful man and his utterly true statements! Why was it she only said stupid things… Ok, correction, really stupid things, in front of Cain? It wasn't cool when she was trying to impress him. Wait, she wasn't trying to impress him. She was trying to spend time with her sister. His rumbling chuckle followed her as she left and she decided she definitely wasn't focused on impressing him.
Her sister smiled at her as she drew even with her. "You look irritated."
She felt her eye twitch. "I'm not irritated."
Ambrose raised an eyebrow. "Did you and your suitor get in a fight so soon after he scared of the Guild?"
She quickly hit the side of her head with her palm. "My what now?" He couldn't possibly mean-
"Do they call them something different on the Otherside? I've only read ancient literature on the world your father grew up in. Here a suitor is someone who is seeking a ladies attentions or-"
Holy Hell. "I know what it means!" She snapped her face heating up. "Cain is not my suitor! Use your brain and reconnect already!"
He turned to her with an 'oh please' look in his toffee eyes. "He must be. With the way he stays near you. And you've been sleeping together. That's improper really but I don't think your parents are that upset. Especially with you growing up on the Otherside as you did." He gave her one of the knowing glances she'd been receiving all day. As if he were pretending to keep a well-known secret. And now she knew what the secret was. "But you'll need to show more discretion once we return to Central City. You don't need gossip like that starting before you get engaged."
This was horrible. Az saw the look of utter dismay on her face. Her sister's eyes darted between her and the smirking Tin Man that was several yards behind them and well out of hearing range. "He's not?" She whispered confused.
"No!" She practically shouted. Her hands flailed about and drew the attention of everyone near her earning her yet more stares. She let out a sound of frustration dropping her arms to her sides. Not cool. She rolled her eyes and started walking again. This was all Cain's fault she was sure of it. He had to be all protective of her didn't he? He couldn't just let her get poked by the lawn gnomes.
"I don't see why not." Ambrose continued on unperturbed with her flat denial. "Despite the fact that he obviously has some things to learn about subtlety he would make an excellent Consort."
"No." She was going to stand firm on this.
"He is a natural leader and would have no problem getting the other politicians to listen to him-"
"No." He wasn't getting the hint.
"Provided we can pry the gun away from him before he goes into any parliament meetings."
"No." She could tell Ambrose was used to wearing people down.
"And he has no problem standing by you."
"No." She was going to have to rip his brain back out. It was the only solution.
"Not to mention-"
"I swear if you finish that sentence I'll throttle you." And not in a way that involved a motorcycle. She was thinking of a more unpleasant way.
Ambrose let a small grin slip over his face. "I don't see why you're fighting this. You're attracted to him. I can see it in the way you act around him."
She reached past her sister and grabbed hold of the advisor's coat yanking him over to her. Az lurched back out of the way as she spoke softly but honestly in his ear. "Ambrose, I know you're teasing and I can appreciate that after being stuck in that tank but not about this. You can't remember yet but he found out his wife was dead less than five days ago. What other people say doesn't matter, not to me. What I feel for him doesn't matter. That's my problem. What Cain feels and worries about does matter. So please no more. Anything else is up for jokes but not this."
She let him go and his eyes locked with hers. She saw his wheels turning faster than she thought possible. He nodded in understanding before stepping back to her sister. "I'm sorry I can't remember everything right now, DG."
She smiled at him. "It's not like it's your fault. You already remember meeting me. A few more days and I'm sure you'll reconnect completely."
He was about to reply when Jeb called a halt to their little party. "Alright lets set up camp. Then I'll assign posts once we're settled for the night." The wagon ground to a halt and Kalm and Anna hopped out eagerly. She couldn't blame them; getting stuck in a cart all day with injured people couldn't be very fun.
The rest of the fighters spread out in organized teams as they began to get the site set up. Jeb had stopped them near a small stream that was partially surrounded by trees. It looked, to her, like any other part of the forest but what did she know? The resistance fighters had been living out here for months if not years. Jeb knew his way around these woods the way she knew her way around an engine.
It was organized chaos. Fire pits, woodpiles, tents and cooking equipment were set up within minutes. None of the men or women bumped into each other and everyone knew their tasks. She felt in the way and moved back against one of the trees next to Az and her mother. "I feel like I should be helping." She sighed to them.
Her mother nodded seriously. "You could set a silencing spell around the camp."
A silencing spell? Now that sounded intriguing. And useful for future pursuits. "How?"
Lavender eyes regarded her as she spoke. "You must focus on your light the way you have been but this time you also need to think of a time when you were at peace. Once you have that feeling ready throw it out around the perimeter of the site."
She bit her lip thinking. Closing her eyes she ran over her memories. It would be hard to find peace inside herself right now. She let her thoughts drift and saw one of her drawing float in front of her eyes. Whenever she had felt beyond restless in Kansas she had pulled out her sketchpad and slipped away into what she now knew were her childhood memories. Maybe she should focus on that feeling.
Pushing away the noise of the busy people around her she let her eyes open so she could see the outline of the camp. She drew in a slow breath and as her mother instructed tossed her magic out like a giant net. Her hands flashed white briefly as the spell left her and heads turned. Several of the more paranoid fighters went for their weapons but the spell solidified before they could draw them. Feeling slightly drained she let her back rest against the tree and sank down to the ground pleased with herself.
Leaning her head back she saw the Queen smiling down at her. "Did I do it right?"
"Indeed you did, My Angel. And on your first try as well."
The fighters and Cain were watching the oddly flickering spell in awe. Ahamo prodded it gently and turned to her. "Can you make it stop glowing? While I agree it's helpful to have the noise blocked out this is going to be obvious as soon as the suns go down."
Jeb put a hand on his hip. "This blocks the noise we're making?" He eyed the shimmering dome more closely. "That's one handy trick."
She frowned even as he complimented her. Ahamo was right. Her mother continued to instruct her. "Tell it to stop shining, dear."
"How?"
"The magic is an extension of your will. If you tell it to do something and you're strong enough it must obey you."
These were tips Toto could have shared before. Was there a book 'Magic for Dummies?' She'd totally pay money for that. She focused on the light radiating off the spell and silently and sternly told it to turn off or else. The light disappeared instantly and Ahamo rubbed his hands together. "Excellent, Spitfire! Now we can make as much noise as we want." Her mother and sister left to inspect her spell and she sat watching the rest of the camp at work.
These magical powers of mystery were starting to become less annoying and more useful. A three week crash course might not be as bad or boring as she had thought. She looked down at her hands and evaluated her magic level critically. That spell had only thrown her for a few moments and now she felt almost as good as new. She needed to test her boundaries more but that could wait until they got to Finaqua.
The fighters seemed to be pleased with what she had done. They were testing how well her spell worked with glee. One young man had stepped through and was trying to listen to what was going on inside the invisible bubble while two others shouted at him. Once it was apparent nothing was getting through they stared laughing hysterically and shouting some things about the red head on the opposite side of the spell that she figured he hadn't wanted shared. When a number of his other compatriots started to shake their heads and chuckling he realized something was wrong and sprang back through tackling his buddies.
Cain took his place next to her leaning against the tree and smiled at the sight as Jeb grabbed the back of one of their collars and tossed the bigger man backward. The young blond was obviously suppressing his own mirth as he ordered all three to guard duty. They sulked off to different parts of the camp to take up their posts.
Head still tilted up she elbowed the Tin Man in the knee. "Seems Jeb has his fighters under control." She commented dryly.
Cain's lips quirked upward and he pulled his fedora down to hide his eyes. But from her vantage point it wasn't effective. "That he does." His voice, to anyone else, would sound bland. But she could hear the pride in it no matter how well he was hiding it. His eyes went down to her. "Are you hungry?"
She perked up forgetting all about his earlier teasing. "Do you have food?" She'd eaten her apple hours ago and she was starved. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a yellow fruit handing it to her. She grinned taking it. "Thanks!"
"Don't fill up on it." She snorted at his tone. "The fighters'll have food ready soon."
She had stopped listening to him as she tried to figure out how to eat this particular Outer Zone oddity. The skin was all tough and bumpy. Was she supposed to peel it or go ahead and bite into the thing? The Tin Man sat down next to her and plucked the fruit from her hand. Reaching into his vest he retrieved his razor and flipped it open and began to cut the fruit down the middle. She leaned into him watching as the yellow skin parted to reveal a vibrant red center.
Setting one half to the side he cut the other again and handed it to her. "Don't eat the skin. It's not poisonous but it taste like candle wax."
"Do you speak from experience?"
His lip twitched. "Knowing you you'd try it before I could stop you."
"You didn't answer the question."
He shook his head. "Nope."
"I'm going to take that as a yes then."
"Take it however you want, Princess."
She settled back against the tree bumping her shoulder against his. "You know you're no fun at all. I can't even tease you." She began to munch on the fruit and found it to be pleasantly tangy.
"And yet you still manage to get my son to ask me for courting advise." She paused mid chew. Her eyes darted around looking for an escape route. "Tell me was that fun?"
She swallowed quickly realizing that she had once again been tricked with the promise of food. Her stomach was a traitor. "Who me? Send him to you? For courting advise? Never."
"He told me you did."
Tattletale! "He must have been talking about another princess. Have you talked to Az?"
He turned to her scared eyebrow raised. She laughed weakly. "Ummmm… So that's a yes?"
"DG." This wasn't worth the fruit. It wasn't that tasty.
Stall! "Wyatt."
His jaw twitched. "Should I even ask why you did that?"
She decided on the pathetic, please don't kill me approach. "He didn't know what to do." She pulled out the big blue eyes, her last true weapon as she scuffed her toe in the dirt. "And I don't know anything about how that works here. And, I mean, you do. Plus you're his father. I thought you two could bond."
"Uhuh." He seemed less than convinced.
"I was thinking about the future happiness of your only son."
He pointed at her face. "Do you always pull out the eyes when you're trying to get out of trouble?"
Damn it! Her eyes got even wider. "I don't know what you're referring to. Why would I be in trouble?"
"Trust me you're in trouble. For putting me on the spot."
"Awwww! Not fair! Come on! I heard you laughing!"
He grunted unconvinced. "And while Tutor's teaching you about magic I'm going to be teaching you about normal O.Z. practices. With the way you act I'm amazed you're not dead yet."
That sounded fun. "Really?"
"Yes, really. Now eat your food. It seems to be the only time I can keep you out of trouble."
"I guarantee that's just not true."
He shook his head and handed her the next piece of cut fruit. "This is going to be a challenge isn't it?"
She grinned impishly thinking of all the ways she could drive the serious Tin Man crazy. "Duh."
Author Note: I love you for all your reviews! Thanks guys! Sorry about the update time I had two really long shifts and was tired. Anyway I should have one more up this weekend so keep a look out.