Before The Worst

Chapter Fourteen

DG woke when the first sun rose, light hitting her face where she had forgotten to draw the curtains the night before. She grimaced, waving a hand at the curtains, which pulled together smoothly, dimming the room. DG pushed her face into her pillow, stretching her legs. And then froze as they connected with something warm and solid, which let out a groan.

She rolled over and saw Cain lying on his back, rubbing his eyes with one hand. DG watched him, pulling the duvet up under her chin, suddenly shy as he stretched and yawned. He turned his head to look at her and their eyes met silently. To his relief she smiled.

"Hi."

"Good morning." He murmured, his voice rusty with sleep. DG pulled the duvet down, freeing her arms and rubbing the heels of her palms into her eyes. Cain couldn't help smiling and put a hand out to run it through her hair. She nuzzled her cheek against his palm, sliding an arm under the duvet and resting it across his chest. He put his arms around her, pulling her close and closing his eyes.

How odd that this felt natural, as though they had been doing this for their whole lives. Even though she knew that this peace couldn't last, it was so perfect that she couldn't bear to let reality enter the situation for a single minute, even though she knew the others would be waking up soon, that the Emerald was still waiting on the table for her to return and that in the not-too-distant future, she would be Queen of the Outer Zone.

DG looked up at him, eyes still soft from sleep. She smiled again, rubbing her cheek against the soft hair on his chest.

"It's weird… this feels so…"

"I know." He smiled, kissing her forehead. She slid up and pressed her mouth to his, running a hand up into his hair. She pulled away reluctantly and sat up, but he didn't relinquish his hold around her waist.

"Planning on going somewhere?" He smirked and she grinned.

"I'm afraid so. My turn to make breakfast."

"It's still early." He pointed out and she twisted, lying on him so her chin rested on his chest. She looked like she was in deep consideration.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, brow furrowing. She shook her head, planting a light kiss on his chest.

"I don't know… there's a lot we need to talk about." She said quietly. He nodded, cupping her face with his hands.

"I know."

"But I want this. With you." She said quickly and he smiled.

"I know. Same here."

They kissed again and his hands began to stray down her body. DG smiled and he rolled her onto her back, mouth moving to her neck. Her eyes slid closed and she let out a soft moan. Cain smiled against the skin of her collarbone.

~*~

DG was frying bacon when Azkadellia and Glitch arrived in the kitchen. She smiled widely at them.

"Good morning guys. There's coffee on the table."

"Thanks, DG. Tutor's staying in bed, he's caught a cold." Azkadellia said, opening Einstein's cage door. She glanced at her sister, who was ladling the bacon onto a plate, alongside fluffy scrambled eggs.

"This is my letter to Mother. Did you want to… say anything?" She asked.

"I should think you covered the basics." DG said and then looked at Glitch. "I suppose you know?"

"I asked Glitch to advise me. He's been of great help, going over the family history to see if there was any issue with asking a second born to take the throne." Azkadellia said demurely, stroking the bird's head as she tied the letter to his leg. However, before she could go to the back door, Cain threw it open, wrapped up in thick clothes and carrying a couple of logs under one arm and an exhausted looking hawk on the other. Einstein screeched noisily and Azkadellia lifted him quickly back into his cage. Cain dropped the logs by the fireplace and turned to Glitch.

"This just arrived, I think he's been flying all night." He said, putting the hawk into Glitch's hands. The bird squawked grumpily as Glitch untied the letter. DG hurried forward.

"I'll get him some food and water, he looks exhausted."

"Hold on a second, DG. This is for you and Azkadellia." Glitch said. The hawk hopped onto the table and tucked his head under his wing, .

DG unravelled the parchment, frowning. Lavender had never sent a message this quickly before, so she could only assume it's an emergency. She read the letter aloud.

My Dearest Daughters,

I pray this letter finds you well. It is with a heavy heart that I must ask you to return as soon as possible to the Spire. Your father is gravely ill and I am in need of your support at this difficult time. It is with less than one prayer that I ask your return. May the twin suns speed your journey and the single moon lead you from danger.

With all my love

Mother

"Father is ill?" Azkadellia's face was pale as she read over DG's shoulder. Glitch stood abruptly.

"He's not ill. This is a trap." They all stared at him.

"A trap?" Azkadellia sounded confused. Glitch was frowning, rubbing his chin.

"May the twin suns speed your journey and the single moon lead you from danger. It's a code, established years ago by the royal family. The twin suns refer to a trap and the single moon is code for a dangerous enemy."

Cain frowned as he hung up his coat.

"I'm the head of the Royal Guard, why don't I know about this code?"

"It hasn't been used in hundreds of years, I only know about it because I read back through the royal correspondence." Glitch said quickly.

"Is that really the issue here?" DG snapped, "Glitch, go and wake Tutor. We need to get back."

"Hang on a second, princess." Cain said hastily, looking distinctly irritated. "If that's a trap, how is walking straight into it going to help?"

"Because our Mother is in danger!" DG said, her anger flaring. The tension between them was like a tightrope, all of the soft, sweet emotion of the night before swallowed by the stress of the situation.

"It's Zero." Azkadellia spoke so quietly, DG wasn't sure that she'd spoken. They turned to her. She was clutching the letter tightly. Cain moved towards her.

"What do you mean? How can you possibly know that?"

"Less than one prayer. It doesn't make sense, but less than one… Zero." Azkadellia said, showing them the sentence.

Cain's demeanour changed instantly. He turned to Glitch.

"Protect them. I need to get back."

"No." DG said, catching his arm. "Cain, you're going nowhere without me. If this is Zero, there's a reason he's gone after Mother. And I'm willing to bet it's something to do with me and Az."

"All the more reason for you not to go." Cain pointed out.

"Can you just calm down, both of you?" Azkadellia said loudly. They looked at her, almost having forgotten that there were others present, and she folded her arms.

"We're all going back. We'll go to Central City and find out more about the situation there. There's no point in us separating. We're more powerful together." She said firmly. Cain didn't look any happier at this idea, but DG had already nodded and raced from the room.

~*~

DG was throwing clothes and books into her suitcase, her mind racing. Zero had her parents, could be torturing them right now. Hell, he could even have killed them after forcing Lavender to write the letter. Tears threatened and she paused, standing over her suitcase and taking deep breaths, forcing the sobs down. There was no point in crying before she knew what was actually going on.

She went to pick up her sketchbook, glancing at the door as it opened. Cain came in, closing the door behind him. She looked away, tossing the sketchbook into the suitcase. He approached her and she straightened, looking up at him determinedly.

"It's my job to protect you." He said quietly. She folded her arms across her chest.

"You can't protect me from everything."

"I can try." Cain shot back, looking just as stubborn as she did.

They stood, staring each other down for a minute, before DG let her arms fall, sighing.

"I guess they call that a stalemate." She said, going to the wardrobe and pulling on her sneakers. She'd changed her clothes after breakfast to cotton trousers and a short sleeved shirt, pulling a waist length jacket over the top. Not warm enough for the weather they were in, but if there was going to be fighting and running, she didn't want to be weighed down by unnecessary layers. Cain's arms snaked around her from behind, pulling him against her as his face pressed against her hair.

"DG, no one said this was going to be easy." He said quietly.

"No, but we have some big decisions to make." She turned, resting her hands on his chest. "Cain, I don't want you to be my bodyguard. I don't want you treating me like a kid."

"DG-"

"Cain, if you're serious about us… about this relationship, you have to trust me." She said firmly. "You have to trust my decisions."

Cain looked at her and then raised an eyebrow. It sent a shiver down her spine.

"Don't you think that should go both ways?"

"Absolutely. As long as you're making them as someone I'm having a relationship with, and not as a bodyguard." She pointed out. He nodded.

"That seems fair. But you'll just have to accept that I'm going to be protecting you, no matter what our relationship is. It's who I am."

"And I love that about you." She smiled. Cain kissed her, with the promise of more but jumped back as the door opened again. He quickly turned to face Azkadellia as DG pulled the last couple of shirts from her wardrobe, hiding her flushed face.

"I've finished packing. Tutor and Glitch are ready." She said, pulling a scarf on. Cain nodded.

"My things are downstairs, I'll starting loading things into the car." He said, and then glanced at DG. "To be continued."

She nodded her agreement, pulling the zip closed on her suitcase as he left. Azkadellia watched as she crossed to the table where she'd abandoned the Emerald the night before and picked it up, slipping it into her coat pocket

"This doesn't seem real." Azkadellia murmured. DG paused and then looked over at her, shaking her head.

"I know. Az, this is probably going to get dangerous. If it does, I'd rather you got out of the way." She said, but Azkadellia looked stubborn.

"DG, we should stay together."

"You know your magic is weak, Az." DG tried to reason, but her sister was having none of it.

"We don't have time to talk about this." Azkadellia said firmly. "Get your suitcase downstairs. We need to go."

It dawned DG as she hefted her case down the stairs that she had been channelling Cain rather well in that conversation.

~*~

Since there were two cars, Glitch drove the first one with Azkadellia, with Tutor in the back seat, sleeping between coughing fits. DG didn't exactly object to this arrangement, as she was nervous about Azkadellia sensing the change in emotions between herself and Cain. She knew she wouldn't be able to hide this from her sister for long.

Cain insisted on driving, with the second car following. DG sat quietly, watching as the snow lessened the further north they got. After about five hours they'd gotten out of the mountains, and neither of them had spoken a word. She glanced over at him.

"I thought Zero was still in that suit."

"I got word shortly before we left that he'd been released. I guess he's still harbouring a grudge." Cain said dryly, not taking his eyes of the road. She chewed the inside of her cheek and put her head back against the headrest. Cain's hand came off the wheel and slid onto her knee.

"Your mother will be fine, DG. Your father too."

"How do you know? Zero is… well, I don't need to tell you how bad he is." She said quietly. His fingers squeezed her leg before returning to the gear stick.

"This is the last time he lives." He said flatly. "He's not getting away again."

It frightened her to hear him talk like that. She knew that Cain was a fighter, that he had killed men before, but it always been someone else, a different Cain who had done that. Now that man was one and the same with the one she had had sex with the night before.

DG shifted in her seat, her legs cramping. Cain seemed to notice her restlessness.

"We'll stop soon, get some air. If we keep driving, we'll be in Central City by dawn tomorrow."

"As long as we get there."

~*~

Azkadellia jerked awake and Glitch looked at her apologetically as he swerved to avoid a pothole.

"Sorry. The road isn't exactly smooth in these parts." He mumbled.

"It's fine. Are we driving through the night?" Azkadellia replied, rubbing sleep from her eyes

"Yes. Tutor's going to take the wheel for a while soon."

"I can do it." Azkadellia offered. Glitch would have stared, if he hadn't been keeping his eyes on the road.

"You can drive?"

"I haven't before, but DG's talked about it so much. I'm fairly certain that I could." She sounded so confident that Glitch smiled. He looked over at her, still smiling.

"I don't think now is the right time to try out your theory, Azkadellia. However, as soon as all this is over, I will personally teach you how to drive."

"You'd do that?" She was smiling and Glitch nodded. "Why?"

"Of course, I would. If that's what you want, that's what you'll get, My Azkadee."

She smiled brightly, turning her face back to the road.

~*~

"I want to see my husband."

Even in this state of arrest, Lavender was royal, commanding. Zero lifted an eyebrow.

"You'll see him when I see your daughters."

"I know of your reputation, Mr Zero." She said, resplendent in her simple gown. Her dark eyes were on his, unflinching. "I have magic and the only reason I have not used it so far is because I do not want to test that reputation. I have been cooperative. The only thing I ask if proof that my husband still lives." He couldn't know just how depleted her magic was, or he would have destroyed her on the spot.

Zero couldn't help smiling at her confident attitude. Well, she had been trained in the ways of compromise. He bowed his head.

"Well argued, your Majesty." He considered her for a moment and then turned to a guard. "Fetch the consort."

~*~

Jeb woke with a severe headache. He groaned loudly at sat up, fighting nausea. He was in a dank, metal cell, one of the prisons in the Spire. He swore and then jumped, as there was a chuckle, turning to see Ahamo sat with his back against the metal wall on a cot.

"How's your head?" He asked. Jeb blinked blearily.

"Uh… sore. What happened?"

"Zero. He has my wife hostage and is having my daughters brought here, into a trap." He spoke so unconcernedly that Jeb wondered if he was still unconscious. And then it struck him.

"My father is coming here?" He said, rubbing the bruise blooming on his temple. Ahamo leant forward and clasped his hands in front him.

"We were prepared, Officer Cain. My wife will have written in code and my daughters will be aware that it is a trap. Of course, that won't stop them coming back. And if they find out it's Zero behind it…"

Jeb could only imagine his father's reaction – he only hoped he'd get his own chance to get revenge on Zero. He'd been forced to watch his mother's death over and over, had it replayed for two weeks before the resistance fighters had freed him from his tin prison. He couldn't even imagine how his father had survived for eight years.

Ahamo seemed to sense his anger because he sighed.

"Stay calm. We can't kick up a fuss now, because they won't hesitate to start killing everyone in this building. When the time is right."

"And when will that be?" Jeb spat, but no answer came because there was a clanging as a Longcoat appeared. He pointed at Ahamo.

"Come to the door."

Jeb was on his feet but Ahamo put a hand on his shoulder.

"Bide your time, Officer Cain." He murmured before calmly approaching the Longcoat who shackled his wrists and marching him from the prisons.

~*~

DG was sleeping. Cain glanced sideways at her, before looking back at the road. She was curled up on the seat, tucked under his duster. He had let her drive for a couple of hours whilst he caught up on sleep but had insisted on driving the final leg of the journey. Dawn was maybe three hours away and they would reach Central City by then.

DG mumbled in her sleep but didn't wake up. Cain reached across to wrap the coat more tightly around her. She'd need her energy for the day ahead. As he fell back into his seat his finger tugged awkwardly. He looked down and saw that a stray thread from his coat had caught around the wedding ring on his left hand.

A lump caught in his throat and he clenched his jaw.

Adora…

Cain was no fool. He had been mourning his wife for years and those brief hours when he thought she'd been alive had sent his heart racing. But even then he'd merely returned to his original hollowness on the discovery of her grave.

Since then he'd resigned himself to the solitary life. Any thoughts he'd had of future family had been a daughter-in-law, grandchildren. He would have observed this from a short distance, would have been the support for Jeb's life.

Now he had a beautiful, vibrant young woman beside him, prepared to share her life with him.

Of course, there were other issues at work here, Cain thought wryly. The age difference, for one. He was almost twice her age, and whilst that didn't bother her, he knew other people would see things differently. Her parents for a start, and that issue made him extremely nervous. The Queen and Consort would not react well to the idea of their youngest daughter being corrupted by an old Tin Man.

And it wasn't just her family – Cain had no idea how Jeb would react. They had gotten closer since the eclipse but Cain knew there was still a long way to go re-establishing their uneasy relationship. What would Jeb think of his father becoming involved with a girl a few years older than him?

Their timing was fairly dire as well. The same night that DG had agreed to take the throne of the O.Z, they'd started this… whatever it was. She would be expected to marry some nobleman, forge alliances with foreign nations. The very idea of DG marrying someone else, of kissing another man's lips, lying in their bed made his jaw clench, his knuckles whitening on the steering wheel.

All these thoughts, and many more unsettling ones were racing through his brain over two hours later. And then a slim hand rested upon his on the wheel. He turned his head briefly to see her gazing at him, a slight frown on her features.

"What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" He said brusquely, not meeting her eyes. She removed her hand, folding the coat awkwardly in the confined space and resting it in her lap.

"How far are we from Central City?" She said, changing the subject. The pale sky was visible, heralding the first sunrise.

"Less than an hour. Once we hit the peak of that hill," He gestured about a mile ahead, "We'll be able to see the city."

She settled back in her chair, arching her back as she stretched. Cain fought the urge to glance at her as she loosened her tight limbs in motions far more enticing than she probably imagined.

He swallowed hard and focused on the road ahead.

A/N: Hello darlings! Fully intended to post this yesterday but ended up going on an impromptu trip to the British museum with my best friend and ended up seeing We Will Rock You. It was freaking AMAZING! Seriously, if you ever happen to be in the London area, go and see it! That or Wicked. Or Phantom. Or Woman In Black if you fancy having the pants scared of you. But anyway, it was incredible. Except when a drunk woman in the stalls decided it was perfectly appropriate to join in with 'Don't Stop Me Now' and run along the front of the stage screaming the lyrics. Luckily she got dragged out by ushers.

Anyway, back to the story! It's building to something! However, you now have a choice. As I mentioned a few chapters ago, I'm going away tomorrow until Monday for my brother's wedding. Now, I could post chapter fifteen tomorrow morning before we go but it's kind of a cliffhanger. I would offer to post fifteen AND sixteen, but sixteen is an even bigger cliffhanger. So… would you like 15 tomorrow or wait until next week? Hopefully I'll be posting again Monday, but it could be Tuesday, depending on when we get back. Your choice. Let me know.

Lots of Love

Katie