Disclaimer: Ok so I got two songs. In the interest of fairness I will post the first one I got on this chapter and the second on the next. Well Done!

I don't own them, I just use them like many toys

I don't own them, I just like the pretty boys

And don't sue for what I do

And don't sue for what I say

And when, at last, the story is through

No one will have ever paid, cus

I don't own them, I just use them for the plot

I don't own them, god Cain is so hot

-Submitted by PalisDelon

The fighters started tearing down the camp quickly, as everyone was keen to getting out of the area and into the safety of Finaqua. Between the trauma of the day before, and the drama of this morning, they were unsurprisingly high strung. Her total defiance of the witch had done at least one positive thing; it had put all the fighters in a rather oddly cheery mood. Good to know they were all as crazy as she was. Not only that, they were far more inclined to welcome her into their tight knit family. She figured the obvious approval of her by both their commander and Wyatt helped with that.

With new purpose she, Cain, and Raw headed back to Raw's tent. She refused point blank to travel about in a skirt. All sorts of things could go wrong with that, the first and least disturbing involving a strong gust of wind. The two men waited outside while she changed back into her own clothes, cleaning them and the borrowed set quickly. It would be lovely if they could go just one day without getting caked in something gross or sticky. Well, she could dream anyway.

She exited the tent with the clothes folded neatly in her arms. She eyed Cain critically for a moment, transferred the clothes to one hand, and flicked him on the arm. "Hey!" He jumped when his clothes shook themselves off around him. In half a second they were clean and wrinkle free. She snickered at his expression.

He straightened his duster in annoyance. "Was that necessary?"

"What? I can't have my life mate wandering around the forest dirty. Jeb might think I wasn't taking care of you properly."

Raw gave one of his rumbling laughs and moved past them into the tent to pack his things. Cain rolled his eyes as he took the clothes from her. "I'll go return these, you go find the Fleabag."

She went up on her toes and gave him a peck on the lips. Spinning like her old doll, she was just about to go off and do just that when she encountered an evilly smirking Jeb Cain. She froze mid-twirl. Jeb winked at her. "She's right, you know. How could you even think about walking around a place full of mud and bugs in wrinkled clothes?"

She felt Cain twitch behind her and fought back a giggle. She couldn't see him, but she knew he was glaring at his son. She felt air rush by her ear and saw his hand shoot out over her shoulder to point a finger at Jeb. "Don't encourage her. Believe me, she doesn't need any help."

"Poor old Tin Man, under the thumb of a hundred pound princess. Sad really, makes me question how tough my Dad really is." Jeb's eyes were glittering like mad. Cain growled and lunged around her after him. Her laughter followed them as they dashed out of sight. Shaking her head, she went Ajax hunting, happy that Jeb had accepted her into the family.

Ajax was grazing with a number of other horses at the edge of the camp. She whistled and his head came up. He extracted himself from the herd, plodding over to her. She watched him as he walked, but saw no sign of his former limp. "Did Raw heal your leg?"

He nickered, bumping his face against her hand. She scratched his ears and he pressed his head against her chest. She felt him give a huge sigh against her. "Aww, Ajax. I'm sorry, you must be tired." He whuffled, raising his head to look at her. "Once we get to Finaqua we should all be able to rest for more than a few hours. At least, I hope so." It wasn't natural to see the usually mischievous animal so tired.

He nodded, nudging her back toward the camp, stopping near a pile of gear on the way to gather their things. She saddled him up and they moved back into the camp as fighters started moving toward the other horses to repeat this process. By the time they got back to Raw's tent, it had been folded into a small bundle and was sitting next to a folded cot.

Raw was standing next to his things with Cain, who appeared to be nursing a new bruise forming around his neck. Raw was obviously stifling his laughter and the Tin Man was scowling toward the rapidly disappearing camp. "Jeb get the best of you?"

Cain started to mutter something about unfair advantages and not hurting one's children. Ajax nickered behind her as she put on a falsely sympathetic expression, reaching over and letting her binding gift heal the bruise. "Poor thing, you really are getting old."

He pushed his hat back with his thumb and shot an icy glare at her. "I am not old! I'm only forty! I've got at least another hundred years in me." The last part came out as the closest thing to whining she had ever heard from him.

Her face must have shown her absolute shock. "A hundred years?!" she spluttered.

Feeling her bafflement through the binding, he tilted his head, regarding her curiously. "Why does that surprise you?"

"Is that normal here?" Her head was trying to wrap around this new concept. No wonder he had called her Kid for so long. This was way crazy. Why did no one tell her anything?

Raw laughed and Cain raised an eyebrow. She moved her gaze between them quickly. "So… assuming psycho witch doesn't kill me, I'm going to live how long?"

"How long DG think she live?" Raw asked. He was now as curious as Cain.

She scratched the back of her head. "Geez, about eighty five years I guess."

Raw let out an odd mewl of surprise and Cain snorted. "Guess your stuck with me longer than you thought, Darlin', about a hundred and fifteen years longer. Although, now I can see why the Kid thing bothered you so much."

She rolled her eyes, grumbling. "That's it. When this is over I'm writing a book for future slippers. I'm going to title it All the Things They Never Thought to Mention: A Guide to Life in the O.Z.."

"On that note, I think its time to head out." Cain grabbed the folded tent and strapped it onto Ajax's back. The horse snorted in annoyance at the extra weight. "Quit complaining, horse. You don't have to walk far today." In response to this, Ajax leaned his weight toward Cain, making him stumbled backward. Cain cursed and threw the cot onto his back less gently. Ajax laid his ears back, sulking.

They moved out shortly after that, the fighters moving through the woods at a brisk and silent pace. She could see that Jeb had at least five of his men scouting around the group at large, and after the first hour or so of travel, the fighters relaxed a bit and several wandered over to talk. She knew what their purpose was twofold. They wanted to catch up with Cain and get a better feeling for her. She didn't blame them; she'd worry about her presence too.

The first one to test his luck was the older man Cain had pried away from a mage the day before. His skin was a deep olive color and his dark eyes were analyzing her over Ajax's back. She met his gaze unblinking for a long moment before Cain was even aware of what was happening. She raised her eyebrow at him, her lip twitching in acknowledgement of his intense scrutiny. Like he was scary after the witch. "Are you done?"

He let out a booming laugh that echoed over the fighters. Heads snapped up from all over to see what was happening. Jeb paused momentarily at his position at the front before turning and continuing on. Cain glanced over at them, shaking his head. "I see the stories about you are hardly exaggerated, Princess." She could hear the amusement and respect in his voice. She was also very aware that this was in no way a private conversation.

"It's just DG." Leaning over Ajax as they walked, she held out her hand. "Mister…?"

He grabbed her hand, shaking it firmly. "Ian. And no Mister, thank you all the same."

She grinned back at the tall man, straightening. "I'm afraid to ask what you've heard of me, Ian, especially if it came from him." She jerked her head at Cain.

Ian tilted his head to regard her in good humor. "Who, Mr. Tin? Never heard him say a bad thing against you. Hell, never heard him say much about anybody else but you, the seer and his son." She heard Cain snort as he turned his head to look at the man.

"That's a lie. I called you a sneaky ex-con more than once." Cain deadpanned.

Ian grinned. "Actually, I was referring to the mythical right hook of yours."

She hummed a non-comment at this, having flashed back to the nasty bruise she'd given Jeb in the Papay Fields. "Sorry, no idea what your referring too."

Ian's eyes glittered with mirth. "So it's true. Our mighty leader, who's been in more brawls then most of us put together, was nearly knocked out by the Princess. What did your son do to deserve that Tin Man?"

"He made the mistake of checking to be sure she was still breathing."

Ian's laugh echoed out over the group again. He wasn't the only one laughing either. She heard a number of people trying to suppress their laughter over the story they weren't listening to.

"Well, you should have known better than to let him." It was a perfectly logical answer to her. They should have seen that coming.

Ian's laughter finally died down to few low chuckles. "By Dorothy's Slipper, Tin Man, you do know how to pick 'em." The fighter's eyes flicked to the ring around her finger then to the one around Cain's.

She nearly tripped over her own feet, having forgotten she was still wearing it. She kept her face impassive, but knew Cain had felt her confusion over the matter. She had told him he could remove the ring, after all, no one else knew about the binding but Raw and Jeb. She risked a glance at him, but he was staring Ian down. Something shifted, not only between the two men, but in the entire group.

Everyone around them was poised for action and she had no idea why. Suddenly, Ian jerked his head and she felt the sudden tension disappear. Cain moved one hand to the small of her back. She could feel the tension in him drain slowly away as they walked. Glancing back over at Ian, she found the man smiling again.

"Welcome to the family, DG." With that he sauntered off toward the front of the group and more fighters moved to take his place. For the next hour or so she talked with the fighters, conversation flowing easily between them. It was pleasant and she nearly forgot about their odd behavior, except Cain's hand never left her back. Not that she minded, but he wasn't really the "open displays of affection" type of guy. She'd ask him about it later.

They reached the hedge maze that guarded Finaqua at midday. Breaking out from under the trees was a relief. She was really looking forward to a bath, a long, steamy one full of bubbles. The group of about forty freedom fighters made it to the edge of the maze when a shout of warning went up from Jeb. She threw a shield up over the entire group without thinking about it. All around her weapons were out and the fighters had made a circle, backs to the inside, waiting.

"Relax!" Jeb's shout was welcome, to say the least. "It's the Royal Guard."

What was the Royal Guard doing here? She went stiff, the implications hitting her hard. Shit. What the hell were they doing here? It wasn't safe! She moved toward the front of the group, Cain close behind. Jeb and Captain Ross - she remembered his name from all their stupid meetings about her safety, which, by the way, had worked out so well - were in a heated discussion. The rest of the Royal Guard was watching intently.

"We need a place to stay for a few days! It's not safe out in the woods!" Jeb's voice cracked with authority.

"I'm sorry Captain Cain, but I have strict orders. No one but the royal family and their guards are allowed in Finaqua until further notice."

She grinned wickedly and heard Wyatt chuckle softly behind her. Walking past the fighters and up to the bickering men, she stopped next to Jeb who glanced over at her then looked back at the guard smugly. "If those are your orders then I strongly suggest you let us in now before you have to explain to the Queen why you wouldn't let her youngest daughter and her protection detail in."

Ross glared back at the young man. "The youngest Princess is already inside, Captain, so I suggest you leave before you get court-marshaled."

"I'm already in there, huh? Damn, my magic is better than I thought." She turned to Jeb, hands on hips, considering the castle in the distance. "Did you know I could be in two places at once?"

Ross's jaw dropped. He'd finally gotten a good look at her. "Prin…Prin…Princess DG! How did you? Where did you?"

She regarded him coolly. "Does it matter? Let us in. You're pissing me off."

He nearly leapt out of her way. They really needed to start screening the guards better, what a pansy. Maybe she should recommend some of the retired freedom fighters. At least they had backbone. She supposed that was a discussion for later, but right now, she needed to focus on getting them all out of the maze. It didn't take long, despite the fact that she hadn't been back here since before the eclipse. She thought the route was burned into her memory.

At the end, she waited until everyone was out before they moved toward the palace. She saw that one of the guards had gone through with them and rushed ahead to announce them. She still couldn't believe they were here. What had they been thinking? She felt now familiar panic begin to twist in her stomach as they moved closer. Cain was suddenly next to her and so was Raw.

As they walked, she scanned the area with her magic. She felt Az immediately, her sister's magic zinging at the contact. She felt no danger and lowered the spell, gazing up at the increasingly close building in time to see a figure with long dark hair dart onto one of the balconies. She had just made herself incredibly exposed! Anger and fear shot through her and she sent a magic shove right at Az. She saw her sister jerk back in surprise then retreat inside. She could apologize later.

When they reached the doors, several guards were waiting. One that she vaguely recognized approached her with a bow. "Your parents wish to see you, Your Highness. Your friends will be taken care of and given rooms and food, so you don't need to worry."

She cocked her head at Jeb, who nodded gratefully and turned back to his troops. "Fine, but these two." She grabbed Cain with one hand and Raw with the other. "Are not leaving my sight." Raw rumbled affectionately and Cain's lip twitched.

The guard bowed again. She remembered why she hated palace life. "Of course, Princess. Follow me."

Author Note: Bum bum bum… Time to face mom and dad! Gasp! Leave me a review people you know I love it!