Disclaimer: Since I can't have Cain I decide to create my own character. So I hope everyone loves Whitfield!
An hour before the troops were set to leave the doors to the throne room opened. Her eyes came down from her serious contemplation of the ceiling. She thought one good blast to the two biggest pillars would send the whole thing crumbling down. Her eyes landed on the hazel-eyed gaze of her new friend Whitfield. "General Zero told me I should report to you, Sorceress."
She didn't break character as she beckoned him closer with one finger. As he approached her she let her magic slam the doors shut behind him. Once the man was on the stairs around her seat she cast a small silencing spell around them. She refused to cast one over the whole room; it would take up far too much of her magic. The one she did cast ended up looking a lot like a freakishly big bubble.
She propped her cheek on her hand and looked at him with a crooked grin. "You know your crazy don't you?"
The man's lips were twitching like mad. "Me your, Highness? That's really the pot calling the kettle black isn't it?"
She snorted. "Fair enough. But I have to ask what gave me away. I really thought I deserved an Emmy for that performance."
He raised an eyebrow. "An Emmy? A Golden Globe maybe but certainly not an Emmy." She slid sideways in her chair and her face fell off her hand. She was sure a look of pure shock must have registered on her face. Soft laughter bubbled out of him. "I spent the first fourteen years of my life on the Otherside, Highness. Although I have to say it's been a while since I've gotten to use any pop references. And judging from the look on your face I'm guessing not many people ever know what you're talking about. You'll get used to it in a few annuals. Or have a nervous breakdown and start shooting people out of pure and righteous frustration. Coincidentally that's what tipped me off. You can't just go around calling people Sheriff and Cowboy if you're the evil witch."
"Ok then. You're just freaking full of surprises aren't you?" He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes. "And it's DG by the way. At least when were not surrounded by Longcoats."
He nodded hazel eyes dancing for a moment before they turned serious. "High- DG, its only a matter of time before Zero find out you've tricked him. He will kill you."
"He only needs to think I'm evil for about another, ohhh, two hours really."
His eyes took on a calculating look. "You're going to kill him?'
She said nothing to this but he got his answer. He nodded his head slowly. "I need you to be next to me when everyone is in here. And I mean right next to me, Whitfield. And make sure you have something on underneath your cloths so no one thinks you're a Longcoat out to kidnap me."
He gave her a perplexed look but didn't argue. "I have a feeling I'm not going to enjoy this. And my name's Eli, DG."
She sighed. "No, you probably won't. But you better leave for now. I don't want Zero thinking I have a new favorite and shooting you." She gave him a small smile. "I'll see you soon, Eli. Hope you're ready to make some new friends in the Royal Guard."
"Oh always." With that he turned around walking down the stairs as she dropped her spell, both of them pulling their false identities back around themselves. As he opened the door Zero stepped in past him. He gave the blond man a nod of deference before he disappeared from her sight.
"Sorceress." She raised an eyebrow at him. "The troops will be ready to leave in less than an hour. I thought you might like to eat while we waited." She tilted her head in silent agreement hoping he hadn't had any of the food poisoned.
Forty minutes later she was glad to report that he hadn't. In fact the food was very good. It could have simply been the fact that this was the first time she'd eaten since she'd gotten her soul back in her. Everything about life seemed to be just a little more solid and real now that she was whole again. She was so interested in this discovery she forgot to be nervous about what she had to do. Which was probably a good thing seeing as Zero was watching her. She didn't need to tip him off about who she was as well.
As soon as they were finished Zero rose and escorted her to the main hall and up the stairs so they could look down over the balcony at the men as they left. As she watched them forming into lines Eli and the one other commander that was staying behind walked up behind her. Zero let go of her arm so he could speak with him and she took the opportunity to start shimmering as many supplies and weapons as she could away from the Longcoats below her.
It took a great deal of focus not because of the amount of magic that was required but because she was using the same principle she did when calling up a travel storm. She had to focus on the destination of the objects and when the destination was a person and not a specific place it made it a hell of a lot harder. Hopefully she was getting the things beside Jeb and not directly over his head. She also had to be careful about how much she took. She didn't want any of them to notice that they were losing weight to their packs so she could only remove one or two items from every man. Hopefully it would be enough to make a difference, even if it was a small one.
And then before she knew it the doors were thrown open and an intense blast of icy wind tore across the hall. She fought back a shiver and continued to shimmer things away as the men marched out into the snow and Zero stepped forward to stand next to her. "They'll be at the battle sight in ten hours. Once the Royal Guard has been crushed nothing will stand in your way."
"Very Good, Zero." She saw him puff out at her compliment. "Gather the rest of the remaining men in the throne room. I have an announcement to make."
"An announcement?" She heard the hesitance in his voice.
She nodded letting her eyes go distant as if she were listening to someone far away. "Yes, the next step of my plan needs to be known."
The man visibly relaxed at her bland tone and body language. "Of course. I'll make sure everyone is present." His eyes darted around as she continued to stare blankly off into space. Come on Zero… Be the good dog. "Whitfield, take the Sorceress back to the throne room and stay with her." Eli moved forward obediently and Zero grabbed his collar twisting it roughly. Her self-control was tested once more as she stood passively by watching the marble floor far below them. She heard him hissing into the man's light brown hair. "No one and nothing disturbs her when she's like this! Understood?"
Eli must have made some sort of affirmative gesture because the next thing she knew he was next to her and offering her his arm. "Sorceress?" His voice was steady and had no hint of pressure in it. He was making it clear that he had all the time in the world for her to decide what she wanted to do. After a moment she accepted his arm and allowed him to take her back down the staircase.
When they walked though the doorway of the throne room she whispered out of the side of her mouth. "Keep your hand on me." She saw his eyes dart to the side to look at her as he helped her sit down. He stood next to her and allowed his fingers to graze the back of her arm discreetly as men started to file into the room. Five minutes later and over fifty men were standing around the room as Zero wove his way past them and up toward her.
She braced herself and stood up as he approached. "Thank you, Zero." The doors of the room slammed shut with a resounding bang and the men shifted nervously. She felt Whitfield grab her arm in a vice like grip as her eyes locked on Zeros. That's when he knew something was terribly wrong in his world. His pale blue eyes widened and he lunged at her as she raised her hand and let loose the most powerful shockwave of energy she had ever attempted. It hit the two central pillars she had been aiming for and a crack echoed loudly across the room.
The noise was so loud it covered the sound of Zero's gun going off. But it couldn't cover the blinding pain that tore up the side of her body as the ceiling started to cave in. She screeched loudly and would have fallen if Eli hadn't flung his body around hers. His chest was pressed against hers and his back was now to over fifty panicked Longcoats that were about to be crushed to death. And Zero had his gun out. Eli's arms supported her as her blood seeped into his shirt and her head fell back. She saw the ceiling falling down over them and adrenaline crashing through her she let loose her magic completely focused on Cain. As they began to vanish she felt a sharp jerk and she dug her fingers into Eli's black leather jacket yanking him forward with all the magic she had.
They crashed into hard snow packed earth rolling apart in a shower of white flakes. She screamed as her back slammed down pain radiating from below her ribs and outward. She vaguely heard distant shouts of surprise and then her eyes snapped open in absolute horror when she heard Zero cursing. Did she have 'I take hitchhikers' stamped on her head? She tilted her head up and tried to scramble to her feet completely aware that her magic was gone and Zero was stalking toward her cocking his gun. There was no way in hell the Royal Guard was close enough to help her and as she moved a trail of dark blood followed.
She'd forgotten about Eli. The older man hit Zero around the middle in a running tackle knocking the gun from his hand as they both went sprawling in the snow. They began to fight brutally and she started screaming at the top of her lungs for help as a wave of dizziness washed over her. For the first time that she could remember she was completely and totally helpless. It scared the living hell out of her. The fight ended suddenly as Zero managed to roll on top of Whitfield and deliver a brutal punch to the man's jaw. He went limp and lay still on the blood splattered snow as her vision started to go dark around the edges.
Zero got to his feet and scooped up his gun cocking the hammer back as he sauntered toward her. "I'll be twice damned, Princess. You had me fooled and killed a number of my men. But you won't live long enough to celebrate it." He raised his gun pointing it at her head as he stood over her.
She spat at him defiantly. "Fuck you, Zero. Your army's walking into a trap. By this time tomorrow they'll all be dead." She smiled triumphantly up at him. "Even if you kill me I win."
He snarled his eyes a light with madness as he kicked her hard in her shot side. She screamed in agony her body curling in on itself. "Do you think you've won now, Princess? As you're lying in agony at my feet your life's blood draining away?"
She started to laugh around the pain then. "Hell yes. Do you know why? Look around Zero. I brought us the Royal Guards camp. No escape for you either. Game over." He snarled and kicked her again so hard her body rolled a few feet away. She couldn't move as she forced her eyes open again. She gasped for air around the pain that was now trying to rule her and locked her eyes on his and her body started to get cold.
He aimed his gun between her eyes and she saw his finger begin to squeeze the trigger. She heard a shot go off and her body jerked in surprise when Zero fell to his knees next to her his eyes blank with surprise and a snarl still firmly on his face. She saw blood blooming like a rose on his chest as he looked down then he toppled over and stopped breathing. Oh that was so messed up. She closed her eyes trying to get her body to keep breathing because it was becoming increasingly difficult as time went on.
She heard feet pounding toward her and then skidding to a halt next to her. "Sweetheart!" Cain's hand was suddenly on her cheek and then she heard him hiss and assumed he had spotted all the blood. "DG! Open your eyes!" She complied finding it very difficult to do what he asked her to.
Once they were open she managed a very strained smile. Although she bet it looked a lot more like a grimace by the look on his face. "Nice shot, Cowboy." He gave her a quick look of pure irritation before he ripped off his coat and pressed it against her side applying pressure. She let out a shriek and tried to pull away but he grabbed her good side and held her still.
His head went up and he shouted to someone. "Go get Raw! Now!" She heard someone change direction and he looked back down at her. "Don't worry, Darlin. As long as I stop the bleeding until he gets here you'll be fine. The bullet didn't hit anything vital even though it's a through and through."
She found it in her to roll her eyes. "Well that makes it feel a lot less painful, thank you."
Cain's lip twitched. "You got shot. It doesn't feel good."
"Yes, and then I got kicked. Twice. That was plain rude." Her eyes fluttered shut again and she shivered.
The Tin Man snapped at her. "Keep your eyes open!" He hit her cheek lightly and she forced her eyelids apart. "Talk to me while we wait. The Furball will be here in a minute. Is there a particular reason you decided to bring two Longcoats with you?"
"Oh you know, just for funsies."
"DG, I swear…" She saw him smile despite his worry.
"The nice unconscious man over there saved my life so don't hurt him. He's been spying for the Resistance for years." Cain gave her the look. "Long story." She was staring to gasp out her words. "Anyway, meant to bring him with me and then Zero decide to crash the party after he freaking shot me. Eli jumped him while you were running over to help. I think you pretty much saw the rest." His hand caressed her face and she leaned into it. "So how was your day honey bunch?"
He snorted and looked up as a shadow fell over her. "DG hurt. Cain move now." She felt amusement ripple through her as Raw forcefully shoved Cain away from her. He peeled the duster away from her side and tossed it to the side uncaringly. "Need Cain's razor."
Cain handed it to him immediately and Raw carefully cut her corset away from her body. He set the razor aside and began to peel away the fabric that had been pushed into her wound by the bullet. She whimpered in pain and he paused for a moment when she fought off a blackout. "Don't fight, DG. Ok to pass out now. Raw here."
"Hey Raw?" He looked up at her face. "I'm really sorry I threw you against the wall."
Raw smiled at her and purred. "Raw know DG not mean it. Now fix Princess so she can make it up to Raw later." As darkness overtook her she was slightly nervous about what that might involve.
Author Note: Oh that was exciting to write! I love and hate the ends of my stories, but don't worry there are a few more chapters left. And a few more chapters for you to express your feelings, thoughts, and criticisms. All are welcome! So hit that button on the left!