Thank you for all the support on this story - it means a lot, and I'm sorry I've not been able to reply individually but time is short these days! The Kalidah, for those wondering, are in the original Oz series of books, though weren't so nice!

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They found a clearing not far from a stream to make camp in. It was close enough that they would benefit from having the running water nearby but not too close that they'd be disturbed by the sound of it all night.

Neither the Princess or Tin Man had spoken a word to the other since the decision had been made, and Jeb was about ready to bang their heads together and order them to grow up,

"Patience," Raw had urged, speaking quietly to the younger Cain as they worked alongside one another to get the camp set up.

DG had gone with Glitch to fill their water canteens; his father was working silently with Rafe and Bran to set up the Princess's tent.

"Were they like this when you were searching for the emerald?" Jeb asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

Raw grinned. "DG and Tin Man like to disagree. Keeps things interesting."

"There's disagreeing, and there's falling out over it. Dad's furious she'd put herself in danger," Jeb observed.

"Cain protective of DG. How he shows he cares," Raw returned. "DG not used to having people care. Often argues with Azkadellia, too."

"Really?" For some reason, he couldn't imagine the sisters arguing, not after having seen them together after the Eclipse. Jeb thought back and could barely remember seeing one without the other, their light glowing between their joint hands as they clung to one another in the strange new world they'd found themselves in.

"DG lived different life," Raw reminded him in a gentle rumble. "Nurture units were kind but programmed to respond. DG not know love as we do; resists people trying to protect her, believes it makes her vulnerable."

"I can understand that," Jeb murmured, "but she doesn't know what she's let herself in for if she's wanting to be with my father. Protectiveness runs through him like blood; it's just who he is."

Raw nodded in agreement. "DG know. Loves that about father, but doesn't know yet how to live with it. Time," the Viewer continued, laying a reassuring hand on Jeb's hand that helped settle the nerves that had been building in his stomach. "Cain and DG need time. Both changed. Need to learn each other again."

"Let's just hope they don't kill each other while they're figuring it out, then," Jeb said with a sigh. He'd known it wouldn't be easy to watch his father move on with another woman, but he hadn't realised how hard it would be to watch his father stumble through the early stages of his relationship with DG when all he could do was silently cheer him on from the sidelines.

"Will all work out," Raw said confidently, and Jeb wished he could believe it so easily. "Both stubborn but both love deeply. Jeb not need to worry about father; his heart is safe with DG."

"I hope so, Raw." Jeb glanced at his father, who had his back to DG as the Princess returned to the camp. "I really hope so."

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It felt a little like déjà vu to be sat in front of a crackling fire, listening to her fellow campmate's talk in low voices. She enjoyed hearing Jeb tease and be teased by his men, seeing the younger Cain as the leader she knew he had been and would be again – was again, really, because as much as his appointment to Captain in the Royal Guard wasn't yet official, he'd effortlessly taken over command of her security detail with Rafe stepping aside in deference.

Cain's role was a little more complex and DG had spent most of the evening trying to puzzle it out. He deferred to Jeb when it came to making decisions about what they should do as a group, like when they stopped for breaks and where they made camp, but he had no hesitation in overriding his son where she was concerned.

When Jeb had suggested that her tent be a little further away from the others to afford her some privacy, both because she was a Princess as well as the only woman travelling in their group, he'd shut his son down before DG could even blink, insisting that her tent be at the heart of their camp with everyone else stationed around her.

She couldn't decide if he was acting like an over-protective lover – which they weren't, yet – or as her unofficial, self-appointed bodyguard, or both.

Her mind said both; her heart said this was the Wyatt Cain she'd fallen in love with and she had to get used to him being around in person instead of just in her dreams.

She'd always known he was the protective type; she'd seen it on their quest for the emerald even before they'd found Jeb. She'd seen it in the way he'd made sure they were all taken care of, her especially. She'd seen it in the way he mourned for Adora, the way he tried to protect Jeb even though his grown-up son hadn't wanted protecting.

He was the type of man she remembered watching in romantic movies on the Other Side, the kind of leading male she thought could only exist in fiction. Kind and caring with a hard edge when it came to those he loved being wronged. He was the type of man who would love wholly and completely, giving his all to those he chose to let in while keeping everyone else at a safe, almost cold distance. There was heat inside him, though, a passion he tried to keep hidden.

And he loved her.

It was what she'd wanted, what she'd hoped for.

Now she had it, she didn't quite know what to do with it.

Well, him.

Only she knew what she wanted to do. She knew she wanted to get to know him, to spend her life with him, to love him completely and wholly and passionately. If it weren't for the Prince, if it weren't for the fact their future together was uncertain, she wouldn't have let him stop their actions the night before. Maybe he wouldn't have wanted to stop them, either.

Propriety be damned, waiting until she was married be damned.

She might be a Princess, but she was still a woman and a woman in love at that.

But she couldn't...

Letting him, telling him to walk away from her before she'd let him in completely was hard enough. She couldn't imagine how hard it would be once she'd taken that last step and allowed herself to fall the whole way for her beautiful, brave, broken Tin Man.

Only hadn't she already done that? Wasn't she already all the way in love with him, or was it the idea of him she was in love with? The man she'd built him up to be in her mind while they'd been apart? Was that man different to the one sitting across the fire from her, or were they the same person?

"Hey, Deege," Glitch nudged her lightly as he held out a cup of heated muglug. "You need to eat something, Doll. Can't have you fading away on us."

"Thanks, Glitch." She took the soup with a smile even though she knew she wouldn't be eating much of it. Her appetite was all but gone, her busy thoughts keeping the hunger at bay. "What did you make of the Kalidah making contact like that? I know you said they were believed to be extinct, but what about before then? Did they have a good relationship with the crown?"

He was quiet for a moment, his features contorted in thought as the Ambrose side of his brain conferred with the Glitch side. "The Kalidah have always been an enigma. Some old accounts of contact with them suggest they represent the OZ itself, the ancient magic that runs through the land. They're an old race, older than most. Before the Witch, they tended to stay neutral. I don't recall them showing a particular loyalty to the Royal line, though perhaps there was something about an allegiance to Queen Ozma, I'd have to check the archives to be sure."

"Queen Ozma as in the last of her line, before she passed the throne and her light to the original Dorothy Gale?" DG closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember what Tutor had told her in their very many lessons about the history of the OZ. "She was the last Ruler of the OZ to be chosen by the land itself, according to the legends."

"She was. She didn't have any heirs, choosing not to marry. When your ancestor returned for the third time and chose to stay, Ozma adopted her as her own. Those legends you speak of mention Glinda, the Good Witch of the South."

"Tutor mentioned her," DG remembered. "But I got the impression he didn't think she was real. He said she was some kind of deity?"

"She was rumoured to be a goddess by some, a fairy by others. Good witch most of all," Glitch smiled a little. "In the legends, Glinda was said to have combined her magic with Ozma's so they could gift it to Dorothy and start the legacy that is the House of Gale line. It was said she had grown weary of this world and wanted to move to the next but couldn't because her magic was tied into that of the OZ itself."

"The ancient magic you said the Kalidah have. It's the same as Glinda's?"

"The very same, which if you believe that, means it's the same that runs through your blood, too, DG. Their choosing to show themselves to you now, when the House of Gale is arguably at its weakest, could be seen as a proof of that theory." Glitch gave her an encouraging smile. "It's a positive omen, Doll. Not one to look worried about."

"You said they'd never shown particular loyalty to the Royal Family, not since Ozma," DG said slowly.

"That's right," Glitch confirmed, nodding as he started to eat his soup before it could get cold. When he noticed she wasn't doing the same, he arched an eyebrow and spoke around his next mouthful. "That's not going to eat itself, DG."

"It swore allegiance to the House of Gale," DG said softly.

Glitch almost choked on his soup, spluttering as it went down the wrong way. DG hit on the back to help him, her eyes wide with concern.

"Are you okay, Glitch?"

"What did it say to you?" Glitch ignored her question in favour of asking one of his own. His stare was intense, his evening meal forgotten as he turned to face her, unaware of the attention that was now solely focused on them. "What was its exact words, DG?"

"It said the Kalidah tribe swore allegiance to the House of Gale," DG repeated. "Why? Is that a bad thing?"

"Not exactly what was said," Raw interrupted before Glitch could compose himself. "Kalidah said the tribe swore allegiance to the Princess DG and the House of Gale."

Glitch stared at her, wide-eyed and speechless for one of the few times DG could remember. Raw didn't seem too concerned, shrugging when DG glanced at him. When she looked around the others, all who'd fallen silent to watch, she was a little gratified to see they at least looked as confused as she felt. Cain, though, managed to look both confused and concerned, which made her wonder if she should be, too.

"Why does it matter what it said? It's a good thing, isn't it? If this is the first time they've shown loyalty to a member of the Royal Family since Ozma, it's good for my mother and for Az." Azkadellia would be taking the throne after their mother chose to step down, and DG was determined to win her sister as many allies as she could before that day came.

"It mentioned you specifically, DG," Glitch told her, his voice quiet and awe-filled. "That has to mean something."

She wasn't convinced it did, her stomach twisting uncomfortably at Glitch's words. "It means I'm the first member of the Royal Family they've met since the Witch's fall. That's all."

Glitch stared at her for a few moments more, to the point where she started to feel uncomfortable. From across the fire, Cain cleared his throat, and the sound was enough to jolt the advisor from his internal musings. "I'm sure you're right, DG."

It sounded a lot like a lie, but DG was willing to take it at face value. "Well, as fun as this has been, I think I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight, everyone."

She sighed but said nothing as the guards around the fire stood when she did, arching an eyebrow only when Cain slowly got to his feet and walked to her side of the fire. Without a word, he motioned for her to follow him and led the way to the tent that had been set up for her.

Her Tin Man entered it first, hand on his gun. If she hadn't felt so churned up inside, she would have found it amusing that he thought there was even the slightest chance of someone getting into the tent without them noticing.

"Put up a silencing spell, DG," he told her when she followed him inside, turning to face her once he was sure they were alone.

She did what he asked without question, showing the depth of her trust for him despite their being at odds with one another. "If you want me to say I'm sorry for telling the truth, I'm afraid I can't do that, Cain. I stand by what I said to the Kalidah. I am responsible for what happened, and if telling everyone that makes it easier for Az to be accepted, then that's what I'll do."

"I know, and I'd be surprised if you didn't. Doesn't mean I have to like it," he admitted, taking off his fedora so he could run his hand through his hair. "I don't like you puttin' yourself at risk, Deege. I'm never gonna like it."

"I'd be surprised if you did," she returned, a small smile tugging the corners of her mouth. "But that's what you're here for, isn't it? To keep me safe when I run headlong into trouble?"

His lips twitched, but the smile didn't fully materialise. He threw his fedora down onto his pack, which she noticed had already been put in the corner of her tent before taking a step towards her, then another. He didn't stop until he was right in front of her, close enough to touch but keeping his hands to himself.

"I'm never going stop worrying about you, DG. That's not who I am. If that's going to be a problem..."

"It's not," she interrupted, closing the gap between them. She put her hand on his cheek, smiling when he leaned into it. "But you'll have to give me time to get used to it, and you have to realise I'm never going to be the type to sit back and let someone do everything for me," she added with a wry smile. "Princess or not, I'm not good at that."

"I know, and I'll get used to it." He let his hand lift to her face, brushing a dark curl out of her eyes. "Eventually."

"Good." She tilted her face up just as he lowered his, sighing softly as their lips brushed. "I don't like arguing with you."

"Me either." He wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her closer. "But I have a feeling we're going be doing it a lot."

A small laugh escaped her as she leaned into him. "I have a feeling you're right about that. But there's one good thing that happens after arguments."

"Oh?"

"The making up." Her smile turned mischievous as she turned her head to look at him, the glint in her eyes causing his to darken in turn.

He lowered his face to hers again, capturing her lips in a searing kiss.

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