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They thanked Bryant for the hospitality and went on to meet up with the other members of their group. It was agreed DG would stay in town and take advantage of having a room with hot running water at her disposal, with Cain staying with her as her security. Glitch and Raw would remain in town, too, finishing the work they'd started with the locals. Jeb volunteered to stay with them, which meant the others could go back to camp, update their companions and decide amongst themselves which of them would return. DG didn't think it was fair that anyone would have to miss out so offered to head back to camp herself once she was cleaned up so she could cast a perimeter spell on their belongings so that it would be secure enough to allow them all to attend the festivities. It took some convincing for Cain and Jeb to agree, but eventually, they did.
Satisfied she'd gotten her way, DG let Cain lead the way to the Inn, where she conjured up a change of clothes from the trunk she'd left back in her tent – nothing too fancy, just a simple blouse and skirt she'd packed for less formal occasions.
Clothes laid out on the bed, she wandered into the bathroom and started to run her bath, keeping the door slightly ajar so she could hear Cain and he could hear her.
She stripped off her shirt and studied it before agreeing that it was absolutely beyond repair. Remembering that old clothes on the farm back in Kansas had been reutilised as cloths, she kicked it to the side and made a note to see if it would be of use to anyone before she threw it away.
Steam started to circle from the warm water and fill the room. She toed off her shoes and peeled off her trousers, standing in her underwear as she waited for the bath to fill.
"DG?" Cain knocked softly on the door. "You decent?"
"Um." Glancing down at her underwear-clad body, DG didn't think he'd agree if she said yes. It would be testing their restraint a little too far, she feared. Spotting the bath towel warming on the radiator, she reached for it and wrapped it around her body. "Yep."
He pushed the door open once he'd received confirmation, the way his eyebrows raised when he caught sight of her suggesting that maybe he disagreed. She felt her skin heat at the way his eyes roved over her body and had to clear her throat to draw his gaze back to her face. The look in his eyes had her swallowing hard.
"You wanted something?" She managed, her voice low.
"I want a whole lot of things," Cain answered gruffly, taking a step towards her before he stopped himself with visible effort. "The owner wanted to know if you want feedin'. Said they could do soup and sandwiches if you're hungry."
Food wasn't the first thing on her mind but she nodded anyway. A nod apparently wasn't enough, though, as Cain continued to stare at her instead of leaving the room. She held the towel where it was knotted against her chest and wondered what his reaction would be if she let it drop to the floor.
After a long moment trying to decide whether to do just that, she was then slightly disappointed when Cain gave her one last longing filled look before turning on his heel and walking through the door.
Sighing to herself, DG unwound the towel and put it back on the radiator. She turned off the taps, noting the water was high enough and stripped out of her underwear so she could submerge herself beneath the water in the bathtub.
One day, she promised, she'd have the confidence to drop the towel.
One day.
*\*
Laughter and dancing were the main activities of the evening. Well, those and drinking. There was a lot of drinking.
DG found herself sat around a large bonfire in the centre of the town, not caring that being so close to it was going to make her freshly washed hair smell of smoke again. She couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed so much, or felt so relaxed.
She was in no way drunk, having only had one cup of the fruity punch she'd been offered on arrival. She knew better than to let her guard down to that extent, even with seven Royal Guards and her very own Tin Man in attendance to her safe. Rafe, Bates, Bran and Myers had allowed themselves one drink at Jeb's say so but no more than that. Thompson, Elliot and Jeb hadn't let a drop touch their lips and she felt bad about it. As for her Tin Man, he was pretty much glued to her side and she suspected the cup he was holding was merely for show so not to offend their guests.
But even sober, she managed to enjoy the festivities a lot more than she'd thought she would, enjoying the way all formalities were dropped as the townsfolk seemed to forget there was a member of royalty in their midst. Of course, it helped that she was able to sit so close to Cain all night, all but cuddled into his side as they watched the dancing together when he wasn't caught up in conversation with Bryant.
That was fun, too, for her as much as for Jeb. Cain maybe didn't find it quite as amusing as the alcohol loosened Bryant's tongue quite a bit and he had no problem telling them about the exploits himself and a younger Wyatt Cain had got up to during their days at the Tin Man Academy as well as when on patrol in Central City.
It was a good evening, one of her favourites since being back in the OZ. She almost regretted their decision not to stay in the town when the evening started to draw to an end, wishing there was a way to stretch it out instead of needing to say their goodbyes and head back to their camp.
They wouldn't be returning in the morning, instead setting off first thing for her planned meeting with the Western Guild.
She reluctantly let Cain pull her to her feet and tightened her hold on his hand when he went to let her go. She saw him look at her from under his hat, his face mostly in shadows that kept dancing like the flames that cast them. After a momentary pause, he seemed to accept whatever he saw on her face and didn't try to let go again.
Bryant extracted a promise they'd visit again when they were next able before letting them leave, having clearly enjoyed catching up with Cain as much as her Tin Man had enjoyed catching up with him.
The walk back to camp was a quiet one but the mood was good. The trip to Fordham had helped repair some of the damage Lord Tilton had managed to inflict on their moods and it was with cautious optimism that they looked towards the next leg of their journey.
"I still think having eight guards for myself, Glitch and Raw is a little too much," DG murmured from her place between Jeb and Cain, not wanting to offend the others who'd been so good to her. "The whole point of this tour was to try and reacquaint myself with the OZ and its people, not make it obvious I can't just be a normal person."
"Having eight guards didn't seem to make much of a difference to the folk back there," Jeb told her. "They weren't treating you the way I imagine they would do your Mother and Father."
"Or my sister," DG added with a sigh.
"I think they might be more open to Azkadellia now than they were before," Jeb reassured her. "I heard a couple of them talking, Princess. Word of what you said to them this afternoon is getting' round."
Cain made a noise beside her that suggested he still wasn't entirely happy with it but other than the slight tightening of his grip on her hand, he didn't otherwise react.
"I hope so. I just want people to see Az for who she really is, and not for the Witch. It just frustrates me," DG admitted as the group made their way to camp. A quick check of the spell she'd cast told her no one had been there since they'd left she nodded at the question on Jeb's face before continuing their conversation. "Everyone's so quick to forgive me but not Az, and she's been through more than anyone. She had to live through it all and was powerless to stop it. She was imprisoned in her own mind, forced to watch herself do all of that. Can you imagine that? Being a spectator while your hands kill the person you love most in the whole wide world? That's what the Witch did to her."
Cain followed her line of thought better than some of their companions, giving her hand a quick squeeze of silent support. "The Witch made her kill you."
"She was screaming the whole time," DG murmured, closing her eyes against the memory. "In her head. She was screaming and crying but no one could hear her, Cain."
A low grumble from Raw had her opening her eyes to find the Viewer staring at her in concern. "DG take Azkadellia memory."
"I shared it, I couldn't take it." DG shook her head. "I think... Maybe I managed to tone it down a little in her mind but I couldn't take it. I wish I could. I wish I could take it all from her. I would in a heartbeat."
"We know, Deege." Glitch gave her a sympathetic smile, his dark eyes shining. "And so does Azkadee."
Suddenly exhausted from the day's events and the evening's festivities, DG bid them all goodnight and headed straight for her tent, knowing it wouldn't be long before Cain followed her.
She couldn't turn to look at him when she heard his soft footsteps behind her, knowing he'd deliberately made the sound so not to startle her. The man could be a freaking ninja when he wanted to be, sneaking up on her when she least suspected it.
"I'm sorry you felt you had to take Az's memory like that," he said quietly, stopping behind her and setting his hands on her shoulder.
"Shared it," she corrected just as quietly, though lifted a hand to cover one of his. "I thought it couldn't get any weirder having seen her kill me when Raw showed us at the Ice Palace but it was. To see it from Az's eyes, from an outsider's perspective and from my own memory..." She broke off with a shudder. "I don't know if I would be as strong as Az is if I had all those memories in my head, Wyatt. That's just one of them. Yeah, it might be one she struggles with most but the Witch did so many horrible things to so many. My sister has to live with that as if it really were her doing them."
"I can't even begin to imagine the horrors she bore witness to, Deege, but you can't keep blaming yourself for it. You are not the Witch. You didn't make her do those things." He turned her to face him gently, moving a hand to cup her cheek. "You know how strongly you feel about people accepting Az? How protective you are of her and how frustrated you get when you can't do that the way you want to?"
DG gave a small nod, her eyes bright and curious as she leaned into his palm and gazed up at him. "Yes."
"That's how I feel when I hear you blamin' yourself, DG. If I promise to help you convince people that your sister isn't the Witch, will you promise you'll try and not blame yourself?"
"I can promise I'll try," DG said after a pause. She didn't want to make any promises she couldn't keep but she was willing to try if it would make him happy.
Cain pressed a kiss against her forehead. "That's good enough for me. Time to get some sleep, Princess. Tomorrow, we meet the Western Guild."
"If they'll see us," DG pointed out, remembering that their attempts at correspondence had gone unanswered. "No one's seen or heard from them in annuals. It could be we get there and find the Witch destroyed them all."
"Could be," he agreed. "Didn't Azkadellia say anything about them from the Witch's memories?"
"No, she can't access them all. Sometimes the Witch would block things from her as a way of punishing her, reminding her who was in control." DG's heart ached anew fo everything her sister had gone through at the Witch's hand. "We won't know what we're going to find until we get there and see it for ourselves."
Cain grimaced, the thought unsettling him. "Then we best be ready for all possibilities."
She didn't disagree and allowed him to lead her to the cot they would share, settling herself in the circle of his arms and pulling the blanket over them both.
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