Cain walked into Alex's home and sat on one of the chairs in the living room.
"I was a body guard of DG's right after you left. I witnessed a lot of the stuff she went through. I thought your son would come after me. And pummel me."
"I am not going to fight you. I just want to know what is going on."
"Well, that's good. My wife would kill me if you did." Alex's eyes sparkled with humor.
"You were a bodyguard?" Cain asked.
"Yes. When I started, all I knew was I had to protect DG from outside forces. I never imagined some of the stuff I had to experience." He shook his head. "The Queen is the most conniving bitch I have ever had the displeasure of meeting."
"Really?"
"Yes. I wrote a diary of all that happened when I was there, as I do for all my jobs. My father had done the same before me and I followed that tradition." He got up and crossed the room to the small row of books on the wall. He pulled one off the shelf and handed it to Cain. "Keep it. Burn it after, I don't care. I don't want anything to do with the Queen anymore. You know she paid me 400?"
"A week?" Cain asked in disbelief.
"Yeah."
"Her country is in rebuild. She can't spend that much money on that!" Cain said incredulously.
"I know."
"What else do you know?"
"I don't know everything. You'll have to get that from DG. All I know is what I overheard. And one incident that I had to participate in."
"What happened?"
"Well, DG had been rebelling against her parents." Cain sighed inwardly. She was holding her own until they broke her. Good. "And the Queen ordered me into the room with the Princess, Queen and Prince Consort." He paused and avoided eye contact. "They had me hold DG's arms to her side and make sure she didn't move while they threw her art. Everything into the fireplace. She cried and thrashed and sobbed until she had nothing left. They burned everything. Her sneakers, her Otherside clothes, her pencils, her paper and all of her art that she made. They threw everything away. I had to hold her until she weakened and almost fell to her knees. Then the Queen spoke to her."
"What did she say?"
"She said, "Cain and Raw aren't coming back. Face it. You're alone here, until we marry you off after my darling daughter is married.' DG just nodded and the day after that she submitted to corsets and I quit."
Cain sat back, thinking back on all that Alex told him. Her mother burned the things that DG cared about most and crushed her dreams. And forbid her from seeing Cain and Raw. But why? Why would the Queen possibly want to control her daughter like that?
"Why did she do that to DG?" Cain asked quietly, flipping through the diary nonchalant.
"You gave her hope. But after you left, Raw got sent away. She didn't have anyone treat her like a person. She needed a form of freedom. She is strong. Took the Queen months to wear her down."
"Months?"
"Yeah, the princess is stronger than she looks. She endured a lot of tortures. It was amazing. But she shouldn't have had to go through that. She was so kind to the children and the people of the castle. She was very liked and Princess Azkadellia was getting involved with Ambrose and DG stopped her mother from sabotaging their relationship."
"They're engaged and Az's pregnant."
"At least they're happy."
"They are."
"Listen, Cain. There are lots of stuff I didn't see. She'll have to tell you about it. But the worst thing was when they burned her art. I could see your face burning in the fire. She couldn't stop drawing you. She kept having nightmares about you dying. It wasn't fair to you and it wasn't fair to her at all. She kept calling out your name in the middle of the night."
"Really?"
"Yes. It was heartbreaking. I quit soon after that. My wife was pregnant anyways." A woman dressed in a cotton robe walked down the stairs. Alex rose to greet his wife with a kiss on the forehead. Her eyes closed in contentment.
"Who is at the door?"
"It's Wyatt Cain."
"Princess DG?" It was kind of ironic that she associated those names with each other so quickly.
"She's out. She's safe. She is getting her friends back." The wife relaxed.
"Thank Ozma." Alex wrapped an arm around her waist and squeezed her ribs.
"How are you doing?"
"A little morning sickness. I am used to it. Don't worry." She pressed a kiss to his lips and retreated upstairs as she heard a baby's cry.
"That's my daughter Allison. She's got a pair of lungs on her." Alex said proudly.
"I got a son, jeb."
"Any relation to Jeb Cain, official bodyguard of DG Gale?"
"The very same."
"You must be proud."
"I am."
"I'll bet. My wife and I have no secrets. I hope you don't mind. Alyssa is very affectionate toward the Princess." Alex said cautiously.
"It's okay. She has that effect on people."
"She visited once when Lyss was pregnant. Snuck out with Jeb. She gave Alyssa a pink rattle. Said she made it herself." He laughed at the memory. "Alyssa was tickled pink."
"DG always thinks of others first, herself second."
"I can see that."
"It drives me crazy."
"I can tell." He could tell that Cain was very affectionate towards the younger Princess. And therefore more angry at her parents than Alex was.
"Well, Mr. Forge. Thank you for the book. I shall read it and help DG as much as I can."
"She might not admit it. But she missed you terribly. And she doesn't want you to hurt as much as she had. That streak of hers will get in the way of that."
"I am just as stubborn as her."
"Let's hope you're right."
