CHAPTER 6

A knock on her door woke Azkadellia from the first dreamless sleep she'd had on her own. A glance at the clock revealed, shockingly enough, that it was nearly noon. She quickly wrapped her shawl around herself and answered the door.

Jeb stood there, holding a tray from the kitchen. "I've been told you take your meals here."

"It's so late! Why didn't you wake me earlier?"

"I'll only apologize if you can look me in the eye and say it's not the only decent night's sleep you've had in a while."

When she hesitated, he handed her the tray. "I thought so. Eat something and get ready. We've got a meeting in 45 minutes."

At half past noon, she found herself seated between Jeb and DG at a security meeting. Her parents and the leaders of the palace guard were there, as well. Az was nervous. She had been avoiding people for five days, and now she was in a room full of them. DG reached over and laced her fingers lightly between her sister's.

Wyatt Cain, seated on DG's other side, began the meeting in his usual, to-the-point way.

"All right. Our concerns today are that the remaining resistance leaders are leaving today, and that Her Majesty has expressed a desire to visit Central City."

Az looked wide-eyed down the table at her mother.

"I cannot remain holed up in the palace. The people need to see me. They need to know who's back in charge." The queen explained.

Wyatt continued. "This presents us with two issues. First, the queen's safety on the trip. The Prince Consort will be accompanying her, of course, and two of her regular detail: Jenkins and Saylor. Reg Stanton has assured me he can spare a few of his men for the job once they reach the city. What is of more concern to me is that word about Princess Azkadellia is going to spread as the representatives leave. We're going to have to tighten up around here, even though we'll be two men short."

DG gave Az's hand a squeeze.

"All palace staff will be issued identification. Everyone entering the grounds must be checked. We can't afford to have anyone slip through the cracks."

A sense of guilt settled over Azkadellia. All this fuss, extra rounds, extra hours, all because of her.

"Why don't you just send me away?" she blurted out. Suddenly all eyes were on her. "It would be a lot easier on everyone."

It was her mother that answered. "That is not an option." She stated firmly. "Ten thousand other practical reasons aside, we will not keep you running from place to place like a fugitive convict. End of discussion."

As the tactical planning continued, DG leaned over. "Don't worry, think of all the time we'll have to play cards." She whispered. "I've got some new games to teach you."

She managed an appreciative smile at her younger sister, but couldn't shake the feeling that she was forcing a ton of extra work on everyone.

After the meeting, the princesses walked back toward their quarters together.

"Mother and Dad leave tomorrow morning. They told me earlier they want a 'family dinner' tonight. They're even willing to let me wear pants in the dining room."

"Oh, I don't know, Deeg."

"You are not getting out of this one if I'm not, Az." DG opened the lock on her sister's door and dragged her through the sitting room into the bedroom. Closing the door, she pointed at the closet.

"Pick out something pretty. I'm doing your hair. You're coming out of hiding and you're gonna look good."

Az looked around in her closet. Her mother had instructed the seamstress to make her a whole new wardrobe, but she had been sticking to very plain, dark colored dresses. She pulled out a navy blue one and showed DG.

"Too boring. It's dinner, not a funeral." Her sister went back to rummaging through her vanity. "Geez, everything in here is black."

Az put a hand on her hip. "I don't see why I have to dress up if you're just wearing those."

DG looked up again, meeting the challenge in her sister's eyes. "You're saying you'll dress up if I do."

Azkadellia grinned mischeviously.

Her sister narrowed her eyes. "I get to pick your dress. And I get to tell Cain I lost a bet."

"Agreed."

She stalked past Az into the closet. Browsing all the way to the back, she pulled out a soft yellow, empire-waist gown.

"Modest enough for you, colorful enough for me. Now grab a pair of shoes and let's go to my room. You have no fun hair stuff."

The girls zipped past two bewildered Cains and sprinted to DG's quarters. Az noticed for the first time that DG always walked through her sitting room to get to her bedroom, too. The younger princess went into her closet and returned with a knee-length, cornflower blue dress.

"Deeg, that's lovely!"

"Yeah, I've been looking at it for a couple days and decided it was the least objectionable one in there. It goes easy on the frills. Don't expect to see me in heels, though. High-heeled shoes were responsible for my near-death experience at Prom."

DG sat Az down and spent the next half hour on her hair. She brushed it out, parted it in two, and "French-braided" it. She even pulled some thin yellow ribbon from a drawer and braided it into the dark locks. It was completely different from anything Az had down before, but she had to admit she liked it.

"Okay, we're gonna use just a little bit of makeup now. Don't worry, no caked-on eyeliner and mascara."

DG was able to prepare herself relatively quickly and they were putting on their shoes when Wyatt gave knock on the door.

"All right, ladies, playtime's over. Your parents are waiting in the dining room."

The sisters smiled at each other.

"Ready?" Az asked.

"Let's go."

--

Jeb really needed to practice keeping a flat affect. When DG opened the door and she and Azkadellia stepped out, he had at least three full seconds of the "wide-eyed idiot" look before he got himself back under control. Of course, Azkadellia had to have been looking right at him before she bit her lower lip and cast her eyes down shyly. She looked…pretty.

"No allergic reaction? I'd better call the Central City Courier; this is front page news."

His father's sarcasm drew Jeb's attention to DG who was, in fact, in a dress. She held up a finger in his face.

"I lost a bet, and I don't want to hear it." Grabbing her sister's hand, she walked out into the hall.

With a shrug, Wyatt turned and Jeb followed him down to the dining hall.

He was sure the eldest princess hadn't been this happy in a long time. Her parents made a fuss over her as soon as she entered the room and she'd been attempting to suppress a grin all evening. Sometimes, when the conversation turned to DG, the grin would slip out and she'd sneak a glance toward the side door, where he was standing silently and unobtrusively. She seemed so ridiculously happy; he found it hard not to smile back.

As they walked back to her rooms after supper, she chattered on. She was talking so fast, he didn't know most of what she was talking about. But her excitement was bubbling over, so he nodded along. When she started talking with her hands, he tried unsuccessfully to stifle a laugh.

Her bright eyes turned to him. "What?"

"Nothing."

"What?"

"It's nothing. You're just –"

"Just what?"

"You're never this happy. It's contagious."

She eyed him carefully, not sure how to take the comment.

"It's a good thing. I promise. It's like you –" he stopped, realizing it was probably unprofessional to tell her she lit up the room. Az would have none of it.

"What? Oh, come on." She tugged on his sleeve. "What?"

Mildly unnerved by her touch, he finished the sentence differently as he unlocked the door.

"It was good to see you enjoying yourself, Your Highness."

She followed him in. He knew she didn't believe that was his original thought, but she didn't push it.

"I hate being called 'Your Highness'." She confessed. "That's what people call me with they're afraid of my name. Does my name bother you, Jeb?"

"No." he answered honestly. He'd referred to her as Azkadellia in his head often, he just used terms implying more respect when actually speaking with her.

"Would you be comfortable calling me Azkadellia? I'd like it much better, I think."

He nodded.

She smiled in her reserved way. "Thank you. Good night, Jeb."

"Good night, Prin – Azkadellia."

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