CHAPTER 7

The next afternoon, Jeb found himself in the library with DG and Azkadellia. The girls were at the reference table playing a game they called "War" with a stack of colored and numbered cards. He was sitting near the door half-reading Tin Men: A History of the Central City Police Department, and trying to figure out the rules to "War". It didn't seem to be a very war-like game, except for the disgusted sounds DG made when her sister would pick up a number of cards.

Az caught him looking over a couple of times and finally announced, "You know, if you want to learn to play, you could just say so."

"Oh no, I'm just –"

"You haven't turned a page in fifteen minutes." DG interrupted as she handed her cards to Azkadellia for shuffling. She pointed across the table to her sister's left. "Have a seat."

"This game isn't very aptly-named." He stated after a practice round. "It assumes there can only be a battle when two sides have equal numbers. And there's no strategy."

"I don't name the games, I just play them." She turned to her sister. "It's my deal. I swear you're stacking the deck."

Jeb won the next hand, and Azkadellia the one after that. When DG won the third, she declared victory and insisted on a trip outside. Az tried to protest, but the youngest princess wouldn't hear of it.

"You're going to get all pasty pale with no sunlight. Besides, it's about time you saw the garden up close in the sun."

All security personnel had been issued pocket-sized radio communicators that DG had dubbed "walkie-talkies". Jeb stepped into the hall ahead of the girls and informed outdoor guards of the princesses' plans. He got the okay from his father as the sisters exited the library.

DG took Azkadellia's hand and pulled her on excitedly. Az threw a smile over her shoulder at Jeb before matching pace with her sister.

As he kept up behind them, he wondered when it was that he settled into this new life. He had his family, and a job that kept him busy. Friends, too, he supposed. The princesses blurred that line between being his job and being his friends so easily. With DG, it wasn't a problem; he wasn't her personal guard. But Azkadellia had been different. At first, the idea had bothered him, but he came to realize she needed him to be her friend as much as her bodyguard. She needed someone who wouldn't reveal her nightmares or midnight walks. Someone she could talk to freely. Strangely enough, he no longer saw the witch when he looked at her. Her face looked different, besides her hair and wardrobe changes. There was no malice behind her eyes.

He was contented. He didn't yearn for the drifting lifestyle he'd left. Perhaps the whole time he'd spent fighting and wandering, he'd been searching for a place to settle on.

His eyes were on Azkadellia as the trio stepped outside. She paused, looking up at the sky and feeling the warm sunlight on her face.

DG brought her out of her personal moment. "Az? Which ones were from the Papay?"

She hurried ahead to point out the light blossoms.

Perhaps fifteen minutes later, they came upon a stone bench beside the path. Azkadellia took a seat amid DG's story about getting into a fight in grade school.

"And so I told Molly – Az, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's nice out here."

Jeb was feeling warm from the suns and took off his jacket, tossing it beside Az on the bench before rolling up his shirt sleeves.

"Jeb?" He looked down as she picked up a small rectangular object from the ground. It was the harmonica and old resistance fighter had given him years ago. It must have fallen out of his coat pocket. "Do you play?"

"Just a little." He reached to take it, but she turned it over in her hands, dusting it off.

"Would you play something?"

He was about to say no, but she was looking up at him with excited expectation and he was starting to realize he'd do almost anything to make her happy. So he nodded, talking the small instrument as she handed it to him.

The harmonica exhaled a chirp and small bits of dirt when he tested it out. Satisfied that it was clean enough, he started into a jig he played at the camp with a few of the guys the night after the eclipse. Azkadellia stared at him in wonder and DG smiled, pulling her sister up to dance with her. The dancing soon turned to spinning, and the girls laughed, pulling each other around faster and faster. DG dropped out, claiming dizziness, and clapped to the beat while Azkadellia continued.

Jeb thought she looked like she was unaware anyone was watching. She seemed completely unguarded and free: arms out, face turned toward the sky, skirt flowing, long hair fanning out behind her. When he finished, she dropped to the ground, laughing uncontrollably.

--

Az lay there laughing and waiting for the world to stop turning. DG was sitting beside her, giggling, and when she looked up at Jeb, even he laughed.

Then his walkie-talkie crackled to life.

"Jeb, we have a code three, do you read? Code Three."

His expression dropped and he pulled the device from his pocket. "Copy, code three."

Her happy mood evaporated instantly.

"What's going on?" DG demanded.

"We're going inside." He stated simply. "I'll explain later." Grabbing his jacket, he hurried them back inside and upstairs. DG was in the lead and decided to steer them to her quarters, with no resistance from Jeb.

"Simon, code three secure."

"Copy, code three secure." Repeated the voice on the walkie-talkie.

A bad feeling settled in Az's stomach. "Jeb, tell us what's going on."

He looked past both princesses, out DG's sitting room window. "Looks like we have a little situation outside."

The girls turned. A high wall ran the perimeter of the palace grounds, except twelve-foot breaks existed for the roads that went off in the four cardinal directions. In the distance, at the southern entrance, a crowd had gathered. Perhaps 75 people were there, and they appeared to be throwing things at the six palace guards barring their approach. Her remaining spirits sank. She knew why they were here.

Jeb's radio broke the silence.

"Cap'n, this is Robbins. Our guests are gettin' a bit rowdy, sir. We've got rotten vegetables comin' at us now."

Wyatt's voice was recognizable even through transmission static. "On my way now. Vetch and Lawrence, be ready up there, but don't get trigger-happy."

"Copy that, Captain."

Az turned away and sat on the nearest sofa, elbows on her knees and hands covering her face. All of this was happening because of her. She was still bringing trouble to her family, and would continue to do so. DG tried talking to her, but she was tired of nice words that weren't true.

Wyatt managed to disperse the crowd within a half hour. DG realized she wasn't going to be of any help and when Cain returned, she dragged him off to the kitchens for supper. After they had left, Jeb came up next to her and gently took her by the elbows.

"Come on, let's go back to your room."

He helped her to her feet and she gave no protest as he escorted her down the hall, one hand on the small of her back.

Suddenly, she knew what she had to do, and she had to do it now. Walking straight through to her closet, she pulled out several plain, dark frocks and tossed them on her bed. She also pulled out the travel bag she had kept there since the eclipse.

"What are you doing?" Jeb asked from the door.

She didn't stop or look at him, but went to her bureau and took out a handful of stockings. "I have to leave. Everyone knows it, they just feel bad about it."

He stepped into the room and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Where would you go?"

"I don't know. The Northern Island, maybe. No one lives there anymore." She went into the bathroom for a bar of soap and a towel. His voice followed her.

"So you're just gonna run away every time you're found?"

She reentered the room, placing the items in the bag. "Yes."

"What kind of life is that?"

She stood up and finally looked him in the eye. "What kind of life is this? I'm putting everyone here in danger. Just because they're okay with it doesn't make it better." She stepped to the vanity and swept her hair up into a knot at the nape of her neck. Pinning it into place, she murmured. "Besides, it's what I deserve."

All of a sudden, Jeb had whirled her around to face him and when she reached up to push him away, he caught her wrists and gripped them tightly. She struggled but he held fast. His eyes bored into her.

"Stop it. Stop it, Az."

She felt her anger dissolving, and fought the coming onslaught of tears.

"I can't let everyone go through this for me." Drops fell from the corners of her eyes.

The aggressive determination on his face melted.

"I'm bringing this on everyone."

"I'm not letting you leave." He said gently, but definitively.

"Why not?"

"Well, first of all, can you imagine the butt-kicking I will get from my father tomorrow when he finds out you're gone? I'll get stuck with kitchen duty, or worse, he'll put me in charge of your sister."

She let out a half-laugh, half-sob.

"Second, I've been on the run before, and it's not all it's cracked up to be. Third, you've got people here that care about you, and they'd be hurt if you just took off."

She thought of DG. She'd probably run away after her, or some equally half-baked plan. Finally, she couldn't hold it back and collapsed against him, crying in earnest. For several minutes, he just stood there, steadying her while her tears poured out. "I'm just tired of causing so much pain."

"I know."

He spent the night in the large upholstered chair by the bathroom door. She fell asleep more comforted by his presence than any words could have supplied.

I must admit the scene in the garden with the dancing was partly inspired by Chad Kroeger and Santana's "Into the Night".

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