I'm so sorry this took ages to update! I hope that this direction is more satisfying than the possibility of Cain leaving for good! If you like it, let me know!
"All this emotion giving Raw a headache," the lion-man said, rubbing his temples. He sat at a large oval table in the palace meeting room with Azkadellia, Glitch, and DG.
"Sorry," DG said softly.
"Do not apologize for feeling. Raw not used to it, that's all," Raw reassured the younger princess. She wrinkled her nose and Raw backtracked.
"Raw not saying DG emotionless normally, just upset right now."
"It's okay, Raw, I know what you meant," DG said. She stood up but Azkadellia caught her arm.
"Don't look out there. You know you'll see him," Az murmured, as if to keep secret the most obvious thing of all: DG's heart was leaving with the troops in a manner of moments.
"I won't," DG said, gently removing her arm from Az's grasp. "I'm going to the Library. Send for me when it's time for supper."
The youngest Princess left the meeting room slowly, resisting every urge to glance over her shoulder at the Tin Men being inspected in front of the palace. Once the door closed behind her, Glitch waited a whole two seconds before sighing dramatically.
"Well, I for one think that all this build up is completely unfair. Cain went from being a near headcase to one of the highest ranking Tin Men, and all for DG, and now they can't be together. That certainly puts a bee in my bonnet." Glitch crossed his arms and chewed his lip.
"Glitch," Az warned. "Nobody can know about that. We only know because Raw can't keep his mouth shut once he reads something." She raised an eyebrow at the lion-man. "As far as Cain is concerned, we have to do whatever we can to show that the royal family does not play favorites."
"We do if we love people!" Glitch snapped.
"You're not of Gale blood," Raw said.
"And I suppose you are, furball?" Glitch retorted. "Who's your mum, the family Manx?"
Glitch and Raw stood simultaneously, fists raised and prepared to jab. Azkadellia rolled her eyes.
"That is enough. Cain's absence is going to tear DG apart. We can't let it get to us too, or she won't have anybody," Az said.
"I've a mind to bury my head in the occult shelves in the Library," Glitch said.
"You better look up spells for fixing brains," Raw muttered.
"Don't bother DG," Az said.
"I won't. I plan to commiserate with her." Glitch turned on his heel and made it halfway to the door before turning back and snatching the box of facial tissues on the table. "Just in case commiseration means leaking from the eyeballs." The Queen's ex-advisor left the meeting room.
Azkadellia stood as Raw sat back down in his chair, but he quickly stood again.
"Highness must excuse Raw," he said. "Improper to be alone with elder princess."
The elder princess studied Raw's face, which seemed to be slightly matted from nervous sweat. He was afraid of her. It caught her off-guard; lately, people treated her like the princess she was, ceremoniously bowing and addressing her with "your highness" but rarely did she see fear in any of their eyes. Until today, Azkadellia didn't remember a time in recent days that Raw had shown his fear of her, but then, the witch had wronged him and his people in horrendous ways. A witch that wore Azkadellia like a shroud. Or a crown. Raw's fear radiated and Azkadellia hastened to the window so he wouldn't be able to tell that she knew.
"You may go, Raw," she said evenly, but her hidden face twisted in humiliation.
Raw bowed to Azkadellia's turned back and fled the room. She didn't know why Raw's fear hurt her so; perhaps she hadn't let herself dwell on all that she went through, the life that she spent with powerful fingers wrapped around her throat. Nothing beyond the window was in focus as everything welled to the surface. Her mind began rolling through every sordid memory from her possession to the vanquishing of the witch; she saw every soul escaping from her victims, saw every life leave their eyes. Azkadellia flung open the window and emptied the contents of her stomach into the garden below.
The door opened.
"Oh, my apologies," Jeb Cain said, averting his eyes as Az frantically cleaned herself up.
"Lieutenant Colonel," Az gasped, acknowledging Jeb's newly appointed promotion. She felt horrendously embarrassed; tears still poured from her eyes and she had just thrown up out the window. And he had seen her. "It's all right. What is it?"
"Raw said I would find you here," he said softly, taken aback by the feral look in her eye.
"He's afraid of me," she said before she could stop herself. Az slapped a hand over her mouth and slid down the wall as a heavy sob wracked through her chest.
"Whoa, there," Jeb said, going to her side. He helped her move to an armchair beside the table and knelt beside it, producing his own handkerchief from his uniform pocket.
"Don't tell anyone you saw me like this," Az whispered. "Please. Nobody."
"Nobody," he repeated. "I promise."
It was easy in the throws of weakness to let Jeb dry her cheeks. Azkadellia closed her eyes and let him chase away the tears that hadn't yet dropped from her eyelashes. Nobody in her life had truly tended to her or touched her with tenderness. She felt a hesitant finger swipe the soft handkerchief at the corner of her mouth. Az opened her eyes. Jeb's were affixed to the curve of her bottom lip.
"Don't kiss me," she whispered.
Jeb didn't move away, nor did he remove his hand from her face. He wasn't planning on trying to kiss her, he just looked her square in the eye. Azkadellia read no fear there.
"The Queen and Consort wanted to invite you to accompany the escorting party with them as far as the Emerald City," Jeb said. "But you are needed here, which I will tell them. It would not do for you to go on a three day journey when the palace cannot possibly spare you."
"What are you talking about?" Az asked, wishing very much that Jeb would remove his gentle hand from her cheek before she dissolved into tears again.
"Forgive me," he said softly, "Permission to speak freely?"
"Please."
"Neither princess has been able to heal fully… and unless you have contracted Papay Influenza, I think that your sickness is an indication of that. Would I be wrong in thinking so?" Jeb asked.
Azkadellia shook her head slightly. Jeb removed his hand from her cheek and pocketed his handkerchief, despite the fact that it was soaked with salty tears. His next movement betrayed him a little and Azkadellia caught it. Subtly, his eyes flicked to the window and the worry crease between his eyes deepened.
"Did you say goodbye?" Az asked frankly.
"I have many duties in the palace with the changing of the guard; I confess I did not have a chance." Jeb checked his timepiece distractedly.
"He's your father," Az said. The rest of her sentiment went unvoiced.
"Did she say goodbye?" Jeb replied.
Azkadellia didn't answer because Jeb already knew. After Cain told her of his impending deployment, DG had virtually isolated herself from him, even requested a new bodyguard. It didn't take a viewer to know that DG's rejection cut Cain to the core. Jeb had assigned a lesser private to DG's detail, a competent and detached man called Britton. Cain had spent far too much time stalking around Jeb's office. Nobody knew they had kissed, or that he had retracted his affection for her shortly thereafter. DG had called him a coward, and she was right.
Wyatt Cain had been called a lot of things in his 40 years: Ass. Jerk. Jerk Ass. Ozians were creative. Antoine DeMilo had called him a Bibliophile during a raid once. Cain was positive that DeMilo hadn't intended to call him a book lover. The Tin Man had thick skin but every once in a while, somebody zinged him good. His wife had called him 'sweet' before they were married; Adora knew just how to make him blush, and Tin Men do not blush.
When the witch came to power, a whole new side of Cain reared its head. He had a wife and a son to protect; his men called him 'stubborn' and 'deadly' but that didn't faze him. It wasn't until Zero called Cain 'weak' as he held Adora by the throat that Cain was brought to his knees.
Yet, somehow even that hadn't stung as much DG calling him a 'disgrace', 'hopeless'… 'coward.'
Coward. Coward. It echoed in the back of his mind like a chime ticking off the minutes until the troops left Finaqua. As the men awaited the Queen's inspection, many approached Cain to shake the hand of the greatest Tin Man in the realm. Everybody in the Gods-forsaken realm knew of Wyatt Cain! The valiant Tin Man who had single-handedly delivered the lost Princess Dorothy-Gale to the OZ (never mind Raw and Glitch, everybody loves the gun-wielding hero), man. He was a legend. And a coward.
Cain stood at the head of his division and his travelling uniform was chaffing at the collar. He was doing everything he could to focus his eyes on the horizon and stand at attention, but the ever-growing pit in his stomach made him desperate to return to the palace and corner DG, where he could apologize wordlessly. He didn't know what had made him tell her that he wasn't able to give her anything, that he couldn't handle the pressure while he lead the troops abroad. Cain clenched his fists until his nails bit into his palms. He wanted to look over his shoulder to see if she was watching from the balcony, or better yet, from the window where she couldn't fall. The Queen and Consort would be accompanying the troops to the Emerald City and Cain wished DG was going too, but then he reminded himself that he wouldn't have gotten a chance to talk to her anyway.
The Queen and Consort inspected his division and gave high marks for their presentation. Cain's men were the cream of the crop; his men would be solely responsible for guerilla tactics near the four entrances of the Realm of the Unwanted. These men were ruthless and incredibly dedicated, and in spite of his phenomenal performance in the academy, Cain felt his dedication slipping. He doubted his ability to lead these men and remain undistracted.
Just then, as the Queen and Consort moved towards the next division, Cain spied a lithe streak in ill-fitting travel blues, darting behind the medical wagon. He narrowed his eyes and gestured for his second in command, Fellowes.
The lesser man saluted and Cain turned on his heel to investigate. He approached the wagon carefully, as it lay on the outskirts of the presentation. The closest division was nearly fifty yards from the wagon, so it seemed unlikely that one of the men had gone to check on something. Cain put his hand over his gun instinctually as he stepped around the far side of the wagon. A huddled clump sat next to the front wheel.
"Now, don't try anything," Cain warned in a low, terse tone.
The figure wheeled around in surprise and Cain's mouth zipped in a tight line as he saw who really stood before him. Quickly, Cain grabbed the lapel of the intruder's oversized coat and hastened them both behind a nearby tree.
"What do you think you're doing?" Cain growled, his face centimeters from his captive's. Before he knew what was happening, Cain felt her soft lips touch his. A wordless apology. DG wrapped her arms around his neck so he couldn't pull away, and likewise, Cain's arms wound themselves around her waist. Soft kisses turned sensual and open-mouthed as he pressed her against the tree trunk. An abrupt and distant whistle broke Cain's trance and he pulled back from DG. He peeked around the tree quickly to see that the divisions had been given the signal to take up their packs and ready themselves for the walk to the Emerald City.
"I have to go," Cain said.
"I know," DG whispered. "I'm sorry. You're not a coward."
Cain looked down at DG in surprise. "I am a coward."
"No, you're not. I pushed you too far too soon. I want to come with you."
"You can't, you're the crown princess of the OZ – "
"I can! Ozian rule states that the heir to the Ozian throne may serve as Regent to the militia if it is deemed necessary," DG said, grasping Cain's lapels. "You're going to need all the help you can get. I need you. There is no negative to this situation – "
"Except the one, little, tiny thing that you could get killed!" Cain said, stepping back from DG reluctantly.
"Then don't put me on the front lines! I'll work as a medic."
"Your parents will never okay that."
DG sighed. "I can't sit at home in a pretty dress waiting for you to come back in one piece. At least if something happens to you, I could be there to take care of you."
"DG…" Cain too sighed and ran a heavy hand over his hair. "In a perfect world – "
"Tell me you don't want me to come," DG said bluntly.
Cain looked at her and crossed his arms. "I want you to come. I want to be able to watch over you constantly, but I can't do that even if you DO come with. I might not see you for days or weeks at a time and if something happens to you, I can't take care of you."
"I hate how important you are," DG said, but her tone wasn't bratty or demanding. In fact, the only juvenile thing about DG's manner in this whole situation was her method of joining the troops. It was a vastly different experience reasoning with this princess verses the girl Cain had escorted through the realm when they first met.
"Okay. Here's how it's going to be," Cain began.
DG started to smile but Cain held up a hand.
"You can come, IF you go with the accompanying royal carriage AND you get permission from your parents. If you're going to be with me, I want you with me legitimately," he said.
"I want to be with you," she replied, and Cain didn't know if they were talking about the same thing anymore.
Cain wanted to close the conversation with some kind of declaration, but he wasn't about to tell the heir to the Ozian throne that he loved her. However much he felt that, and however relieved he was that they were on good terms again, that word was not one to be taken lightly. The last women he said it to met a heartbreaking end and Cain didn't want to jinx anything.
"May your hearth be warm," DG said.
He couldn't help himself; Cain smiled in surprise. "And your smoke be blue."
DG leaned up to kiss him and then she was gone in a flash, sprinting toward the side door that she had slipped out of in the first place. As Cain watched her go, he couldn't help but feel heaviness on his shoulders, but he shook it off and returned to his division, where Fellowes was waiting with Cain's horse, Cabrio. As he mounted his pinto, Cain hoped that reconciling with DG wasn't a huge mistake. At least if they were fighting, she might have stayed home and safe. But together, on the front lines, they were each other's weakness. If something happened to DG… Cain was fairly certain harm would come to him too, and probably at his own hand. Regret clung to his heart and Cain sighed. The most compromising thing Wyatt Cain had ever done was fall for a princess, and it was about to make his life very dangerous.
A/N: I hope it was worth the wait! I'll try to update more frequently, but it helps to get feedback!