Ambrose had never been one for silence, frankly. Living with half a brain as Glitch had done nothing to help that. Reunited with his other half he felt whole again, thanks in large part because even as the witch, Azkadellia had made sure his brain was preserved just as well as if it had never left his head. He was getting dressed in his rather over-done finery. He had flat out refused to wear the dark red that he had been wearing for more annuls than he could count. So instead he found himself wearing a suite of dark gold bordering on black with lighter gold embroidery. The seamstress gave a nod of approval and stepped back making sure he looked absolutely perfect.
"Done." she announced, "you look like cons--well you look excellent," she said finally.
"Where are you getting your information from?" he asked eyeing her.
"Have you forgotten how the palace works?" she scolded him, "its been a frightful long time since we've had anything good to gossip about," she sighed, "long time since we've had any good cloths to make either," she smiled, "I always said the Princess was possessed, no-one in their right mind would dress like that."
"Ambrose," the Queen walked in, "may we have a moment?" the seamstress nodded and walked out of the room, "you look wonderful," the Queen said, giving him a smile that did not reach her eyes, "I have a matter I need to discuss with you."
"Of course Your Majesty," he said.
"You and my daughter, you are courting again?" she asked, he nodded slowly, "are you sure that is such a good idea?" he gave her a puzzled look but did not open his mouth, not sure where she was going with this, "the first time you two courted it was because of the hope her father and I had that a childhood friend would save her, could save her," she sighed, "I am happy for the both of you but I do not want to see either of you get hurt, not because of something we did."
"I think you've done quite enough," he said, his dark eyes blazing with the kind of fury that the Queen had never seen before, "I stayed with you, all those years, not because I wanted to but because of my father and because Azkadellia made me swear to. If she hadn't nothing could have moved me from her side. I tried everything I could think of to save her, if there was a way I could have I would have in a heartbeat but there was nothing I could do. You may have orchestrated our betrothal but I loved her long before she was possessed and that has nothing to do with you."
"Ambrose," the Queen protested, her lavender eyes confused.
"You know how you felt watching what she went through?" he said, anger in his voice, "the horror at never knowing thats what she was going through? Well I knew that horror long before you did, I watched her fade little by little, fighting all the way. I held her in my arms when she died, I watched the light go out in her eyes while you sat on the throne pining over the daughter of light that you hid away. You chose one daughter over the other and now you are trying to tell me that you don't think its a good idea? Well excuse me if I do not particularly care what you think. I love your daughter, more than you can ever know and its going to take a lot more than your 'worry' to keep me from her side."
"Your Majesty?" one of Jeb's guards came inside, "I heard yelling, is everything okay?"
"Yes," the Queen said, "everything's fine," Ambrose gave a curt nod, "thank you," the guard nodded and slipped back outside, "is that what you think of me? That I chose one daughter over the other?" her voice broke, "I did," she covered her mouth with her hand, "I did because I knew that if DG could come back, she would find a way to save her sister--"
"She was a child! You put that kind of responsibility on a child!"
"I had no choice!" the Queen cried, "the witch was strong, stronger than any of us could have thought. Ahamo and I are from two different worlds, that makes our children very strong, stronger if there are two of them. But Azkadellia, she's always been very strong, stronger than DG, that's why the witch wanted her. I did the only thing I could, sending DG away. I gave my life to try and protect my daughter, the only one that I could protect," she looked away, "but you are right, I did chose to save DG when I could have saved Azkadellia, I just wanted both my daughter's be alive in some capacity. I don't think you could understand that until you have children."
"Maybe not," he agreed, "but I do understand that I love your daughter and I always will, no matter what," he looked at the door, "Guards," he called loud enough for them to hear him and come inside, "we're done here, escort the Queen back to her chambers."
It was an odd thing, DG decided, getting ready for a ball. For one, there were about a hundred girls who seemed to only be there and give their opinions on dresses--which was silly because she only had one to wear--while others pulled at her hair and did her makeup until she felt quite unlike herself. Her savior had come in the form of Azkadellia who, despite being free of the curse, still managed to scare pretty much everyone when she wanted too. DG breathed out and hurried over to her sister.
"Thank you," she said weakly, "they were driving my crazy."
"They're like Mobats," Azkadellia said with a shake of her head, "hovering endlessly just waiting for their turn to sink their claws in," she sighed, "look at you, you look like a doll."
"I know," DG said with a sigh looking mournfully in the mirror at her heavily painted face and mile-high hair, "I'm not very good at the girl things."
"Fortunately I am," Azkadellia said guiding DG to the chair at the vanity and seating her, "now close your eyes," she said wetting a cloth and gently wiping at DG's face, "so, I understand you've got Mr. Cain as your bodyguard now."
"Yeah, he's always protecting me--" she heard the distinct sound of Azkadellia laughing and opened an eye to glare at her but her sister tapped her lid with the makeup brush she was holding and DG closed her eye again, "what's with the laughter?"
"You haven't noticed the way he looks at you?" Azkadellia asked brushing color onto DG's eyelids, "like every time he sees you he's fighting a battle not to grab you and kiss you senseless."
"Well he's winning that one," DG muttered angrily.
"The battle maybe but not the war," Azkadellia said, "open your lips," she instructed painting color on them with a small brush, "and now for your hair," she pulled the elaborate twists out of DG's hair and went to work with a dark silver brush. Finally she twisted some strands up and pinned them back with a few dark silver combs scattered with dark red gemstones. She turned her sister to face the mirror, "there. You look wonderful," DG was struck by how much she looked like herself. The makeup worked with her features, making them seem more dramatic without making her look like a doll. Her hair looked a lot like how she normally wore it, just a bit more ornamental with the combs.
"Thanks Az," she said, "I look like a Princess."
"With good reason," Azkadellia said firmly, "you are a Princess," she looked in the mirror with her sister, "and every Princess needs a Prince."
"If it was up to me--" she stopped, "he's not ready for someone new, he just lost his wife and--" Azkadellia put a finger on DG's freshly painted lips.
"You can give me every excuse in your mind," she said, "but we both know they're just excuses and the two of you are quickly running out of them rather quickly."
"I'm not making excuses," DG protested, "I'm telling the truth here," she said, "he's the one that's not ready to move on."
"Well I need to go and get ready," Azkadellia said standing up. She stopped at the door, "you should know though, that he pitched his wedding ring off the south balcony today," DG opened her mouth, "he almost hit one of the guards with it."
The ball promised to be an affair that everyone remembered. From his vantage point in one of the shadows, Jeb Cain observed everything. He was wearing what was now the official uniform of the Guard, a dark red tunic that blended almost perfectly with the wallpaper and a pair of even darker pants. He felt invisible against the wall which was exactly how he wanted to feel. Almost invisible against the dark red of his tunic, pinned just under his neck was a dark gold badge that made it known he was the leader. Thrust into the scabbard around his waist was a sword, or to be more precise, it was Zero's sword. How it had been recovered he did not know but he had taken it, both to remind himself of what had been lost and because before it had become a warped tool it had been the official sword of the Queen's Guard.
"Her Highness, Queen Mother of the Kingdom of the Outer Zone, Prince Consort Ahamo," the herald announced as the Queen in a garb of lavender to match her eyes was escorted by her husband down the stairs of the ballroom.
Queen mother, not the ruling monarch. From the look on everyone's face this was not how the night was supposed to start. From the look on the Queen and King's face, they had planned this. Jeb cast his eyes upwards, looking for the remaining people to enter. They all seemed as shocked at this turn of events. Azkadellia looked like someone had physically struck her. DG took her hand and nodded her encouragement, saying something in a low voice. Jeb shook his head, Cain and Ambrose were in for the shock of their lives when they saw the two girls.
"Her most royal Highness Princess," the herald frowned but continued at the Queen's nod, "Her most royal Highness Princess DG of the Kingdom of the Outer Zone, Bodyguard Wyatt Cain."
Cain had been left speechless few times in his life, this was one of them. The basic dress he had seen her in did not do anything for her, not like the one she was wearing. The dress had two layers, the inner of a dark purple bordering on black. The second was of a lighter but still rich purple, split in the middle to reveal the darker color which also appeared on the capped sleeves of the dress. Her hair was down, framing her face with parts of it held back by two garnet combs. She seemed just as surprised to see him and he fought the urge to tug at his dark grey vest that matched his pants and jacket, the hints of a white tunic underneath just barely visible. He had almost killed the seamstress when she showed him something with ruffles.
"You look--" he cleared his throat, "you look beautiful," he said and she blushed all the way up to the roots of her hair.
"Thank you," she said, "you look very nice yourself," she added as he offered his arm.
"You're going to make me blush," he said.
"Don't do that, I'm doing it enough for the both of us," she said as they moved down the staircase.
"They look pretty," Raw said from beside Jeb. He was combed until he shined and looked very good as well, "pretty and happy."
"They do," Jeb said, "you feeling anything?"
"Just happy," Raw said.
"Don't go getting all buzzed off everyone's emotions," he said, "I need you to see if you feel anything odd. I've got more eyes in this place than I thought possible but you can see without looking."
"Raw can," he looked over, "Kalm can too."
Kalm had come, stoutly saying that he wanted to help even if he couldn't really understand what he was helping. Still Jeb had welcomed him with open arms, glad to have as many hands on deck as he could. Above them the herald banged twice on the ground with his staff and opened the doors, announcing the appearance of the monarch. Jeb ought back the feeling of fear inside of himself and wondered if the Queen was being a little hasty in making Azkadellia queen without so much as a month behind the release from her possession. Still, Azkadellia had proven herself to be much stronger than anyone thought. From what he knew of possessions the person was lucky if they could feed themselves after being released for much shorter amounts of time, let alone most of their life.
"Presenting Her Majesty, Queen Azkadellia of the Kingdom of the Outer Zone," the herald said, "Consort Ambrose of the House of the Northern Isles."
Azkadellia appeared at the stairs, wearing a gown of royal blue. It was a halter neck, not nearly as low as the cloths they were used to seeing her in. The dark fabric looked wonderful against her pale skin. The skirt skimmed the floor in a wave of satin but left her back bare until her lower back. Her hair was shorter as well, falling to just above her shoulders, releasing her from the last confinements of the Witch. Ambrose was almost speechless except that he had been referred to by the word Consort. He looked down at the Queen who mouthed an apology which he nodded his acceptance at. He turned to Azkadellia bowing deeply and extending his arm.
"Your Majesty," he said. She curtsied in response and took it.
"Don't go all formal on me now Ambrose," she said as they walked down the stairs, "especially not if you're my consort," she lowered her voice, "I don't sleep with men who call me by my title and I certainly don't marry them."
"Oh really Az?" he said resisting the urge to grin, "so we're getting married now are we?"
"Well you tell me," she said.
"If you insist," he said unable to keep the grin off his face any longer.
"You're going to have to do a proper proposal," she said, even though her lips were in a grin.
"I think I can do that," he said, "if we make it through tonight."
"Well lets hope," she said.
Jeb kept his eyes, scanning waiting to see if anyone was going to try anything. His men were covering the room like a blanket, if anyone so much as stuck a hand in their pocket they were close behind them, but not too close. Jeb had given them a rather strict talking to, saying that if they breathed down the person's neck, they'd know something was up. So his men were close but not close enough to scare anyone. Even so, he was worried that someone was going to try something. The entrance had been fine but there was one last major area of worry.
The Waltz.
It was one of those backwards traditions that never seemed to make much sense. The royal family would waltz with their consorts and he had a very unsettling idea that someone was going to try and kill someone during the dance. His men had moved in around the dancers, keeping their eyes peeled for anyone that might try to harm a member of the family. A third of the eyes were on the Queen and Ahamo, a third on Ambrose and Azkadellia, but everyone seemed to know that if anyone tried anything they were going to be beaten to a pulp. The rest of their eyes were on DG and Cain. Despite everything Jeb felt his lips pull into a smile at the sight of his father dancing with DG.
He had only spent a few months in the tin suite and he was half crazy when they got him out. His father had spent years in it and DG had saved him. When he saw them dancing together he realized that she had saved him in more ways than one. He remembered when he was a child, his father used to dance with his mother to music only they could hear. In the ballroom, there was music everyone could hear. The wooden floor of their home was now a marble ballroom in another home. But the look in his father's eyes--and that of the woman in his arms--was the same.
"I didn't know you could dance like this," DG said as Cain guided her around the dance floor, "you make me look like I can dance."
"Well then I'm better than I knew," he said pushing her gently into a spin before she came back into his arms.
DG looked at their clasped hands and realized something was missing. The wide silver band that Cain had wore the entire time she knew him was gone off his finger. Azkadellia had told her so but she hadn't really believed her until she saw for herself that his finger was bare. There was an imprint of the band but that was going to fade as well. Cain followed her gaze and knew what she was looking at.
"It was time," he said after a moment, knowing what she was about to ask, "I let her go when was in that suite."
DG nodded, not really knowing what to say. They danced in silence for a bit before she tried to talk again.
"Az and Ambrose seem really happy," she said looking at her sister and Ambrose who did, indeed, seem very happy.
"He's a deep well," Cain said with a shake of his head, "they're suited for each other," he continued.
"its still sweet," she said looking over at them before looking back at him, "two people, separated for all that time and coming back together."
"You don't always have to be separated to find the one you love," Cain said looking down at her, "sometimes they're right in front of you," his voice had gone soft, "all along."
DG swallowed, knowing he was going to kiss her. The world seemed to go all soft and fuzzy, like it had decided to take a step back and allow them their perfect moment. And then music ended and the world seemed to speed up again. They broke apart quickly, long enough for some other royalty to sweep in and ask the pleasure of a dance. Cain bowed, she curtsied and he walked off to vanish into the crowd, leaving the guards to watch her. DG looked up at the man she was dancing with and tried not to burst into tears. Sensing a problem coming up, Jeb signaled two of the guards and walked onto the dance floor.
"May I cut in?" the man looked at him like he was dirt until his eye caught the insignia on his shoulder and the sword at his waist. He backed up as Jeb began to dance with DG, "I'm not as good as my father at this," he said, "but I think that guy was about to make a move on you and as your captain of security I have to tell you I think that's a threat."
"Do you now?" DG asked, her lips pulling into a poor imitation of a smile. Jeb caught the eye of a man who nodded at one of the balcony doors closing softly, "what?"
"He's on the third balcony," he said nodding at the door, "go after him," Jeb instructed.
"But--" DG began to protest.
"What? What could possibly make you think that going after him is not a good idea? Someone so much as breaths the wrong way and my guards are going to be on them faster than you can blink. You two are happy together, only a blind man can see that and from what I've heard both your sister and Raw have threatened his life if he hurts you so unless you want a dead Tin Man on your hands I suggest you go out there," she could barely say anything, "sometimes the Princess needs to save her would-be Prince," he said nudging her, "go on."
DG nodded and picked up her skirts, hurrying through the crowd and towards the balcony doors. Jeb nodded in satisfaction and slipped back through the crowd un-noticed. Raw was sneaking over to the balcony. He caught the Viewer with his eyes and the Viewer gave a sheepish shrug before heading back into the ballroom. DG walked out of the room and closed the door behind her, forcing the two of them to be alone. If Cain heard her come out onto the balcony he did not say anything.
"Cain--" he began.
"Do you know I've been threatened twice in the past few days not to hurt you," he said, "if I stay away I hurt you, if I get to close I hurt you, I don't know how not to hurt people. I've never been good at the feeling part, even when I was married to Adora, even when I was a father to Jeb, I was never good at showing what I felt," he turned around, "when I was in that suite I made two promises, one that I was going to get revenge on Zero no matter what and two, that I wasn't going to be so afraid to show what I felt."
"How are those going?" she asked.
"I locked Zero in a tin suite when I was back with Jeb, the evil witch has been defeated--I had my revenge. The second part, not so well," he sighed, "you know when you saved me from that suite, its been the only thing that I can think about. The first thing I saw, in more annuls than I could keep track of was you, you saving me, someone who you never met."
"i would do it again," she said.
"You belong with a good person, DG," he said, "someone whose whole, someone whose young, whose got something to offer you, someone who deserves you."
"Okay first off who are you to say that you aren't a good person. I couldn't have done half the things I did without you," he opened his mouth but she barreled on over him, "you may not be whole but neither am I. You know what I learned? Two halves make a whole, not two wholes. You aren't that old, not in my opinion and you've been locked in a tin suite for like eight years which means you can subtract eight from whatever massive number you're thinking of. I don't care about what anyone has to offer me, but if you want to know you offer me comfort, you offer me kindness, in your arms is just about the only place I feel safe. And I am not something to be deserved, like a reward," she said breathing hard, "but if someone did deserve me, it would be you."
"What am I supposed to say to that DG?" he demanded spinning around and facing her. She had snuck up on him so that they were very close and when he turned around, she was standing almost toe to toe with her.
"Tell me you don't love me," she demanded, "no, you know what, tell me that you don't want to know if you could love me. Tell me that you don't want to know if we could be--" she sighed, "something."
"Of course I want to find out," he said, "but you can't always get what you want."
"Why not?" she asked, her eyes very bright, "Az said you were running out of excuses but I guess not fast enough," she walked over to the door, hoping he'd stop her.
"DG," he said finally. She felt hope inside her but didn't turn around, "I'm sorry," he said after a moment.
DG felt her heart break at that moment. Suddenly it hurt to breath, everything hurt so much. Dimly she realized that something stung on her hand and she looked down at her fingertip to see a few drops of red clinging to her finger, like she had pricked her hand on a needle. Her heart thudded duly in her ears as she looked down at her fingertip. Opening her mouth, she found it dry. Slowly she turned around to face him.
"Wyatt?" she whispered, her voice hoarse.
Cain's eyes widened when she whispered his first name. Turning around he saw her looking at him, her face paling. She had her hand out, a few drops of red clung to her fingertip. His mouth went dry, everything seemed to slow down in the one terrible moment when her knees gave out. He lunged forward, managing to catch her and ease her to the ground, her skirts pooling out around them like a stain. He clutched her against him, his eyes searching her face desperately.
"DG?" he demanded, his voice coming out like a plea. Nothing happened, her eyes remained closed, "DG! No, don't do this," he lowered his lips until they were right by her ear, "I'm so sorry," he said, "if you can hear me--" he stopped, before continuing, "I do love you, I have since the moment you saved me. Please, don't go, please."
He was so wrapped up he didn't hear Jeb calling for help or Azkadellia's scream of fear, he hear nothing but the slowing beat of DG's heart and the racing of his own as he did something he had not done in years.
He prayed.