If Jeb had been concerned before he was positively terrified now.

His head had come up expectantly at the sound of the door opening, only it wasn't DG coming out…or even Alisha to kick his ass for getting her into trouble…

Michelle and Candice spotted him and gave each other amused smirks before racing down the hall and splitting up to rouse the other two rooms of maids.

Jeb's jaw nearly dislocated as a veritable mob of woman turned the corner a moment later, all talking excitedly in low tones.

What in the name of an estrogen-overloaded hell was going on now?

He stood up a little straighter as Erin narrowed her eyes on him and approached, the other women ignoring him as they began filtering into the room behind her.

"Ms. Erin." Jeb said nervously and inclined his head in greeting.

"Young Mr. Cain…" Erin said as she clasped her hands in front of her and tilted her head back at him disapprovingly. "So nice to see you upright for a change." She said with an arched brow and he cleared his throat, averting his eyes from hers at all costs.

See a few days prior Erin happened to have the extraordinarily traumatic bad luck of catching Jeb receiving one of those…turn-down services…and she'd been tormenting him about it mercilessly ever since. Truth be told she wasn't really all that upset by it, but watching him squirm under her gaze these days was nothing if not exquisitely entertaining.

"Sinner…" Erin said under her breath as she turned away and Jeb winced.

She entered the room and closed the door behind her, shaking her head at the scene that awaited her. There were nearly thirty of the women all crammed into the bedchamber, the floor and every bed covered with them and the Princess herself seated at the back beside Alisha.

"So we're to be planning a hostile takeover of the Tin Man's free will this evening, I gather." She said over the chattering and Alisha smirked, motioning for her to step around the huddled masses and join them.

Rhonda moved up behind Alisha as she scooted closer to DG and Flo and patted the bed beside her. "Maybe not hostile…I mean don't get me wrong she's free to be as aggressive and kinky in the sack with him as her little heart desires once she gets in those pants but for now…" Alisha grinned as Erin rolled her eyes in that beloved mock disapproval that she had been fishing for.

"Alright, so what do we have?" Chelsea asked as she dug a notebook out of the dresser behind her and began taking notes.

Sarah clapped and laughed at their little organization. "Oh this is wonderful; it's like the first meeting of the 'Schtupe the Tin Man Association'!"

Jen snorted a laugh and spoke in a voice-over style tone. "The women of the OZ unite for…Operation: Tag the Tin Man."

Alisha grinned. "No, no…I got it… the OZ version of the SPCA….we're the 'Society for the Prevention of Cain's Abstinence'."

Rose was gasping for air and clutching her stomach. "The Society for the Procurement of Cain's Ass!"

It took a few moments for the laughter to stop after that one.

"As entertaining as this is," Erin cut in and Alisha smiled over at her, their very own 'balancing force of maturity' coming to the rescue. "We need to focus on the facts. DG, firstly it's wonderful to see you down here, darling. I trust the girls aren't scaring you too badly."

DG shook her head and grinned. "Not at all, I forgot what it was like to smile inside the palace."

Alisha arched a brow and smirked. "Nice to hear we're making progress on those walks after all, little miss 'smiling outside the palace'."

DG winced that she'd just given up that bit of information…she was taking a big risk trusting these girls…

If rumors started that they had done anything improper out there then Wyatt could get into trouble…serious trouble…

The thought very effectively wiped the smile right off of her face.

"Soooo…judging by your reaction I'd say we're going to leave that subject alone for now." Lisa said with a reassuring smile and cast Alisha a meaningful look. From her position beside the Princess Alisha hadn't been able to see the emotion that had just passed over DG's features and winked at Lisa in appreciation for the heads up.

Alisha smiled and gave DG's hand a squeeze of understanding. "We'll just leave it as Wyatt isn't quite so Wyatt while you two are out there and move along."

DG breathed a sigh of relief and smiled over at her new blonde friend.

With an arched brow Alisha looked out at the group of girls, making sure to meet each of their eyes as she spoke. "As if I need to say this, what goes on in this room stays here. Anybody opens their mouth to anybody NOT present right now is going to have the wrath of the rest of us to deal with. Understood?" Everyone nodded in agreement and Alisha sighed. "Good, because I can guarantee if all of us get pissed off the one who ran their mouth would be out there daily praying for a travel storm to come along so they could get away from us."

The group all muttered that if somebody did rat they'd be lucky if they got away to wish for anything.

"So we start with the basic plans of attack. Firstly, DG baby…" Flo sighed as she rolled her eyes and smirked. "I know you love those jeans and that leather jacket of yours but we've got to primp you up and make that man's head spin on a more regular basis. For your walks I can see rocking the jeans and boots, but during the week let's start changing things up a bit." Flo said and DG thought about it for a moment.

"I don't want to wear a big frou-frou dress, they make me wear them when the suitors are here and that's bad enough." She finally whimpered and Flo laughed.

"Oh sugar, there are plenty of other things we can come up with. Your mother doesn't always wear those ostentatious gowns, either. There are more form fitting and relaxed dresses, which I think will be a major eye-catcher for our Tin Man. Something feminine but still down to earth."

DG grinned at the idea, she wasn't one for dresses, but the thought of Cain's reaction to her wearing one made it worth a try.

"And makeup, you've got those big blue eyes and dark lashes…there are a million ways to make those things demand attention. Stick with me and Jaime and we'll have him swooning every time you look him in the eye." Bee said and DG nodded her agreement.

"Also, your birthday celebration is coming up next week." Janet said and all the ladies muttered that it was a good point. "They're planning on throwing a gala event since it is your first birthday at home after so long and have decided to make it a masquerade ball."

Flo was clapping and bouncing up and down on the bed now and Alisha grinned, leaning closer to the Princess and shielding her mouth as if she was telling a secret. "DG, you are in luck, sweets. Flo over there lives for this stuff."

"Oh my God…Oh my God…" Flo said, fanning herself to try and keep calm at the prospect of designing the costume. "Leanne, honey…you and I are on this one, girl."

Leanne laughed. "Got it, it won't be the first time I have to sketch one of the creations of your mind. I'll just make sure I bring a ton of paper this time to keep up with your descriptions."

The hours passed by with Jeb still out in the hall on guard. It wasn't a major change from what he would have been doing anyway, but the marked difference was he had no idea what could possibly be going on in that room.

At first he'd been relieved when the time elapsed made it apparent that DG wasn't reprimanding Alisha for her words….but now his stomach was tensed with a sense of impending doom. He got the strangest feeling that evil was afoot beyond the door and the occasional outbursts of laughter told him mischief was being plotted. The thought of the combined deviousness of all of these women was enough to give him cold sweats.