"And that's when I knew that I loved him but couldn't marry him," Az told the three men, her eyes distant as she caressed the compass in her hands.
Ambrose stood and started pacing. "There has to be a way," he mumbled as he made his way from one end of the sitting room to the other.
"There's not, Ambrose," Az cried, "I have to marry the Duke -- the kingdom needs his money. It could save the farmers."
Ambrose shook his head, "Not about that, Rosie. Of course you'll marry ..." he trailed off, stopping dead in his tracks. The gleeful smile on his face caused Az to worry for a moment before he rushed to her side, "Of course you'll marry the Duke. But there's nothing in the laws that says you can't take a second consort."
"What?" Az nearly yelled, jumping to her feet. "Do you know what he'd have to give up to do that?"
"Do you think he wouldn't?" Ambrose countered. His hands migrated to his hips, "Sometimes the prince you marry is not the same man as the knight you spend your days loving, Rosie!"
"But ... a lover?" she said the word as if it were infected and might contaminate her being.
"No," Ambrose replied with a firm shake of his head, "A second consort. You can't marry him unless the Duke dies, but there is nothing in the laws that say that you can only give the consort ring to your husband."
Az sat down again, her mind numb with the realization of what Ambrose was saying. Have both of them? Adrian's love, and the Duke's coffers. The hope of it almost suffocated her.
"Princess too happy for words now," Raw said with a gentle smile. "Not thought possible. Have love and do duty for kingdom."
"Yes, but will the O.Z. accept it?" Ambrose questioned, stopping and furrowing his brow. That was the one flaw in his brilliant plan: if the O.Z. didn't accept Az's decision to have two consorts then everything was for naught. The Land had the final say in things like that.
Lylo hummed, his eyes closed. "O.Z. pleased with suggestion. Not like Princess being sad."
"Really?" Az asked, her curiosity piqued at that revelation.
Lylo nodded, "O.Z. love Princess. Why want Princess sad? O.Z. will convince Queen this path best."
It was as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her heart and her tears, this time, were out of joy and relief.
DG could feel the joy Azkadellia was feeling through the pendant she wore. Wyatt and she had just gotten back to the inn, leaving Ding, Bing, and Ring with Jeb at his grandparent's house where he insisted he just had to spend the night.
Touching a mirror, DG hoped Az was close to a reflective surface. "Az?" she called out.
"Deej?" Az sounded happy to hear from her. "You'll never guess what Ambrose found out!"
"Then tell me," DG insisted, pleased her sister was no longer dreading her upcoming wedding.
She listened with rapt attention as Azkadellia explained the plan that Ambrose had come up with, and DG had to admit that she found no fault in it.
"Do you want me to tell Adrian?" she asked, a smirk quirking her mouth up mischievously.
Az shook her head with a grin, "No. I think I'll surprise him when you get back next week. Only fair."
"Only fair for whom?"
"Well, you got to tell Wyatt in your own dear time, planning the perfect way to do it. Only fair I get to do the same thing. Besides, Ambrose started making some comments about wondering whether Adrian has a brother that I want to look into before anything is said."
DG grinned at her sister, "I'd like to point out that my plans were foiled by a mouthy dragon. And I heard something about Zero having two brothers -- one older, one younger. Looks like our Glitch can have his pick of which one."
There was a glint in Az's eye as she replied, "I'll have to keep that in mind. You know he hates it when you call him that, Deej."
The younger princess smirked, "With the way the court gossips talk, he's lucky that's the only nickname I gave him. He's got twinkle-toes."
Az snorted in a very un-Princess like fashion and replied, "That's our Glitch for you. Oh, and Deej?" At DG's curious look Az asked, "What's stopping you from taking control of your relationship now?"
"Azkadellia Rosa Lurlina Gabriella Catalina!" DG said in mock horror.
Az shrugged, "What? It's not like you've been subtle about it in our conversations, DG."
DG thought about it before she grinned, letting her humor show through and dropping the act of the scandalized princess. "Good night, Az."
"Tell Wyatt I said hello," she replied with a grin before disconnecting the link. It was good to be back.
It didn't take DG long to conjure up the garments that she wanted: a simple white silk nightgown cut to show off her figure in a way that would hopefully have Wyatt salivating and ready to end this dance they'd been doing for the past year.
Really, what man in his right mind would not want to sleep with his bonded for a whole annual after the bonding was completed? It was unnatural and it ended tonight.
Dressed comfortably in the nightgown, with a silken robe pulled tight over it, and bare feet, DG transported herself to Wyatt's room, knowing that he was alone and the guards asleep in their own shared rooms. Show time. She just hoped there wasn't an audience.
"Darlin', what are you doin' here?" Wyatt asked when he saw her.
She took in his half undressed form. Apparently she had interrupted him in the middle of changing, his shirt was unbuttoned and his feet bare on the soft carpet.
With no small amount of effort, DG tore her eyes away from the tantalizing flesh she saw revealed beneath the shirt and met his eyes with a slight smile, "I wanted to say goodnight, Wyatt."
He gave her an appraising look as he stepped forward slightly. She didn't budge from her spot on the floor, no matter how much her instincts were telling her to back up. "You ... wanted to say goodnight?" he asked for clarification.
"That's right," she smiled with him, holding her head up defiantly.
Wyatt leaned in to whisper in her ear, "I don't believe you."
Her eyes widened in innocence as he leaned back just enough to look into her face. "Why, Mr. Cain, have I ever lied to you?"
He frowned slightly, his eyes glinting and betraying the lust he felt coursing through his system. "You don't want me to answer that, Miss Gale."
She stepped back and he advanced, not allowing her to put very much space between them. "Mr. Cain, what kind of girl do you take me for?"
His smile was feral, "The kind that comes into a man's bedroom at night, unannounced and in a see through nightgown, Miss Gale."
"Just your bedroom," she whispered back, tilting her head back so she could see into his face.
"You enjoy testing my restraint, don't you?" his voice was gruff with the will power it took not to grab her right then and there and claim her in the most primal way imaginable.
"Actually, I'm hoping your restraint will give out," her voice was soft and airy. The perfect combination to nearly send him over the edge she was trying to nudge him over.
He bent his head down and captured her lips in a kiss that was not sweet or innocent or chaste but rather all the primal, passionate desires and fire that held their souls captive.
"Thought you wanted to wait 'til after the weddin'," he mumbled after breaking the kiss, punctuating each new word with a kiss on her jaw.
She grabbed at his hair, pulling him away so she could look into his eyes. "Trust you. Want you. Need you now. Always wanted you."
His eyes dilated with desire at her words. Never before had a woman shown him that much trust in her eyes, nor that much need for him. It was the most heady aphrodisiac he had ever encountered and he had no desire to deny its power over his soul.
"Are you sure?" he asked, giving her one last chance to back out and wait.
DG growled, using the wall as leverage so she could wrap her legs around Wyatt's waist and kiss him for all she was worth. Damn right she was sure. She'd been sure for the past freakin' annual!
"In that case," Wyatt said, not bothering to finish his sentence as he turned and carried his bond mate to the bed, depositing her on top of it easily.
"Captain!" one of the younger guards burst into the room Zero was sharing with another guard who was currently in the common room of the inn attempting to procure a decent breakfast for the lot of them.
"What?" Zero barked at him.
"I can't find the Princess, sir," the guard said, sweating profusely at his own words. "She's not in her room."
Zero fought the urge to roll his eyes, "Did you check General Cain's room?" Was the man daft or did he just not know what the bonding meant?
"Why would she be ... oh," the guard finally understood, after a well aimed glare from Zero, just what he was insinuating. "No sir, I haven't checked the General's room, sir."
Zero suppressed a growl as he rose from his seat, fully dressed, "I'll do it, Collins. Wouldn't want you causing any more of an incident than you have so far."
"Cain?" Zero asked as he knocked on the door. "Princess? Wakey-wakey."
"Go to hell, Zero," a distinctly feminine voice groaned from the other side of the door.
"That's not nice, Princess. Besides, if you don't get up I'm afraid Collins might think you're not in there and he should search the whole town looking for you because you didn't sleep in your own bed last night."
"Collins?" a grumpy male voice nearly shouted.
"The young one with the goatee, Cain."
He heard mumbled groans as the couple got their bodies moving again after a night doing Ozma knew what. "I'll give it half an hour before Collins decides to break down the door making sure the Princess is all right."
DG groaned and flopped back down on the bed, snuggling firmly into Wyatt's side. "I don't wanna get up."
Wyatt chuckled, running his hand up and down her side soothingly, "Neither do I, but if we don't ... do you want to call Collins' bluff? I sure don't."
"Fine," she groused as she sat up and swung her legs to rest on the floor. She looked at her nightgown on the floor, a rip running right down the middle. "I don't think I'm going to be wearing that again."
Wyatt snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, peering around her shoulder to look at the ruined garment. "I like it better that way. It's my favorite one of your nightgowns."
"Do you hate my nightgowns that much?" DG asked with a grin as she leaned back in his arms and looked up at him.
He gave her a serious look, "I only hate those nightgowns you took to wearin' over the winter. Hideous things. I just don't like any of your nightgowns." One of his hands squeezed her bare flesh, "Much prefer how you're dressed now."
"I'll take that under advisement. Now, I believe you said something about getting up."
With a small amount of effort DG called another outfit to herself and dressed in the simple blue linen shirt and deep honey colored breaches and matching vest. On top of the breaches she pulled on her favorite pair of riding boots.
By the time she was ready to go, her hair pulled back in a simple braid, Wyatt was dressed in a relaxed outfit that made DG's mouth water.
Together they walked out the door and down the stairs to face what would prove to be an interesting, if awkward, breakfast with their ten guards.
A few of the men felt bold enough to start teasing the princess about her sleeping arrangements the night before and it didn't take long for DG to get fed up with it, as good natured as it was.
They wanted to tease? She'd show them tease.
"Gentlemen, I must warn you," she said calmly as she buttered a piece of bread, "That if you continue discussing this I will be forced to enter into a detailed explanation of the biology behind sexual intercourse to such a degree that none of you will be able to so much as masturbate without having thoughts about atoms and the chemical bonds broken and formed in the creation of a human life."
The men stopped talking abruptly and stared at her as she tore off a small piece of the bread and popped it into her mouth, calm and cool as a cucumber.
"You're joking ... please, tell me she's joking," one of the men said, panic lacing his words as he turned toward Zero and Wyatt.
Wyatt shook his head, "Wish I could. I walked in in the middle of her explaining it to Jeb two months ago."
The innkeeper's daughter approached with their breakfast and the conversation stopped as DG thanked her with a smile.
"I want to go to the market today and browse through the local wares," DG said as she stirred some honey into her oatmeal.
"Please don't tell me I have to go with you," Wyatt asked.
"No, your mother wants to give you something and I believe Jael wanted to talk to you without me there to interrupt," she smirked, turning her attention to the ten guards sitting with them. "I think I'll take Zero, Collins, and Smith. Leave three here to make sure nothing happens, and you get to take four with you."
"Why do I get four and you only get three?"
"Because you'll have Jeb with you."
"But he already has three of his own."
"I could just make it an order, Wyatt. I still outrank you."
Zero tried his best to swallow a grin at their bickering. They sounded like children.
A/N: Ambrose's line about princes and knights may sound familiar because it's almost word for word from badgirl2bad4u's wonderful smutty fic "Naughty or Nice." It's from the "Naughty" chapter.
Since it's Thanksgiving here in the States I thought I might tell you what I'm thankful for.
Hmm. ... What am I thankful for?
I am thankful that the two pumpkin pies I just made didn't burn. Why two pies? One uses Splenda and Greatly Reduced Sodium Salt, while the other one uses regular sugar and table salt. For my Grandpa who is on a low sodium, no sugar diet.
What are you thankful for? I know it's this chapter getting posted while you slept so that it was waiting for you when you woke up ... ehr ... checked your email. Hope it helps if you have to endure Family Drama today. Thanksgiving. I'm thankful that I only have to deal with two relatives this year -- two relatives I actually get along with.
Not sure when the next chaper is coming out. But this story is definately winding down. There is a sequel forming in my mind, but I won't even try to start writing it (or the three+ other Tin Man stories floating around in my head) until after finals week ... so ... about three weeks.
I will say this though: anything's game in any future story. Here are some of the plot bunnies that attacked me if you want to try your hand at writing a few of them: 1) What if Az and DG aren't really sisters? 2) What if there was someone else with DG when the Longcoats attacked her house and she was thrown into the twister? 3) What if DG was able to temporarily bring Adora back from the dead?
Tata!