Chapter V: Royal Arrangements

Two figures walked tough the semi-frozen gardens on Finaqua's palace. Both were bundled in heavy dress coats and boots under their dresses. Most of the flowers were frozen in mid-bloom, trapped until the sun could defrost them and renew them once more. The whole garden was covered in crystal flowers and iced ponds. The ice that had settled over the trees and flowers only gave DG the thought of Christmas and how she missed the holiday back in Kansas. According to her father and her robot parents there is still Christmas in the O.Z., but it takes place mid-winter which was still two months off. It still hadn't started to snow, but from the look of the clouds snowfall wasn't that far off.

"The gardens are especially nice this time of the annual despite the frost and weather," Azakdellia commented to DG as they walked through the gardens on the side of the palace.

"Hm," DG nodded and took a deep breath of the cold air. She was looking more at the frost that had clung the palace, making it look like it was made of beautiful crystal instead of the white walls of stone and plaster.

"Even the ponds are frozen over. In a week or so we'll be able to skate over them," Azkadellia smiled and then looked and her swelling belly, "Well, at least you and the others will."

"You'll be fine. The ice will be strong enough," DG looked over her shoulder at the few guards that were posted at different places around the garden to protect the two of them, "Glitch still in conference with mother?"

"All morning and through the afternoon."

"Hey don't knock it. He's getting me a day off from queen-to-be duties. Mother has stepped it up a notch," DG sighed, "I was wondering if I was ever going to get out of her study yesterday."

Azkadellia rolled her eyes, "To tell you honestly, I think he was happy to go. I haven't been the best partner of late."

"Mood swings kicking in?" DG laughed and watched Azakdellia rub a hand over her stomach and then frown back at the palace.

"Maybe just a little, not too bad. Sometimes the small things that he does get to me. Especially when he is trying to make a point and then he becomes more Ambrose like," Azkadellia looked at the sky, "Sometimes that man can be so infuriating."

"I know what you mean. Ambrose could be quite snarky at times."

Azkadellia giggled, totally erasing her frown to a large smile. That soon faded and she looked back at the beautiful flowers around her, "I'm excited and scared at the same time, Deeg. What kind of mother will I be?"

"A great one," DG grabbed her sister's arm and let her lean her head on her shoulder, "You don't need to worry. You not only got mother to help, but you have me as well."

"Oh, DG, didn't you know? That's why I'm so afraid," Azkadellia gave her a playful scared look and both girls laughed together.

"Very funny, Az," DG rolled her eyes, "For your information I will be a great aunt. I was known as one of the top rated babysitters in my community growing up. Everyone wanted me to watch their kids."

"Good for you. How could I ever underestimate you?" she giggled and looked back at the guards just as DG had done, "I am assuming your fiancé is in conference with father still?"

"They're planning their trip to the Northern Realms," DG nodded, "They'll be gone close to two weeks. And I'll be stuck here with you and mother going over colors and taffeta for the wedding. I'd much rather go with them."

"He needs the people to see him working outside and away from you," Azkadellia reasoned, "That way they will know that in the case of your absence he will lead the land well until you return. If you two are always together they may doubt his abilities."

"I know, but I still don't like the fact that I won't have a distraction from you and mother while he's gone."

"Two weeks is nothing, he will be back before you know it," Azkadellia assured her, "And then your wedding will take place and it will be smoother sailing from there on."

"Ha! You should know by now. It's never smooth sailing for me," DG sighed, "The Lord Jackass only proved that."

"That was quite a jolt to the whole living happily ever after," Azkadellia nodded, "But it is over."

"Thankfully. I don't think I could have dealt being married to him."

"How is Cain taking it? I've seen him brooding in the halls for the past couple of days," Azkadellia looked closely at the frozen fountain, "I thought that he'd be over something like that after a couple of days."

"He told me that if he ever sees the guy again he'll either throw him in a tin suit or shoot him," DG laughed, "And he said it with a smile which was a little disturbing."

Azkadellia laughed, "That sounds just about right for your Tin Man."

"Cain is quite blunt," DG nodded and pulled her sister into a small gazebo at the edge of one of the ponds, "But I think something else is bothering him."

"Like what?" Azkadellia sat on the small bench inside and watched DG carefully.

"I don't know if it is the whole trip to Northern Realms and not being able to protect me while he's gone or if it was the whole Soren thing," she looked at the partially frozen pond, "He is just lost in his thoughts sometimes. He's been pretty good about telling me everything, but sometimes he doesn't want anything to settle on my shoulders. So he keeps it to himself and gets in his moods."

"Glitch had told me about his moods," Azkadellia nodded and then jumped a little with a light laugh, "My goodness."

"What?" DG asked and turned to her sister.

"The baby moved," Azkadellia smiled and waved DG over. She grabbed her sister's hand and put it over the lump, "You feel it?"

DG smiled and nodded at her sister who also had a smile on her face, "They're strong, Az. They'll be running around the palace like crazy."

Azkadellia laughed, "And get away with it too if they have their father's mind and their aunt's ability to get out of tight spaces."

"Don't forget their mother's smarts and pout," DG laughed as Azkadellia immediately pouted. She looked past Azkadellia and saw a guard jogging toward them, "What's this?"

"Excuse me, your majesties," the guard bowed his head, "Your mother is asking for Princess DG."

"Great," DG rolled her eyes, "So far for getting out of lessons today. Come on, Az. I'll walk you back to the palace."

"If it's okay, I'm going to stay out here for a little while and soak in the scenery," Azkadellia put a light hand on DG's arm, "Go ahead, I have enough guards to keep me safe. Besides, Glitch should be out shortly if mother is calling for you."

DG nodded and walked back into the palace and up the hall to her mother's study. She was more than likely going over more important documents. She saw Glitch head out to the gardens and smiled after him. He was probably going to check on her before he went off to do his other duties.

"Afternoon mother," DG greeted as she walked into the room, "How is the paper work going back here?"

"Good afternoon, my angel. I am just finishing up the policies and other paperwork for your next event. Glad that I got a hold of you. I thought that your sister would keep you out in the gardens all day," she smiled and motioned to a small table off the side of her desk where two chairs were facing one another.

"Oh no, the dreaded 'let's talk something over' table," DG sat down in one chair and watched her mother sit as well, "Okay, what's going on?"

"I wanted to explain about Lord Soren."

"Mother, you don't need to. He was only-"

"I also wanted to explain why your father and I did it," Lavender interrupted, "His parents and I knew each other when I was a young girl. When you were born around the same time as their son, we only thought that it would have been a fine match for the both of you."

"Until the witch and the resistance came into play," DG added.

Lavender nodded slowly, "Yes. Before then you two would play with one another once a month or so. It was a way for you and your sister to socialize as well as meet the other families of the realms. When you died his family went into hiding. Not well enough for his parents it seems, but he had survived. The witch's reign had changed him. He used to be such a nice young boy."

"People change," DG shrugged, "And some people change with or without an evil reign of a witch."

"There was no excuse for interrupting your coronation," she shook her head, "If he wanted to stay with you he should have come earlier. I am sorry for what he had done. That was supposed to be a joyous occasion for you."

"You don't need to apologize, mother. It's over. Besides, even if he came earlier my answer would still have been no. I still have Wyatt," DG paused for a moment and rolled something over in her mind, "If I never died when I was six- I mean, if the witch never killed me… would I have had to marry him?"

Lavender paused for a moment, "There's a possibility that you would have to, yes. We have a few laws that once linked with magic cannot be broken."

"Well, then it was a good thing to die young, huh?" she sighed and then tried to laugh it off. Lavender frowned and DG stopped laughing and looked away from her mother.

"He won't be asking after you again," Lavender assured her, "He knows that he will never receive my blessing for you two to be united in marriage."

DG nodded and laughed, "Yeah, I know. If Cain wasn't able to scare him off for good, I think you did."

"I do believe that you're right," the queen laughed with her daughter, "You're father even told me that he jumped from the anger radiating off of me."

"You don't miss with the Gales."

"I would have done everything in my power to stop the marriage from happening. You would have been unhappy, and I knew it."

"Why didn't you tell me about the arrangement to begin with?"

"I thought that he was dead," Lavender reasoned, "Killed like so many others. Like his parents. And if that was true, why bother you over it?"

"You were really close to his parents, weren't you?"

"His mother was my closest friend," Lavender smiled and looked at her hands, "Her name was Aniline. She had the best advice. So much so that she almost had Ambrose's position as my advisor. She turned it down of course. Her reasoning was that she didn't want us to see each other so much that we would begin to hate one another."

"Sounds like that wouldn't have happened."

"I think it was that she was already in love with her, at the time, soon to be husband. They were so much in love. She was the one to tell me to go after your father. A slider… some of my mother's advisors were against it, but my mother understood, thankfully," Lavender smiled at the fond memories, "Well, it is over. I just wish that they had a better legacy living on than Soren."

"Did they have any other children?"

"I don't know," Lavender shook her head, "Aniline and her husband were trying to become pregnant for a few months before you were killed by the witch. Seeing as Soren had said he is the last heir, I doubt that their dream of another child had come true."

"I'm sorry," DG put a hand over her mother's and tried to change subject, "So what other plans do you for me today?"

"Nothing else," she shook her head and then looked at the door where Azkadellia walked though with some paper in her hands.

"Nonsense, we have a wedding to plan!" Azkadellia smiled and dropped the papers and some splotches of material over the small table.

"I thought you were going to wait for your husband in the gardens," DG looked at her sister.

"We saw one another on his way to marksmen practice with Cain and father," she smiled and spread out the materials, "Now, back on topic here. What should we start with first? The colors or the wedding dress?"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the palace grounds, Glitch has just joined Cain and Ahamo in some of the training grounds. It was their day to come together and, as DG would say, man bond. Cain was going to go over some shooting practice and Glitch wanted to see where all three of them stood on hand to hand combat. Ahamo took off his jacket and vest as he looked over his shoulder at the up coming advisor.

"Ah, Glitch," he smiled and noticed Glitch's face light up at the mention of his name instead of the ever popular advisor or Ambrose, "How is Azkadellia?"

"She went in the palace to talk with DG and her majesty about the wedding plans," Glitch shrugged off his own jacket and laid it on one of the fence posts nearby, "She seemed to be really excited."

"I bet DG was excited about that too," Cain chuckled as he rounded the corner with three hand pistols and plenty of ammo, "She's dreading doing a majority of the planning with her mother and Azkadellia. She thinks it will be a… how did she put it? A 'girly overload'."

"Are you going to help any?" Ahamo grabbed his firearm and ammo from Cain.

"I've told her some of the things I would like in the ceremony," Cain nodded and handed another firearm to Glitch, "She told me that she and I can sit down after the trip and put the final decisions to rest then."

"Sounds like DG," Ahamo nodded and looked down the barrel of his gun.

All three men put the revolvers on their holsters with some extra ammo and then settled in the middle of a dirt circle. They looked at one another and then Glitch smiled.

"Okay, who wants to dance with me first?" he settled into a ready stance and looked at both of the men.

"I don't see why I don't take a shot at it," Ahamo copied Glitch's stance and Cain walked to the side to watch.

Glitch began with a high kick which Ahamo ducked and threw a punch toward his side. Glitch leaned back, barely able to dodge the fist, "Very good, your highness."

"Thank you," he nodded his head, "But please don't hold back for me. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Glitch nodded and swooped his foot under both of the king's legs and knocked him to the ground with a foot over his throat.

"Nice move, Glitch," Cain said from the side and walked into the circle. Glitch helped Ahamo up and then turned his attention to Cain.

"Are you ready for a dance?" Glitch asked and swayed from side to side before Cain.

"I'll admit that you're not bad at dancing at all, Twinkle toes," Cain started and feigned a punch to the right. Glitch dodged it and Cain's foot came up to intercept his ribs. Glitch, now off his balance, fell to the ground and looked up at Cain, "But you still have a lot to learn about fighting with some dishonorable men. They're not all going to follow the conduct of a gentleman's fight. Remember that."

"But that's why I got you, Cain," Glitch laughed to himself and looked up at him, "Well, you going to help me up?"

"I could," Cain held down his hand and pulled the advisor out of the dirt. He then looked over at Ahamo who was laughing lightly at the display.

"I didn't think anyone would take the best fighter down," he chuckled as Glitch rubbed the back of his head.

"I just know some of his weak points is all," Cain offered. He paused and looked back at the palace.

Ahamo and Glitch looked at one another and then Ahamo looked back at Cain, "Something on your mind?"

"I was just trying to think," Cain paused again and turned to Ahamo, "I never knew that the princesses were arranged as far as marriages were concerned."

"We tried to keep it as quiet as we could," Ahamo nodded, "We had an understanding with the families that we were close to. Their sons had to be gentle enough to be husbands and fathers, but tough enough to possibly take on a kingdom someday. In DG's case, the parents were close friends of her mother and I. She played with the boy when they were both toddlers and they got along really well. We never thought that he would grow to be such a disengaging man."

"Not to mention dishonorable and whiny," Glitch scoffed and titled his head to the targets at the side of the fence. The other two men nodded and followed him over to the targets. Cain already had his loaded and waited for the other two to follow.

Glitch paused for a thought, "What about Azkadellia's match?"

"What was that?" Ahamo looked up.

"My Azkadee," Glitch said, "You said that you had an understanding with families. I assumed that you meant one for each daughter."

"You assumed correctly," Ahamo nodded and looked at the palace and then back to loading his firearm, "Her intended never came for her."

"Never came?" Glitch asked.

"At first we thought he was dead just like Soren," Ahamo explained, "But then we found out that after DG had saved the kingdom he married quickly after to keep himself from being bound to Azkadellia, even if she was freed from the witch's grasp. I believe that he didn't want to be linked to the known sorceress."

"Wasn't that impossible according to the magic bond within the agreement?" Cain asked.

"Yes," Ahamo nodded, "Or it should have been."

"Then how did he marry another?" Cain asked and saw Glitch thinking deeply, "Got any ideas zipper-head?"

"Only that she had usurped the throne and by that action voided the agreement between their majesties and the other family," Glitch offered, "By becoming the new ruler she had voided her majesty's signature on the bond. Her own would have to be on there for it to still be valid. DG's stayed gold because she never was the ruler- she had no say to change a magic bonded agreement. The gold letters more than likely have faded on Azkadellia's. Have you two looked?"

Ahamo thought to himself, "When we found out that he had married another, we didn't think of looking for it. And to top that off most of the documents from Azkadellia's past have been burned or destroyed in another fashion."

"So he just left her to fend for herself?" Glitch asked with a frown. He heard Cain's hammer click back and turned to see the Tin Man aim for the target on the opposite side of the line.

"Good riddance, then," he pulled the trigger and the bullet landed right in the middle of the paper target's head.