jedibuttercup (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jedibuttercup) wrote2017-03-10 01:54 am
jedibuttercup) wrote2017-03-10 01:54 am
Fic: Weathering the Storm (PG-13; Tin Man; 4/?)
PG-13; Tin Man worldbuilding. This chapter: DG and family and a bit of politics. Other chapters here.
None of them had suspected that Princess Deegee might have survived. None of them had so much as guessed that the Queen's decline might have been kindled by something more substantial than grief, or that the Sorceress hadn't voluntarily sought her increased powers. If they had… If they'd known, so many things might have been different.
Title: Weathering the Storm: 4/?
Author: Jedi Buttercup
Disclaimer: The words are mine; the worlds are not.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Post-miniseries for Tin Man
Notes: Happy Birthday to me. Trying to figure out where I was going with this... mixing a little more Ozian history in. :)
DG and Az found Glitch exactly where they'd expected to: bent over a desk covered with journals and correspondence in the vaulted central room of the Royal Library. Most of the journals were marked with the mobat symbol Az's aide, VySor, had stamped all over his records, especially lists of executions, imprisonments, and decrees from the Sorceress' reign. Though his memories were still fragmented, Glitch was the last survivor of the Queen's old Cabinet, and she'd tasked him to search out the fates of the lower-tier members of the court. It wasn't enough to overthrow the usurper; now they had to rebuild the government, and only a handful of those who'd already returned had any experience worth mentioning.
VySor himself would probably have been a lot of help, one way or another, but he'd vanished sometime between the Eclipse and when the Resistance had finished sweeping the Tower. The alchemist Raynz had, too-- and the other half of Ambrose's brain had disappeared with them, taking that avenue of knowledge away from them as well. But as worrying as that was, unless Jeb or one of the other captains in the Army of the Resistance got lucky and tripped across them, it might be awhile before the Crown could spare anyone for a search. Things were still too unsettled.
...Or maybe not, DG thought, struck by an idea. Maybe the Viewers could help? She'd have to ask Raw if any of his people would be willing. Not one of those Az had forced to work for her, DG wouldn't ask that of them; but maybe one of the group who'd traveled back with him would volunteer? She didn't think they had anything of Raynz's, not since she and Az had linked hands to bring down the Tower and everything left inside a few weeks before when they'd moved the court back to Finaqua, but the journals might have enough association with their author for a Viewer to track VySor with them, and Glitch himself should be a suitable link to his missing marbles.
Glitch looked up just as that thought passed through her mind, and tilted his head a little. "Hey, doll," he said. "I hope that smile's not for me; you look a little sad. Oh, hey!" He perked up, smiling at her sister beside her. "Azkadee! Isn't this a great day? Isn't this a great day? Isn't this... oh, any day I see you two lovely ladies would be."
DG shrugged as he corrected his own glitch, mentally filing the idea for another time. Ambrose's missing brain was not something she wanted to bring up in front of two of the people hurt worst by the situation. "It's nothing. I do know what you mean, though. Az says Raw's back." She elbowed her sister, trying to draw a responding smile.
"Really?" Glitch's eyes widened, and his grin widened with them. "That was quick. But then, they had good weather for the trip!"
He was still the most cheerful person DG knew; it was always refreshing to spend time with him after hours and hours of dutiful princessing. She wanted to live up to the challenges of her birthright, despite all the difficulties, but sometimes she really missed the days she'd spent traveling the brick route with her new friends. She was safer now, but the stress level really hadn't decreased any. And considering the quest she'd been on? That was saying a lot.
"Yeah, so you gonna come eat with us? Az says Mother invited his party to join us."
"I would be honored to escort the two of you to midday meal," Glitch beamed, then stood, stumbling slightly as he knocked one knee against the desk. He frowned a little at his ink-spotted hands, ineffectually brushed them against each other for a moment, then shook his head and smiled again, looking back up to offering each princess a crooked elbow.
Az smiled faintly at him as she slipped an arm through his. "Thank you, Ambrose."
"Not at all, sweetness. Say, have you heard the about the envoy from Ev? I think he might be a cousin of mine, on my father's side...."
DG grinned to herself as she took his other arm, and bit her lip, determined to let them carry the conversation on the way to the private dining room. Az might not talk much, but Glitch could say enough for both of them when he got going, and she was awfully pleased to see at least one of her friends treating her sister like a normal human being. Cain tried for her sake, but his wary body language said more than a few friendly words; he'd never known Azkadellia as more than a distant royal figure before the Sorceress, so he had no previous relationship with her to fall back on. And Raw had left to return Kalm to his people almost as soon as the Eclipse had faded, so DG hadn't been able to rely on his warm, empathic clear-sightedness, either.
She was very relieved that he'd returned. She'd feel a lot more at home another of her "Quest Companions" back in the fold. There were so few people she could just be herself with anymore, she felt a little less lost when they were around.
A good talk was going to have to wait for later, though; her mother's definition of "family dining room", even at the smaller summer palace, meant dozens of ornate chairs spaced around a grand, gilded table. Between their actual family, Glitch included, the Viewer party, the other handful of ambassadors who'd made their way to Finaqua from isolated communities around the OZ since the Eclipse, and the bevy of servants bustling around with the dishes, it didn't quite fall under DG's definition of "private". She sighed to herself as she came into the room, her smile slipping a little, then shook it off as Raw noticed them and greeted them with open arms.
She let go of Glitch to wrap her friend up in a hug, ignoring the glances, raised eyebrows, and sighs exchanged among the less familiar faces just taking their seats, and buried her face in his soft, furry coat and familiar scent for a minute. "Hello old friend."
"Good to see DG, too," Raw replied, carefully hugging her back as though she had turned into something breakable. Though she supposed with all the new finery she was wearing, he did have an excuse.
He seemed to guess what she was thinking, because he pulled back again with an affectionately chiding look. "Don't worry; good things will happen now. Not always easy. But DG has courage."
She remembered talking to him about the definition of courage, before confronting the sorceress; about the fact that it didn't mean not being afraid, it meant standing up in spite of your fear. It wasn't terribly comforting to hear him reference that now, given his people's gifts-- but his equal assurance that good things would happen did soothe the rawest edges of her nerves a little.
She gave him a wry smile, and nodded to him as they parted to take their places at the table. "I remember. Thank you, Raw."
"Welcome," he replied gruffly, pleased, and went to sit on the other side of Glitch.
DG herself was placed next to her mother, as usual; and today, several of the ambassadors had been seated around them, including a rather attractive young man her mother introduced as Evring. Of Ev. Given the Outer Zone naming logic she'd been exposed to so far, she wasn't terribly surprised... or terribly anything about him, really. He monopolized her conversation during the meal, but every time she thought she saw a glimpse of personality or brilliance that might confirm Glitch's suspicion that they were cousins, he would squash it down quick, like he thought she'd be offended if he dared to laugh at her or express some opinion or knowledge he didn't think she had the background to understand.
Come to think of it... all of the ambassadors seated nearest her were hot guys ranging in age from those she might have grown up with to Cain's contemporaries, and from the few things they'd each said to her, equally unconcerned with saying anything interesting at all. They lobbed her soft questions, managed to agree with everything she said despite looking uncomfortable at every reference she made to the Other Side, and shot covert glances at her mother when they thought she wasn't looking; it wasn't exactly a stretch to guess what Lavender had had in mind with the seating arrangements.
Seriously, already? Just because she'd been having thoughts that she might not be the best possible heir, didn't mean she was ready to think about producing another for the Queen to train! DG lost what little interest she'd had in the fancy food in front of her-- she was still getting used to the OZ's version of haut cuisine, which varied a lot more widely and weirdly than anything she'd eaten in Kansas-- and spent the rest of the drawn-out meal murmuring bland answers to her mother's attempts to drag her into conversation and fuming behind a blank, plastic smile.
Finally, though, Lavender said something she had to react to. "As Prince Evring has only just arrived, and has never visited Finaqua before, I believe he would appreciate you showing him the grounds this afternoon? She restored it all with her own magic, you know."
That last was addressed to the prince, not to her, and DG felt her cheeks flush with irritation. "Or perhaps he'd like to visit with his cousin instead? I wouldn't like to get in the way of a family reunion," she said from between tightly-clenched teeth. "I can always show him around another time."
The Prince looked taken aback, though his glance toward Glitch at least proved her friend had remembered that relationship rightly. The Queen's reaction was milder, but the slight frown between her brows told DG she'd puzzled and wrong-footed her mother, yet again.
"But surely...." Lavender began.
"My dear, I had promised our daughter a lesson about her family history this afternoon," Ahamo interrupted with perfect timing, smiling at them both from across the table. His expression was pleasant, but DG didn't think she was imagining the sheathed steel in his tone; the Consort showing briefly from behind the artist's mask. "And apart from the family connection, you know that Ev has the most experience with the type of magic that is used in the Zipper process; the Prince may have suggestions to help in his recovery."
"That is true. Very well," Lavender replied, with a gracious nod, though unenthusiastic nod. "If you would, Prince Evring?"
"Of course," the prince recovered, with a seated bow and a hopeful look toward DG. "As the third son, I had some tuition from the Langwidere School; and my tutor was an expert in the variant of our magic that is used to create the so-called Headcases. I would be pleased to be of help to our mutual cousin, the Princess' friend."
DG was glad Glitch wasn't seated near enough to have overheard that; did that mean someone could have helped him years ago, if Ev and all the other little countries around the fringes of the Zone hadn't decided the Sorceress' rise was an internal matter and pulled away to avoid her attention?
Though really, considering how the Sorceress had dealt even with her friends, could she blame them? DG took a deep breath, instinctively drawing herself up both mentally and physically in an attempt to release her irritation-- and was surprised to feel a surge of energy like a jolt of adrenaline or a good caffeine rush, sweeping outward from her core to her fingertips and brightening her mood noticeably in its wake. Along with all the rest of her; it looked for a moment as though she'd applied some kind of incandescent skin cream.
She quickly dropped her hands to her lap and hid them in the folds of her napkin, using it to dab at her face as cover. Of course her magic had decided to help now, when she wasn't even trying. If only she could make it flow like that when she wasn't attempting to let something go, she'd be....
She'd be....
DG blinked, then mentally filed that thought for later examination as the energy rush faded back down to something less glowstick worthy; she had the sense that she'd just stumbled on something important. But she didn't have time to run down the full implications just now. The servants were removing the current course in favor of something dessert-like, the Queen's mouth was set in a firm line, and she was pretty sure her father had made up that stuff about a lesson on the spot.
What exactly was Ahamo's official role, other than Consort? She had yet to get a straight answer, and doubted she would today either, but he was pretty damn knowledgeable and perceptive for someone who hadn't grown up in the OZ. She had no doubt that improvised or not, his 'family history' would turn out to be important to know.
DG exchanged bemused glances with Az down the length of the table, then did her best to be pleasant for the remainder of the meal. It wasn't the guys' fault that this princess gig came with certain realities and expectations that she wasn't prepared for. She'd adjust eventually.
...She hoped.
+
After the meal, everyone broke up for audiences or preparation for the pending Longcoat trials or what have you, going about the business of getting things done. That meant back to the library for Az and Glitch, and she thought she saw one of the Resistance-turned-Royal Army's healers approaching Raw; just because the Sorceress' Longcoats had been officially disbanded, didn't mean some of them weren't still fighting back, and Raw's people could heal wounds that non-magical medicine couldn't. She hoped he didn't have too difficult an afternoon; she didn't have too high of hopes for her own, even with her father's intervention. And with Cain out on patrol with his son this week, she couldn't even entertain herself by making faces during the boring parts at her favorite Tin Man while he took a turn at guard.
Of course, he might or might not have been encouraged to join Jeb's company because she tended to go to him more for reassurance and advice about what was important than her parents. Maybe they were right and the sink-or-swim method of princessing was the best way to get her up to speed before there were negative political consequences for the whole OZ, but that didn't mean she had to like it.
The other alternative, it belatedly occurred to her, was that they'd thought he might be competition, given the demographics of today's lunch guests... and she didn't know what she thought of that. It wasn't that he was too old, or not attractive enough, or not full of excellent qualities that any woman would be blessed to have in a husband; it was just... he was Cain.
She made a face at the incoherence of that thought as she followed her father into his study slash artist's studio, then shook her head and smoothed out her expression.
"So. Family history today, huh?" she asked, pausing in front of a high arched window where an easel had been positioned to catch the best light. A watercolor portrait of the royal family as they currently were was taking shape on it; the little painted people all had on their best smiling faces, but Ahamo had sketched the glint of the Emerald in DG's hand and subtly positioned Azkadellia behind her. It would be pretty when it was done... but it was also at least as much propaganda as art. She wondered where he planned to display it when it was done.
"More or less," Ahamo said, moving behind the ornate desk at the 'business' end of the room. "What have you been told about the Gale dynasty so far?"
He had a few scrolls and an ancient-looking book laid out on the usually-clear surface; DG sighed and abandoned the art to take a seat across from him, eyeing the documents.
"Not a whole hell of a lot; basically, just what you told me when we went to the Catacombs. The original Dorothy Gale was the first Gale Queen, and she's also known as the First Slipper. There's some magical weirdness to do with her tomb that keeps her spirit around, which is more than a little creepy, if you ask me-- though I guess it's a pretty effective way to hide a magical superweapon. Somehow she was also from Kansas, even though five hundred annuals have passed on this side, and there's no way she could be from earlier than the late 1800's judging by what I saw. Oh, and every new Heir has to take a quest to meet her. The rest of it...." She shrugged. "Current events have been kinda the priority."
Ahamo gave a crooked smile, wry and maybe a little sad, at her tart tone. "I wish you'd had all your life to learn these things; that we'd been better parents to you when it really mattered. That we could just be a family, now, instead of having to spend all our time trying to put the realm back together. But you're doing great, just so you know; sticking up for yourself, asking insightful questions. You're going to be a great queen when the time comes."
DG sat back in her seat, taken a little by surprise. She'd got so used to bouncing off her mother's Queen Face, she'd thought both her parents were disappointed in her. "You really think so?"
The question came out in a little-girl quaver; it made her flush with embarrassment and irritation at herself for being so needy, but-- Ahamo's smile got wider, and sadder, and he came back around the desk to wrap his arms around her shoulders in a hug.
"Of course, DG," he said. "I know your mother seems distant right now-- but she fell in love with me for a reason, and it upsets her that you're going to have to be so much tougher than she was. We both just want what's best for you, my dear."
She let herself lean against his chest and sniffle for a minute, then pulled back and wiped at her nose. "Um. Thank you? That's... I felt like such a failure. I mean, I know everyone keeps talking about how I got the Sorceress out of my sister, but then they look at me and make these condescending remarks about my quaint upbringing and how surely I'll be able to make up for all the things I was deprived of on the Other Side with the right guiding hand...."
Ahamo heaved a sigh. "I told Lavender it was too soon; but she said we might as well not waste the opportunity, since the envoys were already here. DG, I wasn't planning on getting into this today-- but you might as well know, even if everything had gone according to plan, I would have taken you and Azkadellia to the Other Side for a time anyway. Once I repaired my balloon, and your mother gave me a way to call her for a return travel storm, I went back a couple of times: once to look up the law firm that had been left to manage the Gale inheritance and find my own things, and again to arrange for birth certificates and get the farm back in working order. I wanted you to know my world as well as your mother's; I thought it would give you a more well-rounded education, and a different insight on the issues of the realm. Your mother wasn't sure, but... the rumors of discontent were growing even before she gave you her light, so she agreed to let me try. We never intended to put the setup to use the way we did, but I will always be grateful it was there when we needed it."
DG's eyes widened, and she remembered that heart-shaped sign she'd seen swinging on the fence in the Gray Gale's washed-out world. She'd thought Dorothy must have been pulling from her, DG's, memories to project a place for them to meet, not that she'd grown up on Dorothy Gale's actual farm. Wow. "Well, I think you overshot the mark on the outsider perspective, just a little."
"Just a little. But remember that, when someone makes one of those remarks." He grinned at her again, then turned back to the desk to pick up on one of the books.
"You're right about time passing differently on both sides, by the way. Though not at a consistent rate. One of the OZ's most persistent legends says that magic was so pervasive here when Dorothy Gale fell out of that first travel storm that people aged inconsistently, and they didn't really keep track of the annuals. That's why so many of the ancient's records are difficult to decipher. But it was hard for them not to notice Dorothy growing up between visits. And the more often she visited, the more other Slippers followed, sometimes to the OZ's benefit and sometimes more disruptively. Finally, the foremost witch of the time cast a spell to wall the OZ away from our world, to truly make it the outer zone. After that, another four hundred or so annuals passed before another Slipper made it through. That one was from the nineteen-twenties, barely a handful of years after one Dorothy Gale, along with her aunt and uncle, disappeared from Kansas for the last time. As far as I can tell, the years and the annuals have run in parallel ever since."
DG realized she was being drawn into the story almost despite herself; this wasn't anything like the boring recitation of family trees she'd been expecting. "Almost as if... the wall weakened over time, and finally cracked," she said, putting two or two together. "I've heard people talk about there being less magic now than there used to be. And you say people weren't aging then, but they have been since... and maybe Az didn't cause the drought in the fields of the Papay after all... oh, my God." She put a hand to her mouth, swallowing. "What happens if the magic fades completely?"
Ahamo laughed, ruefully. "Like I said; you're already asking the important questions. People have been asking that particular one since your great-grandmother's reign, when the Slippers began to reappear, and no one has yet come up with an answer. It's one of the reasons formerly loyal men like General Lonot defected to Azkadellia's side when she showed more magical strength than your mother, and defer to you so easily now. Because unfortunately,the barrier around the OZ wasn't the only one that had weakened with time... and the rest of that story, you know."
DG winced. "That's why I was able to hear the witch calling to me. Az tried to stop me, you know-- she kept saying, your adventures have a way of getting me into trouble. I should have listened."
"DG, you were five. And for all she liked to complain, Azkadellia enjoyed the fact that you dragged her out of her prim and proper princess mold from time to time. The only one truly to blame for what happened is the witch. And possibly whatever's behind the weakening of the magic."
DG bit her lip, turning that thought over in her mind. Somehow, hearing that there might be another capital-D Doom on the horizon put some of her frustrations into perspective. It wasn't just that she was the only possible person left to take the throne; it was that she was still needed for something besides being A Symbol For Her People. It wasn't an issue she could tackle immediately, though-- not until she had the tools to tackle it with. But....
"Sounds like whatever happened is tied into Dorothy's story, somehow. Guess that'll be my next magical quest-- once I figure out how to consistently use mine. How did Dorothy end up the Queen of the OZ in the first place, though, if she was born on the Other Side? What made people bend the knee to an actual Kansas farm girl?"
"The histories aren't actually very clear on that point, which makes me think it was probably an important detail. Even your mother isn't sure; it was never written down in the royal library. And if it was written down anywhere else, no one was willing to admit as much to a mysterious stranger calling himself the Seeker."
"Hah! I knew it!" DG had to interrupt there, pointing an imperious finger at her father. "You weren't just pretending to look for yourself and waiting for me. You were investigating!"
Ahamo laughed at that. "To satisfy your curiosity, then... the two most popular stories in the Realm of the Unwanted were that she married a lost heir to the throne; and that she befriended and was named co-Queen with the fairy princess, Ozma, due to popular acclaim for her many services to the realm."
"The Ozma?" DG's eyes widened again. "The one everybody, you know, swears by?"
"Yes, that Ozma. We know she did actually exist at some point, and ruled before the Gale Queens, but like I said, the ancients' records are a little byzantine. But however it actually happened-- Dorothy's daughter, and her daughters' daughters, have sat on the throne ever since. All the way down to you. It's going to be up to you and your friends-- and your sister-- to figure out where the story goes from here."
"Still the OZ's only hope, huh," she whistled, shaking her head.
"At least you don't have to do it all alone this time," Ahamo said, the corners of his eyes crinkling in a smile. "Which brings me to these, actually," he gestured with the book. "All the old stories and legends; a little bedtime reading to help you fill in the blanks. I also have some maps here, and the genealogies, both ours and those of our closest neighboring countries; I thought they might help you with the envoys."
Now there was the boring fact-filled stuff she'd been expecting. "Did they help you?" DG asked plaintively. "Fairy tales, I can do; but memorizing random facts was never my strong suit."
"They did, actually. The key is to make them not seem so random. Find a way to relate the facts to the fairy tales, if that helps. Like the Langwidere School Prince Evring mentioned... Do you like horror stories?"
DG's eyebrows flew up. "Horror stories...? Never mind, I think I'll wait to read it for myself," she shuddered. Then she stood, moved by sudden impulse, and wrapped her arms around Ahamo in a more deliberate hug. "Thanks, by the way."
She was still getting used to her new parents, and they were still getting used to her... but it felt right to do it. Maybe she really could fit here, after all.
"You're welcome, DG," her father replied, gruffly. "Remember, no matter what happens; your mother and I love you."
In a minute, she'd take those books back to her room, and get started on the next step of her royal education.
...In a minute.
She tightened her arms around him and smiled against his shoulder. "I love you too."
(chapter at AO3; full story here.)
None of them had suspected that Princess Deegee might have survived. None of them had so much as guessed that the Queen's decline might have been kindled by something more substantial than grief, or that the Sorceress hadn't voluntarily sought her increased powers. If they had… If they'd known, so many things might have been different.
Title: Weathering the Storm: 4/?
Author: Jedi Buttercup
Disclaimer: The words are mine; the worlds are not.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Post-miniseries for Tin Man
Notes: Happy Birthday to me. Trying to figure out where I was going with this... mixing a little more Ozian history in. :)
DG and Az found Glitch exactly where they'd expected to: bent over a desk covered with journals and correspondence in the vaulted central room of the Royal Library. Most of the journals were marked with the mobat symbol Az's aide, VySor, had stamped all over his records, especially lists of executions, imprisonments, and decrees from the Sorceress' reign. Though his memories were still fragmented, Glitch was the last survivor of the Queen's old Cabinet, and she'd tasked him to search out the fates of the lower-tier members of the court. It wasn't enough to overthrow the usurper; now they had to rebuild the government, and only a handful of those who'd already returned had any experience worth mentioning.
VySor himself would probably have been a lot of help, one way or another, but he'd vanished sometime between the Eclipse and when the Resistance had finished sweeping the Tower. The alchemist Raynz had, too-- and the other half of Ambrose's brain had disappeared with them, taking that avenue of knowledge away from them as well. But as worrying as that was, unless Jeb or one of the other captains in the Army of the Resistance got lucky and tripped across them, it might be awhile before the Crown could spare anyone for a search. Things were still too unsettled.
...Or maybe not, DG thought, struck by an idea. Maybe the Viewers could help? She'd have to ask Raw if any of his people would be willing. Not one of those Az had forced to work for her, DG wouldn't ask that of them; but maybe one of the group who'd traveled back with him would volunteer? She didn't think they had anything of Raynz's, not since she and Az had linked hands to bring down the Tower and everything left inside a few weeks before when they'd moved the court back to Finaqua, but the journals might have enough association with their author for a Viewer to track VySor with them, and Glitch himself should be a suitable link to his missing marbles.
Glitch looked up just as that thought passed through her mind, and tilted his head a little. "Hey, doll," he said. "I hope that smile's not for me; you look a little sad. Oh, hey!" He perked up, smiling at her sister beside her. "Azkadee! Isn't this a great day? Isn't this a great day? Isn't this... oh, any day I see you two lovely ladies would be."
DG shrugged as he corrected his own glitch, mentally filing the idea for another time. Ambrose's missing brain was not something she wanted to bring up in front of two of the people hurt worst by the situation. "It's nothing. I do know what you mean, though. Az says Raw's back." She elbowed her sister, trying to draw a responding smile.
"Really?" Glitch's eyes widened, and his grin widened with them. "That was quick. But then, they had good weather for the trip!"
He was still the most cheerful person DG knew; it was always refreshing to spend time with him after hours and hours of dutiful princessing. She wanted to live up to the challenges of her birthright, despite all the difficulties, but sometimes she really missed the days she'd spent traveling the brick route with her new friends. She was safer now, but the stress level really hadn't decreased any. And considering the quest she'd been on? That was saying a lot.
"Yeah, so you gonna come eat with us? Az says Mother invited his party to join us."
"I would be honored to escort the two of you to midday meal," Glitch beamed, then stood, stumbling slightly as he knocked one knee against the desk. He frowned a little at his ink-spotted hands, ineffectually brushed them against each other for a moment, then shook his head and smiled again, looking back up to offering each princess a crooked elbow.
Az smiled faintly at him as she slipped an arm through his. "Thank you, Ambrose."
"Not at all, sweetness. Say, have you heard the about the envoy from Ev? I think he might be a cousin of mine, on my father's side...."
DG grinned to herself as she took his other arm, and bit her lip, determined to let them carry the conversation on the way to the private dining room. Az might not talk much, but Glitch could say enough for both of them when he got going, and she was awfully pleased to see at least one of her friends treating her sister like a normal human being. Cain tried for her sake, but his wary body language said more than a few friendly words; he'd never known Azkadellia as more than a distant royal figure before the Sorceress, so he had no previous relationship with her to fall back on. And Raw had left to return Kalm to his people almost as soon as the Eclipse had faded, so DG hadn't been able to rely on his warm, empathic clear-sightedness, either.
She was very relieved that he'd returned. She'd feel a lot more at home another of her "Quest Companions" back in the fold. There were so few people she could just be herself with anymore, she felt a little less lost when they were around.
A good talk was going to have to wait for later, though; her mother's definition of "family dining room", even at the smaller summer palace, meant dozens of ornate chairs spaced around a grand, gilded table. Between their actual family, Glitch included, the Viewer party, the other handful of ambassadors who'd made their way to Finaqua from isolated communities around the OZ since the Eclipse, and the bevy of servants bustling around with the dishes, it didn't quite fall under DG's definition of "private". She sighed to herself as she came into the room, her smile slipping a little, then shook it off as Raw noticed them and greeted them with open arms.
She let go of Glitch to wrap her friend up in a hug, ignoring the glances, raised eyebrows, and sighs exchanged among the less familiar faces just taking their seats, and buried her face in his soft, furry coat and familiar scent for a minute. "Hello old friend."
"Good to see DG, too," Raw replied, carefully hugging her back as though she had turned into something breakable. Though she supposed with all the new finery she was wearing, he did have an excuse.
He seemed to guess what she was thinking, because he pulled back again with an affectionately chiding look. "Don't worry; good things will happen now. Not always easy. But DG has courage."
She remembered talking to him about the definition of courage, before confronting the sorceress; about the fact that it didn't mean not being afraid, it meant standing up in spite of your fear. It wasn't terribly comforting to hear him reference that now, given his people's gifts-- but his equal assurance that good things would happen did soothe the rawest edges of her nerves a little.
She gave him a wry smile, and nodded to him as they parted to take their places at the table. "I remember. Thank you, Raw."
"Welcome," he replied gruffly, pleased, and went to sit on the other side of Glitch.
DG herself was placed next to her mother, as usual; and today, several of the ambassadors had been seated around them, including a rather attractive young man her mother introduced as Evring. Of Ev. Given the Outer Zone naming logic she'd been exposed to so far, she wasn't terribly surprised... or terribly anything about him, really. He monopolized her conversation during the meal, but every time she thought she saw a glimpse of personality or brilliance that might confirm Glitch's suspicion that they were cousins, he would squash it down quick, like he thought she'd be offended if he dared to laugh at her or express some opinion or knowledge he didn't think she had the background to understand.
Come to think of it... all of the ambassadors seated nearest her were hot guys ranging in age from those she might have grown up with to Cain's contemporaries, and from the few things they'd each said to her, equally unconcerned with saying anything interesting at all. They lobbed her soft questions, managed to agree with everything she said despite looking uncomfortable at every reference she made to the Other Side, and shot covert glances at her mother when they thought she wasn't looking; it wasn't exactly a stretch to guess what Lavender had had in mind with the seating arrangements.
Seriously, already? Just because she'd been having thoughts that she might not be the best possible heir, didn't mean she was ready to think about producing another for the Queen to train! DG lost what little interest she'd had in the fancy food in front of her-- she was still getting used to the OZ's version of haut cuisine, which varied a lot more widely and weirdly than anything she'd eaten in Kansas-- and spent the rest of the drawn-out meal murmuring bland answers to her mother's attempts to drag her into conversation and fuming behind a blank, plastic smile.
Finally, though, Lavender said something she had to react to. "As Prince Evring has only just arrived, and has never visited Finaqua before, I believe he would appreciate you showing him the grounds this afternoon? She restored it all with her own magic, you know."
That last was addressed to the prince, not to her, and DG felt her cheeks flush with irritation. "Or perhaps he'd like to visit with his cousin instead? I wouldn't like to get in the way of a family reunion," she said from between tightly-clenched teeth. "I can always show him around another time."
The Prince looked taken aback, though his glance toward Glitch at least proved her friend had remembered that relationship rightly. The Queen's reaction was milder, but the slight frown between her brows told DG she'd puzzled and wrong-footed her mother, yet again.
"But surely...." Lavender began.
"My dear, I had promised our daughter a lesson about her family history this afternoon," Ahamo interrupted with perfect timing, smiling at them both from across the table. His expression was pleasant, but DG didn't think she was imagining the sheathed steel in his tone; the Consort showing briefly from behind the artist's mask. "And apart from the family connection, you know that Ev has the most experience with the type of magic that is used in the Zipper process; the Prince may have suggestions to help in his recovery."
"That is true. Very well," Lavender replied, with a gracious nod, though unenthusiastic nod. "If you would, Prince Evring?"
"Of course," the prince recovered, with a seated bow and a hopeful look toward DG. "As the third son, I had some tuition from the Langwidere School; and my tutor was an expert in the variant of our magic that is used to create the so-called Headcases. I would be pleased to be of help to our mutual cousin, the Princess' friend."
DG was glad Glitch wasn't seated near enough to have overheard that; did that mean someone could have helped him years ago, if Ev and all the other little countries around the fringes of the Zone hadn't decided the Sorceress' rise was an internal matter and pulled away to avoid her attention?
Though really, considering how the Sorceress had dealt even with her friends, could she blame them? DG took a deep breath, instinctively drawing herself up both mentally and physically in an attempt to release her irritation-- and was surprised to feel a surge of energy like a jolt of adrenaline or a good caffeine rush, sweeping outward from her core to her fingertips and brightening her mood noticeably in its wake. Along with all the rest of her; it looked for a moment as though she'd applied some kind of incandescent skin cream.
She quickly dropped her hands to her lap and hid them in the folds of her napkin, using it to dab at her face as cover. Of course her magic had decided to help now, when she wasn't even trying. If only she could make it flow like that when she wasn't attempting to let something go, she'd be....
She'd be....
DG blinked, then mentally filed that thought for later examination as the energy rush faded back down to something less glowstick worthy; she had the sense that she'd just stumbled on something important. But she didn't have time to run down the full implications just now. The servants were removing the current course in favor of something dessert-like, the Queen's mouth was set in a firm line, and she was pretty sure her father had made up that stuff about a lesson on the spot.
What exactly was Ahamo's official role, other than Consort? She had yet to get a straight answer, and doubted she would today either, but he was pretty damn knowledgeable and perceptive for someone who hadn't grown up in the OZ. She had no doubt that improvised or not, his 'family history' would turn out to be important to know.
DG exchanged bemused glances with Az down the length of the table, then did her best to be pleasant for the remainder of the meal. It wasn't the guys' fault that this princess gig came with certain realities and expectations that she wasn't prepared for. She'd adjust eventually.
...She hoped.
+
After the meal, everyone broke up for audiences or preparation for the pending Longcoat trials or what have you, going about the business of getting things done. That meant back to the library for Az and Glitch, and she thought she saw one of the Resistance-turned-Royal Army's healers approaching Raw; just because the Sorceress' Longcoats had been officially disbanded, didn't mean some of them weren't still fighting back, and Raw's people could heal wounds that non-magical medicine couldn't. She hoped he didn't have too difficult an afternoon; she didn't have too high of hopes for her own, even with her father's intervention. And with Cain out on patrol with his son this week, she couldn't even entertain herself by making faces during the boring parts at her favorite Tin Man while he took a turn at guard.
Of course, he might or might not have been encouraged to join Jeb's company because she tended to go to him more for reassurance and advice about what was important than her parents. Maybe they were right and the sink-or-swim method of princessing was the best way to get her up to speed before there were negative political consequences for the whole OZ, but that didn't mean she had to like it.
The other alternative, it belatedly occurred to her, was that they'd thought he might be competition, given the demographics of today's lunch guests... and she didn't know what she thought of that. It wasn't that he was too old, or not attractive enough, or not full of excellent qualities that any woman would be blessed to have in a husband; it was just... he was Cain.
She made a face at the incoherence of that thought as she followed her father into his study slash artist's studio, then shook her head and smoothed out her expression.
"So. Family history today, huh?" she asked, pausing in front of a high arched window where an easel had been positioned to catch the best light. A watercolor portrait of the royal family as they currently were was taking shape on it; the little painted people all had on their best smiling faces, but Ahamo had sketched the glint of the Emerald in DG's hand and subtly positioned Azkadellia behind her. It would be pretty when it was done... but it was also at least as much propaganda as art. She wondered where he planned to display it when it was done.
"More or less," Ahamo said, moving behind the ornate desk at the 'business' end of the room. "What have you been told about the Gale dynasty so far?"
He had a few scrolls and an ancient-looking book laid out on the usually-clear surface; DG sighed and abandoned the art to take a seat across from him, eyeing the documents.
"Not a whole hell of a lot; basically, just what you told me when we went to the Catacombs. The original Dorothy Gale was the first Gale Queen, and she's also known as the First Slipper. There's some magical weirdness to do with her tomb that keeps her spirit around, which is more than a little creepy, if you ask me-- though I guess it's a pretty effective way to hide a magical superweapon. Somehow she was also from Kansas, even though five hundred annuals have passed on this side, and there's no way she could be from earlier than the late 1800's judging by what I saw. Oh, and every new Heir has to take a quest to meet her. The rest of it...." She shrugged. "Current events have been kinda the priority."
Ahamo gave a crooked smile, wry and maybe a little sad, at her tart tone. "I wish you'd had all your life to learn these things; that we'd been better parents to you when it really mattered. That we could just be a family, now, instead of having to spend all our time trying to put the realm back together. But you're doing great, just so you know; sticking up for yourself, asking insightful questions. You're going to be a great queen when the time comes."
DG sat back in her seat, taken a little by surprise. She'd got so used to bouncing off her mother's Queen Face, she'd thought both her parents were disappointed in her. "You really think so?"
The question came out in a little-girl quaver; it made her flush with embarrassment and irritation at herself for being so needy, but-- Ahamo's smile got wider, and sadder, and he came back around the desk to wrap his arms around her shoulders in a hug.
"Of course, DG," he said. "I know your mother seems distant right now-- but she fell in love with me for a reason, and it upsets her that you're going to have to be so much tougher than she was. We both just want what's best for you, my dear."
She let herself lean against his chest and sniffle for a minute, then pulled back and wiped at her nose. "Um. Thank you? That's... I felt like such a failure. I mean, I know everyone keeps talking about how I got the Sorceress out of my sister, but then they look at me and make these condescending remarks about my quaint upbringing and how surely I'll be able to make up for all the things I was deprived of on the Other Side with the right guiding hand...."
Ahamo heaved a sigh. "I told Lavender it was too soon; but she said we might as well not waste the opportunity, since the envoys were already here. DG, I wasn't planning on getting into this today-- but you might as well know, even if everything had gone according to plan, I would have taken you and Azkadellia to the Other Side for a time anyway. Once I repaired my balloon, and your mother gave me a way to call her for a return travel storm, I went back a couple of times: once to look up the law firm that had been left to manage the Gale inheritance and find my own things, and again to arrange for birth certificates and get the farm back in working order. I wanted you to know my world as well as your mother's; I thought it would give you a more well-rounded education, and a different insight on the issues of the realm. Your mother wasn't sure, but... the rumors of discontent were growing even before she gave you her light, so she agreed to let me try. We never intended to put the setup to use the way we did, but I will always be grateful it was there when we needed it."
DG's eyes widened, and she remembered that heart-shaped sign she'd seen swinging on the fence in the Gray Gale's washed-out world. She'd thought Dorothy must have been pulling from her, DG's, memories to project a place for them to meet, not that she'd grown up on Dorothy Gale's actual farm. Wow. "Well, I think you overshot the mark on the outsider perspective, just a little."
"Just a little. But remember that, when someone makes one of those remarks." He grinned at her again, then turned back to the desk to pick up on one of the books.
"You're right about time passing differently on both sides, by the way. Though not at a consistent rate. One of the OZ's most persistent legends says that magic was so pervasive here when Dorothy Gale fell out of that first travel storm that people aged inconsistently, and they didn't really keep track of the annuals. That's why so many of the ancient's records are difficult to decipher. But it was hard for them not to notice Dorothy growing up between visits. And the more often she visited, the more other Slippers followed, sometimes to the OZ's benefit and sometimes more disruptively. Finally, the foremost witch of the time cast a spell to wall the OZ away from our world, to truly make it the outer zone. After that, another four hundred or so annuals passed before another Slipper made it through. That one was from the nineteen-twenties, barely a handful of years after one Dorothy Gale, along with her aunt and uncle, disappeared from Kansas for the last time. As far as I can tell, the years and the annuals have run in parallel ever since."
DG realized she was being drawn into the story almost despite herself; this wasn't anything like the boring recitation of family trees she'd been expecting. "Almost as if... the wall weakened over time, and finally cracked," she said, putting two or two together. "I've heard people talk about there being less magic now than there used to be. And you say people weren't aging then, but they have been since... and maybe Az didn't cause the drought in the fields of the Papay after all... oh, my God." She put a hand to her mouth, swallowing. "What happens if the magic fades completely?"
Ahamo laughed, ruefully. "Like I said; you're already asking the important questions. People have been asking that particular one since your great-grandmother's reign, when the Slippers began to reappear, and no one has yet come up with an answer. It's one of the reasons formerly loyal men like General Lonot defected to Azkadellia's side when she showed more magical strength than your mother, and defer to you so easily now. Because unfortunately,the barrier around the OZ wasn't the only one that had weakened with time... and the rest of that story, you know."
DG winced. "That's why I was able to hear the witch calling to me. Az tried to stop me, you know-- she kept saying, your adventures have a way of getting me into trouble. I should have listened."
"DG, you were five. And for all she liked to complain, Azkadellia enjoyed the fact that you dragged her out of her prim and proper princess mold from time to time. The only one truly to blame for what happened is the witch. And possibly whatever's behind the weakening of the magic."
DG bit her lip, turning that thought over in her mind. Somehow, hearing that there might be another capital-D Doom on the horizon put some of her frustrations into perspective. It wasn't just that she was the only possible person left to take the throne; it was that she was still needed for something besides being A Symbol For Her People. It wasn't an issue she could tackle immediately, though-- not until she had the tools to tackle it with. But....
"Sounds like whatever happened is tied into Dorothy's story, somehow. Guess that'll be my next magical quest-- once I figure out how to consistently use mine. How did Dorothy end up the Queen of the OZ in the first place, though, if she was born on the Other Side? What made people bend the knee to an actual Kansas farm girl?"
"The histories aren't actually very clear on that point, which makes me think it was probably an important detail. Even your mother isn't sure; it was never written down in the royal library. And if it was written down anywhere else, no one was willing to admit as much to a mysterious stranger calling himself the Seeker."
"Hah! I knew it!" DG had to interrupt there, pointing an imperious finger at her father. "You weren't just pretending to look for yourself and waiting for me. You were investigating!"
Ahamo laughed at that. "To satisfy your curiosity, then... the two most popular stories in the Realm of the Unwanted were that she married a lost heir to the throne; and that she befriended and was named co-Queen with the fairy princess, Ozma, due to popular acclaim for her many services to the realm."
"The Ozma?" DG's eyes widened again. "The one everybody, you know, swears by?"
"Yes, that Ozma. We know she did actually exist at some point, and ruled before the Gale Queens, but like I said, the ancients' records are a little byzantine. But however it actually happened-- Dorothy's daughter, and her daughters' daughters, have sat on the throne ever since. All the way down to you. It's going to be up to you and your friends-- and your sister-- to figure out where the story goes from here."
"Still the OZ's only hope, huh," she whistled, shaking her head.
"At least you don't have to do it all alone this time," Ahamo said, the corners of his eyes crinkling in a smile. "Which brings me to these, actually," he gestured with the book. "All the old stories and legends; a little bedtime reading to help you fill in the blanks. I also have some maps here, and the genealogies, both ours and those of our closest neighboring countries; I thought they might help you with the envoys."
Now there was the boring fact-filled stuff she'd been expecting. "Did they help you?" DG asked plaintively. "Fairy tales, I can do; but memorizing random facts was never my strong suit."
"They did, actually. The key is to make them not seem so random. Find a way to relate the facts to the fairy tales, if that helps. Like the Langwidere School Prince Evring mentioned... Do you like horror stories?"
DG's eyebrows flew up. "Horror stories...? Never mind, I think I'll wait to read it for myself," she shuddered. Then she stood, moved by sudden impulse, and wrapped her arms around Ahamo in a more deliberate hug. "Thanks, by the way."
She was still getting used to her new parents, and they were still getting used to her... but it felt right to do it. Maybe she really could fit here, after all.
"You're welcome, DG," her father replied, gruffly. "Remember, no matter what happens; your mother and I love you."
In a minute, she'd take those books back to her room, and get started on the next step of her royal education.
...In a minute.
She tightened her arms around him and smiled against his shoulder. "I love you too."
(chapter at AO3; full story here.)