Pink began to tinge the sky outside, but she didn’t notice. She’d tried to sleep but had ultimately failed. The image of Cain’s hand around the cord kept coming back to her mind. She laid aside the confusion over what the connection was and instead focused on what that image meant. In the vision he had been holding it so tightly that his knuckles were white. She had only begun to probe what that action might have meant when she forced it from her mind. The only thing that lay down that road was more confusion.
She heard a light tapping at her door that brought her back to reality. Standing, looking for her robe only to find that she had misplaced it, she distractedly called for her visitor to come in. Her breath caught in her throat when Cain entered, holding said robe. Cain raised an eyebrow at her confused expression, but merely held out the garment. She crossed the room, taking it from his hand, careful to not let her fingers meet his.
“Is there going to be an explanation for this?” he asked quietly. She couldn’t read his face.
“No, Mr. Cain,” she said simply. Truthfully, she didn’t know what kind of explanation she had to offer. The truth would be too weird. Cain growled his exasperation, then noticed the puffiness around her eyes.
“Did you sleep at all, kid?” he asked, finally allowing his concern reach his eyes.
“No,” she said again. His raised eyebrow prompted her to add: “Bad dreams.”
He held her gaze for a few moments and her heart skipped a beat. Neither said anything, and he seemed to be searching her eyes for a better reason for her sleeplessness and the discovery of her robe in his room. She prayed silently to whatever Ozian gods might be watching that he wouldn’t be able to notice the flush of her cheeks and the haziness in her eyes. If he did, he said nothing. Soon, he broke the eye contact, mumbling something about coffee, as he turned and shut the door.
She watched the door in silence. Closing her eyes, DG reached out again, feeling the connection still there, his grasp on it still firm and insistent. The princess blew out a breath that she didn’t know she’d been holding.
She found herself in the library later, paging through several archaic books on magic. In her lesson that morning with Tutor, she’d been tempted to ask about what she’d seen the night before. She’d decided against that course of action; explaining the vision without giving too many details would have been impossible. There was no one for her to turn to for advice…at least no one that she felt comfortable telling, anyway. She still didn’t know her parents well enough, Azkedellia was understandably introverted to the point of being a hermit, Raw had gone back to his people, and Glitch’s advice would be laughable at best. Her frustration grew by the minute as her vision blurred through fatigued eyes. Shaking her head, she pinched lightly on the bridge of her nose and drew a deep breath. Cain, her ever-present shadow, raised an eyebrow at her back from across the room. He’d long since stopped trying to figure her out, but her behavior this day was peculiar even for DG.
“Princess,” he said softly. She started, her exhaustion making her more than jumpy. “I think you might need to get some rest.”
“I’m fine, Mr. Cain,” she replied wearily without turning around. He’d already tried three times in the past hour to convince her to go back to her rooms for a nap, but she was too intent on finding her answers. She only wished that the books would be more helpful. Then again, she supposed they couldn’t comply with her needs when she couldn’t see straight enough or pay attention long enough to read them. She rested her chin on her fist, resting her elbow on the table beside her and turning in her chair so she could put her feet on the chair next to her.
DG woke hours later to find herself on her own bed. She sat straight up, throwing off the blanket that someone had put over her. It was dark outside her window and a glance at the clock on her bedside table, coupled with the grumbling in her stomach, told her that it was well past time for her evening meal. The grit in her eyes and the clamminess of her skin prompted her to stop in her washroom. She washed her face and combed her hair, then changed into pajamas. Feeling slightly more human, she headed for her door, intent on slipping down to the kitchens to find something to eat.
It was still a strange feeling for her to step outside her door and see the guards on either side of it. She ignored them as they fell in-step behind her, but did vaguely wonder why it took two hunks of Royal Army muscle to do the job of one ex-Tin Man. That thought caused a smile to play at her lips as she wandered the corridors.
That smile quickly disappeared from her face when she entered the kitchens to find said Tin Man sitting at the counter. He had apparently been waiting for her. A plate of sandwiches sat in front of him, as well as a pitcher of some seasonal fruit juice. At the place next to him was an empty saucer and glass. She let a small smile return to her lips as she sat down, only to let it fall from her face when she saw the book she’d been reading earlier, open to the same page she’d been on before she’d fallen asleep in the library.
“So…does this have anything to do with whatever happened to keep you awake last night, Kid?”
“Can I plead the fifth?” The blank look on his face would have been funny at any other moment. She smiled at him, reaching for the sandwiches and hoping that he might drop the subject. No such luck, she thought as he snatched away the plate.
“If there’s something wrong, DG… I can only protect you if you’re honest with me.”
“It’s fine, Mr. Cain.” She turned that wide-eyed smile on him, trying to disarm his curiosity.
He didn’t say anything, but he did push the plate back toward her. After she finished her first sandwich, he tried again. “You know, Kid, you don’t have to talk to me, but you should talk to someone. Whatever’s botherin’ you is enough to have you digging around on your own on some very…interesting subjects. I have a feeling it might even be a contributing factor to the fact that I found your robe in my room.”
“Really, Mr. Cain, it’s nothing to worry about.” She turned her powder blue eyes to his and smiled as convincingly as she could. “I’m fine…I just had a few nightmares last night.”
“Nightmares about magical bonding methods?” he asked, poking the book pointedly.
DG winced. She was not having this conversation with him, not here, not like this. “Cain, for the last time, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” She shot him an attempt at her most disarming smile.
He didn’t buy it, but he didn’t say anything further. After she had her fill, he walked her back to her room, offering her his elbow as fatigue caused her to sway on her feet. He saw her safely inside it before walking down the corridor to his own room. She turned her back to the door, leaning against it and taking a deep breath. Glancing again at the clock, she pulled her chair back in front of the fire place, sitting down to wait until he needed her.
