sexyspork

It's not hard to remember when her outlook on the O.Z. changed, because it had felt like somebody had slammed her over the head with a 2x4 repeatedly until she couldn't tell up from down. She had spent three days there already, but it wasn't until the Bedoses gave them shelter until nightfall that DG was forced to acknowledge the world she was born in was vastly different from where she grew up.

It was the first real rest she had (being mentally tortured while in Azkadellia's prison wasn't exactly a walk in the park) since being flung into this toppsy-turvy world, and she enjoys the talk around the table even though she's hesitant around Tutor and it feels like the whole world is caving in on her. The food is warm in her belly, and Cain's presence near her side is comforting, and she doesn't understand the conversation at hand, but that's okay, because they're used to her asking silly questions anyways.

"What's a switch?"

--

It was Loraine who took her aside under the disbelieving gazes of the other occupants, and DG simply thought the O.Z. was only a bit different from home, but what the fuck?!

"You're kidding."

The look she receives is full of pity, and it makes DG grit her teeth. She had lasted this long in the Outer Zone without that, so why in the hell would she want it now?

"How are relationships formed where you're from?"

"The way normal people form relationships. As in, if you like guys and you find a certain guy attractive for whatever reason, you go after him. If girls are your preference, same thing!"

"Your people base it on gender?"

DG couldn't understand why that was so confusing.

"And yours bases it on a person's subservience?"

"Dominance, as well." Loraine murmured, and DG closed her eyes in mortification when she saw the bronze collar that was glinting in the candlelight from under the husband's shirt.

--

If she thought Cain was overprotective before, she was so completely and utterly wrong. Because now he watched her fanatically, and the only way he'd even think to leave her side is if both Glitch and Raw took his place. Even then, it wasn't a sure bet.

"Had he known," Glitch began to explain as they head further south, "he probably would never have left you when we went to see the Mystic Man."

"I don't understand." DG whispered, trying to ignore the feeling that the target in the middle of her back had grown exponentially.

"Some tops are..." He hesitated, a blush beginning to creep into his pale cheeks. "...Overzealous. Especially since Azkadellia's rise to power, the laws protecting subs have been very lax. A dom could have taken you forcibly, and neither Raw or I would have been able to stop them."

The chill creeped down her spine and spread through her entire body, and DG crossed her arms defensively. "Why not?"

"I'm a sub, and Raw is too. Doms usually hold all the power for a reason."

"Raw not." She can hear the scowl in the Viewer's voice, and bit back hysterical laughter.

"Oh please. No one likes a closet-case."

Their arguing for the next ten minutes would have sounded familiar if not for the content.

She didn't even have to ask what Cain was, ironically enough.

--

The Realm of the Unwanted multiplied everything to the nth degree.

Cain forced DG to stay by his side, and when she even thought of wandering so much as a step away, his hand wrapped around her bicep, burning her skin like she was hypersensitive. Maybe she was, because she couldn't even pretend to not know what the looks she was being given meant, and she was sure it was going to drive her crazy.

It was comforting to know that the most... persistent of those who followed her with their eyes stopped as soon as the former Tin Man rested one palm on the gun at his side. She just wasn't sure if she was comfortable with the obvious conclusions that they reached, because she didn't belong to anyone.

--

When Ahamo took her, DG was sure he was one of the tops that Glitch had warned her about. The thought completely and utterly terrified her, so she fought with everything she had as Cain's furious shouts of "DG!" faded with the slight pinprick of a needle.

The fear didn't quite abate once he proved himself as her father, and she was sure she wouldn't feel safe until Cain was back at her side.

--


"From that day on, I was hers."

DG glanced over at Ahamo from the corner of her eye as her hands tightened on the trinket in her grasp. She hesitated a moment, because this man may be her biological father, but she did not know him or his personal boundaries.

"What is it, DG?"

Damn him.

"Are you hers in their terms or ours?"

His lips quirked in a half-smile. "You're from the O.Z., DG."

"Born maybe, but I didn't grow up here!" She snapped, and Ahamo sobered slightly.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking." He whispered, hands reaching for her before he pulled back. Instead, Ahamo reached under his shirt to withdraw a small gold pendant on a long, thin chain. It was reminiscent of the brand on DG's palm, but at the center circle was a crest she had never seen before.

"Your mother gave this to me the day I proposed." He ran a thumb over the burnished metal fondly, obviously worn but well loved. "It was hard, in the beginning, learning a whole new set of cultural norms. But soon I felt more comfortable here than I ever felt in Nebraska."

"But I was raised on the Other Side, not here! This isn't-" DG choked over the words and looked away when Ahamo raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you call it the Other Side? Why not call it Earth?" His eyes seemed to burn right through her. "Why not call it home?"

She looked down at the compass in her hands, mouth compressing to a thin line, and DG shook her head.

"We're almost there."

Ahamo watched her for a few more moments before preparing for their descent.

--

After that, it felt like everything moved in fast forward before stopping suddenly as the suns began to peek out from behind the moon.

"That's the O.Z. I remember." DG murmured, because she may be floundering within a dark sea without an anchor to keep her steady, but this... "It's good to be home."

The light was warming to the core, and she turned to smile happily at her friends. It was the look on Cain's face, however, that left her grasping for something to hold onto. Tightening her grip around Azkadellia's hand, she felt her sister squeeze in encouragement, and the stoic fasquade had returned to the Tin Man's features.

DG swallowed hard and turned back to look out over the land that didn't seem quite as bright.

--

"You're father adjusted."

DG scowled. "I'm not Ahamo."

She ignored the frown that passed over her mother's features, and the faint buzz of amusement she felt from her and Azkadellia's bond wasn't exactly helping.

"DG, you've been in the O.Z. for almost two weeks-"

"And that's obviously enough time for me to conform." DG deadpanned as she adjusted her position in the window sill to rest a bit more comfortably. And she knew if Cain could see her, he'd flip his lid. Good thing this was a private council between the three royals to decide the future of the O.Z. Joy.

She'd take Cain's overproptectiveness over this political crap any day.

"DG, you must understand. Since the House of Gael first came into fruition, a dominant female has always sat on the throne."

She turned to look at her mother in shock. "You think I'm a sub."

The silence lay heavy, and DG was forced to bite her lip to keep from screaming, I'm not either of those! Why can't you understand that?

"The people will never trust a ruler who obeys another." Her mother's tone rang with a finality that reminded DG of the final nail being driven into a coffin.

DG smiled bitterly. "Have Az take the thrown, that'll solve all our problems."

Gentle fingers ran through her unruly hair, and DG looked up to meet Azkadellia's pained eyes. "You know I cannot; having a ruler who was once possessed is far worse than the alternative, lil' sister."

Well, at least Az didn't openly call her a sub.

--

Being named Heir Apparent was the biggest pain in the ass, and after the first month, DG was almost willing to sneak out until Azkadellia collapsed again, and she didn't dare leave her sister's side for to long. The O.Z. was so lucky that the Witch had left her sister weak with a compromised immune system, or she'd be halfway to the Realm of the Unwanted already.

The very worst thing, however, was the suitors.

They were either weak and needy, begging to be allowed in her presence, or so willing to please that it made DG gag. She wanted an equal, for fuck's sake, but her mother apparently thought by parading the wimpiest men the O.Z. had to offer, it would compensate for DG's "disability".

DG, of course, didn't see anything wrong with herself. It was everyone else who was fucked up.

--

DG wasn't ashamed to admit she was hiding. At least not to herself, that is.

Hell, it was the only time she had to herself without her mother's advisors breathing down her neck, just waiting for her to slip up. It was also the only time she got away from the pissants and the toadies, and if one more freakin' guy said, "Please, Princess..." in that particular tone of voice, she'd have Cain shoot him.

DG glanced around cautiously, toes digging in the damp earth as she brought the swing to a halt, just waiting for her bodyguard to appear. She still couldn't convince Az to check him for charms, because DG swore that whenever she so much as thought his name, Cain came as if summoned, and her older sister had yet to believe the superstition of the Heir Apparent.

Curling her fingers around the frayed rope, DG gave a little push to start moving again, thanking God that no one had thought to get rid of the old swing in the forest surrounding Finaqua. There were far greater concerns, and this was her sanctuary for the time being until Cain closed in and forced her to find a new hiding spot.

The wind was welcome through her unbound hair, and DG sighed softly, tension releasing from her tiny frame. Though she couldn't stay long, the single hour she found for herself did wonders for her mental stability, and DG grinned as she gained more altitude.

It was the sound of a twig snapping that brought her, literally, back to earth.

DG jerked, bare feet digging into soft soil as she groaned aloud. "Damnit, Cain! Can't I have one h-"

It wasn't Cain.

DG scooted off the seat, recognizing the fact that she wasn't exactly princess-y at the moment (long white peasant skirt, black tank top she begged the seamstress to make, and bare foot with wild hair) and if her mother found out, DG would be so dead. And it didn't help she was struggling to put a name to the handsome face of a man a few years her senior.

"Princess."

Ah, she'd know that tone in a room full of stampeding elephants on crack. The lilting deference with undertones she couldn't identify, before DG stood Marzix, Lord of Moratamia, and the one man out of all the suitors that made DG's skin crawl. She didn't like him at all, because he reminded her far too much of one charming customer Hilltop Cafe had once who slipped a roofie in one of the other waitress' drinks. (He hadn't been able to do anything, however, because Carter had leveled the shotgun that was kept under the register at him after she had bashed the ass over the head with a pan. And Gulch finally proved his worth when he "accidentally" tripped the perp to send him face first into the window of his squad car. In their small town, nobody messed with one of their own.)

"Good day, Lord Marzix." She murmured, inclining her head respectfully. "I must be going."

As she began to back away, a hand snaked around her left wrist, preventing her hasty retreat, and DG's eye widened in shock.

"Let. Me. Go." She hissed as she tried to jerk away, wincing as his grip tightened painfully, and a smirk bloomed over Marzix's features as the submissive charade fell away.

"Make me." He stepped closer, brown eyes arrogant that she would simply roll over, and DG felt a flash fury ignite through her. Swinging her free hand to catch him across the cheek, the smack reverberated through the silent forest.

However, the feeling of victory fled when he backhanded her, sending DG tumbling to the ground.

"There are rumors that you aren't quite the top you are supposed to be. Quite pleasing to see them coming to true."

Fear trickled through the anger, and so DG did what any sane woman in her position would do. She kicked him in the groin and ran.

--

With the bruises beginning to bloom and the pain still burning her wrist, DG opened a travel storm. Though much smaller than one of Azkadellia's, it still contained a massive amount of power so to make it unnoticeable until she was actually gone.

She didn't care about where she went on the Other Side, because she just wanted to forget for a while. Forget Marzix and how he had terrified her, giving him power over her that she wanted no man to have. Forget how she was expected to conform to something that she couldn't understand. Most of all, she just wanted to forget the day her world turn upside down in the little cottage with blue smoke, because then she could at least pretend the O.Z. was normal.

She wasn't sure how long she'd be able to stand the messed up concept of sex within the Outer Zone. Because one way or another it would break her. Break her for treating someone else like property, or break her for becoming property.

Damned if she did, damned if she didn't.

DG stayed on the Other Side for the rest of the day, sitting in front of a fountain at some random mall, and watched the people move on by. At that moment, she would have given anything to trade places with one of them.

--

When she returned that evening, exhausted from opening two storms, Cain met her at the gates. Face taut with a settled calm, she knew the explosion would come once they were behind closed doors. He would never do anything to undermine her tenuous position of authority, and for that, she was grateful.

She was also grateful it was dark enough that he wouldn't see the bruises, because at least she could pretend he wouldn't notice at all. Which he would, because nothing got by him, but DG liked her fantasies over reality, because reality sucked big time. Reality was slowly driving her insane, and people had the gall to wonder why she lost herself into her art.

Her lips quirked in a sheepish half-grin, "Hi, Cain."

He jerked his head towards the door, and fell into an obedient half-step behind her when DG moved passed him. He, more than any of them, successfully helped keep the rumors of her status at bay, and what amused DG the most was she had never talked to anyone besides her mother and sister about it (well, they talked, she ignored them). He took care of her in more ways than one, and that was something DG would never forget.

Unlocking the door to the parlor of her private residences, DG moved to stand in front of the window with Cain an ominous figure behind her.

"What were you thinking?" He punctuated softly once he shut the door, trying to keep his rising temper down.

"I wasn't." Which was true. Her only thought had been to get away from Marzix.

"You can't do that, princess! We didn't know what happened, and then Azkadellia tells us a travel storm had opened? Something could have happened and I wouldn't have been there!" Cain said harshly, pacing the room like a caged animal, and DG smiled in relief. She could deal with him being angry.

"I'm sorry." DG said honestly, because what else could she say?

"Damnit, DG, did you even stop to-" She jerked away when fingers reached for her wrist to force her to face him, and DG cradled her hand against her chest as he stilled for a moment.

"Turn around, princess." Cain's tone booked for no argument, but DG shook her head. She knew he'd find out, but she'd rather live in her delusions that he wouldn't. Because if he did, then she wouldn't even get that one single precious hour to herself.

"Now, DG."

She sighed softly, and turned away from the window, but didn't meet his eyes. Calloused fingers wrapped around her arm to look at the hand shaped bruise around her wrist, and DG couldn't stop the flinch. And DG knew if she was looking at him, he'd have that little tick in his cheek from grinding his teeth so hard together, and she couldn't stop the bitter half-smile that crossed her face. She really was going to be the death of him someday, but she was sure he'd prefer a death protecting her from renegade Longcoats to a DG-induced heart attack.

Gentle fingers gripped her chin, forcing DG to look Cain in the eye. She was then insanely grateful he didn't have magic, because the way his blue were sparking, she was sure she would have been incinerated on the spot. So DG closed her eyes to avoid his searching gaze as he tilted her head to shine light on the dark bruise that was gracing her cheek, and Cain growled audibly.

"Who did this?"

"I don't know." Which was true in the beginning.

"Princess." He growled again, but to belie his fury, fingers caressed the darkest part of the bruise on her cheek tenderly. However, it didn't stop her from flinching a second time.

"Please just drop it, Cain." DG whispered as he moved to cup her cheek in his palm.

"DG, someone hurt you, and I am going to kill him." Cain said, voice absolutely dead certain as he stepped forward, crowding her personal space, and DG opened her eyes in shock.

DG swallowed hard, and withdrew herself from his grasp. "I'm going to have Raw look at it. Goodnight, Mr. Cain."

She could feel his eyes burning into her back as she left the room. And once she was out of earshot, she ran.

--

"You're driving the psychologists nuts. Mother's been metaphorically beating them away with a stick to keep them from using you as a case study." Azkadellia teased softly, and DG laughed aloud. Key to her sanity, thy name is Az. Which is somewhat ironic, as the firstborn princess wasn't exactly sane herself. The O.Z. had better get used to have screwed up royals...

"Why?" She asked, grinning as her sister squeezed her elbow affectionately as the two walked arm-in-arm. They were quite scandalous, if she believed the cook's rumors, for being so openly touchy-feely. But as far as DG was concerned, anyone who didn't like it could go screw themselves.

"When father first appeared, the nature side of the equation declared him a genetic anomaly. But now they have you to play with, and the nurture side of the debate wants to use you as their proof."

DG scowled, and shot Az a look. "I'm sure I've also been declared a mutant freak. But what about you? You're his daughter too!"

"Well, I've been declared mentally unfit for any studies." Azkadellia said breezily, dark eyes glinting with humor.

"You started muttering under your breath again to get out of it, didn't you?!" DG cried out with wide blue eyes, dragging their walk around the gardens to a halt. "That's not fair, Az! You've practically thrown me to the lions!"

Azkadellia looked down at DG with all the regality of a queen. "Would I do that?"

"Yes." DG said grumpily as they both started walking again. Az simply leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her younger sisters brow.

"Just have your Tin Man shoot them if they get too annoying."

"There's a reason mother won't let him be the guard on duty when my suitors come calling after I told Cain to shoot Lord whateverhisnamewas."

An expression of wry amusement crossed the older woman's face, and DG blinked in confusion.

"That's not the reason why mother changed your protection detail for those tedious garden parties."

"Then why isn't Cain there? Because I could at least make faces at him and he wouldn't tattle." He sometimes would actually make faces back, conveniently hidden behind the brim of his beloved hat, and that always made those dreaded meet-and-greets go so much faster.

Azkadellia gave her a look of fond exasperation. "I love you, Deeg, but you must be completely and utterly blind. He's so dominant he scared all those little submissive lordlings away."

"He wasn't doing anything! He just stood there and did his whole bodyguard routine."

"He practically wrote 'Property of Wyatt Cain' across your forehead."

DG rolled her eyes. "Oh please, that's just crazy, Az."

Azkadellia pulled them to a stop and looked DG in the eye. "You know I just want you to be happy, right?"

DG blinked at the apparent sudden shift of topic, and nodded, wrapping her free hand around Az's that was linked through her arm. "I know, and I want you to be happy more than anything in this world or the next."

Her sister smiled as she blinked away wet eyes, and DG reached out over their bond for reassurance that Azkadellia was fine. The bright flash of warm gold pulsed through her mind, and DG grinned.

"Just take someone who makes you happy, okay, Deeg?"

DG nodded slowly, "As long as you promise to do the same."

Azkadellia looked away for a moment, "I wanted to talk to you about that actually, but haven't known how to bring up the subject..."

"Take your time," DG said slowly, knowing better than to rush her sister, but dying to know who the dominant woman had set her eyes on. If it was someone DG did not approve of, she'd find a way to convince Jeb to use his contacts to get rid of whatever leech was coming after her mentally and emotionally vulnerable sister.

"I wanted to ask your permission to claim Ambrose as my own."

DG blinked. And then blinked again. "I'm not Glitch's keeper, that's his own decision to make."

"I just... wanted to see if you were okay with the idea before I approached him..." Azkadellia looked down at their linked arms.

"He was once mother's, you know, before father came. They weren't in any sort of physical relationship, but he wore her crest as a form of protection. It was far too dangerous for the Queen's top advisor to be left unclaimed, and once father came, they were forced to risk it. When I was born, he wore mine as a symbol of devotion to our family."

Azkadellia looked over at DG with a small smile. "He wore yours, too, when you were born."

"...I don't know what to say, Az, but I'll support whatever the two of you decide." DG said softly, filing away her shock that Glitch had once belonged to her to be dealt with later.

"I... I owe him so much more than I can ever repay. And even though Ambrose is whole once more, my debt isn't fulfilled." Azkadellia swallowed hard, and DG squeezed her sister's arm in silent support.

"Just be happy, Az, that's all I'm asking." DG pleaded, and her sister consented with a nod.


Two weeks later, Glitch was wearing Azkadellia's collar.

--

DG hated being Heir Apparent. And by hating, she meant "a burning darkness that rivaled the depths of hell" sort of hate. She was told there was perks (you know, the whole queen thing), but she had to see anything but the downsides.

Sitting on a open dais and tearing up the flower in her hands with a single-minded devotion had her protection detail squirming a bit, which they deserved, because none of them were as interesting as Cain. He at least had the decency to treat to her like a normal human being instead of some whip-wielding doll on a shelf.

DG glared at the sycophants hanging around the garden, apparently trying to gather up the courage to approach the fuming princess. She wondered if Raw would mind being claimed in name only, and if she could pass it off as some "good will treaty" bullshit, because she wasn't sure how much more she could take of these idiots kissing her ass. If they did anything more to piss her off, DG was sure she'd snap and kill them all. Or at least lock them in tombs so they had to grow a spine to get themselves out.

"Fair day, princess."

DG froze, wishing for Cain but thanking God he wasn't here, because she did not want to explain why Moratamia needed a new lord.

"Fair day." Ohh, burn. No acknowledgment of his title, but she was sure she'd pay for that sooner rather than later.

Brown eyes glinted up at her from his kneeling position at her feet, and Marzix's demeanor never lost his adoring visage as he murmured almost to soft for her to hear. "I plan to make you mine, bitch."

DG smiled through her threat, "You'll be dead before you get a chance."

"I'm already being groomed by their majesties to be ready and willing to serve my future bride."

DG felt alarmingly cold in the bright summer sun, and she snuck a glance to see if any of her idiotic guards were actually paying attention to the conversation at hand and not just body language. Marzix, the bastard, caught the look, and his smile grew. And from a distance, they probably seemed like the royal princess coyly talking to her admirer, and the bastard knew it.

"And you know what the first thing I'll do once I place a collar around that pretty little neck of yours? Your Tin Man pet will be sent to the Moratamia mines where he will work until he dies."

DG stood up suddenly, startling the man before her as the tattered remains of the rose fluttered through the light breeze. She towered over Marzix's kneeling form, smiling serenely even as her hands were clenched into fists at her side. Now she had her guards notice, but it was too damn late.

It was one thing to threaten her, but threaten someone she cares about? Not. Cool.

The sudden pressure of magic building in the area was noticeable, and everyone turned to openly watch the preceding with undisguised anticipation. DG saw a guard dart away from the corner of her eyes, but she didn't care. Marzix was her only concern now.

"I did some research after your little stunt a few weeks ago. Do you know the penalties of attempting to force a submission?" She asked slowly, watching Marzix carefully. "Do you know the penalties of attempting to subjugate me?"

Marzix had slowly begun to turn white, "Princess Dorothea, pl-"

The sudden crack of a tree being split in two by a bolt lightning from the clear blue sky had Marzix cowering before her.

"I could have you declared unfit for any, dooming your line to extinction. I could have you exiled, I could have you executed. But you know what in particular caught my eye, Marzix?" Her smile wasn't exactly pleasant. "I could have you castrated in the most horrific way possible that not one single person in this fucked up society would enjoy."

DG stepped down from the dais and onto the grass to stand before the man that trembling at her feet. "You are completely at my mercy. So who's the bitch, now?"

She turned away, ignoring the pounding of her heart as she strode out of the gardens with her head held high. I guess that's what it took for them to respect me, DG noted bitterly as the bows she received were actually sincere and not the blatant mockeries she had been given up until now.

And she caught a glimpse of Cain's figure in the background before she disappeared through the garden gate.

--

DG kicked her feet harder, trying to gain altitude on a swing that wasn't exactly designed to be anything more than a hanging settee. Frowning as she cursed softly in frustration, she let bare feet drag along the forest floor until she came to a stop. A shiver of awareness crawled down her spine, and DG looked up to see Cain watching her intently, his expression inscrutable. He moved away from the tree he had been leaning against to stand before her, and DG gave Cain a small, albeit cautious, smile.

"Marzix is being held for suspicion of an attack against the crown." He said, blue eyes piercing right through her.

"Not exactly an attack on the crown..." DG said, swinging her feet rhythmically, and Cain reached out to grasp the rope to steady her seat.

"You are the crown princess, the Heir Apparent, of course it was against the crown." Cain said with a hint of exasperation, and that was the Tin Man DG knew.

"So what'll happen to him?"

"Whatever you want."

DG wrinkled her nose. "You do know I was bluffing, right?"

Cain grinned viciously, "Yes, but he doesn't. And I told you he was dead for touching you, and I don't go back on my word, princess."

DG opened her mouth to protest, but sighed instead. Her mother would probably pardon him under the agreement that he never went near the royal family again, because so soon after the Witch's reign, it would be political suicide to do something that might ignite a civil war. And Moratamia was valuable indeed...

And Cain wasn't a killer. So she had nothing to fear.

So she closed her eyes and thanked God that maybe she'd have some respite for a month or two until the suitors came crawling back. She just hoped she wouldn't have to put on another display of power, because that had been mentally and physically exhausting.

"You know," Cain started with a slight chuckle, and DG opened her eyes to focus on him. "I think everyone has been going about this the wrong way with you."

She raised an eyebrow in a 'oh please' expression.

"Did anyone explain the reasoning behind the relationships in the O.Z.?"

DG thought for a moment before shaking her head. She had gotten more than enough lectures on the power dynamics, but she had never thought that these people might actually have a reason beyond the obvious kinks.

Cain looked down at her and grinned, "It's mostly about trust, princess."

"...Trust." She deadpanned, not bothering to mask her disbelief.

"The submissive trusts the dominant with the power they give up. And in turn, the submissive is granted that same amount of power over the dominant."

"What? That doesn't make any sense!"

He crouched down to look her in the eye, and DG was surrounded by a pure, masculine scent that made it hard to think.

"The submissive truly holds all the power in the relationship." Bright blue burned through her own, "Because once the sub says stop, the dom must obey."

"And it's the duty of the top to protect and care for their sub, which is why it was ideal to have a dominant female take the thrown, so as she could care for her country like she does her submissive." Cain was watching her closely, and DG felt a flush beginning to creep up her neck.

"But for that same reason, it would be ideal for a dom to take a sub who needs to be protected."

"I'm not a sub." DG snapped, trying not to pout, because she went over this with Az and their mother for hours. "And don't think I don't know what you're doing, buster. The only way I'd even think to enter in one of these wacked out relationships is if love was prominently featured into the equation."

A slow grin crossed Cain's face, and it was one she had never seen before. "DG, I'd love you even if you were a switch."

DG's mouth dropped open in shock as Cain continued to watch her, and then she admitted softly, "I don't know what love feels like, but if it is what I think it is, then I do... you know, love you back."

Warm fingers caressed her cheek before tangling in her unbound hair. "I'll wear your crest as long as you wear mine as well."

"You do realize I will probably fight you on everything? That I won't settle for being someone's property?" DG warned him. Because she may be hiding it better, but she still wasn't conforming as well as the others had hoped.

"Not only are you no one's property, but I wouldn't expect anything less." Which was a good thing, because DG and Cain didn't exactly see eye to eye on pretty much everything. "But once we're behind closed doors..."

DG frowned. "Like hell I'm letting you tie me to the bed."

Cain's breath hitched and DG felt her pulse roaring in her ears as his blue eyes dilated and a blush exploded over her features. Well, that was unexpected. Cain swallowed convulsively, and then cleared his throat, a flush of his own gracing his pale cheeks.

"We can discuss the mechanics of this relationship later," Cain muttered, looking away and DG grinned. She hopped up from her seat, and slipped her arm through his own. 

"I'm not going to be a good sub." She warned him. "I like equality a bit too much."

He grinned down at her as they began to slowly head back towards the Royal Residence. "Your crest will have just as much meaning as mine," Cain paused, and glanced over at DG assessingly. "Which you should wear as an anklet, easier to hide... And there's only one thing I ask for when you design my collar."

"What?"

"Don't make it girly, or I will tie you to the bed."

DG snorted, but bumped her shoulder against his affectionately. So this whole culture was still messed up, but the way DG saw it, at least she lucked out because she loved the man she was going to marry and he was willing to compromise. That had been more than she could hope for since her mother had spelled out her role.

DG grinned brightly and stole a kiss from the corner of Cain's lips. "But if you even think of pulling out handcuffs, I will run away to the Realm of the Unwanted."

Cain huffed a laugh, but she didn't miss the way his eyes dilated even further. "I'd follow you to the ends of the O.Z., princess."

And he would. Which was okay, because as long as Cain was by her side, everything would be fine.