Fanfiction: Tin Man (G)
Title: The Road Less Traveled
Pairing/Characters: 'Ambrose', 'Lavender Eyes', Ahamo, Wyatt Cain, 'Adora' Cain; 'Lavender Eyes'/Ahamo, Wyatt/'Adora'
Rating: G
Fandom: Tin Man
Word Count: 2,758
Spoilers: Whole miniseries
Summary: The Royal Advisor and Captain of the Mystic Man's protection detail are forced to work together.
Notes/Warnings: AU! lionille wrote The Curious Case of the Mysteriously Missing Lady-in-Waiting In Training and andrealyn wrote The Path Not Taken and the two fics together gave me the idea of writing a fic where Ambrose/Glitch is born a woman and stays one. *grin*
Beta and plot-hole-poker: umbralillium
Previous Chapter(s): 1. Rocky Beginning
The Road Less Traveled
2. Smoothing the Way
"Right over there would be the best place to stop for the night," the Royal Advisor told the Tin Man as twilight began to deepen into night, gesturing to a clearing nearby. "There's enough room for the car and both tents."
They were the first words she'd spoken since they'd stopped for lunch more than a few hours ago. He glanced in the direction she indicated and saw what she meant. Wyatt carefully backed the car into the clearing and turned it off. She climbed out before he could get out and open her door for her. Musing that she seemed more like a man in some ways, he climbed out and moved to the back of the car so they could grab their gear.
He was still wrestling with his tent by the time the Royal Advisor had hers up. "Would like some help with that?"
"No thanks, I've got it," he answered shortly, still wrestling with the damn thing. "Why don't you go gather some firewood?"
"Fine." She stalked off into the forest, burgundy skirt swishing behind her. He shook his head, glad he hadn't been born a woman. He doubted he'd have managed those skirts very well.
By the time she returned with a respectable stack of wood, Wyatt had his tent set up and a firepit ready. He stacked the wood and started the fire, the entire process intently watched by the Royal Advisor. "Didn't your previous escorts start fires before?"
"Of course they did, but they used an M.F.S.U. I invented." At his puzzled look, she produced the item in question and he examined it carefully. "Mobile Fire Starter Unit."
He shrugged and handed it back to her. "I won't always have one of those, so I'd rather stick with what I was taught in survival training."
"Up to you." She sniffed loftily, turning and disappearing into her tent, which, he'd noticed, was larger than his.
He shook his head and pulled out the ingredients and items he needed in order to cook. If she wanted to sulk in her tent, that was fine with him. She was the most infuriating woman he'd met. Almost everything he said seemed to rub her the wrong way. He had no idea how she got along at court with an attitude like that. Adjusting his hat on his head, he began to cook.
* * *
Amber Rose sat cross-legged on her sleeping bag, arms folded across her chest. Why did Wyatt Cain have to be so infuriating? Everything he said was a criticism of one kind or another. What had the Queen been thinking, sending him with Amber Rose? Any other escort would have been perfectly fine, but Violetta had been insistent.
Just as her anger was building to the point that she needed to attack someone, the delicious scent of food reached her. Surprised, she opened her tent and peered out at the Tin Man. "You can cook?"
"Part of Tin Man training," Cain replied, stirring the fire. "We learn to survive with little more than our wits and what we can find on the trail."
"You didn't find all this on the trail," she commented, sitting down on the log beside him as he scooped portions onto the two tin plates he was holding.
He offered one of the plates to her. "No, but I could if necessary." Blue eyes met hers briefly. "If I'm going to rough it, I'm going to make damn sure I have proper food."
"Wise decision," she agreed, the corner of her mouth quirking up slightly. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. She tried the food and moaned happily. Most of the men who escorted her barely knew how to make one dish and she was a horrible cook herself, so they'd most relied on dried meats and fruit.
She noticed Wyatt watching her and blushed, focusing her attention on her plate. "Do you cook?"
"Not really." She shook her head, sipping the warm cider the Tin Man handed her. "Not even with a proper kitchen. But, I was never expected to cook."
He'd been eating as she spoke and paused at her last statement. "You were hired to be the Royal Advisor from the start?"
"No, hardly that." She shook her head with a laugh. "I was taken from an orphanage at a young age to be a companion to the Princess when it became clear she would be an only child."
Cain paused in the act of bringing his cider to his own lips. "Why adopt an orphan? Why not choose a son or daughter from among the noble families?"
"There weren't any around her age and Queen Sylvia thought it would be best to choose from among the orphans. Not only would it prevent infighting amongst the noble families, but it had the added benefit of helping someone who truly needed helping."
"That someone being you." Wyatt indicated her with his fork. "Wouldn't you have ended up as a lady-in-waiting instead of the Royal Advisor normally?"
Amber Rose made a face at that. "Yes, but Queen Sylvia felt I was too intelligent and valuable as a companion to the Princess to make me a lady-in-waiting. I attended the university with the Princess and she made me her Royal Advisor when the previous one stepped down."
"You're also her bodyguard," the Tin Man observed, finishing his meal. She waited while he sipped his cider. He wouldn't have mentioned it if he wasn't going to pursue the topic. "How did that come about?"
Ducking her head a little, her cheeks warm, she explained, "I'd started taking lessons in self-defense while I was still at the orphanage because the bullies always picked on me. After I was adopted, Queen Sylvia thought it would be a good idea for me to be able to defend the Princess, so my training continued. Now I teach it to the Palace Guard recruits as a mandatory part of their training. Most only know the basics. A few showed enough promise that they continued training with me after the basic training."
"I see." He finished his cider. "It's getting late. I'll see you in the morning. Good night."
She barely had time to wish him a 'good night' in return before he disappeared into his tent. Shaking her head, she finished her dinner and retired as well.
* * *
They reached Milltown the next day around noon. The residents watched the car suspiciously until the Royal Advisor climbed out. Then they relaxed and ushered her into what appeared to be the main building. Wyatt was led to another building to wait for her to finish whatever she'd been asked to do. While he waited, he thought about what she'd revealed the previous night. It went a long way towards explaining some of her reactions to what he'd thought were reasonable questions. Maybe, if he were a little more careful about how he phrased his questions, she'd be less likely to bite his head for one reason or another. Maybe we'll be able to at least tolerate each other's company now…
The Tin Man went to bed before the Royal Advisor had reappeared, but she was eating breakfast by the time he'd gotten up and dressed. "Did you get everything worked out for Father Vue?"
"Yes, I did." She nodded, making an impatient noise when the action sent her black curls tumbling into her eyes. Unfortunately, her hands were sticky with apple juice, so she glanced at Wyatt beseechingly. "Mr. Cain, could you..."
"Sure." He reached over and pushed the curls back behind her ears for her, ignoring the way he'd noticed the softness of those curls or the perfect shell shape of those ears. "When did you want to leave for Central City?"
She finished chewing her bite of apple, her cheeks pink for some reason. "Would right after breakfast be fine with you?"
"Perfectly fine," he agreed, relieved that he didn't have to sit around and wait some more. "Most of my things are still in the car."
The Royal Advisor nodded, looking thoughtful. "Good. I just have my equipment and tools to put back. I didn't even bother with my suitcase."
Frowning, he looked more closely at the dress she was wearing. It not only looked like the one she'd worn the day before, but it was the same one she'd worn. Delicately, he asked, "Perhaps you'd like to change into a new dress at least?"
"Hmm?" She glanced down at herself, and then blushed. "Oh, yes, I probably should."
After breakfast, Cain carried her tool bags for her and waited as she pulled out her suitcase and disappeared into the hostel to change. When she re-emerged, she was wearing a navy blue dress instead of the burgundy one and her curls had been brushed and pinned back. After she'd put her suitcase back in the car, they climbed in and started back the way they'd come.
* * *
Amber Rose woke up from her nap when they pulled to a stop. Looking around curiously, she saw that the suns were high in the sky and they'd pulled into a clearing by a lake. She turned to the Tin Man curiously. "What's this?"
"I thought I'd catch some fish for tonight's dinner," he explained, climbing out from behind the wheel. "I noticed the river two nights ago and thought it'd be a good fishing spot."
She frowned, climbing out of the car, and joined him by the trunk. "I don't believe we have any fishing gear, do we?"
"I packed some," Wyatt explained, opening his pack and digging through one of the pockets to pull out a segmented stick that, when he put it together, became a fishing pole. He dug out some string and tied it to the end of the stick. A hook was tied on the other end of the string. "There we are. You can join me if you like. Just don't talk much."
The Royal Advisor nodded and followed him to the riverbank, sitting down on a log near him and simply watched as he placed some bait on the hook and cast it into the water. Once that was done, he jammed the end of the pole into the soft ground on the riverbank and slowly pulled the string in, hand over hand. Brown eyes narrowed as she mused that there had to be an easier way to do that. Pulling her notebook out of her pocket, she began making notes and sketches.
* * *
At the end of the hour he'd allotted himself for fishing, Cain had caught four reasonably-sized fish. He skinned, cleaned, and gutted them before wrapping them in the paper he'd brought, ready to be cooked when they made camp. He'd noticed the Royal Advisor scribbling in her notebook, but hadn't indulged his curiosity while he was so focused on fishing. Once they were back on the road, however, he nodded to the pocket where she'd stowed the notebook. "What were you working on earlier?"
"Oh, the design for a new invention I have in mind," she answered airily, waving a long, slender hand dismissively.
He grunted and continued to drive. She didn't fall asleep, staring out the window and fidgeting with her sleeves instead. Occasionally she mumbled something under her breath, but never loud enough for him to hear, which was fine with him. As the suns dropped low into the sky, the Tin Man spotted the clearing where they'd stopped for lunch two days before. At the time, the Royal Advisor had commented that it was where she and her escorts usually stopped on their way back from Milltown.
They moved to the back of the car to retrieve their camping gear, setting up camp just as they had two nights before. This time, though, she didn't bother to offer to help Wyatt set up his tent. She simply disappeared into the forest to collect firewood once her tent was up. His tent was up by the time she returned and she helped him start the fire, burning her fingers a little when the flame caught quicker than she'd anticipated. Once it was crackling merrily, he cleared his throat and gruffly muttered, "Thank you."
"You're welcome." She smiled, obviously pleased that he'd thanked her this time. "I'd offer to help you cook those fish, but I'd likely ruin them."
"You worked hard yesterday," he reminded her simply and unwrapped the fish in order to set them to cook. "Just relax and work on whatever invention you were thinking of earlier."
She laughed softly and pulled her notebook and pencil out, writing and sketching. "Did you learn how to fish during your Tin Man training?"
"No, that's something my father taught me and my brothers," Wyatt explained, pushing his hat back a little on his head. "He would've taught my sisters, too, if I'd had any."
The Royal Advisor glanced over at him at that, but he kept his eyes on the fish, turning them over so the other side could cook. "How many brothers do you have?"
"Two: Frederick owns the family ranch and Howard works as the foreman." Cain pulled the bottle of cider out of the embers of the fire where it'd been warming and poured cups for both of them.
She accepted hers with a smile, setting her notebook aside so she could hold the cup with both hands. "Why didn't you work the ranch with your brothers?"
"I decided I'd rather be a Tin Man," he answered with a shrug, sipping the cider carefully. "I still help out when I go back to visit."
His companion set her cup down by her feet so she could continue to scribble in her notebook, glancing at him from time to time. "It must be lonely sometimes, being away from your family."
"I have Adair." His lips curved up in a longing smile as he thought of his lover. "We keep each other company."
"Adair?" she repeated, arching an eyebrow curiously. "Is he a friend of yours?"
He turned and met her brown eyes squarely with his blue ones. "Adair Walker is my lover."
"Oh!" Her eyes widened briefly and she smiled quietly. "Is he part of the Walker merchant family from Central City?"
Wyatt smiled faintly and turned his attention back to their meal, scooping the cooked fish onto two plates. "Yes. He's the younger of their only two children. His brother is Edwin and he's the one who usually attends the Royal Balls."
"I remember him." She made a face as she accepted the plate he gave her. "Edwin Walker is a stuck up asshole. He thinks all the women should be swooning at his feet just because he's the heir to the largest merchant business in Central City."
He chuckled at that description of Edwin. "That's pretty much Adair's complaint about him, too."
"He tried to seduce me once shortly after I became the Royal Advisor," she commented after swallowing a bite of her fish. "Needless to say, he didn't get very far with me."
The Tin Man nodded, hiding his amusement. "You don't like being seduced?"
"Oh, I would enjoy it if the reason was because the seducer wants Amber Rose, and not the Royal Advisor." She continued to eat, a shadow briefly crossing the pale, delicate features. "Too often, they merely want the connection to the Queen."
Wyatt nodded, mentally making a note about the Royal Advisor's name. He had a feeling it would be important. "That's wise of you to be careful about your choice of partners."
"I had to learn it an early age," Amber Rose explained softly, poking idly at the second fish. "I have to be careful about friendships, too. Some girls only wanted to be my friend because I was the Princess' companion."
He reached over and rested a hand on her slender shoulder, not quite sure how to treat a woman who might cry. "You learned it. That's the important thing."
"I know." She quickly dashed a hand across her eyes and shoved the plate at him. Picking up her notebook, the Royal Advisor disappeared into her tent.
Cain expected to hear sobbing or crying as he ate the fish Amber Rose hadn't touched, but he never did. Shrugging, he banked the fire and crawled into his own tent. As he lay on his back in his sleeping bag, he wondered why part of him was disappointed that the trip would end soon.
End Chapter
A/N2: For the record, if people want a visual image for Adair, picture Dr. Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds. For lots of pictures of him and the actor in other roles, go here. I have a hair fetish, so this picspam made me very happy. I especially like the season two hair. That's about how I visualize Adair's hair. Amber Rose is pretty much Alan Cumming with longer hair and boobs.
Pairing/Characters: 'Ambrose', 'Lavender Eyes', Ahamo, Wyatt Cain, 'Adora' Cain; 'Lavender Eyes'/Ahamo, Wyatt/'Adora'
Rating: G
Fandom: Tin Man
Word Count: 2,758
Spoilers: Whole miniseries
Summary: The Royal Advisor and Captain of the Mystic Man's protection detail are forced to work together.
Notes/Warnings: AU! lionille wrote The Curious Case of the Mysteriously Missing Lady-in-Waiting In Training and andrealyn wrote The Path Not Taken and the two fics together gave me the idea of writing a fic where Ambrose/Glitch is born a woman and stays one. *grin*
Beta and plot-hole-poker: umbralillium
Previous Chapter(s): 1. Rocky Beginning
The Road Less Traveled
2. Smoothing the Way
"Right over there would be the best place to stop for the night," the Royal Advisor told the Tin Man as twilight began to deepen into night, gesturing to a clearing nearby. "There's enough room for the car and both tents."
They were the first words she'd spoken since they'd stopped for lunch more than a few hours ago. He glanced in the direction she indicated and saw what she meant. Wyatt carefully backed the car into the clearing and turned it off. She climbed out before he could get out and open her door for her. Musing that she seemed more like a man in some ways, he climbed out and moved to the back of the car so they could grab their gear.
He was still wrestling with his tent by the time the Royal Advisor had hers up. "Would like some help with that?"
"No thanks, I've got it," he answered shortly, still wrestling with the damn thing. "Why don't you go gather some firewood?"
"Fine." She stalked off into the forest, burgundy skirt swishing behind her. He shook his head, glad he hadn't been born a woman. He doubted he'd have managed those skirts very well.
By the time she returned with a respectable stack of wood, Wyatt had his tent set up and a firepit ready. He stacked the wood and started the fire, the entire process intently watched by the Royal Advisor. "Didn't your previous escorts start fires before?"
"Of course they did, but they used an M.F.S.U. I invented." At his puzzled look, she produced the item in question and he examined it carefully. "Mobile Fire Starter Unit."
He shrugged and handed it back to her. "I won't always have one of those, so I'd rather stick with what I was taught in survival training."
"Up to you." She sniffed loftily, turning and disappearing into her tent, which, he'd noticed, was larger than his.
He shook his head and pulled out the ingredients and items he needed in order to cook. If she wanted to sulk in her tent, that was fine with him. She was the most infuriating woman he'd met. Almost everything he said seemed to rub her the wrong way. He had no idea how she got along at court with an attitude like that. Adjusting his hat on his head, he began to cook.
* * *
Amber Rose sat cross-legged on her sleeping bag, arms folded across her chest. Why did Wyatt Cain have to be so infuriating? Everything he said was a criticism of one kind or another. What had the Queen been thinking, sending him with Amber Rose? Any other escort would have been perfectly fine, but Violetta had been insistent.
Just as her anger was building to the point that she needed to attack someone, the delicious scent of food reached her. Surprised, she opened her tent and peered out at the Tin Man. "You can cook?"
"Part of Tin Man training," Cain replied, stirring the fire. "We learn to survive with little more than our wits and what we can find on the trail."
"You didn't find all this on the trail," she commented, sitting down on the log beside him as he scooped portions onto the two tin plates he was holding.
He offered one of the plates to her. "No, but I could if necessary." Blue eyes met hers briefly. "If I'm going to rough it, I'm going to make damn sure I have proper food."
"Wise decision," she agreed, the corner of her mouth quirking up slightly. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. She tried the food and moaned happily. Most of the men who escorted her barely knew how to make one dish and she was a horrible cook herself, so they'd most relied on dried meats and fruit.
She noticed Wyatt watching her and blushed, focusing her attention on her plate. "Do you cook?"
"Not really." She shook her head, sipping the warm cider the Tin Man handed her. "Not even with a proper kitchen. But, I was never expected to cook."
He'd been eating as she spoke and paused at her last statement. "You were hired to be the Royal Advisor from the start?"
"No, hardly that." She shook her head with a laugh. "I was taken from an orphanage at a young age to be a companion to the Princess when it became clear she would be an only child."
Cain paused in the act of bringing his cider to his own lips. "Why adopt an orphan? Why not choose a son or daughter from among the noble families?"
"There weren't any around her age and Queen Sylvia thought it would be best to choose from among the orphans. Not only would it prevent infighting amongst the noble families, but it had the added benefit of helping someone who truly needed helping."
"That someone being you." Wyatt indicated her with his fork. "Wouldn't you have ended up as a lady-in-waiting instead of the Royal Advisor normally?"
Amber Rose made a face at that. "Yes, but Queen Sylvia felt I was too intelligent and valuable as a companion to the Princess to make me a lady-in-waiting. I attended the university with the Princess and she made me her Royal Advisor when the previous one stepped down."
"You're also her bodyguard," the Tin Man observed, finishing his meal. She waited while he sipped his cider. He wouldn't have mentioned it if he wasn't going to pursue the topic. "How did that come about?"
Ducking her head a little, her cheeks warm, she explained, "I'd started taking lessons in self-defense while I was still at the orphanage because the bullies always picked on me. After I was adopted, Queen Sylvia thought it would be a good idea for me to be able to defend the Princess, so my training continued. Now I teach it to the Palace Guard recruits as a mandatory part of their training. Most only know the basics. A few showed enough promise that they continued training with me after the basic training."
"I see." He finished his cider. "It's getting late. I'll see you in the morning. Good night."
She barely had time to wish him a 'good night' in return before he disappeared into his tent. Shaking her head, she finished her dinner and retired as well.
* * *
They reached Milltown the next day around noon. The residents watched the car suspiciously until the Royal Advisor climbed out. Then they relaxed and ushered her into what appeared to be the main building. Wyatt was led to another building to wait for her to finish whatever she'd been asked to do. While he waited, he thought about what she'd revealed the previous night. It went a long way towards explaining some of her reactions to what he'd thought were reasonable questions. Maybe, if he were a little more careful about how he phrased his questions, she'd be less likely to bite his head for one reason or another. Maybe we'll be able to at least tolerate each other's company now…
The Tin Man went to bed before the Royal Advisor had reappeared, but she was eating breakfast by the time he'd gotten up and dressed. "Did you get everything worked out for Father Vue?"
"Yes, I did." She nodded, making an impatient noise when the action sent her black curls tumbling into her eyes. Unfortunately, her hands were sticky with apple juice, so she glanced at Wyatt beseechingly. "Mr. Cain, could you..."
"Sure." He reached over and pushed the curls back behind her ears for her, ignoring the way he'd noticed the softness of those curls or the perfect shell shape of those ears. "When did you want to leave for Central City?"
She finished chewing her bite of apple, her cheeks pink for some reason. "Would right after breakfast be fine with you?"
"Perfectly fine," he agreed, relieved that he didn't have to sit around and wait some more. "Most of my things are still in the car."
The Royal Advisor nodded, looking thoughtful. "Good. I just have my equipment and tools to put back. I didn't even bother with my suitcase."
Frowning, he looked more closely at the dress she was wearing. It not only looked like the one she'd worn the day before, but it was the same one she'd worn. Delicately, he asked, "Perhaps you'd like to change into a new dress at least?"
"Hmm?" She glanced down at herself, and then blushed. "Oh, yes, I probably should."
After breakfast, Cain carried her tool bags for her and waited as she pulled out her suitcase and disappeared into the hostel to change. When she re-emerged, she was wearing a navy blue dress instead of the burgundy one and her curls had been brushed and pinned back. After she'd put her suitcase back in the car, they climbed in and started back the way they'd come.
* * *
Amber Rose woke up from her nap when they pulled to a stop. Looking around curiously, she saw that the suns were high in the sky and they'd pulled into a clearing by a lake. She turned to the Tin Man curiously. "What's this?"
"I thought I'd catch some fish for tonight's dinner," he explained, climbing out from behind the wheel. "I noticed the river two nights ago and thought it'd be a good fishing spot."
She frowned, climbing out of the car, and joined him by the trunk. "I don't believe we have any fishing gear, do we?"
"I packed some," Wyatt explained, opening his pack and digging through one of the pockets to pull out a segmented stick that, when he put it together, became a fishing pole. He dug out some string and tied it to the end of the stick. A hook was tied on the other end of the string. "There we are. You can join me if you like. Just don't talk much."
The Royal Advisor nodded and followed him to the riverbank, sitting down on a log near him and simply watched as he placed some bait on the hook and cast it into the water. Once that was done, he jammed the end of the pole into the soft ground on the riverbank and slowly pulled the string in, hand over hand. Brown eyes narrowed as she mused that there had to be an easier way to do that. Pulling her notebook out of her pocket, she began making notes and sketches.
* * *
At the end of the hour he'd allotted himself for fishing, Cain had caught four reasonably-sized fish. He skinned, cleaned, and gutted them before wrapping them in the paper he'd brought, ready to be cooked when they made camp. He'd noticed the Royal Advisor scribbling in her notebook, but hadn't indulged his curiosity while he was so focused on fishing. Once they were back on the road, however, he nodded to the pocket where she'd stowed the notebook. "What were you working on earlier?"
"Oh, the design for a new invention I have in mind," she answered airily, waving a long, slender hand dismissively.
He grunted and continued to drive. She didn't fall asleep, staring out the window and fidgeting with her sleeves instead. Occasionally she mumbled something under her breath, but never loud enough for him to hear, which was fine with him. As the suns dropped low into the sky, the Tin Man spotted the clearing where they'd stopped for lunch two days before. At the time, the Royal Advisor had commented that it was where she and her escorts usually stopped on their way back from Milltown.
They moved to the back of the car to retrieve their camping gear, setting up camp just as they had two nights before. This time, though, she didn't bother to offer to help Wyatt set up his tent. She simply disappeared into the forest to collect firewood once her tent was up. His tent was up by the time she returned and she helped him start the fire, burning her fingers a little when the flame caught quicker than she'd anticipated. Once it was crackling merrily, he cleared his throat and gruffly muttered, "Thank you."
"You're welcome." She smiled, obviously pleased that he'd thanked her this time. "I'd offer to help you cook those fish, but I'd likely ruin them."
"You worked hard yesterday," he reminded her simply and unwrapped the fish in order to set them to cook. "Just relax and work on whatever invention you were thinking of earlier."
She laughed softly and pulled her notebook and pencil out, writing and sketching. "Did you learn how to fish during your Tin Man training?"
"No, that's something my father taught me and my brothers," Wyatt explained, pushing his hat back a little on his head. "He would've taught my sisters, too, if I'd had any."
The Royal Advisor glanced over at him at that, but he kept his eyes on the fish, turning them over so the other side could cook. "How many brothers do you have?"
"Two: Frederick owns the family ranch and Howard works as the foreman." Cain pulled the bottle of cider out of the embers of the fire where it'd been warming and poured cups for both of them.
She accepted hers with a smile, setting her notebook aside so she could hold the cup with both hands. "Why didn't you work the ranch with your brothers?"
"I decided I'd rather be a Tin Man," he answered with a shrug, sipping the cider carefully. "I still help out when I go back to visit."
His companion set her cup down by her feet so she could continue to scribble in her notebook, glancing at him from time to time. "It must be lonely sometimes, being away from your family."
"I have Adair." His lips curved up in a longing smile as he thought of his lover. "We keep each other company."
"Adair?" she repeated, arching an eyebrow curiously. "Is he a friend of yours?"
He turned and met her brown eyes squarely with his blue ones. "Adair Walker is my lover."
"Oh!" Her eyes widened briefly and she smiled quietly. "Is he part of the Walker merchant family from Central City?"
Wyatt smiled faintly and turned his attention back to their meal, scooping the cooked fish onto two plates. "Yes. He's the younger of their only two children. His brother is Edwin and he's the one who usually attends the Royal Balls."
"I remember him." She made a face as she accepted the plate he gave her. "Edwin Walker is a stuck up asshole. He thinks all the women should be swooning at his feet just because he's the heir to the largest merchant business in Central City."
He chuckled at that description of Edwin. "That's pretty much Adair's complaint about him, too."
"He tried to seduce me once shortly after I became the Royal Advisor," she commented after swallowing a bite of her fish. "Needless to say, he didn't get very far with me."
The Tin Man nodded, hiding his amusement. "You don't like being seduced?"
"Oh, I would enjoy it if the reason was because the seducer wants Amber Rose, and not the Royal Advisor." She continued to eat, a shadow briefly crossing the pale, delicate features. "Too often, they merely want the connection to the Queen."
Wyatt nodded, mentally making a note about the Royal Advisor's name. He had a feeling it would be important. "That's wise of you to be careful about your choice of partners."
"I had to learn it an early age," Amber Rose explained softly, poking idly at the second fish. "I have to be careful about friendships, too. Some girls only wanted to be my friend because I was the Princess' companion."
He reached over and rested a hand on her slender shoulder, not quite sure how to treat a woman who might cry. "You learned it. That's the important thing."
"I know." She quickly dashed a hand across her eyes and shoved the plate at him. Picking up her notebook, the Royal Advisor disappeared into her tent.
Cain expected to hear sobbing or crying as he ate the fish Amber Rose hadn't touched, but he never did. Shrugging, he banked the fire and crawled into his own tent. As he lay on his back in his sleeping bag, he wondered why part of him was disappointed that the trip would end soon.
End Chapter
A/N2: For the record, if people want a visual image for Adair, picture Dr. Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds. For lots of pictures of him and the actor in other roles, go here. I have a hair fetish, so this picspam made me very happy. I especially like the season two hair. That's about how I visualize Adair's hair. Amber Rose is pretty much Alan Cumming with longer hair and boobs.