"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

Jeb Cain, Knight, Captain of the Royal Guard and a few other titles he didn't particularly care about groaned and rolled over, covering his face with his pillow which was quickly snatched away. Sighing with the realization that he was fighting a loosing battle he sleepily pushed himself up and glared at the little girl bouncing on the bed with as much venom as he could bring himself to which, admittedly, was none at all.

Emily Adora Cain, Princess of the OZ, grinned brightly displaying the fact that she had recently lost another tooth. She had her mother's dark hair and her father's blue-grey eyes. It was a habit of hers, when meetings got boring or her cousins were away, to bother her beloved older half-brother. Actually the fact they were half-siblings didn't really matter. Jeb had never had a sibling before. When DG had Emily, he had been one of the first people in the room. She had looked at him and his father and gently asked if their daughter's middle name could be Adora. They had said yes instantly and suddenly he had found himself holding the mess of blankets with a baby with wide blue-grey eyes looking up at him inside and he had vowed to protect his little sister no matter what.

Though right now he just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Wake up!" she commanded, looking very princess-like.

"Can't you go bother dad?" he pleaded, "your brother is very very tired right now--"

"Dad's busy," she said, "with mom," he winced, "did Uncle Ambrose really have a Zipper?" she asked wide eyed. He raised his eyebrows, "Ged said that he had a Zipper here," she said pointing at her forehead, "or maybe it was here," she moved her hand back, "did he?"

Ged. As in Azkadellia and Ambrose's son. The boy was the first son born to the Royal Family in a very long time but changing things was something that Azkadellia and Ambrose were both exceptionally good at. Having a boy running around with Azkadellia's power and Ambrose's brains was more of a nightmare than a blessing half the time, especially when he heard something that he found interesting.

"You'll have to take that up with your Uncle Ambrose now," he said.

"But Jeb!" she wined, "Ged said that mom found dad in a metal suite."

"Well you can tell Ged that his dad did have a Zipper," Emily's eyes widened to the size of saucers, "right here," he said touching the crown of her head.

"Wow! I've gotta tell Izzy!"

Izzy, short for Isabella, was Ged's sister and equally nightmarish. More so because she happened to be very cute. She was endlessly getting into trouble and using her wide lavender eyes to get herself out of it again. Like her brother she had both her parent's wrapped around her finger, something she would endlessly tease her brother about. The Twins, as they were affectionately known, were probably more in control of the palace than their parents were.

"You go do that," he said flopping back. He heard her pout and rolled onto his back, eyeing her, "don't you want to go tell Izzy?"

"Do you like having a sister?" she asked.

"Of course," Jeb said, "what's wrong?"

"I think we're going to have another sister," she said her voice soft, "daddy's being even more protective of mommy and he's always got her hand on her belly like he's protecting that too," she pouted, "I don't want another sister."

"Well maybe we'll have a brother," he said, "it could be cool, you'll get to be a big sister."

"Like you are to me?" she asked. He nodded, I guess," she said looking down before looking at him, "you can't tell mommy and daddy I told you alright?" He nodded, "Pinky Swear," she said seriously holding up her finger, "mommy said it means that you've got to do what you say--or not do."

"Alright," he said wrapping his pinky around hers, "I pinky swear not to tell dad and DG."

"Why do you call DG, DG?" she asked after a moment, "isn't she mommy too?"

"No," he said, "my mommy is different," she opened her mouth, "but that doesn't mean I'm not your brother, I am," he said, "my mommy died a long time ago," he smiled, "but do you know what her name was?"

"What?"Emily asked.

"Adora," he said.

"Like me!" she cried

"Like you," he said.

"I've got to go tell Izzy about the Zipper," she said bounding up from the bed and running out of the room, "Hi 'Day!" she cried and kept running.

Jeb flopped back down, relieved. He had known that Emily would ask about Adora one day but he did not expect her to take it so well. He smiled to think that he was going to have another sibling, probably a sister considering Emily was most likely using her magic to figure out what kind of baby it was without even knowing it. Someone walked through the door and closed it softly behind them. He felt the bed shift as a warm body slid under the sheets next to him. He tried to keep his face neutral and failed miserably when the bed's other occupant leaned over and pressed her lips against his, one hand coming up to rest at the start of his scar. Grinning he shifted his body and rolled her over onto her back, kissing her soundly.

"You were up early," he said looking into her eyes.

"Your cousin made a rather interesting discovery," she said, "of a Witch in a cave--who is now nothing more than a bad memory, Azkadellia made sure of that," she shrugged, "I had to be there since DG isn't supposed to use magic right now," she smiled, "I'm going to guess your sister told you already."

"She's a smart kid," Jeb said.

"Yes she is," she said.

As Emily raced down the hallway, a few of the guards around her stopped to say hi to the little Princess. She raced to the throne room looking for Izzy or Ged to tell them that she had been right and that their father had a Zipper in his head. At the top of the stairs she stopped short to see her Aunt Azkadellia greeting a man wearing a long leather coat. She could see her eyes were angry but she couldn't see why. Frowning she craned her neck to see a little boy standing just behind the man, barely a few years older than her. He had dark eyes and dirty blond hair and did not seem pleased to be there but his eyes widened when he saw Emily before he quickly looked away. Emily darted down the stairs to where the boy was standing.

"Honey," Ambrose came forward blocking her way, "I didn't see you there."

"That's because I was behind you," she pointed out, "whose that boy?"

"No-one," he said, his voice low and dangerous, "why don't you go back upstairs and play?" Emily ducked past him, "Emily!"

"I'm Emily," she said sticking out her hand, "Emily Cain," she added remembering her deportment lessons.

"Lee," he said slowly, "Lee Lonot."

"Lets go play," she said grabbing his hand and running out of the throne room before her aunt could stop her, "come on, I found a really cool cave I want to show you."