Glitch had been absolutely delighted to be formally invited to dinner with the royal family; just being around the queen helped to jog his reluctant memory. It was one week until his appointment with the formidable Dr. Nikidic and the return of the other half of his brain. So, he was somewhat nervous. In the meantime it was fun to see Raw squirm under the attentions of hairdressers who were determined to make his fur very shiny. They had even beribboned the viewer's beard. Raw had taken one look at the offending pink bow and had growled at the suddenly terrified stylists, 'Raw male.'

The dining hall was moderately splendid with tapestries and marble floors. The table was set with snowy white linens and delicately painted china heaped with sumptuous offerings from the kitchens.

Raw for all his wild nature looked at home; probably because everyone no matter how high their rank liked him. And he could feel it.

Cain on the other hand looked…fidgety. Glitch forced back a giggle. The Tin Man was outflanked. At the head of the table sat Queen Lurline and Prince Consort Ahamo and at the other end sat Hank and Emily Gale. No wonder the man looked ready to bolt.

The princesses sat across from Glitch, Raw, and Cain.

Azkadelia who was spending considerable time with the nuns of the Glindarian Sisterhood was looking better. She no longer looked like she was going to shatter. Apparently, the sisters were successful in clearing up any taint the witch may have left in her system. She even appeared to be taking her fashion cues from the sisterhood. She was dressed from neck to toe in dove gray silk.

Then there was DG who wore pants. Glitch had heard about her storming into the fitting room and demanding pants. After that the seamstresses had hopped to. And what pants they were; green suede with white flower embroidered on the pockets and up the side seams, the outfit was topped with a bronze sleeveless tunic. Glitch could foresee a revolution in women's fashion on the horizon.

The dinner itself was a little awkward with many aborted attempts at conversation.

It wasn't until they had adjourned to the queen's sitting room that things got livelier. DG let out a gasp of dismay. Covering every table were pictures of her. It was her entire life in Kansas out on display.

"Our CPU's had a lot of storage compactly, sweetie. We thought your family might like to see what they missed," Em said patting DG on the arm.

Glitch suppressed a smile as Cain gently pushed the whimpering girl towards a seat. He probably didn't even know he was hovering.

At last everyone had taken seats and was trying to ignore DG's attempts to fade into the wallpaper.

Az picked up a picture that showed a flour covered DG and wiggled it playfully at her sister. "What happened here? It looks like the kitchen exploded."

Hank laughed, "It just about did. Our princess doesn't have a culinary inclined bone in her body. Wasn't this the year you failed Home Ec?"

DG flushed, "It's not like I set the class on fire on purpose."

"You set a class on fire," giggled Az.

Lurline raised a brow, "You failed a class."

DG turned even redder. "Just that one. I did well in everything else."

"She graduated second in her class," Em said proudly. She handed a picture of DG in her maroon graduation robe and hat to Ahamo.

The consort traced his daughter's smiling face with a wistful finger. "I'm very proud of you."

DG ducked her head.

"She could have made valedictorian if she'd stuck to her studies more," Emily said giving the younger princess a chiding look.

Raw who had been quietly shifting through the wealth of pictures and putting them into piles stilled over one. He held the picture out to DG. "DG sad."

It was her fourteen year old self with an arm strung over the shoulders of a pale boy in a blue hospital smock.

"Oh." DG breathed. "Zeb Hugson. He was my best friend growing up."

Cain knew that look. That spoke of sorrow that though faded would never fully go away. "What happened?"

"Zeb got a disease called leukemia," DG said flatly.

"I'm sorry," Cain put a comforting hand on her shoulder and Az took her hand.

Glitch sighed. It would seem her exile wasn't free of pain.

Hank gave Em a nod that Glitch caught. So an abrupt subject change to happier memories was in order then.

"Look. Em remember this?" Hank handed his wife what looked like a copy of an old newspaper article.

Emily laughed out loud in delight, "How could I forget. DG was ten and we took her to the state fair."

"And naturally she wondered off," Hank continued.

"We were frantic!" Em said with a toss of her wavy hair."

"I know the feeling," Cain said with an upwards quirk of his lips.

"Three hours later we found her," Hank chuckled. "She'd gone on the Farris Wheel and the works got jammed so there she was, at the top of the thing looking down at us the whole time!"

Ahamo laughed, "It doesn't surprise me that she'd take to a Farris Wheel. DG always did like heights. When she was four she went missing and when we found her she was at the topmost tower in the Mountain Palace. Nearly gave me a heart attack."

Azkadelia poked her sister, "What's a Farris Wheel?"

DG blinked at her and smiled. "Think of a large wheel suspended on its side in midair with seats hanging from it and it revolves around in a circle."

"And you enjoy this?" Az asked doubtfully.

"Very much."

Cain leaned forward and tapped a picture of DG straddling an odd wheeled contraption. "What's that?"

DG grinned. "It's my motorcycle. I restored it myself. It's a 1963 Harley-Davidson Pan Head with a twin cam motor."

Cain's eyes glazed over. Glitch smirked. It would seem that the lawman was one of those guys who were struck dumb by pretty girls who understood vehicles.

"Elmer Gulch is still looking to hall you in for disregarding the speed limit," Hank smiled weakly at the queen's expression of almost shock.

DG ignored Cain's exasperated expression. "Hey, do you think that my bike survived the twister?"

"No," Cain said firmly.

DG blinked at Cain. "No. No what. No I can't have my bike back?"

The Tin Man pulled his hat half way over his eyes, "That's exactly right. You're hard enough to look after without wizzing about on some contraption."

DG huffed in indignation. "First off. You are not the boss of me. Second. I don't need you to look after me."

Cain gave her a lazy grin, "Could've fooled me princess."

DG's eyes narrowed. Then she smiled brightly. "You don't think you can keep up with me! That's the real reason you don't want me on a bike."

Cain glared.

Raw looked from DG to Cain. "Not again," The viewer said plaintively.

"Do they do this a lot?" Azkadelia wondered.

Glitch nodded, "All the time."

"They did," confirmed Raw.

Glitch settled back in his chair with a happy sigh as Cain and DG began to argue. You couldn't find better theater. Even with half a brain Glitch knew there was nothing betterthen time spent with family.

In the books Lurline was Ozma's mother who made Oz into a fairyland.

Yes, the Glindarian Order does take it's name from Glinda the good.

Dr. Nicidic is from the Oz books.

In the books Zeb Hugson was Dorothy's cousin.