Disclaimer: I do not own The Tenth Kingdom or any of its characters.

Chapter 1: Another Crisis in the Kingdoms

Jordanna woke with a start, clutching her bed-sheets and breathing heavily. Those eyes… those terrible, terrible eyes, yet she could never remember the color of them. Jordanna had dreamed again of the day Snow White had left the Fourth Kingdom, that was a little over fourteen years ago now. Wendell was king now, young though he may still be; twenty-one in fact. Jordanna was the same age, and still lived in the palace as a lady in the court.

Jordanna sighed then climbed out of bed, wincing as her bare feet hit the cold wood floors. Jordanna was a tall girl, about an inch or so shorter than Wendell, and she had grown to be very beautiful. She had porcelain white skin, raven black hair, and violet-blue eyes, after out-growing her awkward stages as a child and teenager.

After washing her face briefly in a basin of water that stood on her night-table Jordanna dressed and made her way out of her room. Her room was big and comfortable, much like any of the other apartments in the palace, with two adjoining rooms, one with a bed, the other a sort of personal room, and a large walk-in closet that served as a dressing room. It was elegantly furnished like the rest of the palace but Jordanna wished the servants would let her decorate it herself, but they feared she would ruin it.

Jordanna entered the long hallways of the palace as usual bare-footed and made her way down to a room with a long table and large windows and shelves upon shelves of books where she, Tony Lewis, and King Wendell usually took their breakfast.

Tony Lewis was a very different man from any Jordanna had ever met before, possibly because he came from a different dimension. She'd grown to know him after he, his daughter, and a Wolf had saved the Nine Kingdoms from Wendell's evil step-mother. He was a middle-aged man, apparently he had been married to the evil-queen at one time and thus his daughter Virginia came into being, at least that's what she had gathered form Wendell's stories. Wendell had been a dog for most of the time and couldn't remember much of the end of his time as a dog. But Tony, or "Antony" as Wendell addressed him, had proved himself as an engineer and toy maker in the Nine Kingdoms by spreading a collection of toddler carriages called "Bouncy-castles." Jordanna in particular thought she would have loved them as a toddler.

"Good morning Antony." Jordanna said in her usual sing-song manner as she entered the room and sat down at the table.

"Good morning Jordanna," Tony replied looking up from his newspaper, "There's a festival going on in Beantown you know… You wouldn't believe what it's for…"

"The one-hundred-fiftieth anniversary of Mayor Jack's climbing of the bean stalk." She said matter of factly spreading butter and jam on her toast.

"How'd you know that?" Tony asked, genuinely amazed.

"You forget Tony these events are history for us, and I've had to study history extensively. Ask me something that happened one-hundred-fifty years ago in your world and I wouldn't know where to even start looking." She smiled and bit into her toast.

"I still can't believe I've been here for almost six months… I wonder how Virginia and Wolf are getting along… you know he said something to me just before he left that I can't help but be worried about…"

"And what was that?" she said flatly taking a sip of tea.

"He said, 'See you around, grandpa.'"

Jordanna promptly spewed her tea across the room in a very un-lady-like fashion.

Coughing she managed to croak, "Are you saying that he and Virginia are going to have a baby?"

Jordanna had only met them twice but from what she'd heard from Tony and Wendell of Wolf and Virginia she thought they were very good people she could easily get along with, and more importantly that they were destined for each other. So she meant her last statement as more of, should I start being happy, or is this just a rumor?

"Well… I think they are. Do you think that's a bad thing?" Tony asked.

"No, not at all… I just, I wish them all the happiness in the world. Are they married?"

It was Tony's turn to spew liquid across the room, his coffee this time. "Well Jordanna," he started, "They weren't when I last saw them."

"Oh!" was all Jordanna could manage. With that they dropped the subject and went back to their breakfast. "Where is Wendell?" Jordanna inquired after about a half-an-hour.

"I don't know." Tony added looking around, "He should be up by now, it isn't like him to stay in bed so late…"

"I will go check on him." Jordanna said standing and leaving the room. She walked from the breakfast room to Wendell's apartments and knocked. "Wendell, it's Jordanna, may I come in?" There was no answer.

She knocked again, "Wendell? Are you alright? Can you hear me?" She waited and there was still no answer. Finally she resolved to go in whether he was decent or not…

She turned the handle and let herself in, the room was dark. All of the drapes were still closed and the great bed in the center of the room was still full of a sleeper.

"Wendell are you still a-bed at this hour?" she said teasingly. Not hearing any sound from him she moved forward a little. "Wendell? Are you alright?" she moved up to his bed and saw a form curled up under the covers, the head hidden from view.

Jordanna pulled back the covers but Wendell didn't move, his head was still hidden by the pillow so she moved it. In place of the King's golden-blonde curls there was a dark haired man, with pale skin and hollow eyes. Jordanna screamed, this man was dead.

After gathering her wits she ran down through the palace to Tony and told him what she had found, they told his advisors, and chiefs of security and other officials. Soon the gossip had spread to the entire castle, and within five minutes the surrounding villages knew, within ten minutes the entire Fourth Kingdom knew, and within twenty-three and a half minutes all of the Nine Kingdoms knew, and were all seeking confirmation.

Jordanna sat with Tony and several of Wendell's advisors in the breakfast room. She had her head in her hands and was rocking back and forth trying to decide what to do.

"We need to search his room for evidence!" Tony said, "That's how all the detectives on Law and Order did it!"

"Law and what?" Jordanna groaned from between her hands.

"You know Law and Order the T.V.—never mind." He waved it off, "But we need to see if there is anything in Wendell's room that will explain what happened to him."

"We know what happened to him Lord Antony," said one of the advisors, "He was kidnapped!"

"Yes Lord Calvin but what Lord Antony means is we have to look for signs of what happened when he was kidnapped, or where they might have taken him, or a ransom note, something that will help us get him back." said Jordanna. "Come Tony, Lord Advisors, let us look for clues."

After scouring the room for a half an hour and discovering nothing one of the lords finally noticed the ransom note stuck to the wall with a dagger. After reading it several times over he said, "My dear lords… I believe I've found something!"

Everyone crowded around the man to listen to him read it, when he finished there was silence.

"We need help…" Jordanna said.

Tony nodded, "Yeah, but who?"

"Whom Tony, but whom…"

"Really?"

"What about the other two who saved the Fourth Kingdom before, surely they could help!" interrupted Lord Calvin before Jordanna could explain the usage of who and whom.

Jordanna and Tony looked at each other, she shrugged. "Well I don't know…" said Tony rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't think I'm quite cleared for robbery yet…"

"Then I'll go and get them… it couldn't be that hard... how many people live in your city—what was it called? New York?"

"A little over eight million…" he replied.

"Oh… well then… I'd better get started!"

Jordanna spend the next few hours preparing for her trip, packing supplies and such, and being coached by Tony on how to act, and everything a person from the Kingdoms needed to know about the "real world."

"It's a dangerous place Jordanna… You've got to be careful!" Tony warned her for the eight-hundredth time that hour. They were standing in the room the traveling mirror was kept in. Several servants were untying cords and sheets from around it and activating the secret switch opening the portal between worlds.

"Don't worry Tony," Jordanna said putting a hand on his cheek, "I'll be fine I promise you!"

Jordanna then turned and stepped into the portal and was transported for the first time to Central Park. Through the mirrors she tumbled until it spit her out on the other side.

Jordanna looked around curiously, she had been expecting something strange, but this was a forest like any other! Then she looked up and gasped, buildings upon buildings towered into the sky, like beanstalks!

"Oh my…" she breathed, 'Maybe Tony was right, this place is dangerous! But I've still got to find Virginia and Wolf.'

Jordanna set off through the park and eventually found her way onto one of the paths that led her to the street, and Jordana was thankful of the strange clothing that Tony had insisted she wear to blend in.

"Excuse me!" she said, going up to a man working a hot-dog stand.

"Yeah lady, what can I do for you?"

"Well I was wondering if you could tell me where Apartment 2006, Number 2, East 81st Street, is located."

The man looked at her like she had two heads, before gesturing vaguely behind him.

"The corner of East and 81st is that way."

"Thank you, kindly." Jordana said setting off in that direction.

It was a long while before Jordanna found her way to the corner of East and 81st, and even longer before she figured out how to cross the street, but when she had finally managed that finding the apartment building she was looking for was a much simpler task.

Stepping into the building she was greeted by a man behind a high desk.

"Can I help you, miss?" he asked politely.

"Yes, I'm looking for a Virginia Lewis?"

"Oh, you mean Mrs. Wolfson, she lives on the eighth floor, apartment number 2006."

"Thank you kindly, sir." Jordanna replied, and turned to go, but then remembered she had no idea where the stairs were. "Um, sir if you don't mind. Could you tell me where the stairs are located?"

The man looked at her like she had three heads, "You mean you're not going to take the elevator?"

"Elevator?" Jordanna asked puzzled.

The man just stared at her then pointed to the stair well and said, "They're over there, miss…"

Jordanna smiled, thanked the man, and made her way up to the eighth floor. Upon reaching her destination she found apartment 2006 and knocked three times.

It was a pregnant Virginia who opened the door, and promptly tried to strangle her.

A/N: Mwhahahaha… poor Wendie… Don't worry, all will be explained… most of it in the next chapter. Review please, comments, ideas, critique is all greatly appreciated.

Also I think I'm going to be having shorter chapters with this story… that's just the way it's turning out so far, but that also means there will be more of them. I hope that equals "yay!".