Prince Ethan Alexander smoothed his finger over a small silver lightning bolt necklace. The metal was cool and soft on his skin, the chain delicate but strong. Just like she had been. He fought back a smile, remembering the young girl who used to wear it.

"Is she here yet? Can I see her?" four-year-old Ethan asked impatiently as he tried to peer around his guard's legs. When his guard didn't budge, little Ethan huffed and crossed his little arms.

Darius crouched down to his height. "I'm sorry, Your Highness. I've been ordered not to let you in that room until Lady Leonger has said so."

"But Darius," he whined, "I wanna see my new best friend."

Darius smiled softly at the prince. "She has to be born first, Your Highness."

Ethan's mouth turned into a pout. He sank to the floor, crossing his legs. "Fine. I'll just wait here then."

People rushed past the little prince to get in and out of the sick room. Nurses, a doctor, each of them had blankets and towels or a clipboard.

An hour later, a tiny cry rang out.

"Can I go in now?" he asked, his eyes bright.

Darius opened his mouth, but someone already beat him to it.

"Prince Ethan Alexander, Madam Leonger would like to see you now," a nurse told him, stepping up next to Darius.

Ethan jumped up, taking the outstretched hand of the nurse. "She's gonna love me! We're going to take walks, listen to music, and she can even play with my cars!" he told her as they walked into the sick room.

The nurse smiled down at him, her eyes crinkling on the sides. "That's great, Your Highness. You want to tell her yourself?"

He bobbed his head.

The nurse pointed to the sterile-looking bed, the only thing—save for a few high-tech machines—in the entire room.

He skipped up to the bed, standing on his tiptoes to see over the plastic railing. His mother's closest friend peered down at him, her forehead sweaty.

"Hello, Ethan. Did you come to see the baby?" she asked him, her voice rough from exertion.

Uncle Adrian, his father's Guard Commander, held a mass of blankets delicately in his arms, crooning to the curls sticking out.

He paused his noises to look over at the nurse that brought Ethan in. "Natalie, can you go get Jack? I'm sure he'd love to see his new sister."

Natalie bowed her head in respect and headed out of the room.

"So how are you doing, Ethan?" his uncle asked him. He wasn't really Ethan's uncle, but his father and Adrian were best friends. He'd called Adrian uncle since the moment he could speak.

"Good! Can I see her now? I've been waiting forever," he dragged out the last word.

Auntie Tasha grinned weakly. "You have, haven't you?" She looked absolutely exhausted, but Ethan chose not to say anything. Adults didn't like it when you point out their flaws, but he didn't understand why. If he looked tired, he'd want somebody to tell him.

She cleared her throat and gestured Uncle Adrian to hand her the blankets. As he did so, Ethan's grey eyes locked onto Uncle Adrian's Acemark below his ear. Ethan thought it looked look like a mass of scribbles, like when he drew dust bunnies on his wall with crayon. The only thing he could make out was the tiny star next to it.

Uncle Adrian's Acemark was nothing cool like his. His was two lightning bolts overlapping and his mother said it made him look strong. He rubbed at his mark with his small fingers, tracing over the area on his temple.

The baby stayed silent as she was passed to Auntie. She gazed down at the precious Ace with awe and fascination. And love, definitely love.

Ethan had seen that look on his mother before.

"I wanna see! I wanna see!" He bounced on the balls of his feet impatiently.

Uncle Adrian came up behind him and picked him up by the armpits. He set him on the bed. "Your father would be very disappointed in you right now if he heard you talking like that."

Ethan's focus skipped right to the tiny baby in front of him. The little girl resting in Auntie Tasha's arms was the first and most beautiful baby he had ever seen. Her skin was pure and soft. Her delicate eyes closed. The hair plastered to her head was a light auburn—Ethan's new favorite color.

A smile lit up his face as he gazed down at the new edition to the Sarias Kingdom. His fingers reached out and curled around the child's hand.

"Isn't she pretty, Eth?" Auntie Tasha asked him.

Ethan shook his head slowly, oddly not being able to tear his eyes from the girl. His new best friend. "Mommy says girls you like aren't pretty. She says they're beautiful."

"What do you think of her?" she asked, gesturing with her head at the child resting in her arms.

"She's going to be my new best friend."

"I'm sure you and Elizabeth will be the best of friends."

Elizabeth. The name rattled around in his head. He put it to memory.

Ethan shook the little girl's curled fist. "Nice to meet you, Elizabeth." Tingles shot up and down his skin. Ethan yelped and pulled back in surprise. "She shocked me." His bottom lip quivered.

Uncle Adrian and Auntie Tasha shared a surprised look. "Ethan..." Uncle Adrian glanced down at the child warily. "Was it like a static electricity shock?"

"No." Tears welled up in Ethan's eyes. "My new best friend hates me!"

"No, no honey," Auntie Tasha was quick to comfort. "She doesn't hate you. She's just getting used to you."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Uncle Adrian sputtered, "Tasha, please tell me you don't seriously think—"

"Of course I do."

Uncle Adrian clenched his fists and shook his head. "No. No way. No way am I giving up my daughter. I just got her!"

"Adrian, relax. We don't even know if it's true," Auntie Tasha said calmly.

The parents looked carefully at Ethan. "Ethan? Can you sing for us?" Auntie Tasha asked him gently.

"Sing?" Ethan's ears perked up. He loved to sing, but no one really paid attention to him when he did.

Auntie Tasha nodded and waited patiently.

Ethan looked down at baby Elizabeth. He didn't know too many songs yet other than the ones his mother sang to him at night. So he took a breath, and softly began to sing his mother's favorite lullaby:

Look at the lights

Twinkling bright

Up in the night sky

We can reach that high

So long as we continue to dream

His temple tingled right where his Acemark was. He brought his hand up to the spot and absentmindedly rubbed at it.

Hold your breath

Make a wish

We'll get there

You and me

I promise you

Can count on me

Auntie Tasha turned little Elizabeth's wrist over. The underside of the baby's wrist glowed a soft green. Her tiny mark swirled off from the center of a star. Ethan smiled, liking the way it shined.

He didn't really know what a mate was. Not until that first day he sang to her, but he was so glad he did.

Two days later he gave Auntie Tasha his favorite necklace—the silver lightning bolt his mother made for him to match his Acemark. He was so excited for when Elizabeth would grow up enough to wear it. He wanted her to wear it every single day and not take it off. It meant a lot to him, so it had to mean that much to her too, right?

Ethan visited Elizabeth every day. He was there when she first moved her head. When she started grabbing onto everything placed near her. When she'd eat Auntie Tasha's hair while being held. When she first crawled. Her first word. At two when she walked—Ethan was there.

There was only one time he wasn't there—the day she was kidnapped.

Ethan slid the cool metal around his neck and slipped it under his t-shirt.