The Queen (6 page)

“Trapped? No, she is not trapped in the
sense that you’re implying,” Rydel answered. “The pool is not a
prison. It is the gateway to the afterlife. The souls of our loved
ones are there because it is a place of celebration and joy. They
are happy and want to be there.”

Luana walked to the water’s edge, kneeling
down on a large, smooth, round stone. The water was still, with no
breeze to ripple it. However, Baylin was certain the water would
remain still, even if a stone were dropped into it. The entire area
tingled with magic and mystery.

“How do we talk to her?” whispered Luana,
staring down at her reflection in the water.

“You need only call to her,” Rydel
murmured.

“What was her name?” Luana asked, looking
back at the group.

“Lyra,” Faylen answered softly.

Luana turned her gaze toward the water and
stared at it as though she could see through to another world. To
Baylin, it appeared to glow silvery white in the darkness, but
otherwise, looked like a large pond.

“Lyra. Mother,” Luana whispered. “Are you
really there?”

The water, which was once so very still and
smooth, began to ripple softly. The glow intensified, lighting up
the surrounding trees that had been hidden in the shadows.

Baylin took a step toward Luana, but King
Rydel placed a firm hand on his shoulder. “No, please. This is
something she must do on her own. She is not in any danger, I
assure you. You must allow her to do this on her own.”

The pool began to bubble and churn,
splashing up onto the smooth stones surrounding the pool. The
Prince’s heart raced as he watched Luana at the water’s edge.
What if this is all a ruse? What if they plan to take her?
He had wanted to trust the elves, but the fear that tore through
his chest told him that she was in great danger.

The water suddenly stilled again, the light
of the water receding to a faint glow. From the center of the pool,
a bright light began to emerge. Tall and slender, the watery light
took form, turning into a woman.

Luana gazed at the mysterious glowing form
that stood before her. It appeared to be a woman, with long hair
that flowed down her back like a rushing waterfall. She was slender
and tall, draped in a liquescent flowing gown that pooled at her
feet. She began to solidify, revealing porcelain skin and pale blue
eyes. She appeared to glow from her head to where she touched the
surface of the pond.

The woman walked across the pond on the
surface of the still water, leaving a luminous trail in her
wake.

Luana stood as the woman reached the edge of
the pool where she waited. “Mother?”

Lyra nodded, smiling. “Oh my daughter, could
it be you? Has it been so long?”

Luana’s heart raced in her chest.
Is this
really happening? How is this happening? Could this really be my
mother?
“It’s been… I’m nineteen.”

Lyra appeared to be holding back her
sadness. “You have grown so beautiful, my child.”

“Thank you,” Luana murmured. Her mind tried
to make sense of what she was seeing. “How is this possible?”

Lyra gave a puzzled look. “Your uncle Rydel
has not told you?”

“No. Well, yes,” Luana fumbled with her
words. “He told me it was where all the souls of elves went. He
didn’t explain how. He didn’t tell me how you died or who my father
is.”

Lyra looked up at Baylin and his elven
companions that stood a short distance from Luana. She bowed her
head. “Rydel, Faylen.”

They bowed in return.

“And who do we have here?” Lyra asked,
reaching out a hand and pointing toward Baylin.

“This is Baylin. He is the Prince of
Grasmere, the heir to the throne,” Faylen said. “Luana became his
bed wife and—”

Rydel hissed at his sister’s
talkativeness.

“A bed wife?” Lyra spat. “No, this simply
cannot be. You are royalty, Luana. You are above this mongrel.”

Luana put up her hands. “No, you don’t
understand. I love him, and he loves me. We have a son together and
plan to be married.” The words sounded foreign to say out loud. She
always dreamed of it, and they spoke of their plans to wed in
secret. Yet she never told them to another living soul.

“Married?” Lyra asked. “Interesting.” She
paused in thought.

“Sister, I do not wish to rush this
reunion,” Rydel said. “But it is important that you discuss Luana’s
lineage now. Grasmere is in great danger of war and your
instruction could save her life.”

Baylin, who had been so quiet up until then,
spouted, “And how is it more informative coming from her than you?
Could you not have told her weeks ago about her ancestry?”

“No,” Lyra said. “The magical line of the
elves can only be shared from parent to child. My brother could
tell her she was elf kind, but he could not discuss her magical
abilities and heritage. That is the job of the parents.”

“This is why the Pool of Souls is so
important,” Faylen piped in. “Without our ancestors to lead us on
the proper path, our race would have been lost centuries ago.”

Lyra drew her attention back to Luana, her
sparkling sapphire eyes glimmered in the light from the pool. “It
is time you knew the truth, the whole truth.”

Luana took in a deep breath and nodded,
signaling she was ready.

“I met your father one evening in Fagin
Forest,” Lyra began. “He was a young blacksmith from Black Hallows.
He had no parents or siblings to provide for, but he had hit hard
times and was searching for game to help make it through the
winter. He, like most people of Wintervale, believed the elves had
all but left these lands. They believed those few left behind
remained to scare people ignorant enough to enter the forest.

“However, desperate hunger must have
overwhelmed his sense, because I found him traipsing through the
wood in the dark of night. He had about as much chance of taking
down a stag as he did finding a needle in a cornfield. That is when
I found him.

“At first he seemed afraid, terrified
actually. But I told him that I was not there to hurt him and he
seemed to believe. I explained who I was, and what I was, and that
I would help him if he promised to stay out of the forest. Together
we brought down a doe.

“However, the next night, he showed up in
the forest again. This time, he was calling my name. I came to him
and we spoke of things like the Kingdom, the gods and about the
stars in the night’s sky.

“Night after night he came, and we talked. I
found we were growing very close, much closer than I had ever been
with anyone. Even someone of my own race,” Lyra recalled.

“What was his name?” Luana asked
timidly.

“Mercher,” Lyra said. The word seemed to
carry such a weight when she said it.

“So what happened?” Luana asked.

“One night he didn’t come to see me. I was
so worried something had happened to him. I defied my brother’s
orders and left the forest in search of Mercher. I ran all over
Black Hallows and finally found him in his blacksmith shop,
working. I remember feeling so angry with him at the time. Feeling
betrayed. But those feelings didn’t last long. Little did I know
that he had been working on a ring. A ring made of the purest
silver. A ring for me.”

“He meant to marry you?” Luana asked,
engrossed in the tale.

“Yes. Yes, he did. And he asked me that very
night,” Lyra replied, her eyes moist with unfallen tears. “Though I
was certain that my people would never accept a common man as my
suitor, I accepted him immediately. He took me, right there, in the
hay, on the floor of the smith’s shop.”

Luana blushed at hearing her mother talk
about having sex with her father. “And that’s how I came to
be?”

“Yes,” Lyra said. “You are the product of
two individuals loving each other against the odds.”

“Against the odds?” Baylin asked. “What do
you mean?”

“For an elf to find a mate outside of our
race… Well, it was unheard of,” Rydel explained. “The elders felt
it was a disgrace to our kind.”

“Such a disgrace, in fact, that they
demanded I not only cease all contact with Mercher, but that I must
also…” Lyra struggled with her words, sadness in her eyes. “They
demanded that I sacrifice you to the gods once you were born.”

“A sacrifice?” Luana whispered.

“You must understand,” Faylen said. “To the
elders, you were an abomination. Elves believe their bloodlines to
be the purest of all lines. Your father’s blood would have muddied
the waters, so to speak.”

“Well, it’s pretty obvious that you didn’t
hand her over to be sacrificed,” said Baylin, getting a few steps
closer to Luana. “So, the question is, how did you die? How did
Luana end up with Hal-john and Fersa?”

“I’m afraid it’s a rather long story, Prince
of Grasmere,” King Rydel replied.

“The short version is, we had been on the
run for many months,” Lyra said. “We fled to Ranhold and then I
gave birth. We were happy. We were certain that the worst was
behind us.”

Lyra’s smile faded. “But the arm of the
elves is infinite. Scouts were sent to every Kingdom in the realm
to find us. I knew our only hope was to return home and plead with
my brother to help the elders see reason. However, the evening we
docked back in Rivermouth, we were intercepted before we made it
halfway through the King’s Wood. Their instructions were to kill
Mercher on sight and bring you back for me to sacrifice. We fought,
of course, but we were completely outnumbered. Mercher fought with
his last breath, even as his blood stained the ground crimson. He
died protecting us. I managed to slip away, running as fast as I
could through the King’s Wood, holding you in my arms. In the end,
I wasn’t fast enough.” Lyra’s expression was full of memory and
regret.

“And you died?” Luana whimpered, tears
running down her cheeks.

“I found you in your mother’s arms,” said
Rydel, walking up beside her and placing a hand on her back. “Even
as she struggled for breath, her grip was impenetrable. I promised
her I would watch over you, protect you. However, you had no place
amongst the elves. They would have never accepted you. You would
have been in constant danger.”

“Your father had a distant cousin in Black
Hallows. Her name was Fersa,” Faylen explained. “She was married
only a year at the time. We took you to her and Hal-john in the
middle of the night. We provided them with enough gold and supplies
so they could relocate to Open Shaw, where no one knew them. It was
an easy story to believe. A young couple with a newborn baby.”

“Since then, Faylen and I have watched over
you from afar,” Rydel said. “You are our niece, the beloved
daughter of our most cherished sister, and a Princess of the elven
court.”

“Princess?” Luana asked in awe. “I’m a
Princess?”

“Yes, though with your half blood you would
never be given any station to rule,” Faylen said. “But it doesn’t
make you any less a Princess. A Princess with powers!”

“Powers? Yes, I believe you spoke to me
about some of these,” Luana mused. “My ability to see things in the
future, for one.”

“Yes, my daughter,” Lyra said. She appeared
weak. The strain of taking a solid form was beginning to weigh
heavy on her. “My blood gives you strength and power few could ever
dream of.”

“How so?” Luana asked. “I’m only half
elf.”

“That is true, but you are a firstborn,”
Faylen said.

Luana furrowed her brow in confusion.

“You see, Luana,” Rydel explained. “The gods
have gifted the elves many unique gifts. One of which is that every
firstborn is to be a male heir. It ensures the line will continue
and the magic will stay strong.”

“But then how…” Luana began to ask. “How am
I… but I’m a woman.”

“Exactly!” Faylen exclaimed. “You’re a
firstborn daughter!”

“It’s a rarity that only comes along once in
a thousand years,” Rydel said. “At least, it was until you came
along.”

“Until I came along?” Luana asked. “What
does that mean?”

“He means that I was the firstborn daughter
to occur in a thousand years,” Lyra said. “You are the eldest
daughter of an eldest daughter. In all our history, no such
occurrence has been documented.”

“The gods have smiled on you, Luana,” Faylen
said. “They have chosen to give you such an amazing gift! You have
the potential to be more powerful than any of us.”

“And it’s a power that many would kill for,”
Rydel said. “That is why we have kept such a close watch on you all
these years.”

“Was that before or after I was dragged off
to be a bed wife?” Luana spat. “If I’m so important, where was your
protection?” She looked at Baylin and felt guilty. Though she hated
him in the beginning, she loved him now. And he was as much a
victim of the ritual as she was. She shot him an apologetic
look.

“Prince Baylin is part of your path,” the
Elf King said. “I have foreseen it. The two of you have the power
to create a new rule of Wintervale. You can abolish the Bed Wife
Law and unite the five Kingdoms of Keld, creating a unified
front.”

“And what of the elders?” Baylin asked.
“They killed Lyra because of Luana being an abomination. What if
they realize she survived? You said her power would be something
many would kill for.”

“After Lyra was killed, the elders saw the
error in their ways,” Rydel said.

“All but one,” Faylen murmured.

“Yes, there was one who still insisted
Lyra’s death was justified,” Rydel said. “So much so that she
wanted her power absorbed instead of put to rest in the
afterlife.”

Luana shivered, though she was not cold. She
imagined someone sucking the life out of her.

“Do not worry,” Rydel said. “The elder was
cast out of Wintervale and has not been seen since. Without the
power of our people behind her, she can do you no harm.”