Talloth that day.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Looking at myself in my hand mirror, it was hard to believe that I had
been living in the elven realm for thirteen years now. My features were the
same now as they were the day I first looked into this mirror and saw a
semi-stranger staring back. Had I been in the human realm, I would have been
nearing middle age. Now, except for a few hiccups now and then, it was as
though I was living the best years of my life over and over again.
I didn’t wait ten years to give Thaylan a sibling like I had once
sarcastically told Lariel. He was four when his brother Anir was born. A year
after that, my daughter, Rinya, arrived. The last had been my youngest daughter,
Arra, four years ago. After four children, it had become apparent that Thaylan
really was a special little boy as the rest of the children were born as blond
as their father and nowhere near as powerful.
As it turned out, Thaylan’s ability to phase to different places just
like Sethian had only been the tip of the iceberg, a fact that had no doubt
shaved off a few hundred years from my lifespan before he had grown old enough
to understand that he shouldn’t go around creating and leaving what amounted to
mini-portals in walls, floors, and furniture for his poor unsuspecting mother
to fall into.
By age six, he had mastered the ability to permanently alter the space
around him. It had been a year before either Sethian or I had realized that the
little booger had carved out an entire separate room the size of our sitting
room from a dimension none but him could touch where he and his little brother
could run around and play with his portals without having to worry about their
mother scolding them about “the dangers of messing around with reality.”
By this time, I had integrated so deeply into the elven realm and life
as a member of the royal family that my old life back in the human world no
longer seemed real. Now, except for official ceremonies, I always appeared in
public on Sethian’s arm, his clearly favored wife, which had raised more than a
few aristocratic brows in the beginning.
The queen as well had been less than impressed with this new development,
but over the years we had finally managed to find a compromise of sorts where
we basically pretended that the other did not exist—on the surface, at least. I
still could not quite shake the suspicion that she was up to something, so I
had finally caved and shared my concerns with my friends, asking them to keep
their eyes and ears open for me without alerting Sethian to my fears.
However, it was really because of Thaylan, more than Sethian’s
influence, that I had been accepted into elven society as well as I had. Even
those who clearly despised the fact that a human dared walked among them as
though she were a Sidhe didn’t dare say or do anything publically to
express that disgust because of their fear of Thaylan’s power, never mind that
he was still only a kid. Thaylan’s affection for me was obvious to anyone who
had eyes, so to disrespect me, the adored mother of their future king, was
essentially akin to political suicide.
He had also proven to be a problem for some on another front. Over the
years, people had begun to realize that Thaylan resembled the mythical elf,
Hirion, in more than just his unique looks. Although not clairvoyant, he had an
uncanny ability to sense when someone was up to no good, whether it was his
younger brother playing a prank on him or something more sinister like a plot against
my life—and there had been a fair few of those in the early years.
I felt a chill go up my spine as I remembered the last, a scene four
years ago that I would unlikely forget, even after a thousand years. It was the
day our enemies had truly learned to fear my son.
“My human bride-to-be wishes to speak with you, milady, before she
makes her final decision.”
I had heard this request twice
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Looking at myself in my hand mirror, it was hard to believe that I had
been living in the elven realm for thirteen years now. My features were the
same now as they were the day I first looked into this mirror and saw a
semi-stranger staring back. Had I been in the human realm, I would have been
nearing middle age. Now, except for a few hiccups now and then, it was as
though I was living the best years of my life over and over again.
I didn’t wait ten years to give Thaylan a sibling like I had once
sarcastically told Lariel. He was four when his brother Anir was born. A year
after that, my daughter, Rinya, arrived. The last had been my youngest daughter,
Arra, four years ago. After four children, it had become apparent that Thaylan
really was a special little boy as the rest of the children were born as blond
as their father and nowhere near as powerful.
As it turned out, Thaylan’s ability to phase to different places just
like Sethian had only been the tip of the iceberg, a fact that had no doubt
shaved off a few hundred years from my lifespan before he had grown old enough
to understand that he shouldn’t go around creating and leaving what amounted to
mini-portals in walls, floors, and furniture for his poor unsuspecting mother
to fall into.
By age six, he had mastered the ability to permanently alter the space
around him. It had been a year before either Sethian or I had realized that the
little booger had carved out an entire separate room the size of our sitting
room from a dimension none but him could touch where he and his little brother
could run around and play with his portals without having to worry about their
mother scolding them about “the dangers of messing around with reality.”
By this time, I had integrated so deeply into the elven realm and life
as a member of the royal family that my old life back in the human world no
longer seemed real. Now, except for official ceremonies, I always appeared in
public on Sethian’s arm, his clearly favored wife, which had raised more than a
few aristocratic brows in the beginning.
The queen as well had been less than impressed with this new development,
but over the years we had finally managed to find a compromise of sorts where
we basically pretended that the other did not exist—on the surface, at least. I
still could not quite shake the suspicion that she was up to something, so I
had finally caved and shared my concerns with my friends, asking them to keep
their eyes and ears open for me without alerting Sethian to my fears.
However, it was really because of Thaylan, more than Sethian’s
influence, that I had been accepted into elven society as well as I had. Even
those who clearly despised the fact that a human dared walked among them as
though she were a Sidhe didn’t dare say or do anything publically to
express that disgust because of their fear of Thaylan’s power, never mind that
he was still only a kid. Thaylan’s affection for me was obvious to anyone who
had eyes, so to disrespect me, the adored mother of their future king, was
essentially akin to political suicide.
He had also proven to be a problem for some on another front. Over the
years, people had begun to realize that Thaylan resembled the mythical elf,
Hirion, in more than just his unique looks. Although not clairvoyant, he had an
uncanny ability to sense when someone was up to no good, whether it was his
younger brother playing a prank on him or something more sinister like a plot against
my life—and there had been a fair few of those in the early years.
I felt a chill go up my spine as I remembered the last, a scene four
years ago that I would unlikely forget, even after a thousand years. It was the
day our enemies had truly learned to fear my son.
“My human bride-to-be wishes to speak with you, milady, before she
makes her final decision.”
I had heard this request twice
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