Unquiet Slumber by Paulette Miller

topic of Tianna. Marcus leaned toward Zarin and said, “Tianna is actually what we wanted to speak to you about. Since meeting her, I’ve felt that there’s much more to her story. Now that I’ve seen her family, that feeling is even stronger. She’s nothing like her parents or anyone else in this village. She’s lived under your roof for years. What hasn’t she told us?”
     
    Zarin sat back in his chair. “I’ve known Tianna her entire life. As a matter of fact, I delivered her right here in this room. There are things that Tianna is unaware of, and until the right time comes, they must continue to remain secret to her. The people you met tonight raised her as their own since the day she was born, but they didn’t conceive her.”
     
    Gabriel and Marcus leaned forward in their chairs, eager to hear the story that was coming.
     
    “The local butcher in the village had taken a young wife. I think she was only sixteen when they came to my home ready to deliver their first child. It was a difficult delivery and the baby was stillborn. The young couple was devastated, so I left them to grieve privately. When I walked into the room we are now in, I found a woman heavy with child. She was like something you would see in a dream, with long silver hair that hung down to her ankles and the bluest eyes that I could imagine. She was obviously about to deliver, so I quickly laid out some blankets right next to where she stood and helped her lay down. The baby was coming quickly and she grabbed my hand, forcing me to listen to her first.
     
    She said, ‘I can’t hold this human form for much longer. Once the child within me is born, I’ll be no more. You, dear wizard, must take this child. Protect and shelter her until the time is right.’
     
    ‘What are you?’ I asked her. She let out a scream of pain as another contraction hit but she still continued to speak to me with a death grip on my wrist. She said, ‘You know what I am. I’m of the Faye. My name is Arielle and I was given the task of conceiving a very special child. She’s more than what I am as she was conceived with the gifts of several races.’
     
    Her breathing became very erratic and she cried out in pain. She pulled me close to her face and stared into me with those blue eyes saying, ‘You’ve been chosen. Promise me you’ll teach her and protect her with your life.’
     
    I was hypnotized by her gaze, but I spoke the words she needed to hear. ‘Yes, I’ll protect her with my life and will help teach her all she needs to know,’ and I meant it with all of my heart.
     
    She then released my wrist, allowing me to help deliver her child. A few minutes later the baby was born and Arielle started to glow, shimmered, and disappeared. I gazed at the child now in my arms as she let out a cry. I wasn’t prepared to care for such a young infant. She needed a mother to nurse and care for her. So, I carried her into the other room where the grieving couple was holding each other with tears on their faces. They both stared at me as they saw me move toward them with a crying baby in my arms. Their presence here at my home and the loss of their child was a sign. I walked over to the young mother and handed her the baby.
     
    I told them that the mother of this child had just died during childbirth. ‘You’ve lost your child. Please take this girl and raise her as your own. She’s a unique child that will possess special skills, and she’ll require all your patience, love, and understanding. To all of the village, she’ll be the daughter you delivered. No one must know the truth.’ The young couple peered down at the baby with instant affection, and they told me that they would care for her as their own. They named her Tianna and, at that moment, she became their daughter.”
     
    Zarin stopped talking and sat silently.
     
    Gabriel spoke words that were both a question and a statement of fact. “Tianna isn’t human.”
     
    Zarin shook his head,