Deidre's Faerie Tale

I sighed contently and turned my face into the pillow. I had woken up all on my own. I felt like I was getting away with something, being awake before Tolem pounded on my bedroom door. I hustled out of bed, did my toilet, a quick shower, and was halfway down the stairs before I saw anyone else.

A maid was walking up the stairs with an armload of towels. She was pale with flyaway auburn curls and dusky pink lips. She looked young, but lines were starting around her dark green eyes. I smiled and bid her good morning.

She stared at me a moment before returning my sentiments.

Tolem was approaching the stairwell when I hit the first floor. He was obviously surprised to see me up and about. "What's for breakfast?" I asked.

"Cornmeal porridge." He followed me into the dining room.

"Porridge? Like in the Goldilocks and the Three Bears?" I groaned.

"You do not like porridge?" Tolem asked. He sat in a chair a ways down at the table. He was distracted momentarily by a hushed conversation with one of the servers. I took the chance to appreciate his black t-shirt, well, what was outlined underneath the black cotton. His blonde hair was braided and I noticed that he was the first elf I'd seen without pierced ears.

"I'd just love some bacon and eggs right now," I said watching the server disappear into the kitchen.

Tolem chuckled. "We maintain a vegetarian diet," he informed me.

"Vegetarian?" I squeaked.

He nodded.

I remained quiet running through the list of things that I wouldn't be eating for another two months: fried chicken, grilled steak, southern fried steak, smothered pork chops, bacon, ham, and turkey sandwiches. Suddenly, I wanted my mama more than I ever had in my life, and that's including ten hours of labor when I was pretty damned sure that I was going to die.

The server returned and placed an enormous bowl of yellow mush in front of me. I thanked him, trying to sound like I meant it.

"You will sit in on a public affairs meeting today," Tolem informed me.

"What exactly is that?" I asked stirring the steaming porridge. It was a bit off-putting, not quite a liquid, not quite a solid.

"Basically, it is a chance for the people to convene with the royal family and voice their concerns about the state of the village, or ask help for any problems they may have."

I took my first bite and smiled…at least it was sweet.

"Don't be long," Tolem said as he stood from the table. "It won't do for you to show up late to the meeting."

I stuck my tongue out at his retreating back, but finished eating quickly.

The hall where I'd first met Lady Ilyn and Lyrik was where the meeting was being held. It was lined with rows of chairs facing a wide aisle; the chairs were filled with elves when I walked in, Tolem in step just behind me. Everyone turned to watch me walk the aisle and hushed whispers erupted. I hurried to the end of the aisle where my stepmother and her daughter sat on thrones. Literally, these chairs were high-backed embossed in gold with deep blue velvet cushions on the front and seat.

I took a seat on the left side of Lady Ilyn.

She leaned over to me, put a hand on mine, and whispered. "Smile, don't look so frightened. These are your people."

I nodded and pasted on a wobbly smile. I was nervous. Who wouldn't be when being stared down by a roomful of strangers? The meeting started when Trilla entered, stopped in the middle of the aisle where a microphone stood and addressed the room. She carried a clipboard, and wore a long, flowing white skirt and a salmon pink halter top. Her outfit was casual, but her tone was all business.

"Good morning everyone! Thank you for attending." She spoke loud and clear with a charming smile and gracious manner.

No fear of public speaking there!

"I'd like to start this meeting by introducing you to her highness, Deidre St. Germaine. She has only recently discovered her roots to our kind and community. I'm sure you've all heard rumors so lets set everything straight right here and right now." She folded her hands together and smiled up at me.

"The princess was unaware of her status as a royal and she was also unaware that elves were anything besides fairy tale fodder. She has come to find out about her father and it is up to us to show her how welcoming and devoted Elvin culture truly is."

Lyrik gave an unladylike snort and I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from saying something bitchy. It helped that most of the crowd was nodding and smiling as Trilla spoke.

"To go ahead and answer some questions that have already been posed, yes she did grow up in America, she has one heir, a daughter who remains in America. Princess Deidre is the daughter of our late king and his first wife, who is in fact a human."

Insert dramatic gasps here.

"Please!" Trilla urged, causing the murmurs to stop. "The king was married to her mother so she is a legitimate heir, born in wedlock. There is no questioning her lineage so her highness will be treated with respect and reverence for her title." There was another round of nodding. "Let us begin!" Trilla said moving to set the microphone she'd been using back in its stand. "First is one of our most respected farmers, Waylon, please come up."

I watched as a broad shoulder, raven haired man left his seat and stood at the mike. "My farm and all on it have been prosperous so far this season," he said in a gravely voice. "I have brought a sample of my labor for our new queen." He locked eyes with me and bowed. My blood froze. All these people were operating under the assumption that I was to be queen. How was I going to tell them the truth, especially when they'd come with presents?!

"Actually," Lyrik said with an air of condescension, "Deidre is—."

"Very grateful for your generosity!" Lady Ilyn bellowed effectively cutting off her daughter.

When I looked over, the two of them were engaged in a staring contest. I turned back to Waylon and smiled. "Thank you so much."

He shuffled forward, placing a mammoth metal container brimming with carrots and ears of corn in front of our chairs. "Continued good health, your highness," he said with another quick bow.

The rest of the meeting went on pretty much like that. There were a few citizens with problems, neighborly quarrels, and a rebellious son that was insisting on moving to South America to marry a Chilean elf he'd met via internet. After scheduling a counseling session between Trilla and the family, the parents seemed relieved. At the end of two hours, Trilla dismissed the citizens and we were surrounded by flowers, handmade candles, a couple jewelry boxes, and more vegetables than a farmer's market on Saturday morning.

Trilla returned to the microphone in the middle of the aisle to address the crowd again. "I'd like to thank you all for coming," she said loudly. "As you may know the coronation is scheduled for tomorrow; we have no reason to postpone it, and for the safety of our kingdom, our new leader must be crowned as soon as possible. Everyone will be gathered in front of the castle for this event, you're new queen will be crowned on the stairs of her home. I hope you will all attend. This meeting is now dismissed!"

When the citizens had all left, Lady Ilyn leaned over to me. She nodded at the blanket of vegetables across the floor. "You are much appreciated," she whispered. I swore I could hear Lyrik's teeth gnashing.

"Your highness," Tolem said from behind me. "You have an appointment in town."

I was too overwhelmed to question him. I just followed him as he weaved a path through my gifts. "What about all this stuff?" I asked when we reached the door.

"The food will be taken to the kitchen and the other gifts will be taken to your room." Tolem opened the door for me.

"Can we put the flowers all over the castle; I may have an allergy attack if they're all concentrated in my room."

"I'll see to it," Trilla called through the closing door.

Tolem walked a few paces ahead of me as we went down the hill and into the heart of the city. Many people that were at the meeting were still milling around in the streets. They waved and smiled as we passed. Everything was so beautiful; I was distracted by the scenery. I almost ran into Tolem's broad back when he stopped short. I leaned around him to see where we were.

The house was small, so much so that it barely qualified as a house. It was more like, a few rooms with a thatched roof. Tolem knocked and stepped behind me. I opened my mouth to protest but shut it again when the door opened. The first thing I noticed was the smell of incense. Strong, but sweet, similar to the scent of a burning Black and Mild cigar.

"At last you have come to see me, your highness," a wisp of a voice declared. That's when I saw her; she stepped forward into the sunlight and smiled. Her white blonde hair was loose and hung to her hair. She had crystal blue eyes with deep wrinkles in the corners as if she smiled a lot. Her skin was so pale, the blue veins were evident all over her exposed flesh; hands, arms, throat, face. You could practically teach a biology lesson about the circulatory system off her. She was willowy, but unlike everyone else, she wasn't taller than me. So she was probably short to everyone else around. Her nails were long and unpainted. She wore a pale yellow dress with capped sleeves and a skirt that dragged the ground. Her arms were loaded with thin silver bangles. Her ears filled with silver hoops. Somehow, I immediately knew who she was.

"Seer," I said with a nod. "I'm pleased to finally meet you."

"It was inevitable my child, please come in. You too; Tolem." She stepped aside and I entered her home. I had thought Trilla's office was claustrophobic, but it was sprawling compared to this place. Every corner was filled. There were pictures on every inch of wall space. There was no actual furniture, just pillows of all shapes and sizes and colors on the floor.

"Sit," the Seer instructed. "May I offer you some tea?"

"No thank you," I said sinking cross-legged onto a large pink pillow.

"Straight to business then," she said drifting down to a pillow in front of me. She held out her hands, palms up. I placed my hands in hers.

"Don't speak," Tolem mumbled from behind me. I wanted to turn around and see exactly how he looked folded up, sitting on a pillow, but I was riveted to what was happening in front of me.

Her eye's had gone from blue to white, literally. It was just like when Storm conjured up some natural disaster on X-Men. She had no iris, no pupil, nothing, just blank white orbs.

"You and I are of the same blood," she started. "Royals are not only kings and queens; one Seer is born every generation. We share some of the same powers, though yours are not as concentrated as mine. I see you got my message about the location of your grandmother's ring." I almost snatched my hand away to touch the ring that still hung on the necklace around my neck, but I guess I was too frightened at that moment to do anything that may piss her off. "Yes, yes, and so young too. You're gift is stronger than most. That ring belonged to your father's mother, you know. It's very good that you found it at such a young age that means your connection to us is well-established." Her lips pressed together in a thin line and then she smiled. "Ah, you're still not convinced that you belong here, but deep down, you know what will happen if you don't."

My mind flashed an image that wretched a gasp from my throat. I saw an Exodus, faces of the elves I'd met in town and during the town hall meeting passed by hauling luggage, children clung to their parents' hands and skirts. They're eyes brimming with tears to match the stricken expressions of the adults around them. I saw buildings spontaneously crumble, and become overtaken by the countryside. Trees flew up in the middle of the street I'd just walked, the ivy on the side of the castle became more than decoration, instead, the face of the building itself.

My head swam as I squeezed my eyes shut against not only what I saw, but what I felt. My heart literally ached. It was as if I could feel the pain of the crying children and the confusion and anxiety of the adults as they left their home. Their thoughts may as well have been tattooed on their foreheads.

Where do we go from here? What will I do now? Why?

They were leaving the home of their ancestors for parts unknown…because of me. I wasn't sure exactly how I was one hundred percent sure, it was my fault.

When I opened my eyes again, the Seer had hers back. Her blue eyes wrinkled as she smiled at me. "You know," she said releasing my hands. I used them to wipe the tears from my face. "You will do what's right."

I wanted to say something, anything. I didn't want to move out of the country, away from my mother, to be surrounded by strangers. I'd have to completely start over. My entire life would never be the same. I'm not big on moving cheese…besides that whole getting pregnant in college thing, my life followed along the timeline without many bumps or deviations. I dropped Eva at school, went to my shitty job, picked up my daughter, helped mamma with dinner, and went to bed. It was the same, every day, except in the summer when Eva stayed at home. Change was just not my thing.

"I know," I agreed.

"Thank you for coming," the Seer said standing from her cushion.

I nodded and followed Tolem outside. He stood, watching me for an indeterminable amount of time. I barely noticed since I was deep in my own thoughts.

"Your highness," said Tolem finally.

"I told you not to call me that!"

I could have sworn I heard him laugh, but on the surface, he didn't even crack a smile.

"Would you like to go back to the castle?" he asked when I glared.

"Yeah, I need to speak to Trilla."

"She actually worked a half day today," Tolem informed me. "She's at home by now."

"Well, take me to her house then."

Tolem shrugged.

I followed him through the streets, it was around lunch time and pretty hot—not Georgia's one hundred and twenty percent humidity with mosquitoes, love bugs, and gnats hot—but still pretty damned hot.

Trilla's house was bigger than the one we'd just left, but still relatively small. I couldn't get over how narrow the houses were but Trilla's was very cute on the outside…it fit her. White walls with brown shutters and wild ivy growing upwards along the lower portion. There were window boxes full of pansies and rose bushes along the cobbled pathway.

I knocked and heard her muffled voice say, "Just a minute."

Tolem and I waited patiently until Trilla pulled open the heavy wood door. I was half expecting her to ask who it was since there wasn't a window or peephole or anything for her to sneak a peek through. Maybe that was just the cynical human in me. Trilla was obviously surprised to see us…well, me. Her dark eyebrows came together and she frowned but she quickly recovered and greeted us. "Please come in," she said moving aside.

"Wow, it's like I've died and gone to Pier 1!" I said as I looked around her home.

The layout was open, as were all the doors so I caught a peek of every room. The walls were painted a burnt orange, with iron vines reaching from floorboard to ceiling, accented leaves of gold and brown.

The living room was full of dark brown furniture; the biggest piece was a love seat that was covered by a multicolored woven blanket. Two mahogany bookcases flanked the inside of the front door, with matching copper umbrella stands beside each. At first I thought they were giant vases because reeds were protruding from the one on the right, but then I saw two well-worn umbrellas in the other one. Toward the back of the living room was the dining area. A high gloss mahogany wood table with two matching chairs served as the dining set. On top were multiple pieces of pottery shaped like autumn leaves. Tucked in a corner by the table was a floor to ceiling, mahogany lattice wine cage holding around fifty bottles of wine. On the other flat surfaces, the buffet, kitchen counter, coffee table, and end tables were black iron and glass candle holders with leaves fashioned on the sides. Each holder contained an orange, burgundy, or brown pillar candle.

Also on the kitchen counter were bamboo trays that held clean dishes and glasses. Another bamboo tray was beside the tiny stove. This one held a beige teapot with leaves sketched in dark brown. A single matching cup and saucer was on the tray beside the pot.

Through the cracked bathroom door I saw a peek of the white tub with multicolored, handmade bars of soap stacked high in the corner, just below the frosted glass window. The bathroom rug was brown with yellow and red stripes.

The kitchen was tiny, with earth-toned granite counter tops and a deep double steel sink. Everything was impossibly clean except for a chair that contained a mess of papers. It seemed as though we'd interrupted her working from home.

Trilla pushed her dark hair from her face and frowned again. "Your highness," she breathed, "I wasn't expecting you. I would have laid something out for you."

"There's no need, Trilla. I'm sorry to drop by unannounced but we've just left the Seer and I just had to speak with you."

"Really?" She eyed me warily.

"Yes. I wanted to invite you personally to the coronation tomorrow."

Trilla's eyes hardened as she turned away from me. "I'm sure I can't make it," she said sternly to the fireplace.

I smiled. "Well, I don't think I can get crowned without you."

Trilla's entire length of hair fanned out as she turned to face me again. Her eyes were full of tears but her grin was communicable. "You're taking the crown?"

I nodded.

"That's wonderful!"

"I'll need your help," I said stepping forward. "I don't know the first thing about being a queen, or the laws here, or what I'll be responsible for doing." I caught my breath. "I don't know anything!"

Trilla covered her mouth with both hands as she giggled. "This is wonderful!"

"I'm sure my sister won't think so," I said rolling my eyes.

"It doesn't matter what Lyrik thinks," said Trilla darting to a bookshelf in the corner. "You are the first blood queen in three generations! This is a remarkable event, historic and important. I must alert the World Press Corps. Even the colonies in the New World will want full details!"

"The New World?" I repeated.

"Yes, the Americas," Trilla explained as she flipped through the slim ledger she'd pulled from the bookshelf.

"America is not so new," I said crossing my arms.

"It's still new to us," Tolem said with a shrug.

I rolled my eyes, but decided not to argue my point. If I was going to be queen in a day, I needed as many allies as possible. No sense in getting into a quarrel about how they referred to "the Americas" at this point in time.

Trilla's eyes skimmed a page and she absently found a tablet and started scribbling notes onto it. "I'll have to return to the castle to place these phone calls," she muttered. "I'll also have to make arrangements for all the new press and distinguished visitors."

"We will leave you to it," Tolem said with a nod.

"Okay, then," I said watching Trilla sink her nose deeper into the ledger. "Bye."

"I am actually glad that you've decided to be our queen," Tolem said when we were outside once again.

I looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks, but it's not like I really had much of a choice."

"I didn't think you were the type to change your mind so quickly."

I blushed and hoped he would think it was from the heat of midday. "My mind has already been changed once since I've been here."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh…about you. I thought you were a gi-normous tool and turns out, you're really not so bad." I smiled when his mouth fell open in shock. I didn't wait for him to formulate a comeback, I just turned back to retrace our steps back to the castle.