I stand there nervously. I am in a beautiful white, feathered ball gown—made up to the nines. The day had been full of festivities and they had been wonderful, but I had been largely ignored. I am the youngest person in the ballroom, no doubt. However, I bet I feel like I am one of the most beautiful—I feel like a beautiful swan in this dress. Nervous as I am, the confidence I feel also shows.

Miri introduces me to Meldiron, my ‘date’. I smile, thinking that the name means ‘Friend’ in English. I am now speaking primarily in Elvish…and thinking less and less in English…but, every so often, I still translate things in my head. Meldiron takes my hand and we are off to the dance floor.

My first dance with him surprises everyone—including him. My second one elicits gasps—it is obvious it was not a fluke. From there, many of the younger Elves cut in…then older ones, as well. I am flushed after several dances and decide to get a drink. One of the older Elves, with bright red hair, is dancing with me at the time; he accompanies me to the refreshment area. He pours some fruit nectar into a punch glass and hands it to me with a smile…

I gasp as a picture of a red-headed human pops into my mind. I nearly drop the glass as I reach for the table behind to steady myself—as I am flooded with memories…

I nearly fall to the floor as I picture the scene… My father attacking a troll with his bloodied sword. My mother unleashing a volley of arrows at a hoard of the beastly creatures descending on my father. Me hanging on to a horse galloping away towards the forest. A branch…and darkness.

I fall to the floor…hugging myself… I sob, “I abandoned them… I left my parents to die!” The ballroom goes silent and Miri rushes to me. She takes my head into her lap and strokes my hair. Aunt Lothi pushes her way through the crowd and helps me up, with Miri’s assistance. She looks at me with concern and asks, “You saw Ainathiel’s death?” There are gasps around the room. I look at her and shiver. I view the scene over and over in my mind.

I shake my head as the scene replays itself again. I say, “No, I did not see my mother…or my father…die. They were being attacked by mountain trolls…and I was on a horse riding into the forest. My father was fighting a troll with his bloodied sword… My mother was unleashing a volley of arrows… And…I was riding off into the forest…leaving them…!” I sob again… I say through more sobs, “My Mom sent me to the forest to find you… I…I…I hit my head on a branch… I just remembered…” I look at the elder Elf and say, “Your red hair; your kindness to a girl—giving her a drink…; it triggered my memory… My name is…was…Roland… My Father’s name was…George…”

All of a sudden there is a loud buzz in the room. Aunt Lothiriel commands, “Silence! Roland? A good Elven name… Tristimdorion – Famed throughout the Land… Your Mother was sending a message… But… Your Father’s name? George... Is…was he red-headed…?” She whispers to one of the servants who bows and quickly rushes off. My Aunt looks back at me and says, “Calm down, Nellethiel…we both know that is the more appropriate name for you… We will figure this out…” The servant hurries back and hands my Aunt a picture…another chalk drawing… She hands it to me…and I gasp. It is the image of my father. I feel tears come to my eyes as I moan, “Father! How do you have a picture of my Father, Aunt Lothi?”

There is no stopping the buzzing at that point. Aunt Lothi claps her hands and the room is quickly emptied out. Aunt Lothi looks at me. The look is one of total incredibility. She sort of mumbles to me, “So, you are saying that you are the hidden daughter of my missing sister, the rightful Queen of the Elves, and George, the missing King of the humans?”

I don’t fully understand what she is saying, but I suddenly feel faint and…

I come to in my bed. Miri and Aunt Lothi are sitting there; obviously worried. Aunt Lothi sees me come to and exclaims, “Thank the Goddesses! You are awake! Nelle, quickly! Tell me everything that you can remember!” Miri hands me a few pieces of melon as I sit up. I blink the weariness from my eyes, sensing that this is somehow important. I take a bite of melon and concentrate…

I relate every detail of that day, now six months ago, that I can now remember. Aunt Lothi asks for details every so often. I answer the best I can. Finally, after several minutes, she looks at Miri and says, “Get a small, fast party together. You will leave within the hour.” Miri nods and hurries off.

Aunt Lothi goes to my wardrobe and pulls out some traveling clothes. She tells me to get dressed. She says, “Hurry, niece-of-mine. You must go with Miri. It is important!” I start to ask questions, but she is gone before I get a chance. I hurry and put on the loose fitting clothing; very feminine, but fit for moving quickly through the forest.

Miri comes and gets me a few minutes later and takes me to the ground below. There is a party of several male Elves waiting for us. They bow to both of us and say something about being ready. Miri hands me a quiver and bow…one that I can tell is very special. She says, “It was your Mother’s first bow. You will connect with it well. Now, we must hurry!”

And we start running down the path that had brought me here half a year ago. It is a paced run, but eats up the distance quickly. I am surprised that I can keep up, but it is not too much of a problem. Miri hands me a beancake that I eat on the run. She doesn’t answer any questions for the better part of an hour. As we get close to where I know I had crossed into the realm, we take a left turn and she says, “We will know in a few minutes…”

We approach the golden-shimmering veil that I recognize as the protective border to the Elven Realm from the human one. There is a strange mist between us and the veil. We stop short of the mist and Miri hands me two beancakes and says, “Eat. Hurry!”

I reply, “No! Not until you tell me what is going on.” Miri closes her eyes and says, “Eat your protein and I will explain.” I roll my eyes and eat the two cakes. Miri grabs my hand and pulls me towards the mist and says, “Come and you will understand. It is imperative that you come. Have your bow at the ready!”

And we enter the mist… I am vaguely dizzy as we cross the mist… Then we hit the golden veil… I feel the tingle and we are through…

And I see my parents fighting the trolls; completely outnumbered…

I don’t hesitate. I grab my first arrow and nock it… I dance between the trolls and the first arrow lodges between his eyes from two hundred paces. The troll’s eyes roll into the back of his head and he drops as I spin, nocking another arrow and shooting at another troll. I see my mother shoot at the same one and our arrows both hit dead center. The troll drops dead… This ‘dance’ continues for what seems forever…

And then, it is over. The trolls are all dead…and I drop into a dead oblivion….

I come to…hungry…and weak. I look up and see Miri; she is holding my hand… I look over and say weakly, “Mother! How? I don’t understand! It has been six months…!” Her face shimmers and she is clearly an Elf… She smiles at me and says, “My daughter! You are alive! You found the Elves! Good girl! I knew you could do it! You saved us, daughter-of-mine!”

I look up and see the clear image of Ainathiel that I remember from the chalk drawing. I look over and see the bloodied face of the same image of ‘George’ that I remember from the other chalk drawing. I am so confused—but so happy!

I blink…the same images are still there… I say, “I don’t understand…it has been six months… Mother? You are an Elf—and the Queen? Father? King George of the Humans?”

Both laugh and Miri hands me several beancakes as she helps me sit up. I hungrily devour the cakes and look at my parents…

Mother smiles and both parents hug me. Mother says in Elvish, “I understand from Miriel that you have chosen the name of Nellethiel…and why. I concur, my sweet daughter. I also understand that you have embraced your true self…” I look up at her and nod—wide-eyed. She closes her eyes and sings a beautiful song in Elvish that I recognize from long ago…

I feel the crack in the ward widen…then split wide open…and then fall away…

I feel my body changing… I am becoming the girl I know I am… I am also…maturing… And I black out again…

I open my eyes and look into my Mother’s face. I see her clearly Elven features looking down at me and reach up to touch her pointed ears. I say, “I don’t understand…”

She smiles at me and says, “I will explain it all later. We need to get back to the Elven Realm, now! There may be more trolls—or worse—coming for us. You are safe now, sweet daughter-of-mine. You are safe—and so are we…”

We quickly pack up our things and start moving. I feel different, but don’t have time to dwell on it…

We reach the golden veil and pass through… There is no mist this time; but we stop shortly after passing through the veil…and settle down to rest. One of the male Elves hurries off, to alert my Aunt, but the rest of us stop and set up camp…

I finally have a chance to take account of myself. I feel different. Miri looks at me with a…surprised…look. Before I can ask, my Mother comes to see me and asks, “Nelle, Miri says you prefer that over Nellethiel… Nelle, how do you feel?” I look at Mother and say, “I have no idea! I thought you and Father were dead! That is…taking into account that I could not even remember you! How do I feel? I find out…no thanks to you, that I am likely the daughter of the Queen of Elves. THEN, I find out…again, no thanks to you you…that I am ALSO the daughter of the King of humans… And THAT is after that I find out that I am the DAUGHTER and not the SON of ANYONE! HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL? Oh, AND HOW IN THE DEEPEST DUNGEONS OF THE GODDESSES’ WORST VISION OF HELL ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?”

My Mother—and Father—BOTH laugh. Mother says, “I understand your confusion. No, Sweetie—I DO! I had to bind you as a young daughter—disguised as our prepubescent son to hide you from prying eyes… That was almost a hundred human years ago—I bound you as a pre-pubescent boy…to protect us all. I will explain all in more detail later…but, now, we have a chance to win… A chance to unite Humans and Elves—through your Father—and me, through YOU… You have to understand that when the ward was broken—well, it broke the binding that kept you prepubescent as a boy… You have caught up lost time as a pubescent girl…” And I fall back into an exhausted, dreamless sleep…

I come to…it is pitch black—but the stars in the sky are bright. Mother is sitting there holding my hand… I blink the exhaustion from my eyes and accept the offered beancake from her. I sit up and bite into the cake. I take another large bite and hungrily swallow it. Before I take another bite, I ask, “Mother? You are my Mother, right? You are the Queen of Elves, right? How…?” I take another bite of beancake, chew it, and swallow… Absent an answer, I ask, “I don’t understand… How can you still survive after six months…?”

She smiles and squeezes my hand as she says, “Yes, Nelle. I am your mother. Yes, I am the Queen of Elves. And I survived because you came back and saved me…and your father… Before you ask, yes, he is the King of Humans… I know you are confused… I will explain more, later… But, time flows differently in the Elven Realm. Six months in that Realm can be like six seconds in the human realm…or six thousand years… Do you remember passing through a mist on the way to us? That is a true time…mixer…”

I blink…and ask, “So…what does that make me?” She laughs and says, “My…OUR beautiful daughter. When the binding broke, it reversed the…necessary prepubescence…and reversed the male ward. You had been bound to not entering puberty for many human years… You made up for that in…moments…when the ward was broken—as the girl you were born to be. You now are the equivalent of a sixteen-year-old human girl…or a nearly three-hundred year-old Elven girl. Either way…you are a girl on the very precipice of becoming a beautiful woman!”

I look at her confused. I see Miri and she nods and smiles… Both hold my hands and I stand…I look at my reflection in the nearby brook…the one I am named after. I gasp as I see the beautiful copper-haired young woman with the pointed ears… The one that is a mix of the bright red-headed Human King and the golden-blonde Elven Queen. I appear to be about the same age as Miri…and just as beautiful… Somehow, I know that I don’t just appear that way…I am that girl now…even outwardly…

Miri says, “Yes, Nelle…you are now fully a girl… When your ward broke…you…well, you caught up with your…heritage…” I sigh and say, “I still don’t understand… It has been six months… How are you both still alive…? And…how did I gain six years of human…maturity…? Which I know relates to much more in Elven terms…”

Miri laughs and says, “Silly, cousin-of-mine! Mother and I have told you that human and Elven timelines are not synchronized… It was not hard to find the timeline that your parents were fighting the trolls…especially since they had not perished in your memories… The mist transferred us to the proper timeline…”

I close my eyes and thank the Goddesses. Then I ask, “And what now?” Mother answers, “Now, we go and answer to my People…”