I come to in my bed—my wonderful bed—in my room in the tree castle. The last thing I remember is talking to Mother after… …the fight… Was it all just a dream?

I get out of bed and see that there are still signs of the struggle on me…a few scrapes and scratches… So, it wasn’t a dream…

I quickly get dressed and go down to the main hall… Mother, Lothi, Miri, and Mori are sitting together at a table and drinking wine. I join them and Miri smiles impishly up at me. She says, “Welcome back to the land of the living Nelle… What kind of Queen will you be if a little singing puts you out for four hours?”

She giggles, but the words sting a little. That IS the question, isn’t it? What kind of Queen WILL I be? I am not READY for this… Just because I have a birthright…

Aunt Lothi gives Miri a stern look and says, “MIRI! You apologize to your cousin, at once! I know it was in jest, but she is the Queen-to-be!” Miri looks crestfallen…

I shake my head and say, “No, Aunt Lothi—she is absolutely correct! How can I be Queen? I barely know how to be a girl, let alone a Princess--and now I am to be a QUEEN? It does not make sense… You, Aunt-of-mine, are much better prepared to lead this Queendom than I—you have already proven that when we were in hiding. And IF I AM to become Queen, I will always want my closest friends and allies to speak their mind—in jest or not… Many heads are ALWAYS better than one!”

At that point, Mother speaks up and says, “You see, Nelle, you are wiser than you think. Your Aunt Lothi will be there to help guide you—and it is not a post she wants. She never has…” Aunt Lothi shakes her head emphatically to underscore that position. Mother continues, “You are right, things are moving along much faster than planned—but we are on the offensive now… And we have to maintain our readiness to both defend ourselves—and ultimately beat Drakyre. Unfortunately, that will require great personal sacrifices from all of us at this table…”

Two days later, I am once again fighting the urge to fidget as I am, once again, being fitted for a coronation gown—this time to be crowned Queen. Melda says, “If Her Highness would stand still, we would be done SO much quicker…” I roll my eyes and stand up straight and still…

Just as she places the last pin for the day, I hear a familiar deep voice, “Where is that daughter of mine?” I jump down from the pedestal, amid curses from Melda and pinpricks from errant straight pins. I don’t care as I rush into my Father’s arms for a hug. We both gingerly extract ourselves from the prickly hug and laugh. Even Melda giggles a bit as she fixes a few things and then rushes Father out of the room so I can change.

Several minutes later, I go to the Great Hall to find Father and Mother sitting at a table holding hands across it. I go and join them as a server bring Mother and a glass of wine and a mug of cold ale for Father. Father looks at my surprised face and asks, “What? You didn’t think I would miss my own daughter’s coronation to Queen did you? Besides, I can escort your Mother back with me, this way.”

I snuggle up against him and breathe in his musky scent… It almost makes all of this worth it—to be together again.

Father then becomes more serious and says, “Your little trick with the tree did not sit well with Drakyre at all. I paid the price of several good men to find out that he is planning on mounting a revenge attack—purely to save face with his own…people… It is rumored that he is once again starting negotiations to form an allegiance with the Dark Elves. If that happens, then we could be in for a much tougher struggle. I am not sure that he will succeed anymore this time than the last several attempts, but just the fact that he is trying is riling up his minions… There have been increasing vampire, wolf, and zombie skirmishes in the borderlands… My people are pulling further and further from the border to the inner Kingdom…effectively increasing the size of the DMZ—but shrinking the Kingdom bit-by-bit… At some point, there could be a shift in the border, since it is becoming harder to patrol the no-man’s land.”

At that point, Mori calls me for my lessons of the day and I leave Father and Mother to continue talking…

I look at Mori, a gleam of perspiration on my brow, and grunt… “This is…hard…it is draining me quickly…”

Mori nods and says, “You are not properly feeding your ward with energy…” She is looking at my aura with that far-away look in her eye… “Here, try this…,” she says as she makes a movement with her hand. All of the sudden, I feel a shift in my energy and the drain slows to a minute trickle. Mori asks, “Do you see what I have done?”

I turn my vision to my own aura and see exactly what she did. “Wow, I never would have thought to hook onto the Darker Elements that way. Is it not dangerous for me?” I turn my vision back to her.

She shakes her head and says, “No. You are not tapping INTO the Dark this way…just sort of feeding your ward with its discarded image. Sort of like holding your hand above a candle… You feel the heat from the flame, but you are not IN the light… Does that make sense?”

I nod and we practice for another hour before she finally calls it quits for the day.

I am out blowing off some steam with Miri. We are playfully competing with each other with our bows and arrows. I am now nearly as good as she is.

Miri laughs as I make a near impossible shot—splitting her arrow into four long slivers. She looks at me and says, “I didn’t mean that the other day, you know. I think you will make a fine Queen.”

I sigh and say, “I know you didn’t MEAN it, Miri—that does not mean it is not TRUE, nonetheless. I don’t know what I am doing…”

Miri looks at me and says, “Nelle, you have Mother and Mori—they will help guide you. It will be fine—the Queendom will be in good hands. I can feel it—and you know that I have…Powers…when it comes to that.”

I smile wanly and say, “Thanks, Miri. It means a lot to me to have your support. Will you be on my Court… As my friend and Head of my Guard?”

Miri smiles and bows to me as she says, “It would be my honor and pleasure, my Queen-to-be.”

I don’t like the formality of that response, but know enough to realize that it is required at this moment. I smile back at Miri and simply say, “Thank you, Miri. For everything.”

I do not sleep well that night… I wake up after only thirty minutes…well short of my usual three hours. I toss and turn… The Coronation is only hours away…