I pace around in my room—I have been doing so for the last hour… The others are not stirring yet—and likely won’t be for another hour. I lay down for a few minutes, trying to get back to sleep, and give up—for the tenth time.

There are so many things going through my head. In a few short hours, I will be Queen. Soon after that, Mother and Father will leave for my Father’s Kingdom in the Human Realm—to start the long process of mending relationships between the two races. And, at some point, we will all have to deal with Drakyre—or his minions, at the very least. It is all giving me a headache just thinking about it…

Finally, I hear others start to stir and go down to the main dining hall where I find Mori already sitting. I am quickly served a small breakfast—I am too nervous to eat much. Mother comes in a few minutes after me, followed by Father… Lastly, Aunt Lothi and Miri come in. Mother quickly goes through the events scheduled for the day and I lose all appetite…

We get up from the table after close to an hour and I go to get trussed up in my coronation gown. It takes nearly two hours to get literally sewn into the dress, have the ceremonial makeup applied, and go through the cleansing meditation in preparation for the actual event.

Once I ready, a small procession is formed. Mother is followed by Father and Mori; I follow behind them with Aunt Lothi and Miri carrying my train. It takes us the better part of thirty minutes to make it to the clearing where the Tree of Life stands—a journey that would normally only take about five.

Similar to my last coronation, as Princess, the clearing is surrounded by the Elves from the castle—holding hands and creating a large continuous ring. What is different this time is that there are many more elaborate decorations. There are also many more Elves here—from all over the Realm.

I try to swallow my nervousness as the ring of Elves breaks in one spot and creates an opening for our small procession to enter the clearing. The ring once again closes behind us as we move to the Tree of Life. I look up at it as we draw closer; it is looking much healthier now that the poisonous flow has been stemmed. My heart speeds up as Father breaks away from us and joins a small band of senior male Elves. These Elves—and Father—make a smaller inner circle around the tree and us.

Mother, Lothi, Miri, and I take up positions around the tree at the four corners of the compass. Mori stands behind me. The four us place our hands on the tree and I feel the calming presence…and the wisdom of dozens of Queens before me.

And…Mother starts singing a slow, melancholy song… It is about a tired Queen, ready to move on. The male circle behind picks up on the melody and harmonizes with Mother. That is my cue. I start my song… It is a joyous song: one of power, of peace, and of prosperity. The outer circle picks up my melody and harmonizes with me. Our songs intertwine—Mother’s slowly becoming more joyous; mine becoming more melancholy. It is so loud that I am sure that the perfectly aligned songs can be heard across the Realm—especially since the animals seem to be picking up on it, as well. Birds are chirping along, other animals making their own accompanying sounds—all in perfect harmony.

Finally, the songs are completely reversed. I am singing the sad song in memory of our past Queen, and Mother is singing the joyous song in celebration of the young, new Queen. At that point, the inner circle of male Elves breaks and forms a line that connects Mother, who still has her hands on the Tree of Life, with a string of Elves from the outer circle. This long line of Elves then creates an unbroken connection between the Tree of Life and Mother’s Princess Tree—the one that she had planted when she was crowned as Princess. Another long line of Elves from the outer circle does the same between me and my Princess Tree.

I feel a surge of energy course through us all. Mother breaks her touch with the Tree and I gasp as the Energy now flows into me, rather than through me. Mother steps back from the tree and Mori takes her place—leaving my main Court and I the only ones with direct contact to the Tree. The energy coursing into me reaches the point of almost being painful; then, suddenly—I can communicate with the Tree—with all of the Spirits of Queens gone by. It is amazing—the wisdom, the knowledge.

I feel the tears of awe and wonder flowing down my cheeks as Mother slowly pulls me from the Tree and hugs me. She says, “Queen Nellethiel, you now know the true gift of being Queen—but, you must be careful. It is very easy to get lost in the depths of the Tree. Always have someone with you if you are communing with the Tree and the Spirits—as an anchor to reality… You have an amazing supporting Court; any of them will be perfect anchors.”

I nod, still wide-eyed. I ask, “Mother, does this mean that you can no longer communicate with the Tree?”

She nods and says, “I no longer have access to all of the spirits in the same way that you, the true Queen, do. However, I am connected to the Earth and Forest through my Princess Tree. You will always have access to me—either indirectly through the Tree of Life—or directly through my Princess Tree. Mori, of course has other ways of contacting me that she is teaching you. But, if you need to communicate with me in a manner that none other can tap into—this is the best way.”

And then she removes the Queenly Crown from her head and ceremoniously places it onto mine.

The crowd goes wild…

I am finally getting out of the coronation gown…only to have to get right into a ball gown for the celebration. Miri is in my room with me, laughing at my antics as the gown is literally cut off of me by the seamstress. I find myself continuously having to catch the crown as it falls off my head when I look down.

I laugh and say, “This is going to take getting used to in more ways than one… And it is so heavy… Thankfully, I don’t have to wear it all of the time…and Mother told me there is also a light-weight tiara for daily wear. She never used it much, but says it is much better than the formal crown…”

After I get out of the coronation gown, I wash the ceremonial makeup off and put on the ball gown. Miri and I then walk down to the main hall where the music is already playing full blast. Before I know what is happening, Mother is pulling me over to the side of the room where a gorgeous young Elf is standing.

I blush as Mother says, “Nelle, I would like you to meet your betrothed, Alyan. If we were still following all of the Olden Ways, he would be your future husband.”

Although I had not really thought about English in a long time, my mind automatically translates Alyan’s name—Asher, or Blessed. I can’t believe how gorgeous he is—nor that I think of him that way… There are still enough vestiges of the ‘boy’ left in me that I am still surprised when the ‘girl’ comes out full-force. I am also surprised at the strange pull I feel for him…

Mother continues, “As you know, it is no longer a Queen’s duty to marry her betrothed…but it is still proper etiquette to grant him the first dance of the coronation ball…”

Following the oldest of traditions, I curtsy and say, “May I have the honor of this dance, my fair betrothed?”

We are just getting into the rhythm of the music when it suddenly stops…

I look around to see what is going on—only to find a small band of Gnomes waiting at the entrance to hall, surrounded by Elven guards. Miri and Alyan both step between me and the Gnomes at exactly the same time. Mori already has a blue ball of energy formed in her hands…