I wake up in a strange room and panic. Where? Wait…Who…? And then the events of the day before, the ones that I can remember, flood back into my mind and I settle back into the soft bed. I look around the room, trying to remember more…but it is useless.

I reach up and touch my forehead. A healer had sealed up the wound before I had been brought to this room by Miriel. It seems to be completely healed now—not even the slightest bit tender to the touch.

I lay there, not knowing what to do, exactly. I know that I am in a tree castle, high above the ground. I am in the Queen’s ‘care’, as her ‘ward’—meaning that she wants to keep me close to study me. It also means that, basically, I think I am her prisoner.

I look up, startled, as Miriel comes into my room without knocking. She gives me a scowl and asks, “Well, waif? Are you just going to stay in bed all day?” I shrug and say, much less intimidated by her today, “I don’t know the customs here… Not that I can specifically remember my own, but I know what seems right… Anyway, you took my clothes last night… What am I to wear?” She rolls her eyes, then actually giggles. She goes to a door carved right out of the tree and opens it. With a flourish, she says, “And voila… Have you ever heard of a wardrobe?” I look at the clothes, Elven clothes, hung neatly in the space. She says, “Get dressed and meet us in the dining hall in ten minutes, or you will miss breakfast.” And she is gone…

I sigh and get out of bed. I am in a nightgown…I guess nightshirt is the better term. I pull out some random clothes from the wardrobe—not really knowing anything about Elven styles—and get dressed. I find my way to the dining hall where the Queen and Miriel are eating fruit from a large platter. The Queen looks up as I come in and seems to choke on her fruit. Miriel just giggles. The Queen gives her a harsh look and then says, “Good morning, Brooke. I see you…need some help…dressing. Miriel will help you pick out some more appropriate things after we eat. Come…” She tries to hide a grin as she picks up the slice of melon she had dropped.

I give her a dirty look and say, “Give it a rest, Miriel! That was mean… How am I supposed to know how to dress as an elf?” Miriel is still giggling as she pulls out some clothes for me to put on. She lays them on the bed and proceeds to explain the different outfits. She says, “The wardrobe is stocked with things for both boys and girls, since this room is for unexpected guests. It is magical and should have only provided you with boy’s options. You seem to have confused it as much as you have the rest of us. It likely can’t get a good read on you. You are wearing a mix of boy’s and girl’s clothes.” She leaves me to put on the clothes that she had laid out for me. I hang the others back up…grumbling the whole time.

I meet the Queen on the balcony, as instructed. She tells me to sit and then contemplates something for a minute before asking, “OK, Brooke, what do you remember of the world? We know that you do not remember anything family-related. What can you tell me of Earth’s history? Of humans or Elves?”

I sit and concentrate. Finally, I shake my head and say, “It is strange. I can’t remember specifics. If you ask me for a detail, I can’t pull it up. But, I seem to know what is right or wrong—what is and what is not…like an instinct, or something. For example, I know that you are an elf by looking at you. I just don’t know how I know. I don’t remember learning it.”

Queen Fleur slowly nods her head. She sits quietly for several minutes and then says, “Well, I need to remind you of the state of affairs in the world, then. As you seem to know, there are the three main races in the world. Elves, humans, and gnomes. There are the Elementals—the sylphs, nymphs, and so on. Then there are other…riff-raff… Trolls, ogres, and other objectionables. Then there are the truly undesirables, the demons and such. That is just scratching the surface, but you get the idea.”

I nod, somehow knowing this stuff, once reminded. The Queen continues, “Many millennia ago, as humans perceive time, the Elves, humans, and gnomes got along. Then the gnomes got greedy and broke off relations with both us and the humans. A little over a millennium ago, human time, relations between the Elves and the humans soured, as well. An evil being…calling him human is no longer quite accurate…anyway, this being, Drake Valkyre, ascended into the picture. At one point, Drake was human. He aligned himself with the Dark Elves, though…and acquired…their evil nature through bonding with a demon spirit. He has poisoned a large portion of the human race against their rightful heir…and against the Good Elves, like us, the Sylvan Elves. Drake used the Dark Magic he acquired to create creatures from human mythology; vampires, werewolves, zombies. With these creatures at his beck and call…backed by the Dark Elves, he has been slowly overtaking the outer realm—feeding off of the Darkness. That is how he has survived over a thousand human years. We Good Elves had no choice but to seal ourselves off from the human race to protect ourselves… There is no sure way for us to tell a good human from a dark one—unlike how we can with Elves. It would be a simple matter for a dark human to infect a Good Elf with the Darkness.”

She pauses to make sure that I am still paying attention and, once assured, continues, “That is also when we decreed that an Elf is strictly forbidden from forming a sexual union with a human—the easiest way for the Dark infection to take hold. I am afraid that you will find there is quite a bit of prejudice against you for being who…no, what, you are. Even us Good Elves are not beyond that. There have been only a few infractions of the law since it has existed—the last resulting in the Black Witch that you have met… Halflings are typically shunned by both races…that typically results in unstable individuals, like the Black Witch. We have, however always known of the Halflings’ existence… You are the sole exception to that. Something that must be explored. How? More importantly, Why? Do you understand my quandary, now?”

My head is spinning from the information. Miriel looks at me and says, “I think our waif has had enough history for a bit, Mother. If it is OK with you, I think a bit of ‘testing’ is in order.” Queen Fleur nods and says, “I think you are correct, daughter-of-mine. Bring him back for lunch and we will continue the lesson after that. I look forward to your report on the testing.”

I have never been one for violence…I think… At least, I show no signs of any sort of weapons training. I am solidly beat up with a wooden sword by the trainer; and I show no inclination of being able to use a knife. Miriel shrugs and says, “Well, it looks like you have a lot to learn if you are going to survive in this world as a Halfling.” I sigh and nod my head. Then I look at her bow…and something stirs in my mind… A flash of long golden blonde hair…lithe hands pulling back the string on a bow… And it is gone…but, I feel a connection. I sigh and ask Miriel, “Can I try a bow?” Both Miriel and the trainer laugh. Miriel says, “That is an Elf woman’s weapon.” She looks at me and says, “But then, I guess you are not really an Elf, are you, Halfling waif?” The trainer snickers and hands me a practice bow and a quiver of arrows. I shrug and just look at it—somehow feeling a connection to it. Miriel giggles and says, “Beriaden cannot help you with learning to use that. Elf men prefer swords and knives. Here, let me show you.”

She shows me how to nock the arrow, aim, and release. To both of our surprises, I hit the bullseye—dead center—at a hundred paces. After several more increasingly difficult tests, Miriel seems…confused at my ability. We go back to the dining hall, where Queen Fleur is awaiting our return—once again at a fruit-laden table. We sit and Miriel relates the results of my weapons testing. Miriel says, “He shows an uncanny intuition on the use of a bow and arrow; very akin to magical. Well beyond what a human should be able to do—but inconsistent with any male Elf ability. With a little practice, he could rival me--even using my magic.”

Queen Fleur raises her eyebrows and says, “Yet another mystery to unravel. Brooke, the reason that Elf men do not take up the bow and arrow is because some Elf women have a special magic that can enchant the arrows on the fly, so to speak. Men can practice and become proficient, but never be as good as a woman with the magic. So, they focus on other weapons and leave the bow and arrow to the true masters. It is yet another oddity about you that we will have to explore.”

She sits back and says, “Now eat. I still have some things that I want to relate to you before we can begin your formal education.” I take some fruit and bite into it…sighing to myself. I miss meat. This is wonderful fruit, but I really need some protein… Miriel raises her eyebrows and looks at me. She demands, “What did you just say? Something about meat? I didn’t quite catch it.” I pale and stutter, “I…I…I didn’t say anything… I just thought that I miss the protein from meat…”

Queen Fleur says, “Telepathic abilities, too…? It seems your binding is coming…loose. Something has shaken it—but not enough to completely unbind you. It is interesting that you connected with Miriel, though… I think we need to postpone your history lessons for a bit longer—this is a somewhat disturbing development that we must immediately explore. See if you can project something into my mind.”

I shrug, I have no idea how to. I didn’t mean to the last time. I nearly choke on my melon when I hear, ”Yet, that came across pretty clear in my mind…” Miriel gasps, “He connected with you? But…” Queen Fleur looks at me and says with a puzzled scowl on her face, “Yes. He did. Which is…very disturbing … Did I miss some Darkness in him? The other explanation is just too…impossible.” Miriel says, “Some humans have shown the ability. Could it be his human side? He connected with me first…” Queen Fleur shakes her head, “No, the connection is clearly Elven—I think triggered by the strong emotional desire. Another clearly female Elven trait. Also, Brooke, even if that could be explained, only Elves of royal descent can connect with members of the royal family… No, there must be something within the binding…some piece of Darkness still veiled… The only other possible explanation is that you are the female descendent of the Elven royal family!”