”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!”

Miriel giggles and says, “Mother! That is absurd!” I shrug and say, “For all I know, it could be true… Well, except for the fact that I am a boy.” Even I have to laugh at that. The Queen, however, is not amused. She says, “We need to fathom this out. If you are indeed somehow bound to the Darkness, it is a grave danger for both you and us. Drake Valkyre claimed to have been the descendent of one of the Valkyrie, hence the name. True or not is irrelevant—after he bound with the demon spirit, he manifested many of the Valkyries’ abilities; in spite of being male. He is successfully emulating inherently female abilities, since we all know that the Valkyrie are all female.”

Miriel is no longer giggling… They are beginning to scare me a little. Queen Fleur says, “Come, Brooke, I think it is time that we visit with the Black Witch. Unstable as she is, she is still likely our best means of sorting you out…” Miriel says, “Mother! Do you think we can trust her?” I look at the Queen and stutter, “I agree… I barely escaped her last time—I don’t think she is very happy with me.”

Queen Fleur raises a hand, commanding silence. She says, “Miriel, go set up a meeting through the Undine. I said we would visit with the Black Witch, Brooke. We will not be there in body, so she will not be able to harm you.” Miriel bows her head and leaves with a “Yes, Mother”. The Queen looks at me and says, “I just don’t know what to think about you. I certainly hope the witch can shed some light. Don’t worry—we have…an agreement. I believe she will honor it…at least long enough to divine some needed information.”

We are sitting next to a small waterfall close to the ‘castle’. There is an iridescent mist of water surrounding us. I see the form of the Undine from the day before form in the mist—but only as an image; not the true form from yesterday. I hear her voice in my head, ”The Black Witch has agreed to a meeting, Your Majesty. She is, however, not a happy witch—she froze me in the stream for hours yesterday.”

Queen Fleur nods and says, “I am sorry to hear that, Laesneniel. Can you connect us? She nods and the image of the Black Witch appears in the mist. I shrink back, still not trusting this, at all. The witch still has a furious look on her face. Her voice emanates from the mist, “Queen Lothiriel. You have my Halfling.” Queen Fleur smiles and says, “Hello, Vanmoriel. I did not know the Halfling was yours—if that were the case, he would be a Quarterling, right?” She cocks her head and the witch’s eyes flash anger. She says, “You know what I mean! It passed through the river without paying the toll. That is a violation of our agreement!”

The Queen laughs in a tinkly sort of way. She says, “Our agreement is that you may control the passage for unbidden humans to our realm and exact a toll from those that truly wish to enter—and are willing to pay your price. It is a win-win—especially for us, since no one seems to want to pay your price. Anyway, how have we broken the agreement?” The witch’s image just waves an exasperated hand in my direction. Queen Fleur says, “Well, now. I don’t think Brooke counts, since he is a Halfling--not a human. You, of all people, should understand that concept!”

The witch’s image burns red again, then she sort of chuckles. She looks at me as she says, directed towards the Queen, “So, what do you want, Flower?” The Queen looks a little perturbed, but quickly recovers, and says, “Our Halfling is showing disturbing…signs. I thought you may have some insights, given your…unique…attributes.” This time the witch’s image shakes with laughter. Finally, she says, “Yes, the Halfling is very interesting. I maintain that I am much more qualified to…educate…it than you.”

The Queen remains silent and holds firm. Finally, the witch shrugs and says, “So be it. When you tire of playing with it, send it to me. Yes, I connected magically with it for a brief instant before it passed through the protective veil into your realm. I had sensed a protective veil of its own…and a magical binding ward, similar to my own. I was curious and attempted to break both. Obviously, I was not successful.”

The Queen looks at the image in the mist with a thoughtful expression. She says, “You keep calling the little one ’it’. Why?” The image shrugs and says, “Because that is the truth. I could not break the protective veil of amnesia—or the binding ward. It is clearly an Elven ward similar to the one that my mother placed on me—the one that eternally binds me in the purgatory of neither good, nor evil. The Halfling is more like me than you realize. Not only is it neither Human, nor Elf—it is neither male, nor female. Or so it seems. The ward on me permanently binds me to exist between Darkness and Light—there is no way of knowing to which side I would go without it. The ward on the Halfling is not a permanent one—once broken, it will result in a gravitation to one side or the other. It seems the ward was meant to make the Halfling appear like a normal human boy—my suspicion is that it is meant to confuse anyone with magic by making the Halfling appear…well, neutral. The ward is however meant to be broken…but without the key to the binding’s magic, there is no way to break it.”

The Queen looks thoughtfully at the image in the mist and asks, “And Darkness? Is there any sign…?” The image of the witch’s head shakes and says, “No. None—there is no doubt that the Halfling has not been touched by the Darkness—yet. It has the potential to become a powerful player—I have foreseen it. Do not trifle with this one. Bring it to me to be properly prepared.” Queen Fleur shakes her head and says, “No, I think not, Dark. Not this one—not this time.” And she gets up, signaling Miriel and me to follow her. Miriel thanks the Undine as she breaks the link—and we go back to the castle.

My face must fully show the confusion that I feel. Queen Fleur simply asks, “What are your questions, Child. I know you must have many—however, know that I still don’t have many answers. That being said, I will explain what I now am sure is the truth.”

I am so confused, I don’t know where to even begin. I start out simple—to give my brain time to try and catch up. I ask, “The Undine has a name?” Miriel and Queen Fleur laugh—loudly. Through the tears in her eyes, Queen Fleur says, “After all that we have learned today, that is your first question? Yes, and why would she not—she is a sentient being, after all. Laesneniel is Elven for Kendra, in English. Roughly translated, it means ‘Water Baby’. And before you ask, yes, the Black Witch obviously also has a name, Vanmoriel. That is Layla, or ‘Dark Beauty’, in English. It is meant to signify that she has both a Dark and a good…a beautiful side.”

I nod and say, “About that…” I fall silent, not sure how to ask the question. Queen Fleur says, “As you may have discerned, Vanmoriel is a Halfling that exists on the brink of Light and Darkness. She is a prime example of why our law of no allowed Elf-human bonds exists. Her mother, Authiel, was a good Elf—a powerful warrior, which is what her name means, ‘Battle Maiden’; or Lois, in English. Her father was a human that had been taken over by the Dark Elves… He was able to deceive Authiel into…joining him… The result was Vanmoriel. In her last act of Goodness—before being overtaken by the Darkness, herself—she cast a powerful ward onto her unborn child. She could not stop the Darkness from inhabiting her child, so she forced it to co-exist with the Light, which is another way we refer to good, or Goodness. If being a Halfling is not punishment enough for poor Vanmoriel—this certainly is. She is doomed to a life between races—and between good and evil.”

I look at her and say, “But don’t we all live there? We all have to make those choices.” She nods her head and says, “Yes, Child. But for Vanmoriel, there is no choice. You or I cannot completely comprehend her existence—we have no reference. She simply does not have the capacity to be good or evil… Yet, she is both.”

I shake my head in confusion. Then I approach the real topic, “And she said I was like her in that regard. So what does that make me?” I wipe the tears from my eyes as the Queen says, “Come here, Brooke. I think you need a queenly hug!” I go to her and receive a huge hug, then she continues, “She did not say that you were like her from a ‘good and evil’ point of view. She said you were like her from a…split...being point of view. Yes, you are both Halflings. And you are both split beyond that. That is where the similarity ends, though.”

I sniffle and wipe some more tears from my eyes as she continues, “What I say next is not anything that I can prove, at this point. It is however the only thing that makes sense—and, as such, must be the truth. Vanmoriel confirmed that you were not touched by the Darkness. I was able to discern as much for your Elvin side. She was able to also confirm the same for your human side. She is the only being on Earth, not consumed by the Darkness, that can do so. I also believe that when she tried to lift your veil and break your ward that she succeeded in cracking your ward—ever so slightly.”

I shake my head, still confused, and ask, “But what did she mean by I am ‘neither male, nor female’?” Queen Fleur purses her lips and says, “I think she was being a bit coy with that, at first. She let some things slip at the end, though. That leads me to think that our intuitions on your…abilities…were correct. Vanmoriel confirmed my suspicions when she said your ward makes you appear male. I think it goes beyond that…the ward has actually given you a male body. You are, however, in reality a female.”

I look at her, shocked…and somehow know it to be the truth. As soon as she said it, I could feel it… I have a haunted look in my eye and say, “So, I am a girl—trapped in a boy’s body… How do I get out?” Queen Fleur shakes her head sadly and says, “I don’t know, Brooke. Vanmoriel could not break the ward, and she is very powerful; I have no doubt that we cannot either. You will have to find the key to your ward…”

I sit there—more lost than ever. The servants are setting the table, so we are taking a short break. My stomach growls and I realize that I am really hungry. Miriel giggles when she hears it and says, “Well, that is not very lady-like, Brooke!” She grins and winks as a servant places a small platter in front of me that has some sort of vegetable cakes on them.

Queen Fleur says, “Your human half seems to demand much more protein than a pure Elf would need. We are quite content to have our diet consist of about 99% fruits and very little protein. Those bean cakes are very protein-rich and should satisfy your need; like we said before—we will not serve, nor tolerate, eating animal flesh in our Realm.” I nod and quickly take a bite of one of the cakes. It tastes surprisingly good…and, after finishing off just one, I am already feeling much more satisfied.

As we continue eating, Queen Fleur says, “As I was saying before, I am convinced that you are truly a girl in that boy’s body.” I nod and say between mouthfuls of the wonderful protein cakes, “Yes. Somehow…I knew it was true the moment you said it; like I have always known… I even got…a sense that I was always closest to my mother…but then it was gone…”

The Queen nods and says, “Speaking of your mother; Elven genealogy is complex, but, based on some things that have peeked through your wards, I wager that your mother was Elven. If that is the case, she must have also been of royal descent. I would know of anyone of royal descent, from any of the Elven tribes—except the Dark Elves—that had joined with a human. None, save my sister, have left the Realm in quite some time. In reality, we have no proof that my sister even left the Realm—she just…disappeared. We are fairly certain that there was Darkness involved; there is no other good explanation… However, there is also no other good explanation for your existence.”

Miriel gasps and says, “Mother? Are you inferring that Brooke is Ainathiel’s child?” Queen Fleur shakes her head and says, “No, I am not inferring it. I am saying it. Nothing else makes any sense—not that that does either. But it makes the least least sense. I can think of no other explanation…”

She looks intently at me and asks, “Child, does the name Ainathiel mean anything to you?” I shake my head no and Miriel says, “Mother, he…she wouldn’t know the Elven name—do you remember a Helge? It means ‘Holy’.”

I gasp as visions of long golden blonde hair come to mind…and the smell of a horse…and arrows… Lots of arrows… I see a beautiful face leaning down to kiss me… My mother…and it is gone… I must be very pale because Miriel rushes over and grabs my shoulders. It may also because I am suddenly very dizzy and almost fall out of my chair…

Queen Fleur looks at me, worried, and excited. She asks, “You know the name? You remember something?” I shakily nod and say, “Just a flash. I saw my mother—briefly. She is…was beautiful. Long, golden blonde hair. I remember something about a horse…and lots of arrows… And that is all… Wait! There is one other thing… My mother’s face…it wasn’t the face of an Elf… My mother is—or was—human.”