"You wished to see me, Faylen?" I asked as I stepped into what looked like a library. Cloud had slipped out the door before I could close it, but the elf that had come to get me said that Faylen didn't mind Cloud tagging along, although he looked nervous each time Cloud looked in his direction.
"She is to be addressed as Queen Faylen as she gave her Queen's Vows earlier this day," said the elf next to me.
"That is not necessary, Lanquar. Thank you for bringing Collen to me, but I will need you here as well to bear witness to his validation." He glanced at Cloud then looked back at Faylen.
"And the Monitingo?"
"He will be fine with us. Close the door." We stepped all the way in and Cloud went over to Faylen, wagging his tail and sniffing her feet. "I need your knowledge, Collen," Faylen said, ignoring Cloud.
"How can I be of service?"
"Do you know the name of any of your family members?"
"Of course. Desmond and Aviryll." She shook her head.
"Other than those living." I thought for a moment.
"I remember my grandmother telling me stories involving the names Tifryn and Stephwin, but I don't know how they were related to me."
"Could they be the name of your parents or their parents before them?" I shook my head.
"No. My father's name was Adaryll Timms and my mother was Adyana Presbalar. As for their parents, my father's father was Percidal Timms and my father's mother was Amrele Eldove. Unfortunately, I do not know the names of my mother's parents. They had died before I was born and she never spoke of them." Faylen looked at Lanquar who was holding a stack of scrolls as he looked at them.
"Is he proven, Lanquar?" Faylen asked after a few minutes.
"Yes. All four names are listed in the order that he gave them. However, the validity of Aviryll Timms is in question right now."
"In question for what? What have we done wrong and why were we not informed immediately of the problem?" I asked, completely confused about what was going on.
"All will be answered in time, Collen. What was Aviryll's family name before she bonded with you?"
"Wynvaris."
"Her family name is listed as well, Queen Faylen," Lanquar said as he flipped through a few of the scroll pages.
"Faylen, please tell me what's going on," I said as Cloud moved to the window and stood on his hind legs, looking out. She held up a finger to me but spoke to Lanquar.
"Are they both validated?"
"I would need more to be certain for Aviryll, but based on family history and Collen's account, your bonding would be approved if you were to choose him. I would also like time to find out exactly how much he is. Testing is to last three years unless proof is given, but it appears there is a list that can replace testing which may also state the amount present."
"I will allow that, but not at this moment. Thank you, Lanquar. That will be all. I will see Collen and his Monitingo home when we are finished." He bowed to Faylen and nodded to me, then turned and left the room, closing the door behind him again.
"Faylen, please tell me what just happened."
"The bloodline for you and Desmond has been proven to contain elvish blood." Cloud came over and laid down next to me as I leaned on the table in front of me, completely floored by the news.
"We're not human?"
"Not fully, but neither are you fully elven. You are both Hybrids. Your blood contains the best traits of both the human and elven races."
"How can I be a Hybrid? Neither of my parents were elven, and neither of my father's parents were either." She grabbed the scrolls that Lanquar had been looking through and set the stack in front of me. I looked over the top page and saw that in the year 35 World Peace, an elf from Dragon's Veil had bonded with Andri Timms and had four children. Continuing to read the page, I was able to follow the bloodline that ended with my name just below my parents.
"You can read the writing?" Faylen asked after a few minutes of silence from me.
"Yes. Can't you?"
"Of course I can, but it is written in Faejesh. No one other than elves should be able to read this document." I looked at the scroll for a minute as a memory played out in my mind.
"I have a memory that contains someone I don't know teaching me to read writing like this. Is it possible for you to see images in another's head?" I asked after a minute.
"I will have to connect our minds and the memory may bring strong emotions for you, though I cannot say what kind of emotion will arise."
"That's fine. I want to know who the woman is." She nodded and I felt something bump against my mind, recognizing it as Faylen.
"Think of the memory, Collen," came her soft voice in my mind. I thought of the woman I remembered teaching me how to read a strange writing and felt Faylen's mind vanish after a few seconds. "I know her."
"Who is she?" Faylen looked over the scroll in front of me for a moment.
"Her name was Eliysen of Dragon's Veil and she had the gift of foresight," she said as she pointed at her name on the scroll. "And she was your father's grandmother." My jaw dropped.
"My great-grandmother was an elf?" Faylen nodded as she responded.
"The last full elf of the Tebury bondings. She died not long ago. It was thanks to her that these scrolls were updated to include your name."
"How long ago did she die?" I whispered.
"90 years ago." My gaze jerked to Faylen's and she gave me a soft smile. "Due to elven blood giving a 700 year lifespan, Hybrids are blessed with longer life than full humans. According to the traits listed at the end of this scroll, Hybrids can live up to 500 years, but there seems to be only one record of a hybrid living that long before the Battle of Tebury in 650 End of World Peace," she said as she looked over the scroll.
"How could I have a memory of her teaching me to read Faejesh if she died 90 years ago? I'm not that old." Faylen gave me a soft smile and chuckled.
"According to our records, you were born in 695 End of World Peace making you currently 95 years old." My eyes bulged at the news. "Elves are born with an innate knowledge of some things. From my understanding, humans need to be taught things from the moment they are born. Hybrids would have a mixture of this - they would need to be taught things, but would learn quickly. It explains why Desmond and you have been able to learn our customs so quickly and why Desmond was able to learn to speak our language so easily. Our customs and language are in your blood, Collen." I stood there, letting what Faylen had said sink in for a few minutes.
"Why did Lanquar say that your bonding would be approved if you chose him? Who was he talking about, Faylen, because I won't leave Aviryll. Not even to bond with a full elf."
"We have all seen evidence that Desmond is your son, but your bloodline needed to be validated before I could consider bonding with him."
"And my bloodline was just validated?"
"Correct, which also means that my bonding to Desmond is approved if he will have me, but I will need to show him that his bloodline contains elvish blood and Lanquar wants to know how much elven blood runs through his veins." I nodded.
"Thinking of what I've seen of Desmond when he's around you, I suspect that he'll happily have you." I saw a smile curl her lips.
"I hope so. I have another in mind that is full elf, but the feelings I have for him are not romantic and I would prefer to bond with someone I am romantically interested in."
"That makes sense. Do you want to validate Aviryll's bloodline today?" I asked as Cloud sat up and licked my hand, making me scratch him on the head.
"That will not be necessary. I would like to validate the bloodline of all those from Tebury at some point, but the reason I needed your bloodline done was to get my hopeful bonding approved. If he denies me, he would still be approved to bond with any eligible elven female he desires as his bloodline is validated." I nodded in understanding.
"If there's anything I can do to help you, Faylen, please let me know." She nodded and walked to the door.
"I am sure you have plenty you wish to think of in the comfort of your home. Take your time to think of those things," she said as she opened the door. I patted my leg and Cloud stood up, following me through the doorway. I walked down the hall already deep in thought, not even realizing that Faylen was next to me.
Faylen's View
I left Collen and his Monitingo in front of their door and headed to the healing rooms in search of Tsarra. I found her as I walked in and sat next to her. "Queen Faylen. Is there something I may help you with," she asked as she bowed her head to me.
"For starters, please continue to call me Faylen. I am already trying to get Lanquar to return to that." She chuckled. "I awoke in the night to find tears on my cheeks as the memory of a dream slowly left my mind."
"What had you dreamed of that would cause tears on your cheeks while you slept?"
"My father's death. Is there a reason that I would have had a dream of that?"
"You did not have Aldovice when you returned from battle, did you?" I shook my head and she let out a heavy sigh. "Lie down, my queen. I will go make you some strong Aldovice."
"Aldovice will still help although it has been over a month?"
"Yes. It may not fully heal your mind, but at the very least it will lessen the pain and remove any future dreams of the trauma from your mind." I nodded.
"I will return for it later. There are still other things I need to take care of today."
"I can bring it to your room when the sun falls to the wall if you would rather." I nodded.
"Please. Thank you. I will let Desmond know to be available to aid you if you need it." She nodded and I left the healing rooms, trying to organize my mental list of what else I still needed to get done.
"Queen Faylen, I can sense that you need my aid for the day," came Lanquar's voice from behind me as I started to head to the castle. I turned and smiled, and had him follow me up to the castle. "What do you still need to get done, my queen?"
"Lanquar, I told you to continue calling me Faylen." He sighed, but nodded. "I would like to go ahead and discover how much of Desmond's blood is elven, but I also need him to be available to aid Tsarra when the sun falls. She will be bringing me some strong Aldovice since I failed to take it upon my return from our last battle."
"I will go inform Desmond of your request and meet you in your library afterward, Faylen. It may not be an exact amount that I give you for his elven blood, but as long as he is truly above any limit set in the scroll he will be approved for bonding with you."
"We will speak of this further in the library. Desmond should be with Falinor, beginning his battle training." He nodded and headed off in search of Desmond as I went to my private library and pulled the scroll back off its shelf.
Ten days later as we laid down in our beds for the night, I gathered my courage and did it. "Desmond, if it were possible for us to bond, would you be open to it?" He looked at me, clearly stunned.
"I'd love nothing more, but I can't let you imprison yourself by bonding with a human over an elf. I know you love your people too much and I won't let you destroy the last of your race just to be able to have you for a few hours."
"I will not be destroying my race." He sat up and looked at me.
"How? I'm human. If you bond with a human you'll be imprisoned." I shook my head.
"You are not fully human. It is why you can keep pace with me when running, why you learn so quickly, why you can speak with your mind, and why you loved the stories of Hybrids so much when you were younger. You are a Hybrid. One that is at least half, which is enough to be considered an elf by my people and making it possible for us to legally bond." His eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open a bit as his breathing got shallower. "Desmond?"
"I'm a Hybrid?" he whispered. I nodded. "How do you know?"
"Do you remember the scroll you found the night before I gave my Queen's Vows? The one that contained your family name?" He nodded. "That was the bloodline of all those in Tebury. The Tebury humans are actually Hybrids. That scroll is their bloodline and the only way to prove their elven heritage. Your father's name is the last on it for the Timms family line."
"So we can...?" he asked, letting his voice trail off.
"Yes. We can legally bond and nothing will happen to me. That is if you want to bond with me. You have met many elven women by now, some of which have romantic feelings to you if the rumors are to be believed." He shook his head.
"Remember the elven woman I described from my childhood dreams? The one I said that I would see for a week after hearing the stories of Hybrids." I nodded. "She was you. I've dreamed of you my entire life, Faylen. There's no other woman that can come close to filling the pictures in my dreams. I only want to bond with you." A large smile curled my lips and he met me halfway through the room, kissing me deeply and passionately. "I love you, Faylen," he whispered as he brushed my hair back from my face. "We can bond whenever you would like. Just say the word and I'm yours - body, mind, heart, and soul. I will give every piece of my being to see your smile."
"Come to bed with me," I whispered.
"Not until we have bonded, my moon beam. I refuse to let you get into trouble for being in bed with someone who isn't your bonded mate."
"I will let Lanquar know of our decision in the morning. Please, Desmond. If we do nothing but we have the intent to bond, we will be fine. No one will find us in the same bed." He ran his fingers gently down my cheek as he held me close to him. "We will be safe, my starlight. Please come to bed with me." Holding me tight to his chest, he picked me up and carried me back to my bed, slowly letting me slide down his body and land on my feet.
"After all this time, I still have no defense against you," he murmured.
"Good. You should be fully open to your mate." I sat on my bed and tugged his arm to make him join me. Smirking, he crawled in the bed beside me and wrapped his arms around me, holding me close to his chest again.
I made sure to be up before anyone would come to the room and went to find Lanquar. "Queen Faylen," he said with a bow as I approached.
"Lanquar, I have told you to continue addressing me as Faylen. There is no need for you to address me as Queen." He nodded.
"You seem happy this morning."
"I received an answer last night that has me ready to announce my bonding."
"That is wonderful to hear. His name?"
"Desmond Timms. You already saw the Timms family line that ended with his father Collen, and already said that he would be considered an elf since he is at least half."
"I remember. There is no other that you would choose?" he asked as Desmond came down the hall.
"None." He nodded and Desmond smiled at me.
"Alright. I will make the announcement and you will be bonded within a week."
"Remember that there will be no heir until after the war." He sighed but nodded his head.
"And there is no way to change your mind on that?"
"No. I will not go to our final battle with an heir on the way. This is not the right time for such innocence to come into the world." Lanquar nodded again and headed down the hall before going out the door to make the announcement.
"Good morning, my moon beam," Desmond murmured as he pressed a kiss to my forehead.
"Good morning, Desmond." He looked at me, confused about something.
"Everything alright?"
"Yes. Why do you ask?"
"You're not being as open as you were last night. Is there something I should know?"
"It is a military defense for our safety. If I show little care for you, there is less chance someone will use you to hurt me. In our room is the only place I am able to fully open myself to you. All elves are this way." He nodded in understanding.
"It makes sense. I don't like it, but I understand why. I wouldn't want you to get hurt because of me." I gave him a small smile. "May I request that you are in the room when I wake up from now on? I want to be able to kiss you to start and end my day properly." I gave another small smile and nodded.
"I can do that for you."
"Good. Let's go to the bedroom so I can start my day properly." I chuckled but followed him up to the room. He closed the door behind me and pulled me tight to his chest before pressing his lips to mine. "Life can't get any better than this," he murmured as he backed from our kiss.
"It will soon," I whispered. "We are to be bonded within a week and I have promised to provide an heir after the war ends."
"Then let's end the war quickly and decisively so we may provide an heir for everyone." I smiled and he pressed another kiss to my lips. "I'll never get enough of telling you good morning, my moon beam." I smiled but slipped from his arms before he could kiss me again.
"I must go, Desmond. I have many things to tend to today."
"Alright. I'll see you again as the moon rises." I nodded and he opened the door, letting me leave first.
