The Queen by Suzanna Lynn

grip was impenetrable. I promised
her I would watch over you, protect you. However, you had no place
amongst the elves. They would have never accepted you. You would
have been in constant danger.”
    “Your father had a distant cousin in Black
Hallows. Her name was Fersa,” Faylen explained. “She was married
only a year at the time. We took you to her and Hal-john in the
middle of the night. We provided them with enough gold and supplies
so they could relocate to Open Shaw, where no one knew them. It was
an easy story to believe. A young couple with a newborn baby.”
    “Since then, Faylen and I have watched over
you from afar,” Rydel said. “You are our niece, the beloved
daughter of our most cherished sister, and a Princess of the elven
court.”
    “Princess?” Luana asked in awe. “I’m a
Princess?”
    “Yes, though with your half blood you would
never be given any station to rule,” Faylen said. “But it doesn’t
make you any less a Princess. A Princess with powers!”
    “Powers? Yes, I believe you spoke to me
about some of these,” Luana mused. “My ability to see things in the
future, for one.”
    “Yes, my daughter,” Lyra said. She appeared
weak. The strain of taking a solid form was beginning to weigh
heavy on her. “My blood gives you strength and power few could ever
dream of.”
    “How so?” Luana asked. “I’m only half
elf.”
    “That is true, but you are a firstborn,”
Faylen said.
    Luana furrowed her brow in confusion.
    “You see, Luana,” Rydel explained. “The gods
have gifted the elves many unique gifts. One of which is that every
firstborn is to be a male heir. It ensures the line will continue
and the magic will stay strong.”
    “But then how…” Luana began to ask. “How am
I… but I’m a woman.”
    “Exactly!” Faylen exclaimed. “You’re a
firstborn daughter!”
    “It’s a rarity that only comes along once in
a thousand years,” Rydel said. “At least, it was until you came
along.”
    “Until I came along?” Luana asked. “What
does that mean?”
    “He means that I was the firstborn daughter
to occur in a thousand years,” Lyra said. “You are the eldest
daughter of an eldest daughter. In all our history, no such
occurrence has been documented.”
    “The gods have smiled on you, Luana,” Faylen
said. “They have chosen to give you such an amazing gift! You have
the potential to be more powerful than any of us.”
    “And it’s a power that many would kill for,”
Rydel said. “That is why we have kept such a close watch on you all
these years.”
    “Was that before or after I was dragged off
to be a bed wife?” Luana spat. “If I’m so important, where was your
protection?” She looked at Baylin and felt guilty. Though she hated
him in the beginning, she loved him now. And he was as much a
victim of the ritual as she was. She shot him an apologetic
look.
    “Prince Baylin is part of your path,” the
Elf King said. “I have foreseen it. The two of you have the power
to create a new rule of Wintervale. You can abolish the Bed Wife
Law and unite the five Kingdoms of Keld, creating a unified
front.”
    “And what of the elders?” Baylin asked.
“They killed Lyra because of Luana being an abomination. What if
they realize she survived? You said her power would be something
many would kill for.”
    “After Lyra was killed, the elders saw the
error in their ways,” Rydel said.
    “All but one,” Faylen murmured.
    “Yes, there was one who still insisted
Lyra’s death was justified,” Rydel said. “So much so that she
wanted her power absorbed instead of put to rest in the
afterlife.”
    Luana shivered, though she was not cold. She
imagined someone sucking the life out of her.
    “Do not worry,” Rydel said. “The elder was
cast out of Wintervale and has not been seen since. Without the
power of our people behind her, she can do you no harm.”
    Luana looked to her mother and saw how the
once bright glow that had radiated out of her was