Princess of the Elves

by R L Medina

  She cleared her throat. “Renée, this is Desfil’ombre.”

  “Des,” he interjected.

  I stared at him. Son of shadows. It fit him well but left so many questions.

  “Are you French too?”

  He snorted. Grandmere shifted uncomfortably.

  “No. I am not. And neither are you,” he replied in the same accent as Mom. An accent I’d always attributed to her native tongue.

  He glanced at Grandmere. “Are you going to tell her, or shall I?”

  I squeezed my unicorn charm harder, bracing myself. Grandmere swallowed, avoiding my gaze.

  When she looked up, the pain behind her dark eyes rooted me to the spot. This was it.

  Her shoulders straightened. “Your mother wanted to be the one to tell you. She was… we were going to tell you.” Her voice faltered.

  “Tell me what?” My voice came out a whisper.

  “You’re a halfling,” Des cut in. “Half elf.”

  Grandmere shot him a look. “Really? Is this the way to start?”

  He shrugged and went back to devouring his eggs. His eyes continued to watch me, waiting for a reaction. Half elf. I didn’t know what to say. If I were a normal girl, I’d probably call them crazy, refuse to believe it. Maybe throw my fork down and storm out. But I wasn’t normal and now I had to accept that I would probably never be.

  “Why?” I turned my eyes to Grandmere. “Why keep this from me?” My voice was shaky.

  She flushed. “Your mother wanted the best for you. She thought it would be better if you grew up human, accepted.”

  Wanted. She talked as if Mom was dead, not missing. Fear twisted my gut.

  “But when the signs became clearer, she decided to tell you. We were going to tell you.”

  I glanced at Des. “The signs?”

  He waved his hand in the air. “Your magic.”

  My body went numb. Magic? Was that what was happening to me? Was I going to turn into even more of a freak?

  “I don’t have magic.”

  He grinned, revealing his sharp predator teeth. “Don’t you?”

  Grandmere nodded. “We didn’t know what traits you would inherit from your mother. She wanted to be sure before we told you. Your mom—”

  “Where is she? Do you know where she is?” I cut her off.

  “Feylin.”

  I searched my mind for a clue. Mom never mentioned that name before. Mom never mentioned any of it before.

  “She’s not in Feylin.” Des gave Grandmere an amused look.

  “How do you know?” Grandmere shot back.

  His eyes flashed from yellow to red. Grandmere sucked in a breath. My hand trembled. I didn’t know who or really what he was to my mother, but my body knew enough to be afraid. Maybe it was part of my humanity, that survival instinct kicking in. Although Grand-mere seemed more frightened, and that was enough of a warning. She knew him. I didn’t. Not really.

  “The hobs took her. You think they hold court in Feylin?” He shook his head, his eyes returning to their feline yellow. “They’re taking her to their king.”

  Grandmere paled. “Don’t...” her voice quavered.

  A loud tap made me jump. I followed Grandmere’s gaze to the kitchen window, where a little lark bobbed its head. Seeds. It wanted seeds from the dryad. I blinked as Grandmere moved towards the bird. A sick realization filled me. If Grandmere was not elf or human, who was she, really? Not my grandmother.

  My heart pounded loudly in my ears, drowning out everything. The familiar panic swirled, taking me with it. I stood up too fast, making my head spin and the table shake. Tea sloshed out of my cup. My chest tightened with every breath and the room closed in on me. This was happening. Really happening. Mom was gone. I was an elf. And Grandmere. I didn’t know who she really was. Her dark eyes watched me, concern shining through.

  I ran.

  “Renée!” she called after me, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. I opened the front door and stumbled outside.

  4

  The cold hit me like a wall. I counted my breaths puffing out into the air and it helped settle my racing heart. Think. I just needed time to think. To process everything that had happened. My feet started moving, as my thoughts spun around and around. I needed answers, but all I had was questions. I made a mental list. Where was Mom and how was I going to get her back? Where did Mom and I come from? Why did we come here? Who was Grandmere? Who was Des, and how had he brought me to Grandmere’s?

  Birds called to each other with cheerful chirps, interrupting my thoughts. I glanced around at the sculpted hedges and stone path. Grandmere’s garden. The garden was alive with color and activity. A world of its own, unconcerned with me and my problems. Leaves and branches swayed to music only they could hear. Dragonflies and butterflies flitted between flowers and trees. It had never occurred to me before how bizarre the variety of plants were or the fact that they survived through the winter when it should have been impossible.

  Dryad, the bird called her. I wasn’t sure what it meant, only that it meant Grandmere wasn’t human. She wasn’t even my real grandmother. Funny, I’d never been drawn to fairy tales or fantasy and now I was living in one. Elf. Better that than the alternative—losing my sanity. No. Instead I was losing my humanity. A shudder went through me.

  The hair on the back of my neck pricked up, that familiar sense of being watched tingled through me. I turned, expecting to see no one there. A pair of yellow eyes stared back at me.

  Des.

  He still wore his black jeans and hoodie from before. From a quick glance, he looked normal. Human, but the more I stared at him, the more I saw. Long, pointed ears, a pale, gaunt face, and those terrible yellow eyes. Is this what Mom looked like too? Under the glamour? Nausea rolled inside my gut.

  Des folded his arms across his chest and curled his lip. Annoyed? I huffed. Like it was my fault he’d been ordered to watch me. Whatever he’d done before, I doubted babysitting halflings was part of the job. A thought struck me. How much of my life had he seen?

  He sighed. “Are you done with the…” He waved his arm in an arc. “Brooding?”

  I bristled.

  Ignoring my glare, he huffed. “When you’re ready to listen, we’ll be waiting. Princess.”

  My nose crinkled. “You called me Princess. Back on the road.”

  “Yes.”

  “So, my mom is a queen. Are we in danger? Is that why we’ve been in hiding?”

  He smiled. “Your mother is no queen.”

  My eyes narrowed. His words were flat and confusing. How could I be a princess if my mother wasn’t queen? Had I been promised in some arranged marriage? Is that why we ran?

  “What do you mean?”

  “Go ask your grandmere.”

  I looked away. “She’s not my grandmere, is she?” It was a stupid question, one that I already knew the answer to.

  He ignored it.

  “And you. Who are you? How did we end up here?”

  “I drove.”

  His answer startled me. “You can drive?”

  He shot me a dirty look. The idea of this strange elf man driving mom’s car shouldn’t have been the most unbelievable thing, but it was. Like some bizarre mash up of fantasy and reality. The line growing blurrier.

  “Aren’t elves allergic to metal or something?”

  “No.”

  I waited for him to explain, but he ignored me. His eyes traveled along the garden. In the distance, the birds in Grandmere’s sanctuary chirped and squawked. The door always opened for them to come and go as they pleased. Another thought struck me.

  I frowned. “But the keys… were with Mom.”

  “Yes. She gave them to me.”

  A vision of Mom popped into my mind. She stood, bravely facing her kidnappers and ordering Des to get me out. It played out like a movie in my mind. Her determined face. The shadowy creatures. Sacrificing herself to keep me from harm.

  I turned to face him, hands trembling “And
you left her. You could have helped her. You could have stopped them from taking her.”

  He shrugged. “Yes.”

  Anger rose inside me. How could he be so cold? Birds squawked overhead, echoing my thoughts.

  Cold. Cold. Cold.

  Des’s eyes snapped to them and back to me. “Your power is stronger.”

  His words hit me like a hammer. Power. I didn’t want this power. This strangeness. My skin flushed and my chest tightened.

  Breathe. Just breathe.

  I turned to him. “You can hear them too?”

  “Yes.”

  “And that’s normal. For elves, I mean?”

  His eyes narrowed. “You’re scared.”

  I met his penetrating gaze and nodded. Scared. Of course, I was scared. I couldn’t remember a time when I wasn’t scared.

  “Poor little halfling. If only you could go back to believing we were just fairy tales. You see now, don’t you?” He stepped closer, eyes flashing. “Your sight is coming, and you can’t ignore it anymore. The shadows are getting closer and clearer. And you. You’re part of us, Renée.”

  With that he turned on his heels, leaving me trembling. It was the most I’d heard him speak and his words cut me with precision. The truth in them pierced to the bone.

  Questions turned in my head. I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. If I was going to help Mom, I needed answers. I didn’t have time to process my feelings on the elf revelation, so I pushed those emotions as far down as I could. Facts. I needed facts. Just get the information and deal with everything else later.

  “Did you enjoy your walk?” Grandmere asked as I shut the front door.

  Walk. As if I hadn’t fled in a blind panic. My heart was already starting to race again. I gripped my charm bracelet harder and forced myself to turn toward her. She had answers and I needed to hear them. Even if I didn’t want to.

  Grandmere stood in the kitchen doorway, her hands folded in front of her. Her dark eyes searched mine. I shuddered. Maybe it was the ‘sight’ Des had talked about, but she looked different to me. Less human. Less like my sweet, quirky Grandmere that I’d known all my life. Like something otherworldly lurked behind my grandmere’s face.

  I caught Des standing behind her, his yellow eyes shining. I ignored the smug look on his face and focused on Grandmere instead.

  “I want to know everything. From the beginning.” I meant my words to sound powerful, in control. Like someone who wasn’t afraid. They came out wobbly and weak.

  Grandmere bowed her head. “Of course.”

  Her gesture left me stunned. This wasn’t how our relationship worked. She was the one who told me what to do. In that annoying but loving grandmotherly way. Seeing her like this was… the end of the play. Grandmere was gone and out came the real person.

  “Sit if you like.” She gestured to the old couch.

  I followed her, memories flashing of happier times. We’d lived in the cottage when I was little and after we moved, we returned every year. It was a second home to us. Now, it just seemed fake. The stage where Mom and Grandmere played their roles, keeping me in the dark. I felt my weight sink into the edge of the suede cushion. Grandmere sat on the other side and Des stood in front of us, arms folded across his chest, a bored look on his face.

  “Who are you?” The words came out faster and harsher than I meant.

  She gave me a sad smile. “I was your mother’s nurse maid. I cared for her when she was an elfling. When she helped the slaves flee the White Court, the Queen had me imprisoned. Princess Aubri, your mother, freed me.”

  Des snorted.

  Her lips pursed. “Des helped.”

  My head reeled. Slaves. White Court. So many things mom never told me. I thought there were no secrets between us, but I was so wrong. There was nothing but secrets. A sick feeling washed over me.

  “Des said I was a princess. But if mom wasn’t the queen then… did she steal me away? Is that why we ended up here? I’m not her daughter?”

  Grandmere’s nostrils flared. “You are her flesh and bone. She refused to give you up or your father. Humans are not welcome in Feylin. Only your mother treated lower castes and lesser fae as her equals.”

  “You’re confusing her more, dryad.” Des broke in.

  “What is a dryad?” I asked before Grandmere could retort.

  She smiled at me. “I’m a tree spirit. My tree was… burned long ago and this body is a glamour issued by GRIMM, the guardians of this world.”

  I blinked at her. “What?”

  Des snorted and shook his head. “You’re horrible at this.”

  Grandmere scowled. “You want to try?”

  His eyebrow arched. He gave me a long look and sneered.

  She huffed and continued. “Your mother was the youngest Princess of Feylin and ruled her own court, the Court of Fur. Mental magic, like you inherited from her, is very rare so her court is made up of mostly lesser fae and the lower castes. The outcasts. Like Des.”

  I glanced at him in surprise. His lip curled.

  Grandmere continued. “When she fell in love with a human and His Highness, your grandfather, found out, he banished all humans. Those that didn’t flee in time, were slaughtered by the Queen.”

  Chills crept along my skin. Killed for being human?

  “Who was my father?”

  Grandmere and Des shared a look. I frowned. Mom had always spoken well of my dad. She told me he died in a car accident.

  Grandmere spoke first. “I never met him, but your mother loved him very much. When he found out she was with child, he tried to make himself immortal, in hopes that your grandparents would accept him and you.”

  “Idiot,” Des muttered. Grandmere shot him a glare.

  “What happened?” I asked. This I wanted, I needed, to know.

  Des huffed. “He dabbled in deep magic he had no business doing. Now he’s dead and his body brought back the Goblin King.”

  I blanched. “Goblin?”

  Grandmere placed her warm hand over mine. “The soul of the Goblin King possessed him. Your mother tried to stop him, to save his soul.”

  I flinched. Poor Mom. I couldn’t imagine what she must have gone through. No wonder she never wanted to talk about it. My head ached as I tried to take it all in. We were so far from normal now, I didn’t think there was a way to ever get back.

  “He escaped after she came here. Your aunt sent Des to look after you and your mom and he’s been following you for ten years.”

  I glanced at Des. His yellow eyes stared back at me.

  “Ten years? Only ten years? But I’ve always felt shadows… my whole life.”

  Des smiled, his horrible fang toothed grin. “I’m not the only one who’s been watching.”

  Uneasiness settled in my stomach. What other creatures walked among us that we couldn’t see? And why did they have a fascination with me? The purple haired girl from the gas station popped into my mind.

  I looked from Grandmere to Des. “Why? Who are they? What do they want?”

  She shrugged. “Some are fae and some other creatures. They’re curious. You’re royalty and high fae. They sense it.”

  Des shook his head. “She’s not royalty, Grimera.”

  Grimera. Hearing her name startled me. I thought I was named after her, Renée. My stomach churned. Is that where ‘Grandmere’ had come from?

  Des gave me an amused smirk, as if reading my thoughts. I scowled at him. My life was turning inside out and upside down, and he was loving every minute of it.

  “Well she would have been,” Grandmere said. Grimera. I couldn’t start calling her Grimera, Not yet.

  Des snorted. “The Queen would kill her in a heartbeat. She would never have been allowed to live in Feylin.”

  My mind raced, piecing together the information they’d given me. My mother was an elf princess and my father died, possessed by some evil goblin spirit. I thought my family strange enough before, but it was even more messed up than I had imagined.<
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  “How did we end up here?”

  Grandmere cleared her throat. “When your mother couldn’t save your father, she fled here to the Outer World. To keep you safe. I came with her. The rest of her court stayed behind.”

  Des huffed. “Your mother sold me to her sister.”

  Grandmere gave him a sharp look. “Princess Aubri didn’t keep slaves. Staying behind was your choice.”

  His eyes flashed red. “Choice? I swore a blood oath to her. She commanded me to stay. I had no choice.”

  His words rolled through me. I couldn’t picture Mom as a Princess. Was this how she had really been like before? Someone who manipulated and forced others? A shiver went down my spine. No, not Mom. I could never see her that way.

  “So, are there are more like us… here?”

  Grandmere nodded. “Of course. We all came from this world.”

  My mouth dropped open. “What?”

  “We lived together mortals, immortals, all creature’s ordinaire and extraordinaire, but after the war, we were divided. The ancient fae helped place the barrier between the realms and the GRIMM guard and monitor it.”

  I stared at her blankly. What war was she talking about? This was definitely NOT something covered in school.

  “You see, the world is divided. The outer world, where we are now, and the inner world where Feylin is. Most of the humans here don’t remember the time before. Or any of the purges.”

  “Why don’t they remember?”

  Des grunted. “Idiots.”

  Grandmere frowned. “That’s the way the GRIMM want it. The ancients placed a forgetting spell before they left. But some fae chose to stay, hidden among the humans and some have become infamous. That’s where all the fairy tales come from.”

  “All the fairy tales are real?”

  “Not like you know them. The truth is much darker, but history is rewritten.”

  I opened my mouth to ask which ones but shook my head. That wasn’t important right now.

  “And what is GRIMM?”