The guard soon came and guided us to a grand dinner hall where every surface was covered with immaculate dishes. Familiar and a few non-familiar faces awaited us. At the head of the table, sat the queen and king. We were placed to the right of Queen Mother, across from Aritra and other royal family members I did not know. Giving a polite greeting, my mother thanked them and acknowledged the others at the table as though they were old friends of hers. I only responded when she introduced me.

“This is my eldest child and only daughter, Jylan Aniceta”

“My! Did you just copy yourself, Gaea?”, a black-haired one asked.

Although she tried to hide it behind a polite smile, Mother flinched. Until today, I never understood why she hated her name, but after having such a history with the forest, I can now understand.

“Merely the strong features of the Aniceta showing through, Lord Argus”, Mother replied with gritted teeth.

“Don’t upset our guest, Argus”, the King warned.

“Of course not, brother!”

“Well, shall we commence dining?”, Queen Mother asked, signaling for the food to be served.

Everyone nodded in agreement and waited to be served. First, the wine and a light vegetable dish was placed before me. I silently ate while the others bantered about the past that was before my time.

“Shall we tell the story, Madame Aniceta?”

“Oh, please that won’t be necessary, really”

“Aha! But it’s such a joy now that it’s over!”

Unknowingly, I was being poor company to the Queen Mother seated to my left.

“You are very unlike your mother when she was your age. So very reserved. She was so much more… boisterous”, she commented.

I let out a shy laugh, taking a sip of wine to calm my nerves, and subconsciously gave a nervous glance to Aritra.

“It seems you have already met my son, Aritra."

I choked on the wine at her words. Trying to play it off and hide it, I covered my mouth with a napkin. This drew the attention of the crowd, to which I began to kick myself internally. I couldn’t find the words to deny nor tell the truth with the hot eyes on my face.

“We’ve met on occasion”, Aritra intervened with a calm voice.

“Oh?”, Queen Mother replied.

“In truth, she is quite lively, in her element that is”, he corrected with a small smile.

“It would seem you know each other quite well indeed”, she emphasized, peering down at me like a hawk locked on its prey.

I gave Aritra eyes of desperation for him to fix this situation.

“Is this why she carries the Starlight Meadow pass?”

A gasp filled the room.

“That’s it. I’m dead”, I thought as I shrunk in my chair.

“A human with access to the sacred garden”, a voice spoke in disbelief.

“Come, come, not just any human, an Aniceta!”, the King beamed, “No better human to trust with it than her! I bet she makes some of the best treatment elixirs with it too!”

Queen Mother’s eyebrows rose slightly at the King’s defense of me.

“Well, I hope to try one someday”, she smirked.

“Here I was, doing so good just by being silent”, I cried inside, “the fates hate me”

“Oh, dewi, lighten up a bit and enjoy yourself”, Argus said to me, staring at my worried face.

Mother audibly sucked in air through her teeth. Dewi, or “little goddess”, though directed towards me, was an underhanded jab at my mother and her name.

“You really have it out for me today don’t you, Argus”, Mother said in a dark tone.

They both stared each other down without blinking. Queen Mother coolly signaled for the next course and a refilling of our glasses.

“Still childish as ever, Argus. What offense have I committed this time to warrant your wrath?

“Don’t take it to heart, sister”, he smiled, “Ever so hotheaded”

“Cease your teasing, Lord Argus”, the King warned.

“But it is no fun to see the living legend without her flames”, an evil grin spread across his face.

“It seems, we are unwelcome”, Mother stated coldly, “We’ll leave at first light”, she turned me.

“Argus”, Queen Mother whispered.

He pinched his lips shut with eyes full of fear, then offered an apology “I am sorry, Madame Aniceta, I-I took my joke too far…”

For the rest of the dinner, he ate quieter than a mouse. I was too nervous to say much else, and it didn’t help I felt Queen Mother’s burning eyes on my face. The others continued to debate rather I was “worthy” of the Starlight Meadow until the end of dinner.

“My king, why don’t you take our guests to the parlor for tea?”, Queen Mother advised, while taking her leave.

“Certainly! How about some desserts to sweeten your palate after all this sourness, Jiji?”, he beamed at me.

Nodding, knowing any refusal will be met with further insistence, I went along with it. Most of the others dispersed, not caring to be present any longer.

In the parlor, tea and flower-themed cakes were on display and I happily downed a few while seated in a corner as the adults talked.

“Tell me, you aren’t still involved with that unsavory fellow, what was his name? Moritmer? Are you?” the King asked.

Mother sighed, “Still worried about that, huh?”

“Only because I’ve seen you as one of my children… And don’t mind Argus, he’s still…sore about your rejection”

“The more things change, the more they stay the same”, Mother chuckled, “I see Mer occasionally whenever he’s passing through on his travels. Nothing more”, she insisted.

He let out a sigh of relief, “That’s good. Now, let’s stop dwelling in the past! How about you let me see those Aniceta warrior moves? I haven’t witnessed them in quite some time!”, he challenged Mother.

“I would love to, my lord, but your captain relieved us of our weapons”

He looked at him, “Why would you do that?”

“It is customary, my king”

“Were you born yesterday? This is Princess Aniceta, not some stranger!”

The captain swiftly returned the weapons at the King’s command.

“Ah, I remember these daggers. I gave them to you when you were just above my knee. Think I still have the scar from them”, he winked at Mother, who shifted uncomfortably, “To think you would pass them on to your successor…”

As he handed them back to me, he gave a warm look like a father reminiscing of when his child was a baby.

“So, how about it? A quick spar to work off our meal?”

“Perhaps… another time”, Mother suggested.

With a look of disappointment, he turned, “How about you, Jiji? Care to challenge this old elf?”

My heart jumped out of my chest and sweat began to pour from every crevice of my body.

“I-I-I…”

“That’s enough, Father”, Aritra interrupted.

“Well, I actually think it would be a good lesson”, Mother insisted taking the tea cup from my hand.

My face filled with shock as I nervously stood to set my dagger holster on my hips. I let out an uneasy giggle as he unsheathed his sword.

In the ranking of battle skills, an Elf, if not the highest, is very much close to being the best-and humans, somewhere near the bottom. Aritra’s face filled with disapproval and I felt as though I had just been sold down the river by my mother.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go easy”, he said with a smile.

Standing as though to launch a sluggish attack, I barely blocked his sword before it touched my ear.

“Good defensive speed, my dear!”, he beamed.

“That-that was slow?!”, I thought.

I pushed off his sword in an attempt to attack offensively, but he dodged effortlessly and landed me on my bottom. Without stopping, he continued to attack, forcing me to block and roll out of the way.

“Good recovery!”, he praised.

Suddenly, the door opened.

“About the tree spirits…”, Queen Mother entered the parlor addressing my mother, “I will commune with the Elder trees to coordinate the collection of any missing cuttings”

She didn’t even bat an eye at the scene before her. Behind, stood Krindar, who looked down at me in disgust.

“You’re quite the troublemaker”, Krindar whispered into my ear as he peeled me off the floor.

“Thank you, Queen Mother”, Mother replied.

“That should be enough for today. Let us retire”, she addressed everyone.

I adjusted myself and began to follow everyone out, when I felt a hand in my pocket. Aritra glanced, then walked pass me. By the texture of it, he had slipped me a note. I ignored it for when I could read it in private. We were bid a goodnight and left at our room.

“Care to enlighten me what all that was about, Mother?”, I demanded as soon as the door of our room closed behind us.

She glanced down before she spoke.

“You ever wondered why my name is what it is?”

I had never thought about it besides the fact that she hated it.

“I was born here, in this forest. Your grandmother was on a mission when she went into labor. Unable to stop, she left me here in the care of the Elves until she was able to finish her mission and collect me. I was named and raised by them; I’m even on the Elf civilian birth register”, she chuckled sorrowfully, “As you know, your youngest aunt and I have a significant gap in our ages, so I spent many moons here until I was able to fully take on the Aniceta trade. You can only imagine the mistakes I made living in between the two cultures…”

She sighed, almost as though holding back tears.

“Was-Was I one of those mistakes?”

She turned rapidly in surprise, her eyes were big, wondering if she had heard correctly. My mother had me young, younger than most. I could understand if she resented me for interrupting her youth. In her naivety of human men, she fell for what she thought was love, only to be burned and left to care for two young children. I thought because of that, she always bore down on me the hardest.

“Is-Is that how you feel?”, she asked in disbelief.

I couldn’t answer and turned to head to the bathroom.

“You-You were my salvation!”, she cried.

I stopped in my footsteps.

“You showed me my humanity…”

“I don’t know what that means”, I said drily, “but if it makes you feel better…”

“Jylan!”

“I’m going to wash up now”, I walked to the bathroom and quickly closed the door shut and locked it.

I didn’t know how to react to Mother’s emotions. It was unusual and uncomfortable for me. She has always been like steel, but perhaps time really does change people.

With a sigh, I took out Aritra’s note and read it.

“There is a balcony in view of your window”, it simply read.

I clearly understood what it meant, but getting past Mother, especially now… Well I never learned how to morph into a flea. Luckily as I exited the bathroom, Mother was nowhere to be seen. Taking my chance, I swung on a cloak over my pajamas and hopped over the banister of the balcony of our room towards the one directly across. As I ascended the stairs, a hand grabbed me and pulled me out of sight of the opposite window to a side balcony overlooking a pond. I glanced up at Aritra, then snatched my arm away.

“You knew my mother back then, didn’t you?”

“Yes”

“As did Krindar?”

“Krindar and the Willow family are an exception, they-“

“are Isolationists. I know. I remember from my books…”

“Is that why you never threw me from the meadow each time you caught me? You already knew who I was”

He cleared his throat uncomfortably, so I took that as a “yes”.

“A daughter of-”

“A daughter of a daughter is a daughter of my people”, I said knowingly.

“You have been taught well”

“Well, I guess I should return this to you”, I said handing him the meadow pass.

“I-”

“It’ll only cause trouble if I keep it…”

He gave a pained look as he held the pass in his palms.

“I have had a very unpleasant day today… I wish to sleep and forget about it all, so if you will excuse me”, I bowed and turned to leave without looking back.