The Queen and I talked for hours. First she told me about Faerelle, its different realms and how the elven people were generally excellent mages. Long lifespans meant more of us developed high level cores and we had much more time to study and pass down our insights.

Then we walked to the royal garden, and I told her about my life on Earth. We sat and ate there while we talked about a great many things more, including my attraction to Clair, but mom was most interested when I talked about my dream.

"You saw your uncle in Naori's meadow?" she asked.

"Is that what it's called?” I asked, “It's a pretty name." 

"It's named after my mother, but that's a story for another time. Tell me more about your dream, what did your uncle want?"

"To warn me apparently. He suggested that Lumia and others would die if I didn’t listen to him."

Mom's face darkened. "What nonsense! The realm is finally at peace. You’re well enough to return home, and relations with the dragons couldn’t be better."

We sat in silence for a moment, as I was unsure how to respond. Her words raised some new questions for me, but I knew now wasn’t the best time to ask them.

“I’m not sure how he found you, but I can assure you, every word from his mouth since that day has been a lie.”

"I never heard what he wanted to say. Even the sight of him set me on edge and when he confronted me at the fair—”

Mom leaned forward with wide eyes. "You actually saw him—in the flesh?" she asked with hints of anxiety coming through in her voice.

I nodded. “But I ran from him as soon as I realized.”

“No, no, no, no, no, this can’t be happening.”

“What, what’s wrong?”

“Silvon, did he touch you?”

“Well…yea, but I got away and then Clair came on a Gruffle and—”

With a tone of unease, she asked, “Are you sure you got away? Did anything strange happen after you saw him?”

I almost rolled my eyes as I answered, “Everything about today was strange.”

“Vale uses shadow magic. I don’t know when he began studying dark arts, but did you see anything like a shadow that wasn’t quite right?”

“I thought I did for a moment. It was after we landed, but it turned out to be nothing."

Riona looked concerned for a moment but she hid it quickly then shifted the conversation. "I'm sure you're wondering about the family you had on earth."

I nodded. "Will I be able to see them again, even if it's just to let them know where I went? I don't want them left wondering what happened to me."

Riona met eyes with a warm smile and placed a hand on my cheek. "You're a kind soul, Silv. I love that about you. Of course you can see them again. Silvia and Vorlin both serve the royal family and they were sent to earth to protect you along with Clair."

"Really?" I practically shouted.

She nodded. "They should’ve returned by now. You'll see them everyday because Silvia will be teaching you magic and Vorlin will be training you in combat."

I cracked a smile so wide I was sure it must've touched my ears. 

"Go and see them." The Queen added. "I'm sure they want to see you too, and I hear you have a little sister now. She must be wondering where you are.”

I hesitated at first, I wanted to go, but at the same time I wanted to spend more time with my birth mother. I'd spent all afternoon with Riona, but it didn't feel like enough. I hadn't seen her in years and one afternoon was far too short to make up for so much lost time.

Riona smiled and said, "Go on, I'll be here when you get back."

With a nod, a smile, and one final hug, I left her there and followed a servant to a modest house near the training field. 

***

I was relieved to know that I didn’t actually leave anyone important behind. They'd gone by different names, and had slightly different appearances, but even with pointy ears, I recognized them immediately.

Silvia looked exactly as she had at the AR fair, Vorlin as he did in my dream—a rugged man with short brown hair and ocean blue eyes. He was tall—or perhaps average height for an elf—but I was taller still.

They were arranging things in their new house, but everything stopped when I arrived. Mirina came running up to me with excitement like I'd never seen from her before. "Sam, Sam, Sam! Mom and Dad said we’re moving."

"I know." I smiled, embracing her as she reached me and slipped her little arms under mine.

"Nooooo, Sam. We're leaving earth! We're like…aliens or something." She said looking up at me with big eyes.

Mom and dad—Silvia and Vorlin—both snickered as they came over to join us.

"You mean elves?" I asked, flicking the ends of her pointy ears.

“Ouch!" she yelped, letting go of me to rub her ears. 

"Although, you're right. We would still technically be aliens on earth."

With a pout she turned away and stormed out of the living room.

I shared a laugh with my adoptive parents before we hugged and sat on the sofa. I trusted them, maybe more than I trusted Rions, so I asked lots of questions and they answered what they could.

When I asked about why I had to be sent to earth, they both exchanged a concerned glance. I didn’t think they were going to tell me, but after a moment Silvia finally answered.

“After what happened with your uncle, you were injured. I don’t know if you remember what a mana core is…”

“Yea, I do. But it’s vague.”

“Well, your core was cracked badly. You Uhm…”

“You used magic that no one had seen in centuries.” Vorlin said, finishing for her.

“Yea. Anyway, you were weak and your core needed to heal. There was also the matter of your uncle. You did something that would prevent him from achieving his goal unless he killed you. We had to hide you from him and we had to make sure you wouldn’t try to come back home before you were ready…”