After seven years of hiding her secret would be discovered. How careless to not think that her daughter would look elvish. The instinctive lie was heavy on her tongue, but lying was a human trait. Would her father look down on her more for betraying her race or her pride? Hesitantly Kala pushed her hair away from her face and revealed her own pointed ears. "Elizabeth takes after me. She is blond because her bloodline has been diluted."
"What?" Peter reeled backward and nearly fell over.
"You'll probably want to hear this sitting down." Kala patted the space at her side. Only after Peter complied did she continue. "Elizabeth is an elf-human cross."
Peter's jaw dropped leaving him gaping like a fish. "What? How? You can't be an elf; they're just something from children's tales."
"I am though. I'm the last of my kind. I never thought that I could have a child after the remainder of my band was killed. Elves and humans don't interbreed as a rule."
"I'm married to a fantasy creature." Peter's voice was hollow with shock.
"Yes you are. Now hold your daughter so I can test her magic."
"You can do magic?" He accepted Elizabeth but kept his eyes on Kala, begging her to say she was kidding.
"Of course. You've seen it before on the night that we escaped the mob." She effectively silenced her husband. "Wait a second and you can see it again." Kala had seen her father test Velin and Callow for magical strength when they were born; as powerful as he, she assumed she could mimic it. Kala turned Elizabeth's hand over and focused on drawing out the magic. Elizabeth's palm glowed weakly and a few sparks flickered feebly and faded.
Peter was awed. A small smile crept over his face, turning up the corners of his lips. "She's so magical!"
Kala, however, was disappointed. She had held hope that her daughter would be as strong as an elf King. The only known elf-human crosses, the Kings embodied all that was elvish and had magic worth a dozen linked lords. "Hardly more than a human." She said bitterly. "I bet she'll have daylight eyes."
"What do you mean? Sparks came out of her hand."
"Watch this." Kala extended her own hand and focused. Elizabeth's sparks were dimmed to nothing compared to the flares flooding from her own palm. Kala closed her eyes against the silvery lilies and snapdragons that emerged for nearly two minutes. At the end of that time, a supernova of light burst out dazzling even Peter. The afterimages burned in their eyes.
For a moment they sat in silence. Kala, with her eyes still closed, could feel her husband's stare. "Maybe," Peter offered, "being less magical will help Elizabeth adapt better to her world."
"What do you mean her world?"
"Kala look around." Peter said. "You can't. With all your impressive elvish magic, you'll never be able to see the way the sun reflects off your daughter's hair. I, a nonmagical human, can. Elizabeth is a blend between us; she isn't going to be content in your world of darkness."
"My world is hardly dark. The night brims in color, from the deep green of the leaves to the silver rim of the moon." She protested. Kala may have lived in the daylight, but she harbored her love for the night.
"I was talking about the darkness inside you." Peter said. "I know that you love dancing in the twilight, but I also am the one who holds you when you scream at night. I'm not sure what demons haunt your dreams, but I don't want our daughter to share them."
"Not demons, goblins." Kala muttered. "And if Elizabeth doesn't share my world, they'll get her anyway."