My father sighed inwardly. " I guess it is time to tell you the truth, your
old enough to understand, I believe." I was confused. I'm old enough to
understand what? I wondered. "Nini look at me." I did so. "Elaine is not
your real mother, your mother died giving birth to you."
I gasped.
" I had just been crowned king, when your mother became a servant here at the castle. War was tearing the country apart, in the Wizardry world, Muggle world, and the Elfish world. The Elfish world was then whole; there were no Southern, Northern or Central elves. We were all one nation bonded together as one community. Feuds began to develop between many of the nobles in the northern and central landholders. It was mostly petty things they argued about. Land was the main source of their troubles. The argument grew more heated, and finally war broke out. Your grandfather who had stepped down from the throne, tired of ruling this land for the past thousand years, went to go step in and solve the matter. When he got to the battlefield he was slaughtered by his own kind. Accident so they say. I sent word to them that if they did not stop this foolishness that they would face my wrath. Nether paid heed, and sent word that they tested my rule and broke away from the one united Elves of Britain. So therefore we became the South, The Central, and the North, each with different kings and queens. Even with this matter on hand, my councilors still were concerned about getting me a queen and an heir, ever in case I died. Elves can die in one or two or three ways. Elfish males can only die if they are killed in battle or by their choice by forsaking immortal life. Elfish women can die by battle or childbirth or by choice. All choices are very rare except for the last choice. More elves today were forsaking immortal life, tired of living forever. But the slaughter of my father proved that we had to be cautious. Many elves that had now just become Central and Northern elves, fled to the South to be away from the war and starvation that was now hitting them. Therefore I had many more women to choose from. Even with twice the selection I had before, I still disliked every one of them. All of the were too coquettish, coy and sly. That was when I found your mother. She was cleaning up after one of the many balls held for trying to find me a Queen. I was sitting on my throne, weary. I had just about had enough of these ridiculous dances and was debating on whether I should just pick one of the greedy hens to marry, just so I could get it over with. All of the guests that had been invited had left. All that remained were my councilors and I. Each one of them telling me, which ones would make a good wife and a good queen. Helena is a good choice, diplomatic, and twice as lovely. There is also Elizabeth; she would also be a fine choice. It seemed to me all of them were horrible choices. There were no 'Fine choices' in the bunch. I heard the door creak open, and I looked up. It was the first time I ever saw your mother. She looked up at us with her big eyes startled. She had come in here to clean and sweep the floors. She had not expected any of us still to be in here. Embarrassed she tried to leave. I told her she was welcome here, and she could carry on doing her work. Of course what I really wanted to do was study her. She had long black hair, that she let hand down below her shoulders. She had big brown eyes, which were laced with long black eyelashes. She was tall and skinny, with light brown skin. She looked nothing like any person I'd ever seen. She was beautiful. I believe she caught me looking at her, for she blushed. I wanted to get to know her better. I knew I HAD to get to know her better. I found out her name from my chamber servant. Ana Marie. I called her into my study the next day and asked her to dust the room for me. I watched her the whole time. I wanted to say something to her, but I couldn't everything in my head sounded stupid. I don't remember exactly what my first words were to your mother were but I'm almost sure they were along the lines of ' My lady, I thank you for this task' something stupid like that. I can remember that she smiled at me. That triggered my confidence. I started talking to her non- stop. Telling her that I thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, and praises like that. She laughed. Her laugh sounded like tinkling bells. She told me I was quite handsome and would like to get to know me better. We became a couple. In a month I asked Ana Marie to marry me. I loved her more than anything that is anything. Not many people were happy about this wedding arrangement except for your mother, her parents, and me. The peasants thought marrying a servant showed weakness. My councilors hated the idea because she was not noble born or not even British for that matter. All of the women and their families hated me, for choosing in their eyes a simpleton over them. I could care less. Like I said I loved your mother, nothing would ever change that. Because I was king, our wedding was a big deal. Everyone who could fit into the Twine Hall was invited. There was not much cheering at our wedding. We only had eleven months together before she left this world forever. We conceived you two months in our marriage. We were so overjoyed at the thought of it. By now most of the people had gotten over our weird marriage arrangement, and were overjoyed at the fact that an heir was on the way. It was a cold night, the day you were born, and many thought it was a bad omen, for it to be a cold night on The first of May. I called them foolish for saying such things. This was a night to celebrate! My first child was being born! Before the night ended, I received word that I had a new baby girl, but while giving birth, Ana Marie, my beloved wife, your mother had died. But before she died, she kissed you and named you Nimue. I couldn't bear to look at you for weeks Angel," he said stroking my cheek. " I was so angry at you for taking your mother away from me. Then when I finally looked upon your sweet face, I knew God had given me a great gift. He gave me you. He had taken away Ana Marie from me, but he gave me something that was just as special." I looked up at him. I knew what he was saying was true. A pain in my heart struck me. I wanted to see my mother, my real mother. I wanted to meet her. " Do you have a picture of her?" My father nodded and reached to grab a chain around his neck. Briefly I wondered why I had never seen that before, when I had seen him everyday of my life. At the end of the chain, there was an oval shaped locket. He opened it, revealing a very old portrait done of my mother. My father was right she was beautiful. I also saw some of my own features, hers also. She had my cheekbones, my nose and my face shape. I traced a finger up and down her face. It felt like real skin that was as soft as peaches. Her eyes seemed to burn if they were alive. The picture seemed so real! "Here little one." He said, unclasping the chain that held the locket and put it around my neck. "Keep this with you always." "I'll treasure it Da." I said. I was touched. I felt like I had my own mother back again. But one thing still puzzled me. "Dad, after mom died, why did you marry Elaine?" My father sighed and slumped back into the chair. "One of my many mistakes, you needed a mother to look after you. She seemed like she would have been a good one when I first met her. But in truth she just wanted to be queen and have one of her own children replace you as heir. Shame for her that her plans foiled, She's barren. And besides you would never be replaced as my true heir."
I gasped.
" I had just been crowned king, when your mother became a servant here at the castle. War was tearing the country apart, in the Wizardry world, Muggle world, and the Elfish world. The Elfish world was then whole; there were no Southern, Northern or Central elves. We were all one nation bonded together as one community. Feuds began to develop between many of the nobles in the northern and central landholders. It was mostly petty things they argued about. Land was the main source of their troubles. The argument grew more heated, and finally war broke out. Your grandfather who had stepped down from the throne, tired of ruling this land for the past thousand years, went to go step in and solve the matter. When he got to the battlefield he was slaughtered by his own kind. Accident so they say. I sent word to them that if they did not stop this foolishness that they would face my wrath. Nether paid heed, and sent word that they tested my rule and broke away from the one united Elves of Britain. So therefore we became the South, The Central, and the North, each with different kings and queens. Even with this matter on hand, my councilors still were concerned about getting me a queen and an heir, ever in case I died. Elves can die in one or two or three ways. Elfish males can only die if they are killed in battle or by their choice by forsaking immortal life. Elfish women can die by battle or childbirth or by choice. All choices are very rare except for the last choice. More elves today were forsaking immortal life, tired of living forever. But the slaughter of my father proved that we had to be cautious. Many elves that had now just become Central and Northern elves, fled to the South to be away from the war and starvation that was now hitting them. Therefore I had many more women to choose from. Even with twice the selection I had before, I still disliked every one of them. All of the were too coquettish, coy and sly. That was when I found your mother. She was cleaning up after one of the many balls held for trying to find me a Queen. I was sitting on my throne, weary. I had just about had enough of these ridiculous dances and was debating on whether I should just pick one of the greedy hens to marry, just so I could get it over with. All of the guests that had been invited had left. All that remained were my councilors and I. Each one of them telling me, which ones would make a good wife and a good queen. Helena is a good choice, diplomatic, and twice as lovely. There is also Elizabeth; she would also be a fine choice. It seemed to me all of them were horrible choices. There were no 'Fine choices' in the bunch. I heard the door creak open, and I looked up. It was the first time I ever saw your mother. She looked up at us with her big eyes startled. She had come in here to clean and sweep the floors. She had not expected any of us still to be in here. Embarrassed she tried to leave. I told her she was welcome here, and she could carry on doing her work. Of course what I really wanted to do was study her. She had long black hair, that she let hand down below her shoulders. She had big brown eyes, which were laced with long black eyelashes. She was tall and skinny, with light brown skin. She looked nothing like any person I'd ever seen. She was beautiful. I believe she caught me looking at her, for she blushed. I wanted to get to know her better. I knew I HAD to get to know her better. I found out her name from my chamber servant. Ana Marie. I called her into my study the next day and asked her to dust the room for me. I watched her the whole time. I wanted to say something to her, but I couldn't everything in my head sounded stupid. I don't remember exactly what my first words were to your mother were but I'm almost sure they were along the lines of ' My lady, I thank you for this task' something stupid like that. I can remember that she smiled at me. That triggered my confidence. I started talking to her non- stop. Telling her that I thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, and praises like that. She laughed. Her laugh sounded like tinkling bells. She told me I was quite handsome and would like to get to know me better. We became a couple. In a month I asked Ana Marie to marry me. I loved her more than anything that is anything. Not many people were happy about this wedding arrangement except for your mother, her parents, and me. The peasants thought marrying a servant showed weakness. My councilors hated the idea because she was not noble born or not even British for that matter. All of the women and their families hated me, for choosing in their eyes a simpleton over them. I could care less. Like I said I loved your mother, nothing would ever change that. Because I was king, our wedding was a big deal. Everyone who could fit into the Twine Hall was invited. There was not much cheering at our wedding. We only had eleven months together before she left this world forever. We conceived you two months in our marriage. We were so overjoyed at the thought of it. By now most of the people had gotten over our weird marriage arrangement, and were overjoyed at the fact that an heir was on the way. It was a cold night, the day you were born, and many thought it was a bad omen, for it to be a cold night on The first of May. I called them foolish for saying such things. This was a night to celebrate! My first child was being born! Before the night ended, I received word that I had a new baby girl, but while giving birth, Ana Marie, my beloved wife, your mother had died. But before she died, she kissed you and named you Nimue. I couldn't bear to look at you for weeks Angel," he said stroking my cheek. " I was so angry at you for taking your mother away from me. Then when I finally looked upon your sweet face, I knew God had given me a great gift. He gave me you. He had taken away Ana Marie from me, but he gave me something that was just as special." I looked up at him. I knew what he was saying was true. A pain in my heart struck me. I wanted to see my mother, my real mother. I wanted to meet her. " Do you have a picture of her?" My father nodded and reached to grab a chain around his neck. Briefly I wondered why I had never seen that before, when I had seen him everyday of my life. At the end of the chain, there was an oval shaped locket. He opened it, revealing a very old portrait done of my mother. My father was right she was beautiful. I also saw some of my own features, hers also. She had my cheekbones, my nose and my face shape. I traced a finger up and down her face. It felt like real skin that was as soft as peaches. Her eyes seemed to burn if they were alive. The picture seemed so real! "Here little one." He said, unclasping the chain that held the locket and put it around my neck. "Keep this with you always." "I'll treasure it Da." I said. I was touched. I felt like I had my own mother back again. But one thing still puzzled me. "Dad, after mom died, why did you marry Elaine?" My father sighed and slumped back into the chair. "One of my many mistakes, you needed a mother to look after you. She seemed like she would have been a good one when I first met her. But in truth she just wanted to be queen and have one of her own children replace you as heir. Shame for her that her plans foiled, She's barren. And besides you would never be replaced as my true heir."