Anya could not believe how Ceris Draiochta, the King of Elves, could behave in such an unbecoming manner. Was this her true face? Was the proud demeanor she had kept until now nothing but a ruse?

"Well, I should probably head up to bed. After all, it is rather late, and I must save some energy for tomorrow. I am certain that the Queen has told you, but the main event tomorrow is the tournament amongst the Draiochta elves. I will only be participating at the very end, as I am the King, but it would be quite laughable if I were to lose a match because I was not properly rested, would you not agree?" Ceris smirked wryly.

"King Ceris, would it be okay if I talked to you about what you just said to me?" Anya's head was lowered hesitantly as she drew the glowing letters in the air. The soft light emitted from the magic reflected slightly in the tears welling in her eyes. She was trembling noticeably, though it had lessened somewhat.

Ceris paid no mind to the girl's state and snorted in amusement. "Why should I? I am doing much better, and I have already assured you that this will not happen again, so I believe we have nothing to discuss. I should not waste any more time here talking to a girl who cannot even talk. I am sorry for my rudeness, you must understand, but there are more important things to me than trying to establish a good relationship with you. Stay out of my way, and I will do the same for you. I do not like you and you must not like me, so this is the best course of action."

"Why would I dislike you? You screamed at me because you were hurting and confused. I know that I was probably just a place for you to direct those feelings." Anya tilted her head in curiosity. Her face was upset, but honest.

Ceris shook her head. "I really must be going now. Good evening, Anya." She smiled lightly and started heading towards the doors that led inside.

"Anya! Where are you?!" Suddenly, from just inside, the loud voice of someone came from inside.

Ceris opened the doors and said, "She is out there. Go get her."

Flying out the doors with a teary face was Rau of the Starry River. Her wings flitted quicker than a hummingbird's wings as she flew full-speed to Anya, wrapping both of her arms around Anya's bicep.

"Rau, get King Ceris to stay! Please!"

"You gave me a scare when I went to check on you and you weren't there! Let's get you to bed now. You have a long day ahead of you," Rau began pulling on the girl, disregarding her words.

"Rau, this is important! I need to talk to her! If you don't get her, I'll tell Queen Kiridian!" Anya scrawled urgently. Her letters were practically illegible, but Rau had no trouble reading them. As the small fairy read Anya's words, her face lost its color. She stopped trying to drag Anya around and turned to chase down the Elven King.

"Hey! Get back here! The Queen's Child wants to speak to you! If you don't turn around, I'll have to report this to the Queen herself, so get back here!" Rau was as energetic as ever, even so late in the night. Actually, as a fairy of the Starry River tribe, she was perhaps more energetic at night than during the day.

In any case, Rau's words caused Ceris to pause. The elf turned around and glared icily at the tiny fairy. "Is that so?"

Rau froze for a moment in surprise. She had never seen an elf glare at a fairy before. She quickly shook it off, though, and spoke again, her voice unaffected by her surprise. "Of course it is! So come back and talk to her! Even if I have no idea why she would want to talk to someone like you, she asked me to get you, and every moment you aren't talking is another minute that the Queen's Child is staying up when she should be asleep! So get over here, or I'll drag you to the Queen to explain yourself!"

The elf closed her eyes for a moment, disguising her eye roll. She sighed and headed back out to talk to Anya. The young girl was sitting down patiently as she waited. She had faith in Rau, and knew that the tiny, boisterous fairy would be able to bring Ceris back.

"Why do you want to talk to me so badly? Why are you putting yourself in my way?" Ceris asked impatiently.

"Come and sit here," Anya gestured next to her.

Ceris frowned and was about to decline, but then she saw Rau's expression that told her she did not have the option of declining.

"Abusing your power like this is very human," Ceris remarked as she sat down.

"When I first came here, to this forest, and I met Rau, I did not want to talk about my circumstances, and I did not have the ability to do that even if I wanted to. The reason I wanted to talk to you is because you remind me of myself. You have been holding yourself together for everyone's sake but you are not very strong, are you?"

"How dare you! I am the strongest among the elves, if you have not been paying attention. I would not wear the royal crest otherwise."

"I mean that you are not strong emotionally. Tell me again that I am wrong."

Ceris scoffed, but said nothing otherwise.

"My parents have been dead for as long as I can remember. When they died, I was taken in by my mom's sister, my aunt. But this was when I was still a baby, and my aunt did not realize that I would never speak. I remember her saying that she never would have taken me in if she had known that. By the time she figured this out, the rest of the people in the village I was born knew about me, and my aunt knew she would not be able to get rid of me so easily anymore. She could not claim that I had died in the accident that took my parents' lives."

At this point, Anya took a deep breath, even though she did not need the breath to speak, she needed to calm herself enough to continue.

"So my aunt put me in the storage shed."