The palace of Emmeralde Verthaven was beyond incredible to the child. She observed that the crystal trees seemed to have grown into the building, naturally forming the walls and roof of this place.

  The throne room was amazing as well, with banners hanging the symbols of hundreds of fairy tribes all throughout the room. The largest of these banners displayed a pair of diamond-shaped wings, which hung directly over the throne itself. This was the symbol of the Royal Tribe which ruled the fairies.

  Queen Kiridian wore a long dress which appeared to have been formed from ice and snow, and her hair was green like the trees of the crystal forest.

  "So you're the human that has wandered into our forest," the queen spoke, observing the child with her dark, obsidian eyes. Her expression was subtly curious. She had a calm, gentle demeanor, but the child felt that this could change any which way in the span of an instant.

  "Yes, this is a human child. She cannot speak, Queen Kiridian, so please excuse her silence," Rau immediately replied.

  "Ah, a mute human. I was unaware that humans could be born this way as well. How fascinating," the queen lightly mused.

  The child expressed discomfort at the queen's gaze, which appeared to dissect the human without any concern for her as an individual.

  "What is this child's name, Rau of the Starry River?" the queen asked, her eyes fixated on the young girl.

  Rau froze. "Her name! I haven't asked this child what her name is yet! I've been talking about myself constantly and I hadn't even thought to ask this human what her name is until Arn asked me just a short while ago! Queen Kiridian, I apologize. I do not know her name. I have already asked her, and she is unable to speak and write, so I cannot think of a way to learn this child's name unless we use telepathy."

  "Telepathy is a taboo magic. It has no harmful uses on its own but it is the foundation for many terrible magics." The queen frowned. "It would be terrible if another incident were to occur from the use of telepathy."

  "I understand that, my Queen," Rau replied, "but all we want to do is learn the human's name. Surely this is of no harm, don't you think?"

  The child, watching this exchange, sighed.

  "You may have a point, Starry River," the queen reluctantly agreed. "I'll just peek into your mind to learn your name then, understood?"

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  The queen faced the human with a serious expression. The child nodded, a slight grin on her face.

  The queen touched her palm to the child's forehead and closed her eyes. Everything the human child thought was conveyed to the queen of fairies, including the child's name.

  "Anya Tran," the queen murmured. She opened her eyes and faced the child. "Is this your name?"

  The child nodded, and a particular thought entered her mind as soon as the fairy queen removed her palm.

  Telepathy!

  Anya had been bound by the societal need to communicate, and she, who at present, had no way of doing so, had always found this task impossible.

  Writing?

  Did you think a poor child who was being abused by her ironically-called "caretakers" would be able to afford lessons to write?

  Sign language?

  The fairies had no culture of signing words with their hands. At most, the cultural gap enabled the child to nod for "yes" and shake her head for "no."

  It was truly something that had troubled her from birth, but now, right in front of her, she saw a way to communicate with others.

  She saw a way to communicate!

  Magic was real, but humans could not use it. This was common knowledge among the humans of today's society. They heard of fairies, but thought them to be products of legends, along with mermaids, elves, dwarves, dragons (all of which also existed, incidentally).

  But, even if she could not use it, the fairies, who could use magic could still use it to read her thoughts!

  Her excitement was subconsciously spilling out.

  Rau studied Anya's expression, curious about her thoughts. It was one thing if Queen Kiridian used the taboo magic- she was, after all, the queen- but the small blue fairy was just some successor to a tiny fairy tribe that wasn't well known, even among the myriad fairy tribes. If she were to be seen using such magic, especially in the presence of the queen, she would immediately be arrested and imprisoned.

  Of course, though, Rau had no way of knowing Anya's thoughts. She simply assumed that the girl was excited that they finally knew her name. Taking advantage of the gap in conversation, Rau thought to try to convince the queen in favor of her original goal.

  "My Queen, would you allow this human child to reside among us? She can see and even touch us. Truly she is pure-hearted among humans. Look at these bruises! The humans will only continue to harm her. Both the fairies and this child have been wronged by humans, so-"

  "I'll allow it."

  Rau froze in disbelief. "I'm sorry?"

  "I said, I shall permit Human Child Anya to stay here," Queen Kiridian repeated and patiently explained. "By my authority as the queen, it shall be so."

  She lifted her hand, and a soft blue haze surrounded it. The queen gathered it into a ball of light the size of a marble, and stretched her palm out to the child.

  "Queen Kiridian, is that-"

  "This is what humans might refer to as an elemental affinity. All living creatures are born with magic, but Queen Emmeralde severed the bond between humans and their elemental affinities, as a whole. Humans who can see us fairies are exceptions to this. They are capable of utilizing magic, but most never learn. Magic must be taught. One cannot use it recklessly, for it endangers both themself and everyone around them. Tell me, Human Child Anya; are you willing to accept me as your master?"