From that point on, the young child that had been taken in by the fairy queen quickly became a topic of interest among the fairies. This was unprecedented, not just in Emmeralde Verthaven, but in the entiry fairy country. Even putting aside the hateful, loathsome human race, it was incredibly rare for the fairies to interact with other races, with the exception of the elves. But even if they put aside the fact that Anya had indeed become an elf because of the Siol Draiochta, the fact remained that this child had been of the human race! This was the very same human race that had stolen away their king in cold-blooded murder!

  Dissatisfaction swept among the fairies. This was not dissatisfaction with the queen (never dissatisfaction with the queen), but with this strange, unfamiliar child that had been taken in. From their point of view, one of those greedy  spawns of the human race had swept into their capital city and manipulated their queen into giving her powers and teaching her magic. It was typical of human greed, and their poor queen was too kind to see it.

  Anya's very name became taboo. After all, she was the human who was deceiving their queen and taking advantage of her. This situation was simply too infuriating! She became know as "the queen's child," and nothing more.

  In the palace, ‘the queen’s child’ was learning from their queen. Queen Kiridian intended to teach Anya magic, but she planned to teach her only after she learned several other subjects. The first of these hurdles was writing.

  The fairies did not use writing very often, but they had their own runescript. This was mainly used in recording their histories, though some other topics would emerge from time to time. Every fairy was literate, at the very least, in regards to their own runescript. Even if they could not write it themselves, it was an innate ability of theirs.

  The fairy queen was sitting down on a soft, embroidered cushion as she leaned against a wall, and the child Anya was sitting in her lap, holding a stylus and a pad of paper that had the texture of fairy wings. The queen’s thin, delicate hand was guiding Anya’s small, clumsy hand.

  “This character is written like this… Now you try… Silly girl, you’ve written the letter backwards. You write it like this…”

  Queen Kiridian was patient in her explanations and lessons, and Anya was incredibly grateful for this. She understood that teaching was not something that anyone could do. Since fairies were born knowing their runescript, they did not need to be taught. Anya may not have had this advantage, but she was learning to write so that she could communicate, so she was certainly motivated. She was picking up the runescript very quickly, according to the queen. It turned out that the written language of the elves was also fairy runescript. It appeared that elves had to be taught by fairies in order to use it, but Anya was learning quickly compared to them. As it happened, the privilege of being taught runescript by the fairy queen was usually a privilege reserved for elven nobles.

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  Queen Kiridian appeared to have much more time on her hands than Anya had expected a royal fairy to have. Apart from the occasional lunch or tea with the envoys sent from the fairy tribes, her free time was usually spent studying or practicing her arts. In particular, the queen loved to sing.

  When she sang, the sound of her voice would resonate across every inch of Emmeralde Verthaven. Her voice was beautiful. It was calm and pure. It was heart-wrenchingly delicate and soulful. It was entrancing, bewitching. It was magical.

  Anya had always loved listening to people sing. Since she could not do so herself, she often found herself mesmerized by the sound, musing to herself in wonder at what kind of singing voice she would have, if she could speak.

  When she heard the queen sing, Anya would stop whatever she was doing, close her eyes, and allow herself to be moved by a beauty that she believed she would never possess herself. She would find herself truly at peace in these moments. Every time the queen sang, just as Anya nearly found herself lulled to sleep by the queen’s voice, the queen would stop singing, and Anya would be awakened from her trance.

  Anya lived in the palace with the queen. Rau was permitted to stay as well, as her friend and the one who had brought the girl to Emmeralde Verthaven. However, the queen did not permit Anya to leave the palace. She knew how her subjects felt towards this young girl, and did not wish to see the childs heart clouded by the prejudice of her own subjects.

  All Queen Kiridian wanted, after all, was to protect the child who had fallen under her care.

  It must be know that fairies could not give birth. Magic and nature were the parents to every fairy. A successor to Queen Kiridian would eventually be born, but that successor would only be born after Queen Kiridian had passed. It was the same for all fairies except the fairy king, whose legacy had ended with the murder of the final fairy king, which was a significant part of why Queen Emmeralde cursed the human race in retaliation for her king's murder.

  It was human nature to desire a legacy. Fairies, though, had no need to consider leaving anything behind for their descendants, for they would never have any.

  Queen Kiridian, however, had always desired to impart skills and knowledge upon a younger generation. Anya was the perfect chance for her to do so. It was, perhaps, an incredibly unusual desire, but if it meant that she could fulfill this desire, the queen did not care how selfish she might appear to anyone, even her subjects. She would teach this girl.

  She would teach this girl everything she could.