Anya did not respond. She was used to the rejection of her presence by others, as a child who had been deemed 'broken' by her human kinsmen. Ceris' words stung a bit, admittedly, but Anya did not take it very personally. She simply kept her head down and remained calm. This was also a part of the etiquette that the fairy queen had taught her. She should not seek fights (which, incidentally, she had already been taught by those humans).

  The elves worshipped the fairies, after all. The fairies were akin to gods in the eyes of the elves because they did not stoop to mortal habits when the elves were in their cities; they did now wish to disillusion the elves who honored them so greatly. Anya was the child of the Fairy Queen, if in title alone; she had to maintain her dignity. She wanted to act as flawless as the fairies, even if it took every last ounce of her self-control.

  As the fairies and elves seated themselves together for the welcome feast, Ceris found herself seated directly across from Anya. It was customary for the Fairy Queen to sit at the head of the table, with any fairy of her choosing on her right side and the ruler of the elves on her left. The fact that this child, who was clearly not fae, was seated next to the queen meant that Queen Kiridian valued this child, for whatever reason, quite a bit.

  As Ceris pondered this, dishes poured out from the kitchen, with fairy servants bringing such fanciful and exquisite food. It all looked as if it were sparkling. In particular, the crystal wineglasses that had been distributed were never empty of the fairies' unique brew.

  As Anya reached to drink from the wineglass that had been given to her, Queen Kiridian covered the top of it and shook her head. "Apologies, but you are too young for this still, my dear." She withdrew the glass from Anya's place setting and glared at the fairy who had given it to her. "Please bring something that my daughter can enjoy," she instructed the fairy servants, returning the wineglass to them. A few moments later, a glass filled with juice made its way to Anya's seat.

  Ceris watched all of this, feeling genuinely baffled. "I thank the Queen for having our clan at this time," she spoke, in the hope that engaging in conversation with the queen would explain this child's presence.

  "Well, we must maintain the bond with the descendants of our magic. To celebrate our connection once a year is simply natural. Some may even say that it is too infrequent."

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  "I must confess, we honor the fairies and their kin, but I am curious about this child before me, who is clearly not a fairy. Would you tell me about her?" Anya felt both relief and tension as she asked this question. She had asked the question, yes, but now she had to hope that her question had not offended the queen.

  "Oh? The Draiochta have become quite bold, if their ruler would enquire about my company," Queen Kiridian remarked, a bemused grin crossing her face.

  Ceris shook her head. "I am merely attempting to make conversation. Is asking about this child bold to you?"

  The queen laughed. "I suppose not. One must admit, though, that it is rude to speak about someone in front of oneself without addressing them. Please address my child yourself."

  Ceris faced the young girl, the pale, wide-eyed girl who was dressed in the garb of fairies but was not one of them. Holding back her sharp, prideful tone, under the attention of the queen, Ceris addressed Anya.

  "I thank your country for its welcome of my people. I am Ceris Draiochta, Ruler of Elves. May I be so bold as to ask your name?"

  Anya smiled nervously and waved her hand in the air, creating fairy runes with each stroke. "You may. I am Anya, the Queen's Child and Disciple. I am sorry about my unattractive writing, but I can only speak like this. It is nice to meet you."

  It wasn't nice to meet her, but it was imperative, in this situation, to be polite. 

  Ceris maintained a cool expression, but inwardly she was even more dumbfounded. This child couldn't even speak! What was she doing here? How had she tricked the Fairy Queen into taking in this child as a disciple? This was utterly absurd!

  "I see," Ceris replied. "It is nice to meet you as well."

  What 'nice to meet you as well'?! Ceris felt like flipping the banquet table and storming off in a rage!

  But she had to remain calm and collected. She was the Ruler of Elves, and it would do no good to get worked up over things she had yet to explain.

  "If I may once again be bold, Queen's Child Anya, might I ask how you came under the queen's care?"

  Anya looked down for a moment and nodded. "You already know that I cannot speak. I am a human who was expelled from my village because of this. I happened to encounter a fairy in the forest. She was surprised that I could see her, of course, because of the curse. After that, I guess I was brought here because Queen Kiridian wanted to know about humans. I think she took me in because she knew that I had nowhere else to go."

  "My apologies, but you're a human? How can that be possible? You can see the fairies, and you have the tapered ears of our Draiochta elven race."

  "I think that is because I ate the Siol Draiochta when Queen Kiridian gave it to me," Anya explained. "I think I am closer to an elf now, but I was human right up until then."

  This child, whatever race they claimed to be, was completely and utterly baffling, and Ceris had no idea how to address her.