Enchantment of Sorrow

Chapter 13

He paused to be sure you were following along. Satisfied, he continued, "The one thing she wanted above all else, was the one thing I seemed unable to give her... a daughter."

You went rigid when he said this and it made him stop and look at you, "Are you okay?"

You nod, and then smile at him reassuringly.

"Many centuries passed and a daughter just never came. It was as if her womb had become closed after Legolas' birth. However, when I was passing by in the forest one day a man was leading a young girl through the woods. He was drunk, and pulling on her so hard that it was obvious of its pain to the girl. She finally fell, and for whatever reason he planned to beat her and possibly just leave her there. I, and my party stopped him. He told us she was useless, and he wished her dead. He then gave her to me as a "whore". Stating she was not good for anything else."

Elizabeth's face came to your mind, and you bit your lip. So, you were now going to hear the full story.

"Our kind has always been known to take children and women in. Usually they are abused or abandoned. Others are simply drawn here as it is the place they are meant to be. Eventually, they become like us... turn into one of us." He gave you a long, inquiring look. Making sure you understood.

You did. You were drawn here for apparently a lot of reasons. You would definitely not only become like them, but one of them.

"The girl was very lovely. Nothing to my queen's stately beauty, but still beautiful in her own right. I told her I would take her in, but first needed to let her return to her own world so that I could tell my wife of it. The girl seemed happy about the situation and I took her to the very farm I left you at. The new owner had always been good to our people, and he needed someone to help him in the house."

"She stayed with him, and I returned home to tell my queen about this child. At first she was elated. Very much so, and when she met the girl who was apparently 12 at the time, she was very taken with her. However, my wife wanted the girl to make her own decision in time to live with us. Not to become another "stolen" child."

"So, for a couple years... four to five, I believe, in human terms, the girl stayed with the farmer." He caught your eyes briefly, and his brow crossed. "I believe you know a little bit about this. Am I right?"

You shrug and smile. "Just rumors, and fairy tales."

He snorted. "You mean that ridiculous Snow White story?"

"Yes, that one.

I assure you... if you eat a poison apple, you are going to die and stay dead." he told you laughing. Then he turned serious, "Yet, I must ask, what rumors?"

You shifted in your place a little and looked away. "They had a picture of a young teenager at the house you led me to. They said that a woman of your kind used to visit her, and that she was killed... by poison."

You looked down at this, and when he did not answer you looked up and seen him staring at you. The expression was not one you could name. There was not anger there, nor anything very prominent at all. He looked almost reserved.

"You realize my dear, that my people, are also now yours?" he asked dryly.

Mortified, you look away. "Yes, yes. I just am still coming to terms with it, I suppose."

He snickered and looked up, out the window. "Those rumors are sadly true. Did they tell you her name?"

"Elizabeth Smalls."

He merely nodded, and then took a deep breath, "Yes, that is her. Lovely little thing, was she not? Porcelain skin, lips red as blood, hair black as ebony... Your "Snow White" I suppose."