Isle of the Faeries

The Beginning's End

I apologies to any who are following this story that I disappeared off the map for a while, not that it's really an excuse but between college finals and working three jobs I haven't done much writing in a couple months. Anyway this is the ending to this book, I do have the next two books loosely outlined and I plan to start working on the next one shortly. If you feel so inclined let me know what you think!

Breena

      The sound of a throat clearing to my left makes me jump, my elbow bumps a glass of milk sending it onto its side. It's Dunkin who has been so quiet I forgot he has been there all along; his reflexes are faster than mine and in a blur he has napkins on the mess sopping up the milk. He looks up and meets my eyes, I'm not entirely surprised to see his eyes glowing an inhuman green. I rub my eyes tired of surprises and secrets; the fact that everyone else probably left the two of us for a reason doesn't escape me and I ask exasperated, "Okay, what's your part in this story?"

      His eyes dart to his hands, "My part might be the oddest and most difficult for you to hear," he warns. "If you don't want to know I'll understand and I can leave you in peace, if you never want to see me again when you find out I'll respect that wish."

      My stomach knots and flutters uncomfortably but I now know just how dangerous not knowing can be, "I may not want to know but I have to."

      He nods in understanding, his face suddenly looking much older than that of a twenty five year old. "I should start off by telling you that I am not human. I am part of an ancient often forgotten race; the Elves.

      "A very old and powerful branch of Fey, that does not involve itself with humans or common Fey often." My tongue burns with unasked questions but I keep my mouth shut. "There are few of us left now, we live exceptionally long live but do not reproduce often and our numbers have dwindled to less than ten thousand. Most of us have taken up a semi-permanent residence on one of the islands off the shore of Teenlin though there are some wanderers. We are a self-governed race, we do not bend to the Seelie or Unseelie courts, if anything they bend to us and my father is the reigning King of the Elves. The Queen, my mother, died when I was just a child so I have long thought I had no siblings; until recently.

      "My father was in council with his most loyal advisor and I wasn't supposed to hear but he had been acting strange for several years. And you have to understand that for beings like us acting strange for a few years is the equivalent of someone acting odd for a couple months for you. Regardless, I overheard a conversation that was not meant for my ears; I discovered that I had a sister. You."

      I choke on the air that I am breathing in and manage to splutter, "What?"

      He meets my eyes again, "You are my half-sister-"

      "No," I shake my head furiously, "no I'm not. I'm normal, I'm human, my mum was human, my dad was human, I have a brother and a sister and they are both human too."

      "They are human," he says calmly, "but you are not." I start to protest but he cuts me off, "Listen, just listen to me for a minute. If you were 'Just Human' you wouldn't be able to see the Fey like you can. You can see through Glamours that no human could, hell most low level Fey wouldn't even be able to discern them. You can't deny the way music draws you in, you took every album I offered you regardless of genera and it was what finally roused you from sleep. Music works to recharge us and heal us. I'm sure that you'll be developing powers soon too, they'll emerge if they haven't already and granted they will be diluted with human blood but you will still need to learn to manage them."

      He rubs his eyes and moves his hand as if to grab mine but seems to think better of it and lets it fall to the table with a soft thud. "Like it or not I am your brother and I just want to be a part of your life, I want to help you understand your Elven heritage."

      The room swims before my eyes as I struggle to accept what he's saying, he tries to put his hand on my shoulder but I flinch away unable to handle the contact at this moment. I gulp in a few breaths, "I – I need-d to process this alone."

      I hear the chair scrape across the wood floor and the door open, then shut behind him. I slump against the back of the chair all the air leaving my lungs in a shuddering rasp, I can't deal with this at the moment so I get shakily to my feet and shuffle down the hall back to the bed I left along with any shred of normalcy.

Kean

      I knew that Dunkin wanted to talk to Bree alone to tell her the truth about her parentage but when I find her an hour later curled up on the bed staring blankly at the wall I know it didn't go well. I flick on the stereo as I pass it on my way to the chair. We sit in silence for a few minutes before I finally break it, "You know I don't think any less of you because of what you are?"

      "I do," she says, "I just wanted to live a quiet life on my family's farm, maybe settle down one day."

      "No you didn't," I tell her. "You would never have really been happy with that life, I could see it in your eyes the first time we met and I could hear it in your questions the first time we spoke; you wanted more from life. You have always wanted adventure, magic is in your blood – literally – you would never have been content without delving into the world of the Fey somehow."

      "But what do I do now?" she asks, "I don't even know who I am anymore."

      I take a deep breath hoping that for once in my life I can find the right words, "You're Breena Rowan, you have three siblings who love you and a whole life ahead of you, you just take it one day at a time.