A messed up family -OPEN-

Why was it that she knew so little of her family history? She lived in what seemed ot be an orphanage, there were so many children of varying ages. Those who were older though knew the truth, that they were all related in some way or another through their mother, Manora Wolfrider.

Each set of children who were full siblings were told a different story though about their father. None of them believed the story another pair were given. Only Rhyllae-Ash, the third oldest, seemed to know her mother was lying. She alone, knew her father. He was a human, known as Jackson Slenderbow.

She hoped to emulate neither of her parents, for Jackson had had an affair with her mother while he was still married and had four kids with his true wife. Things seemed a little unreal there. Her mother had had four partners, she was the last of the group. She even knew her step mother, Bianca. Bianca had taken her on, though she knew that Rhyllae was the result of her husband's affair.

In a way, Bianca was the mother that Rhyllae wished her real mother could have been. She had a pair of step sisters, Gisele and Elena. These two were very close to her, they were happy to have her in the family. Though she was the odd one out, seeing as she was half elf while the other girls were purely human. So were the three half brothers she had from her father, Mason, Colin and Ryan. They were all one happy family though.

The family she had never truly had. Though she knew she could never be like the others, there were some things that she needed to understand about her own life. What sort of style of a home was she looking at when she was older? Would her mother really even care that she was growing up now? She rarely saw Manora.

"I want my daughter back. She is not yours!" she heard Manora yelling at someone. More than likely it was Bianca.

"I raised her. I consider her mine more than yours. You ran off with another man, Manora. Rhyllae loves me like a mother, though she is not really my own."

Rhyllae winced. She had been about to go inside, but she chose not to, instead heading towards the sparring fields. She did not want to be the object of another arguement. One that Manora could easily win.

She laughed as another human found himself disarmed. Once she would not have dared to reveal that she was part elf to all these humans. After all this was Nuduien. A place where elves had been scorned for a long time. And she was not the only one who had elven blood in town these days. No, the Princess herself had the same parentage of this, and they were firm freinds now. Not that she had been anticipating such a thing.

She smiled though as a huge golden dragon landed nearby and the Rider leapt down. "Good morning Velatha, Princess Keya." She curtsied though there was no need and she knew that. But in front of all these other humans she had to be careful what she did. It would not do if they found out that their Princess was a freind of one of the commoners. Of course it was common knowledge that Keya was a half elf, but Rhyllae had always protected her own heritage.

"Thought we might find you here, Rhyllae-Ash," Keya replied, inclining her head as she normally did in these crowds. "I need to talk to you about something important."

"Any time," Rhyllae replied. She smiled at her freind. "When do you want me to come and talk to you at the castle?"

"As soon as you can. This is rather urgent," Keya replied. Velatha growled, spotting a huge snow leopard in the woods. Keya looked at her dragon, and there was silence for a moment. Dragon and rider seemed to stare at each other for a few moments in silence. Then Keya looked back at Rhyllae. "I have to go, Velatha scents a threat to me. Come as soon as you will, won't you?"

Rhyllae nodded, smiling. "As you wish, Your Highness."

Keya nodded and then mounted her dragon again. Rhyllae was left staring as Velatha soared away. She sighed, noticing that the others had hurried off to do other things.

Always when things seeemed good, something had to happen to her. It sucked.

She heard the creature coming towards her and jumped backwards. This snow leopard was huge. She stared at it for a moment. “What... do you ... want?” she stammered, staring at the creature that was coming towards her. She had every right to be frightened... the size of the thing was unnatural.

He seemed to keep coming towards her, but she could stand it no longer. She bolted towards the city gates. If it wanted her, it would have to catch her. Her horse was nearby and she scrambled gracefully up into the saddle, before letting the horse canter back to the city. She was frightened of leopards. One had.. attacked her once and she had never gotten past that.

The horse cantered into the city gates, weaving back to her house. She would rather deal with Manora than this. Manora though was no where to be seen. One of her brothers looked up though.

“What's gotten you scared?” he asked. He was tall and slender, but he was the strongest of her brothers. Not to mention the oldest, though he was in truth only a half sibling. Their father being the common denominator there.

“Snow leopard, Ryan,” she replied.

“Show me where it is,” Ryan replied. He had been the one who had helped her get away from the one who had caused her fright last time.

She searched for a moment, staring as they reached the meadow she had been in. “I don't understand. It was right here...” she shook. Where was the monster this time? Waiting to leap out at her? She hoped not.
Ryan sighed wrapping his arms around her. “Maybe it didn't want to frighten you, little sister,” he said. He knew that some animals understood human emotions better than they realised. “Come on, lets head back to the farm. “You've still got chores to do.”
She laughed, whacking at his shoulder, but she ran back with him. There were some things that did not change with time. He was one of them. Ryan always knew what was going on.

***

Back at the house though, she happily went about the things that she had to do.
"So, what was this snow leopard that frightened you?" asked a voice.
She jumped. Then realised it was only one of her sisters. She looked up from the mare she was brushing. "Massive, bigger than the normal ones that seem to prey on our sheep," she replied.
"Heard you had a run in with the Princess."
She swore.
Her sister looked at her. "What?"
"I was meant to go and see her."
"Go!"
She sighed, and left the barn. She hoped the leopard would not show up again. Little did she know she was going to see the leopard again.

It did not take her long to find her way through the long but familiar streets of the city. There was so much happening. She dodged out of the way as a building came crashing down, blocking the path behind her. The city was being demolished, and rebuilt not far from where they were now. Laughing to herself, she reached the marble stairs and started climbing.

Keya was standing on the balcony not far from the top of the stairs. She waved, turned and vanished into the castle. Rhyllae did not have to knock, she was allowed in straight away. She was a familiar face in these walls at least. Keya came to meet her.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” she asked, after greeting her freind the right way.

Keya did not speak at first, instead she turned and headed back towards the balcony she always talked to Rhyllae at.

“The Dragon Riders are coming. They bring eggs with them, Rhea.”

She felt her mouth drop open. Dragon eggs were coming? And she was the right age too. Could it be possible that she would be one? If she was, then she would finally be able to get out of Manora's clutches.

“There is a chance you might become one,” Keya chuckled. “It would be really good if you were, then you'd be a noble like me.”

Before any of them could say another word, a huge golden dragon landed behind the elf on silent wings. Her eyes easily saw through the concealment of his pointed ears. "What message do you bear for my Rider, elfling?" Answer her right no harm would come. Answer her wrong, and she would kill him.

***

"Will you spend the night here, or at your farm?" Keya asked.

"Here if that's alright." She glanced out the window. Night had fallen. "I never go outside at night unless with my family."

"I'm sure something can be arranged for you, Rhyllae."

The great golden eyes looked down at the boy. There were some things that took her a bit to understand. This was something she would have to talk to her rider about, before she did anything for this boy.

'What do you think, Keya?' Velatha asked her rider mentally as she regarded the elf.

'Does he seem to be telling the truth?'

'Yes.'

'Bring him in then,'Keya replied.

“My rider asks that you come with me,” Velatha replied. She looked at the gaurds. “Let him pass.”

They both bowed to her, knowing not doing so could cause her to get angry. No one controlled her. Only their Princess had any say in the things Velatha did.

Velatha looked down at the elf. “Follow me.” With that she turned and headed back towards the castle. It would be the last thing to be destroyed.

***

Keya sighed as she looked at Rhyllae. “Someone was following you here.”

“Really? Who?”

“An elf. Velatha is bringing him up here.” They had moved, into one of the few guest chambers. “Said something about wanting to get to know you.”

It couldn't be one of the others who had bedded Manora could it? Rhyllae could not help thinking it.

'Here we are,' Velatha told Keya as she pushed the door open with her snout. She left enough room for the elf to enter, before she settled in the corridor to watch, not really sure what to think of the elf to be all that honest.

Keya turned around, looking at the elf who came into the room. He was a little taller than her, and that was saying something, she stood taller than the humans who were loyal to her. She knew though that Rhyllae was slightly shorter than her, but not too much so.

He greeted her, and to her surprise she did not hear her last name used in her title. She smiled. “Welcome to Nuduien. What brings you here?” Generally, she was respectful of the elves, unless one did something that was not trustworthy.

Rhyllae stood off to one side behind her. She was silent, simply watching.

Keya and Rhyllae Ash both looked at each other for a moment at his request.

"I'll give you some space," Rhyllae told her, curtsing before leaving the room. All she knew was that this elf was a messenger from Queen Gem, and that was something she had no business hearing about. She was only a farm girl after all. "Call me when you want me back here."

Keya nodded with a small chuckle and Rhyllae-Ash left the room. Then she turned her eyes on the elf in front of her. "What is it you wished to speak to me of? Did you really have a message for me from Gem?" She was curious, she had not met many of the elves really. Only a handful.

She smiled, she had known that he had lied from the moment she heard the gaurds confusion at the gates. "I knew that you only said you had a message to get in, but in truth, my men should not have stopped you the way they did. So in a way the fault there is mine, not yours."

Keya chuckled at his words appreciatively. "I have heard of the Taror elves, and have spoen frequently with two such elves. Your current Prince Consort, and General Drannor. Someone had to help coordinate the search for Gem when she was missing and I dealt with that alongside those two. Gem herself has told me what she can, that she ahs been permitted by Drannor himself."

She smiled, not moving fromt he bed she sat on. "I must caution you though. Rhyllae-Ash Slenderbow, though not a noble of any sort is one of my dearest freinds. Do not insult her in any way, or you shall hear from me. However, she is a gentle girl, but there are some things about her family that are not reasonable as they would not be normal. Be careful how you speak to her."

She shuddered at a vision she had had. "Beware you her mother, or things may turn ill for you."

"She is different, but like me, yes, she is half elven, and half human. Her mother, Manora, was once the Lady of Mirthim, but then her family was removed from their title after the slanderous way Manora's father started to act. Sadly, it became her mother's way, and for an elf to act in such a way is often unspoken of, Kiiron. Her father is one of the farmers here in Nuduien, and she is said to be Manora's third child."

Keya sighed, thinking for a moment over all the things her freind had spoken off to her in the years they had known each other. "She has a fear of snow leopards. This I know because I was the one who got her safely back to her father, Velatha helped of course. There were three of them that attacked her, they mauled her something terribly. It was feared at the time, that she would not live to see out the night."

She shuddered at the memory. "We were only ten at the time. The amount of pain she was in at the time is still a vivid memory for me, you see. It was risky getting her to her father, seeing as, as you know, my father was still in power and had that anti-elf thing going on. Eventually I had to cast a spell that would hide her true lineage from anyone except those who knew her well. To us we would see the half elf, to someone like my father, they would see a human girl. It was necessary at the time, but I have since removed the spell, seeing as my father's time is over."

It was somewhere she was unwilling to go. "The only reason she is not scared is because Velatha stepped in and healed her with her healing fire. She was completely out of it and had been for two days, before someone had the courage to ask for help from Velatha and myself. Even then, we were uncertain if she would recover from the leopard's attacks."

Then she chuckled. "I know why you ask. She was thinking of the snow leopard she saw in the firest not far from here, when she came in. I'm guessing, from what I know of the Taror elves, that the snow leopard was you?"

"I know that there are leopards around here, but for one to bring others and try and attack her is out of the normal for the creatures. There may well have been another elf responsible for the attacks. The fear of the creatures has been long set into her mind I am afraid. You though might be able to help her get past that. I would think that if something was going to happen that she is not pleased about, she would tell you, once she gets to know you. It seems that her mother is trying to take her back from her father, but her father knows Rhyllae does not want to leave him. Eventually, I am going to have to step in there myself and deal with them."

Clearly she was not looking forwards to that one. "I know that Manora does not see me with the same respect as most pure elves seem to. She has lost all respect for the nobles. That's why Rhyllae-Ash is staying here for the night, apart for another reason. Gem, Auraka and Drannor are coming here tomorrow, with a batch of Dragon eggs. It will be interesting to see who gets to be the riders. I know there are four eggs, theresfore I will be watching one of them myself. Will you stay here or find a room at an inn somewhere? I'm sorry that Nuduien has little to offer, we're currently rebuiltding the city into something untainted by my father."

She laughed. "Of course I have the room, you're standing in a castle." She smiled. "Her mother is not one that will be easy to fool, though I think that Rhyllae-Ash might go along with that, after she's known you for a while though."

She smiled at him. "She's coming back now as it is, so do not be worried for her, she'll get to know you eventually."

It was then Rhyllae Ash entered the room. She was smiling, clearly she'd had a good time walking around the castle for a little bit. "Sorry about that, took me a bit to find the way back in."

"It's alright Rhyllae. I would though like you to meet a freind of mine, and a freind of Auraka's, Kiiron."

Rhyllae smiled at him. "Umm, hi."