“Yes.” Finn set down my bag and did another small bow before leaving the room. His level of reverence made me uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure how to act around her.
“I’m Elora, and I won’t expect you to call me any different. At first, this is all so much to get used to. I remember when I first came back.” She smiled and gave a light shake of her head. “It was a very confusing time.” I nodded, unsure of what else to do, and she gestured expansively to the room.
“Sit. We have much to talk about.”
“Thanks.” Uncertainly, I took a seat on the edge of the sofa, afraid that if I really sat down on it I would break it or something.
Elora went back to the chaise lounge where she laid on her side, letting her dress flow around her. She held her head up with her hand and watched me with intense fascination. Her eyes were dark and beautiful, but there was something familiar about them in a weird way. They reminded me of an eagle’s eyes or wild animal trapped in a cage.
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“I’m not sure if Finn has explained it to you, but I am your mother,”
Elora said conversationally.
It was impossible. I wanted to correct her. There must be some mistake. Nothing as stunning and elegant as that could spawn me. I was clumsy and awkward and impulsive. Her hair was like silk, and as it had been pointed out to me before, my hair was like a Brillo pad. There was no way that I was related to her. There must’ve been an error somewhere along the lines.
“Ah. I see he did not,” Elora mused. “From your bewildered expression, I take it you don’t even believe me. But let me assure you, there is no mistaking who you are. I personally chose the Everly family for you and delivered you to them myself. Finn is the best tracker we have, so there is no way you could be anyone else but my daughter.”
“I’m sorry,” I stumbled out an apology. “I didn’t mean to question you.
I just…”
“I understand. You’re still used your to normal human way of being.
That will all change soon,” Elora promised. “Did Finn explain anything to you about Trylle?”
“Not really,” I admitted carefully, afraid that I might get him in trouble.
“I’m certain you have many questions, but let me explain everything to you, and if you still have questions, you can ask me when I’m done.” Elora had a coldness to her voice, and I doubted I’d ever be able to question her on anything.
“Trylle are, to the layman, a troll, but that term is antiquated and demeaning, and as you can tell, it doesn’t do us justice at all.” Elora gestured to the expanse of the room, all her grace and luxury, and I nodded. “We are merely beings closely related to humans, but more in tune with ourselves. We have abilities, intelligence, and beauty that far surpass that of the human, but we have much fewer numbers. We keep to ourselves and try to ensure our way of life.
“Our way of life is relatively simple. There is an order to how we do things,” Elora went on. “And I am ensured with the responsibility of keeping 117
that order. Again, the term isn’t entirely right, but I am the Queen.” She paused letting me take it in. “Meaning you are the Princess.” I wanted to ask her a question or refute her but she held up her hand to silence me. “You are my only child, the last of my legacy.
“There are two important distinctions to our lifestyle as Trylle that separate us from the humans,” Elora continued. “We want to live a quiet life communing with the earth and ourselves. We work to strengthen our abilities and use them to better this life, to protect ourselves and the things around us.
We devote our entire lives to this cause. Förening exists only to preserve and enhance the Trylle way of life.
“The other distinction is how we maintain this lifestyle, although it isn’t that different really.” She looked thoughtfully out the window. “Human children have their boarding schools, but they prepare them for a life of servitude. That’s not what we want. We want a life of complete and total freedom. That is why we have changelings.
“Changelings are a practice that date back hundreds, maybe thousands of years.” Elora looked at me gravely, and I gulped back the growing nausea in my belly. “Originally, we were more forest dwellers, less … industrialized than you see now. Our children would be prone to starvation and medical problems, as well as our lack of a serious educational system. So, we’d leave our babies in place of human children so they would have the benefits that only their childhood could offer, then when they were old enough, they would come back to us.
“That practice evolved because we began to evolve. Changelings were healthier, more educated, and wealthier than the Trylle counterparts that stayed behind,” Elora elaborated. “Eventually, every child born was a changeling. Now we could easily match the healthcare and education of the human population, but to what ends? In order to maintain that level, we’d have to leave the solace of the compound and spend our lives doing menial jobs. The changeling is essential to our way of life.
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“We leave our children with the most sophisticated, wealthiest human families, without them being celebrity. Everyone would notice if when the Jolie-Pitt children turned eighteen, they suddenly vanished,” Elora looked disgusted at the thought of them. “So we go just below that. The changelings live a childhood that is the best this world has to offer, and then return with a hefty inheritance from their host families that infuse our society with cash. That, of course, isn’t the only goal, but it is a large part of how we can live like this. The money you obtain from your host family will be how you will be able to live the rest of your life.”
“Wait. I’m sorry. I know I’m not supposed to interrupt, but…” I licked my lips and shook my head. “I just had to clarify a few points.”
“By all means,” Elora said, but venom dripped from her voice.
“I’m a princess?” I pointed unsurely at myself. It sounded stupid and immature just saying it aloud. “And when I was baby, you gave me to strangers to raise so I could have a good education, a good childhood, and I would bring money back. Is that right?”
“Yes.” Elora raised an eyebrow, daring me to question it.
I wanted to yell so badly I was shaking. But I was still afraid of her.
She looked like she could snap me in half with her mind, so I just twisted my thumb ring and nodded confirmation with her. According to her, I was the last of her legacy, and she had dumped me off on a crazy woman that tried to murder me, just because Elora never wanted to work and needed cash.
“Shall I continue?” Elora asked, and she didn’t even try to mask the condescending tone in her voice. I nodded meekly. “I don’t even remember what I was saying.” She waved her hand in irritation. “If you have any other questions, I suppose you can ask them now.”
“Just… um... where’s my father?” I asked timidly.
“Oh.” Elora looked away from me and stared out the window. “Dead.
I’m sorry. It happened shortly after you were born.”
Finn had promised me a different life where I belonged, but really, it seemed to be the exact same life with different trappings. My mother here 119
seemed almost as cold and crazy as my fake mom, and either life, my dad was dead.
“Also, I don’t have any money.” I shifted uneasily.
“Of course you don’t,” Elora thought I was being ridiculous. “You probably won’t have access to your trust fund until your twenty-one or so, but with persuasion, you can change that. Finn tells me you’re very advanced with that, so I’m sure you can easily lower it to eighteen and get at it then. Maybe even add more to it.”
“What?” I shook my head. “No. I don’t even know if I have a trust fund.”
“I specifically chose the Everly’s because of their wealth.” Elora looked incredulous. “There is money set up for you. There has to be.”
“Yeah, I know you chose them for their money, because it certainly wasn’t for their mental health.” I lowered my eyes, realizing I had been smart with her, but quickly plowed through it. “My dad killed himself when I was five, so none of his insurance paid out. My mom never worked a day in her life, and she’s been in a mental institution for the past eleven years, which has eaten a lot of her funds. Not only that, we’ve moved around a lot and wasted tons of money on moving and houses and tuition. We’re not poor by any means, but I don’t think we’re anywhere near the kind of rich you think we are.”
“Stop saying ‘we.’ They’re not part of you,” Elora snapped and sat up.
“What are you talking about? The Everly’s were one of the wealthiest families in the country! You couldn’t have bled them completely dry!”
“I don’t know how much money we –
they
– have, but we don’t… er…
I didn’t live like they were that rich. My brother drives a Prius!” I was almost shouting in frustration. “And you said the money isn’t the important thing, but that sure seems to be what you’re hung up on. If you weren’t listening, I had a
terrible
childhood! My father, well the man I thought was my father, killed himself! And then, six months later, my fake mother tried to kill me!”
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Elora had been more shaken about my confession that my family wasn’t loaded than she had about Kim trying to kill me. She sat very still for a moment, then took a deep breath.
“Oh. So she was one of those.” That was all Elora had to say about that.
“What do you mean by that?” I pressed, and by now, I was livid. The casual, callous air that she had about my death. She hadn’t cared at all if they tried to kill me, except that it would’ve upset her plans to get my inheritance.
“One of those?”
“Oh, well.” Elora shook her head as if she hadn’t meant to say that.
“Every now and again, a mother knows. Sometimes they hurt the child or kill them.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You knew there was a chance that she might kill me?” I snapped and stood up. “You knew that I could die but you just left me?
Unmonitored? I know you didn’t follow me because Finn kept telling me how hard I was to find. You didn’t care what happened to me at all!”
“Don’t be so melodramatic,” Elora rolled her eyes. “This is the way we live. It’s a very small risk, and it rarely happens. And you lived. No harm done.”
“No harm done?” I pulled up my shirt, showing her the scar that stretched across my belly. “I was six-years-old and I had sixty stitches. You call that no harm done?”
“You’re being disgusting.” Elora stood up and waved me off. “You’ve had a long travel, and I’m sure this is all very confusing. You have much to take in, and you’re not in your best light right now. I think it would best if you got some rest, and we can speak later.”
I wanted to protest, but I knew it would be a moot point. As soon as I had started getting upset, she had stopped really listening to me. I let my shirt fall back down on my belly and Elora glided over to the window. She clasped her hands in front of her and stared out the window. She never said a single word, but a minute later, Finn appeared in the doorway.
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“You need something, Elora?” Finn did a small bow to her back, but she probably had ways of seeing him even when she wasn’t looking.
“Wendy is tired. Set her up in her room,” Elora commanded diffidently. “See that she has everything she needs.”
“Of course.” Finn picked up my bag off the floor and looked at me.
His dark eyes felt comforting, and even though I knew this was just his job, I felt relieved knowing he was there.
He left hastily, probably at Elora’s behest, and I hurried after him. I wrapped my arms tightly around myself, trying to steady my nerves. Everything felt too shocking and too upsetting to really understand. I was reeling from everything, and I couldn’t make sense of how I really fit into it. Elora was right, though. I probably did need rest, and maybe if I slept on it, everything would seem better somehow. But I doubted it.
Finn led me up a winding staircase and down another elaborate hall. At then end, he opened a heavy wooden door, revealing what I assumed was my room. It was massive, with high vaulted ceilings, and one entirely windowed wall that made it seem even larger. A massive four post bed sat in the center, and everything was rather modernly furnished. A laptop, flat screen, gaming systems, iPod, and every other gadget I could possibly want. Finn sat my bag on the bed and opened the closet door, which was already stocked full with clothing. He opened another door and flicked on the light, showing my own private bathroom that more closely resembled a spa.
“How do you know where everything is?” I asked. He seemed to know this house very well, and thinking about Finn helped calm me some.
“I stay here from time to time,” Finn replied nonchalantly.
“What? Why?” I felt a terrible pang of jealousy, terrified that he was somehow involved with Elora in a perverse fashion. He did seem to revere here more than I thought he should.
“Protection. Your mother is a very powerful woman, but she’s not all-powerful,” Finn explained vaguely. “Since I’m tracker, I can get tuned into her.
I can sense danger and aid her if it’s required.”
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“Is it required?” At that moment, I didn’t particularly care if a band of raging marauders tried to do her in, but if there were frequent attacks on her
“castle,” I thought I should know.
“No. Not since I’ve been here,” Finn said. “I’ll be staying on awhile to help you get acclimated. Everybody knows this isn’t a perfect system. Rhys’s room is down the hall. My room, along with Elora’s, is on the other wing.”
I definitely felt better knowing he would be around. I didn’t think I could handle it all if I was left alone in this house with that woman. While clearly stunning and powerful, there wasn’t any warmth to her. I hadn’t realized that I even wanted that until now. After all the years of rejecting Maggie and even Matt’s attempts at bonding, I hadn’t known how much I craved it.
“So…did you do this?” I gestured to my high tech room.
“No. Rhys decorated it.” Finn didn’t look that interested in any of the expensive gear I had laying about, so that made sense. “The clothes were all Willa, I believe. You’ll meet her later on.”
“Rhys isn’t my brother?” I asked again. I couldn’t figure out how he fit into all of this. We had only met briefly, but he had seemed nice and normal.