Chapter 12

Lily had gone to the cornfield to find her father. She saw him weeping alone and came beside him to console his grief. "What is wrong, Papa?"

He turned to her and embraced her. Through choking sobs he said "I can't lose you too. I just can't."

"You're not going to, Papa. I'm safe right here." She held him as he wept. It was the first time she had ever witnessed the full force of his heartbreak.

He gathered himself together as he pulled away from her embrace. "I am sorry, dear child. I was just thinking of your mother. I couldn't have survived losing her if it had not been for you."

"I know, Papa. I know." She gently caressed his hair.

"I wish I could make you understand why I keep you up here; away from the village and the forest."

"I understand, Papa. You wish only to keep me safe from the evil that befell my mother."

"I have never told you what happened to her." He said looking up into the sunlight through he corn. "I suppose I should."

"You don't have to, Papa. I know what happened. It was heinous and ugly and should not have happened to anyone."

"How do you know?" he asked looking into her eyes for truth.

She didn't want to tell him about what she saw in her dream, and she knew she wasn't supposed to tell him who was responisible so she chose to be vague. "I don't know, really. I just do."

"Well, you're right. It was heinous and ugly. No person should have perished in such a way. She was with child you know. Our second." She saw the anger flare in his eyes once again. She wanted to tell him everything she knew, but remembering the skunk's warning she opted to drop the subject all together.

"Come, Papa. Our meal awaits." She arose from the ground and walked off toward the cabin. He was stunned at her statement. It was as if Bayla had spoken to him. He arose and followed her.

Inside the cabin Lily had adorned the table with all manner of fruits and vegetables. It was a meal fit for a royal. The farmer stared at the ensemble for moment too stunned to speak. She gestured for him to sit and poured him some coffee. "Where did you get this food?" he asked. Fear shot across his eyes telling her he assumed she had gone into the forest against the law and his will.

"Jacque gathered it for me," she stated simply.

"Jacque?" he sounded surprised and angry. "Who is Jacque?"

"Why, my skunk of course," she mused. "He goes to the forest every day, so I asked him to bring me some fruit one day and he did, so I asked to gather me a meal fit for a king today. Are you not pleased?"

"The skunk has a name now?" The farmer wasn't sure if he believed her. "You've had him this long and now all of a sudden he has a name?"

"Oh, well he's always had a name. I just didn't know it before." The skunk waddled up to the table and touched Lily on the leg. She looked down at her friend and said "Yes? Would you like some of the fruit you brought in?" He chirped a response and she handed him a melon from the table. He took the gift in his front paws and walked on his hind legs to the back door where he sat and ate.

"I see." said the farmer. He ate with his daughter in silence while studying her features. She had changed somehow. She seemed more content than before. Her face was alight with a soft glow. She was no longer hard and angry. "There's something different about you today."

"I have done nothing different today as with any other day," she said. "Only the food is different this morning. Maybe that is what you notice." She tried to avoid his stare for fear of revealing her secret affair with the young elf.

"No. It's not the food." He rubbed his beard in thought. His eyes widen in recognition. "You're in love." He snapped. "You're in love with someone. Who is it?"

"Whatever are you talking about?" she asked trying to act casually. Her face was set ablaze at his accusation.

"You know what I mean!" He shouted. "There's a boy in your life. I want to know who he is right now!" He stood up banging his fist upon the table frightening Lily. "Where have you gone? What have you done? Don't you realize how dangerous it is for you in this world?"

"Yes, Papa, I do. You remind everyday of how horrible it is to be alive in this world." She allowed her anger to burst forth. "How would even be able to meet a boy in this cozy little prison you've designed for me? Why don't you just kill me now and save the world the trouble?"

"What kind of nonsense is that?"

"You do not let me live outside of this farm, to find love or see the world; so why not let me die?" Her words had cut him. She could the pain in his face as he stroked his beard.

He sank back into his seat. "I am so sorry, my beloved." He confessed. "I did not realize the home I had built for us had become a prison for you." He rubbed his forehead as if to relieve some pain. "I pray this mystery boy, if in fact you have met one, brings you no harm."

She looked at her father and saw a broken man before her. She was moved with compassion and felt the need to confess. "I have disobeyed you, Papa." He looked up at her without saying a word. He allowed her to explain how she had entered the forest on the day he took the herd in and met Toame, the elfin prince. She had explained her ability to speak to the skunk as if he were human and how she had dreamt what happened to her mother. He listened carefully to every word understanding her secrecy and her need to speak it. At the end of her confession she asked him the one question he had dreaded to hear. "Was my mother really an elf?"

He dropped his gaze and simply replied, "Yes." He sighed deeply and continued, "She was not just any elf, but she was their queen. She stole my heart the instant I met her, though I will never quite understand what she ever saw in me." His eyes begin to mist at her memory, but he felt it was time she knew the truth. "She found me in the forest one day and invited me to her palace. We never separated after that. We were married the very day we met. I built this cabin for her, so she could be close to her home and I could remain close to mine in the village. We couldn't have been more happy, until you were born of course. You were only a year old when she died. She was carrying you in her arms when we were attacked, so she sent you somewhere safe with her magic."

"Magic? What sort of magic do you mean?"

"Apparently your mother was a magic weaver which is a rare kind of elf. I couldn't understand her magic and therefore feared it. She had promised me never to use magic in our marriage, but she broke that vow to save your life that horrible day. I'm glad she did. I loved your mother. I still do. More than even you can imagine. But you made me realize today that I cannot shield you from the dangers of this world without denying you life itself." He took a deep breath and released it. "I would like to meet this boy."

"And so you shall." She looked back at Jacque who nodded and left out the door heading for the forest.