Chapter 1

“Eolande Raisa, pay attention young lady!  Your Arethusa lessons are very important!” my mother snapped at me.  I usually hated her lessons so I would zone and it bothered my mother badly.  As of late, I truly have been listening though because if I am to carry out my plan I need to learn as much as possible about the lands and ways of the Arethusa.  My mother was and still is one of the smartest Arethusa though, so it would be terribly hard to trick her.  That was the reason I had to act as if I was still bored to pieces by her lessons.
“Sorry, mother.  Why is it important though? It’s not like you will allow me to ever see Breena myself.  If I am not in Breena, why do I need to know the history of it?” I asked, adding a yawn at the end to heighten my act.
“We have gone over this a myriad of times, Eolande.  Even here in the Tressa world; a true citizen would learn about their heritage even though they live in America.  Your heritage is everything; it makes you who you are.  You will never be able to deeply understand who Eolande Raisa is unless you understand where you came from.  Do you hear me, Eolande?” My mother said in a stern and controlled voice.  Although her voice could deceive anyone, her eyes were lit up in rage; I knew that I was causing her a migraine.
“Here I am not, Eolande Raisa though,” I said truly exasperated,” I am Elena Renwick here. I am a normal teenager here. I do not need to know the past history of Eolande Raisa if I am Elena Renwick!”
“Your alias is Elena Renwick, in your heart and your true being you are Eolande Raisa.  I can’t explain how important this is for you to understand, darling.  No one here could handle knowing the truth – “my mother started saying, but I quickly and sharply cut her off.
“The truth? The truth?!  They can’t handle the truth. The tressas are too dumb and dense to understand the truth. What is the truth, mother? WHAT is the truth?!  We’re living a lie here!  Your job, you don’t truly like selling houses do you? Realty. What good does that do us especially if we moved back to Faylinn.  I am not a seventeen year old girl.  I am a two hundred and forty seven year old fairy!” I shouted.  Blood was rushing to my pale almost porcelain cheeks.  My mother was holding her head high and I could see she thought this was just another teenage angst breakout.  
“Eolande, the truth,” she took a deep breath, “is that we are the Arethusa.  Fairies are the Tressa term for us; Arethusa is what Mother Nature deemed us when the first Arethusa was born.  The first Arethusa was a female named Elvena.  Mother Nature then created a male partner for her named Aelfric.  Aside from Mother Nature, Elvena and Aelfric are our original beings; their blood runs in our veins.  Elvena and Aelfric had mighty powers though.  Elvena had very strong willing powers; it was rumored she could make even the greatest witch or warlock succumb to her request.  Aelfric on the other hand, was told to have the voice of an angel.  His singings did much more than entertain the woodland creatures, depending on the song and his lyrics he could cure even the toughest of diseases…it is rumored that his seeing could even cause destruction.  A trillion years or more later, I was born to Tenanye, one of the greatest Queens to ever be in Faylinn and ruling over Breena; she is my mother.  Around one thousand years later, you were born to me.  Your grandmother had just passed away, and I got notice from one of the lower Poj members that the high Poj were initiating Brokk.  Everyone knew and loved Brokk because he had devilish pixie looks and good manners that would make even your grandmother fall in love with him.  I used to date him though and on more than one occasion had he told me his grand master plan.  He wants to steal the Arethusa secret book and use the secrets in it to harm all Tressas and either kill them or turn them into Arethusa.  You know yourself that if someone is turned into an Arethusa without the blood of Elvena or Aelfric in them that they eventually will become delusional and turn against every Arethusa they meet.  So his plan was not one that I would support him with; I first tried to convince him not to do that, but later on, when he didn’t listen to me I threatened to leave him.  Brokk got mad, well, mad is an understatement.  He attempted to kill me.  No one believed me and so I knew that he was beyond reasoning.  Back to what I was saying earlier, when I heard the high Poj was going to initiate Brokk, I knew I had to leave.  He would fool everyone and Breena and Faylinn would be in danger.  So I took my new baby daughter and left for the Tressa world.  I told no one except for Aelfdane because he was my greatest and closest friend.  Now you are growing up, and you need to learn the ways of your people although you will never see it with your own eyes.  Do you understand, Eolande?”
My mouth stood agape; she had never told me this story before.  How could she?  I was her daughter, her own blood and kin.  The thought of my mother dating Brokk Eitri repulsed me more than the thought of dying at a dragon’s mouth. 
“I see you are willing to cooperate now,” my mother mistakenly said.  She took my silence to be that of cooperation and respect; she couldn’t have been anymore wrong.  My silence was out of pure shock and disbelief.  All at once I felt the air rush back into my lungs and I was screaming at the top of my lungs.
“YOU LYING TRUTH SLANTING LADY WHO CALLS HERSELF MY MOTHER!  You never thought THAT was important enough to tell me before?  Don’t tell me that I was too young to hear it before, because I remember my bedtime stories when I was five were about brave warriors getting beheaded in battle.  I can’t look at you. I’m going somewhere. Don’t ask where because I. Don’t. Know!”
This time it was my mother’s turn to stand agape.  It was almost comical and under any other circumstances I probably would have laughed.  My mother looked exactly like me, but more mature and with shorter blonde hair.  I quickly got up off our living room couch and walked to the door.  With my hand on the knob, I turned back to my mother one last time.
“I can’t believe it…you kept that from me,” I said with disbelief coloring my words.  Maybe it didn’t seem like such a big deal to anyone else, but my mother had vowed to me that I knew absolutely everything there was to know about her.  Obviously my mother had broken that vow and that alone was an action, in Breena, that resulted in punishment.  Walking out the door was one the easiest things I had ever done.  I felt no attachment to her as I walked down the creaky front steps.  The sunlight was high above and the rays kissed my face hello.  The wind gently and almost teasingly lifted the ends of my long blonde hair and I couldn’t help but smile.  That’s what we Arethusa live for; we live for nature.