Elvish Princess

The day's work was done, and Leda was taking a break before heading home. In this case, said break involved imported Reeses peanutbutter cup ice cream, and dancing to Katy Perry.

Once upon a time she might have been embarrassed to have Leander walk in on her like this, but those days were long past. Hell some already called her the Crazy Queen (mostly the nobles), why not take advantage of that and indulge in some eccentricities?

"Ahem, Your Majesty..."

Crap, he used her title, that meant this wasn't a social call. She made a mental note to take everyone to Earth for some Theme Park fun or something.

With a wave of her hand, she silenced the music and set the ice cream down. She'd placed a cooling spell on it so it wouldn't freeze.

"What happened?" she sighed. She knew Leander would not come for official reasons after her "office hours" unless it was important.

"I'm very sorry to bother you now." Leander said. "But I felt this matter should be dealt with as soon as possible and in as eh, delicately a manner as can be."

"Sounds scandalous."

"Quite possibly. A young man has just arrived, begging, and I do mean begging, to see you immediately. He is quite distraught and has a singular problem."

"Well at least this won't be boring. Let's see 'im."

Leander ushered in a young Elf who seemed incredibly out of place. He was openly gaping at everything. Could he be one of those rare Elves that had been born across the Border and had therefore never seen his home land? But it was more than that. There was something off about him that Leda could not put her finger on.

He bowed low, before she could stop him, and then offered her a pre-written sheet of paper.

It's better that I not speak out loud, lest you fall hopelessly in love with me. It began.

Leda almost burst out laughing at that, but the distressed look on her visitor's face stopped her. And that was when it hit her what was bothering her so. This full blooded Elf, was carrying himself like a human. Even the most provincial Elf she'd ever seen would hide their emotions better than this.

"What's up pup?" she asked. He merely motioned for her to read on. She did, and could not help exclaiming;

"ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!"

From Fandom Pics

Eli wouldn't have thought it possible to be any colder in the lands of House Alton. But this close to the border, it was colder than one could imagine. Perhaps a further deterrent to keep anyone from attempting what he was after.

If I can just stay calm, they won't know I'm gone until it's too late. he thought.

He shivered in his t-shirt and jeans. All the clothes he was wearing. The human outfit itself would be enough to earn him a severe, horrific punishment. That he had been able to obtain the clothes at all was a testament to how successful the Queen's attempts to change Faerie culture were.

The frigid wind stung his golden eyes and made the veins in his exposed skin stand out in blue spiderwebs upon his skin. Only the Elvin blood within him allowed him to survive at all.

His shivering caused the tiny silver bells on his bracelets to chime softly. Fifty nine bells on two bracelets. An archaic tradition to signify Trueblood Royalty. But on him, they were an alarm system. If he removed the bracelets, the bells would cry out a warning to his master, who would then hunt for him.

He took a deep breath and blew it out. It was now or never. Before he lost his nerve, before he could be missed.

He dreamed a willow tree, and it appeared. It's long branches swept over the ground and swayed in the wind. He had formulated a theory that the bells could be fooled if the bracelets stayed in motion. He quickly transferred the hated ornaments to the tree's branches. It seemed to work. No alarm cry went up.

Even the smuggled literature he had gotten his hands on strongly advised against what he was about to do. Travel across the border could only be done safely at the place where it is thinnest. The guidebook pages he had tucked into his back pocket claimed in bold, capital letters that it was virtually impossible to jump the border and survive.

Eli dashed forward, and dove into the border.

The bells on the bracelets sent up the cry, and almost immediately, Corwyn's hounds began to bay.

[Kicking off a plot based on the Bordertown short story "Dragon Child" by Midori Snyder.]

Leander had been afraid Leda might do something foolish. Hopefully the fact that he was right would help offset any anger he may have that she'd done just that.

He had told her that the Elves of Bordertown were not her responsibility. She disagreed. She had been raised in Bordertown, those people were her people as much as, if not more than those of Faerie. And even more important, she had a duty to help her friends if she could. She had failed Triela. She would not fail Tick Tick. Not for lack of trying.

But she hadn't been completely stupid. She didn't waltz into Bordertown soaking up the germs. No she had gotten word to those responsible for sealing the Border, to get a message to Orient. Orient, as she could now see, had gotten the message. Here he was with a rather ill Tick Tick in the side car. She was wearing one of those masks you see doctors wear, and as best she could, was breathing away from Leda.

Leda had one too.

"You were right, the minute I got into the world Portalocity was able to pick us up." he said.

"Good. I'll take it from here." she said.

[Establishy, and now it's off to the clinic!]