Half and Half

“Who are you?” the Queen asked Dawn. Dawn looked at the floor and said in a tiny voice,

“My name is Ursula, your majesty.” The Queen knitted her bushy brows together, looking very confused.

“I don’t have a servant called Ursula. I know the name of everybody who works at the castle. Please tell me the truth,” Dawn looked up at the Queen.

“My name is Dawn,” she said. The Queen moved her mouth sideways, as if thinking deeply.

“I don’t know anybody called Dawn, either. Who are you really?" Dawn sighed.

“I came to talk to you. I’ve been trying to get in for two years.”

“Two years?" The Queen looked very surprised. “You should have just asked the Birch Guard.

“I did. He wouldn’t let me through,” Dawn said.

“The Birch Guard is a softie,” the Queen said with a laugh. “I am very surprised. Now, I have two questions: why are you dressed up as a servant, and why are you here?”

“Well, I am dressed up as a servant so I could sneak in... I mean no harm!” Dawn said hurriedly.

“No harm done. I don’t blame you,” the Queen said. Dawn was liking the Queen already.

“I want to talk to you because of this,” Dawn said. Her scarf covered her ears and she unraveled this, revealing her bright hair and her pointed ears.

The Queen clasped her hand to her mouth, her eyes wide. Dawn was surprised. Everybody was surprised to see her bright hair and strange mix of wings and pointed ears, but none of them had been as shocked as the Queen was.

“I... how?” The Queen said, breathless.

“I don’t know. Do you? I need to find out, you are my only hope!” Dawn exclaimed.

“What do you want to know?”

“Who are my parents? Are they still alive?” Dawn asked hurriedly.

“Oh, they’re alive all right,” the Queen said. “But I cannot tell you who they are. I can only tell you where.”

“Where?” Dawn was feeling very happy. If she found her parents, no more snappy nanny!

“They live in Pixie Grove.”

“Pixie Grove? But they’re fairies, aren’t they?” Dawn said, confused.

“You will have to figure that out for yourself,” the Queen said. “Go to Pixie Grove. You’ll find one of your parents there. That’s all I can tell you.” Dawn nodded. She still had more questions, but the Queen held up her hand.

“You can ask me only one more question. Then you have to leave,” she said. Dawn thought a bit about the question she would ask. She looked around at the beautiful room, wondering.

“How do I get to Pixie Grove?” she finally asked. She had no idea how to get there, for fairies never visited pixies, as they liked to keep separate. Half of Telebone was home to the fairies, and the other half to the pixies. The Queen’s and King’s castle was right in the middle. The Queen was a fairy, everybody knew that. But nobody knew what the King was. Some people suggested that he was a human. Dawn didn’t know very much about humans, only that long ago humans hunted fairies and pixies, and so they had to go into hiding. They taught some things like that at school, but Dawn hardly paid any attention to her history teacher, who’s awful voice drawled on and on about wars.

“Just take the West Road, and then choose the left fork. You’ll find a family’s house if you follow my directions. Ask them when you’re lost.”

Dawn raised one eyebrow but did not object. She thanked the Queen, and walked towards the door. Then she remembered that she had one question to ask:

Nobody knew the Queen’s real name. Everybody just called her “Queen.” But Dawn knew that couldn’t be her real name, and she was dying to find out. She turned, looked at the Queen in the eye and said,

“Your Majesty, I want to know your name.” The Queen smiled and said, “My name is Queen Sandra.”

Dawn smiled back at Queen Sandra, and thought that the name was very fitting. She opened the door and was facing the Acacia Guard.

He was by far the most fierce and loyal guard the Queen had ever had. He was thick and bulky, with roots that were knotted together. He was orange, like an acacia tree, and he had very wide slits for his mouth and eyes. He carried a golden spear that was so sharp at the end that Dawn couldn’t bear to look at it. At the ends of his “arms” were green leaves, and he was bald at the top of his head. Though bulky and thick, the Acacia Guard was very short, but still very terrifying. His voice was deep and metallic, like the sound of metal scraping a hard surface. It hurt Dawn’s ears to hear it. The Acacia Guard always grunted when he did not speak, and he was the one who guarded the 5th floor of the castle, which was the floor where the Queen’s room was.

“H-hello,” Dawn stammered. She scratched her ears, which was what she always did when she was nervous, and with a terrible shock remembered that she had removed her scarf from her head inside the Queen’s room. The servants never took off their scarfs inside the castle.

“Where is your scarf, servant?” The Acacia Guard said with his horrible voice. Dawn drew in a breath.

“I... I lost it,” Dawn said, although she knew how stupid that sounded.

“You can’t lose it. Who are you?” He said. His eyes traveled to her pointy ears to her glassy wings, and Dawn thought he grasped the handle of his spear a little tighter.

Suddenly, the Queen burst out of her room, holding the scarf.

“Oh dear!” she moaned, “Dawn, your scarf--” She looked from Dawn to the Acacia Guard and bit her lip.

“Dawn is my servant,” she said to the Acacia Guard. “Her scarf caught the edge of my coat hook and slipped off. She has to go visit her sick aunt, so please forgive her. Show her the way out of the castle.” Dawn smiled her thank you at the Queen. The Acacia Guard grunted, and Dawn took the scarf and tied it around her head.

The guard led her down many stairs, through fancy rooms, and through some halls, until they finally reached the front door of the palace.

“Thank you, sir,” Dawn said politely. The Acacia Guard only grunted and went back up some stairs.

She pushed open the heavy doors and saw the Birch Guard standing in a pool of water.

“Thank you,” Dawn said to the Birch Guard. He smiled as best as he could with his slit for a mouth and winked at her. Dawn headed home, deciding that she would start out for Pixie Grove tomorrow.