She has always wanted to make her father proud of her. But she soon discovered that he wasn’t right about everything. Rhiannon was the princess of the elves who lived on the east bank of the river, Draven. She always had a natural curiosity about her and her father, King Kimarhi, knew this. He always feared that her curiosity would show her the truth about King Auron, king of the elves that lived on the west bank of the river, Draven. But years ago Kimarhi and Auron had made an agreement that neither would allow their daughters to meet. The two kings had a secret that neither daughter knew about. A secret that tormented each king and caused him to lie about each other.
Rhiannon was beautiful in the eyes of all who looked upon her. Her fair skin had not one blemish or scar, her pale blue eyes made you feel as if she could see into your soul. But the one feature that everyone was envious about was her long, flaming red hair. She had one weakness. She wanted to know everything she could about the elves across the river. Even though her father wouldn’t allow it, she tried her hardest to gain any piece of information about the other elves. She wanted to know why the two kingdoms didn’t coincide with each other? What made those elves so evil?
While horseback riding she decided to ask her father. “What did King Auron do that made him so evil, father?”
Her question took Kimarhi off guard, “Why do you ask?”
“I have watched them from afar and haven’t seen anything about them that would make them evil.”
“Don’t worry yourself about such things. When it is time you will know all that you need to know to rule our kingdom with a fair mind and good judgment.”
His answer left Rhiannon more confused than before she asked her question. “Alright father.” She decided to leave the trail they were on and go for a swim. “Don’t swim too far away from our banks,” her father warned.
“I won’t.”
What Rhiannon didn’t know was that Princess Star, had asked her father, King Auron, the same question at the exact same time. Auron had told Star the exact same answer, and left Star with a wanting to know even more about the mystery of the elves on the east bank of the river. “What is it about them that makes them so evil?,” she asked herself. Star made a promise to herself to find out everything she could about the elves across the river. While walking past her bedroom window of her father’s castle she looked out across the crystal waters of the river and seen a girl dive into the cool blue waters.
“I wonder what would happen if I tried to talk to her?” she asked herself. Star tried to keep an eye on the mysterious swimmer, to make sure that she didn’t get out of the water before she got a chance to talk to her. She was afraid of what she was about to do because of the warning her father has given her all of her life. But her curiosity got the better of her. She had to know, why those elves were so evil. Their kingdom is just as beautiful as ours, she thought. The castle is just as magnificent; in fact it looks like an exact replica. “I wonder why I haven’t ever noticed that before?” she asked herself.
When she got to the bank of the river she noticed that the girl had the most beautiful red hair she had ever seen. The girl was floating on her back and the crystal waters spread her long hair out to make the water seem to be on fire.
Star didn’t want to startle the girl, so she eased into the water without making so much as a ripple in the water. The closer she swam to the fiery red haired girl, her heart pounded louder in her ears. Star took a deep breath and said, “Hello.”
Rhiannon gasped and turned in the water to see who had snuck up on her. Her breathes didn’t even out until she saw that it was just another girl about her age. The girl was beautiful with fair skin like her. She had pale green eyes that could penetrate your soul, and hair just as long as hers but the girl’s hair wasn’t red, it was brown.
Rhiannon realized that the girl was waiting on her reply. “Hello,” she said. “What is your name?”
“My name is Star. What’s yours?”
“I am Rhiannon. I don’t recall ever seeing you before.”
“That’s because I live on the west bank, I am the daughter of King Auron.” As soon as Star said that, she noticed fear in Rhiannon’s eyes. Rhiannon became afraid for her life when she learned who Star was. She remembered all that her father had told her about the elves from the west bank. She started to slowly back away from Star trying not to anger her for surely if she did then Star would kill her. But there was something in Star’s eyes that kept her from swimming to the bank and climbing out of the water into the safety of her father’s castle. Looking into Star’s eyes she could see a kindness there that made her wonder why she would be considered evil.
“You are Princess Star? I am Princess Rhiannon.”
Star realized then why Rhiannon looked afraid when she told her who she was. For she had the same fear. But the same thing that kept Rhiannon from fleeing, kept Star there.
“Can I ask, what makes you and your people evil?,” Star asked.
“I was about to ask you the same question. My father always told me that your people were evil.”
“As did mine.,” said Star.
They were both surprised to find out that their fathers had lied to them. Just then both kings found their daughters in the river, at the same time they said, “Get out of the water!” The announcement from each king startled the girls.
It was like the girls could read each other’s mind. Each princess said, “Not coming out of the water until you tell us the truth.”
Kimarhi and Auron looked at each other and knew that they couldn’t keep the lies up any longer.
“Ok, we will tell you the truth, but please come out of the water so we can talk.,” said Kimarhi.
The girls climbed out of the water and dried off while they all waited for Auron to come across the river in his boat. When Auron finally climbed ashore, each elf took a seat in the courtyard of Kimarhi’s castle. Not knowing who was going to start first, the girls decided to just start asking questions. Rhiannon asked the most obvious one, “Why did ya’ll tell us that the other was evil?” The kings looked at each other and Kimarhi decided to talk first. He looked at his daughter and said, “My dear Rhiannon, there is no easy way to say this, so please don’t interrupt until I am through. For I fear that if I stop in the middle I won’t be able to finish.” Rhiannon agreed to stay quiet so her father could say what he needed to say.
“I will start at the beginning. King Auron is my younger brother.” This bit of news made Rhiannon and Star gasp at the same time. “Before you were born your mother fell in love with us both and could not decide whom she loved the most. She was a beautiful woman. Both, Auron and I, tried everything we could think of to win her heart. She said that she was unable to pick which one she loved most, so she made love to both of us saying that it would help her decide who she loved most.” Kimarhi was having trouble holding back his sobs, so Auron continued the story. “After she made love to us, she left for many months only to come back and tell us that she was pregnant with twins. There was no way to find out who the father was so she made us promise that we would each take one child and raise her as our own no matter what.” Rhiannon and Star looked at each other at that moment and realized that they were talking about them. “We are sisters.,” Star said. Rhiannon gave her the biggest smile she could muster. Then when they looked at each of their fathers they noticed that each man had aged quickly and was close to dying. Rhiannon went to her father’s side as Star went to her father’s. “What is happening to you?,” asked Rhiannon.
“It is a spell that your mother cast on us before she died. She said that as long as we didn’t tell you about the other then we would have immortal youth. But as soon as we told you that we would age very quickly and die. For you see, your mother was a witch. You both are only half elf. You both have magical powers but no one knows what they are.” Auron looked into his brother’s eyes and told the girls, “There is one who would know. Your grandmother.” Rhiannon and Star looked at each other. Kimarhi said, “The road will be dangerous, but if you truly wish to know about the witch half of yourselves then you must take the road through Mystic Forrest.” And with their dying breathes the kings said, “Take care of each other.”
