Garen

Daniel paced back and forth, his unshaven face and sunken eyes reflecting my state of mind. The day Genevieve appeared and took Serenity with her it felt like our hearts had been ripped out. Matt had found us still on the steps barely coherent. It had taken days for us to even remember and piece together what had happened. Since then we've been hunting the damn witch with every resource the kingdom has. Daniel had presented me to the Council, then explained the attack on Serenity. Of course, the history between vampires and witches has been tenuous at best over the centuries so it was easy to persuade the Council that her abduction was a direct attack on the throne and all covens. With no heir, the kingdom would fall into chaos.

I reached for the trashcan and promptly threw up the synthetic blood I'd attempted to drink. Daniel cast a sympathetic look. Neither of us had been able to feed since she left. Despite not completing the claim, our bodies simply rejected all other blood. That fact alone was beginning to impact our bodies in ways no one could stop. The slight amount he'd ingested weeks ago from her cut seemed to give him a slight advantage.

"I found something!" Susan screamed, waving a heavy book as she stormed into the room. She slammed it on Daniel's desk as a billow of dust flared, making all of us cough. "You guys aren't going to believe this shit," she choked, then flipped the pages until she was satisfied and pointed her finger to a drawing. "There...there she is."

We circled the desk looking at the drawing. "What is this?" I asked, my finger shakily touching the image as if it might vanish too. It showed a slightly younger version of Serenity near a serene lake. Her hair was plaited in intricate braids and she wore a deep green dress that looked like it was from medieval times. The surrounding landscape was filled with livestock and a distant village.

"This is the piece we've been missing," Susan said proudly. "Your girl isn't who she says. "Wait, there's more." She flipped the pages and showed another image, this one of a family in front of a feasting table. The image was of an older time, far older than me or Daniel. Creatures with gossamer wings and stately robes filled the room along with the family. The small girl's head was ringed in light in the painting signifying her as important. The closer I looked, the more I realized it was her. This was what Serenity had looked like the night Daniel and I were pulled into her dream.

"Where did you find this?" Daniel demanded.

"The Council archives," she answered. "I kept pouring over those family tree papers Serenity had been so hooked on and I wondered if the archives might have something. Hell, they've taken artifacts from almost every race known at some point or another, so why not her history? I just didn't expect to find it in the section I did."

"What section?" I croaked, already knowing based on the image before me, but I needed her to confirm it.

"Fae - Elves to be specific."

Her words were like a dagger in my soul. Elves and vampires were not meant to mix. Opposites of magic can cause catastrophic connections when bonding. "That's what Genevieve meant," I whispered.

"I don't give a fuck what she meant or what blood is in Ren's past. She is our Eternal and she is coming home!" Daniel roared.

"How old?"

"What?" he snapped.

"How old is she? That text dates back to the original court, Daniel. If she was a child in that image, then a maiden in the first one, how old is she? You and I both know the older she is, the more powerful." I said, finding my strength even if only for the moment.

"Why does that even matter, Garen? She's ours. You can't be considering rejecting her after everything, can you?" he sputtered.

"I'm not rejecting her, but what if she rejects us? What if she figures out who she is and won't or can't complete the bond?" My voice dropped and I fell onto the couch clutching my head. "Their laws are absolute. No one defies them."

"They did," Susan interjected. "Her parents stood against the Ancients. Before you two get all gloomy and start throwing a pity party, you need to read this." We exchanged glances as she huffed, "Fine, I'll give you the abbreviated version then you can read it later. This image is where she is ordained "The One of Light". It tells that she received her gifts at an extraordinarily young age and unlike other elves, she got all of them. She had complete control of the nature elements, healing, animal connection, mind manipulation - all of it. There isn't another recorded elf having those gifts that weren't part god or goddess, but your girl had it all with no divinity. She was to be trained and placed as a priestess of Danu along with her chosen, the Tuatha Dé Danann." Susan flipped a few pages showing a hunched creature pointing a shriveled hand at a young Serenity. "This is where the problems start. In her training, like all young Fae, Serenity had to face the fates. In Fae tradition, they determine your path and warn you of pitfalls. Listen to this: 'Maiden of Light, bound to the Dark, endless power. Two Grey Pillars will Rule them all.'"

"I don't get it," Matt said.

She slapped his chest, "They knew. The damn Fae knew she was bound to two vampires. The book explains that she was going to be forced into seclusion and to take chastity vows, but she started having visions. It says she would get them at all times of the day and night, screaming until she had to be subdued. They even have transcripts of some of her rantings in here. She mentions you both - not by name, but the events she describes are well documented in your lives, but the thing is, neither of you had even been born yet and wouldn't be for over a thousand years."

"Guess that gives you a clue on how old," Matt frowned as he nudged me. "So what did they do? You said her parents defied the Ancients."

"They ran," I gaped. "That's why the dream was so odd. Her parents created it as a way to tell us or at least warn us. But why are vampires attacking? Why not show the real events?"

"Maybe they didn't even know for sure," Daniel answered. "All they knew was we would be her protectors from all of them - vampires and elves."

"Finally, you two are getting it," Susan said. "I'm going back to the archives to see if I can find anything else. I'll leave this one with you two to research. Just don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"Susan, be very careful. The Council is on our side, but if they realize she's Elven, that may not be the case, especially if they perceive her as a threat." Daniel's words hung in the air as she nodded before leaving with Matt.

"Do you think they knew?" he asked me quietly.

"Who, her parents?"

"No, her firm. What if that Dahl fellow isn't human, what if he was an elf watching her all along?"

I shook my head, "No, he might have been working with them, but if he were an elf, he would have taken her, not placed her in a vampire firm." I sighed, "The larger question is what are they doing to her now?

Author's Notes:  Great guess @AnaEnreal