The Queen of Tylwyth: the Lost Betrothed

Chapter 30

     "Lady Cassidy and Sir Cameron, that was very delicious! The best meal I ever had in a decade!" Rowan exclaimed after he scarfed down two chicken and three bowls of tomato soup. The twins' homemade food was five stars out of five, probably not anything like that in the underground of Maes Tywod. 

     "Thank you..." Cassidy and Cameron replied with shock. I was also shocked, but didn't bother to show it. All four of us then cleaned up and sat down by the fire. Cassidy then said, "You can talk us about your family and friend back in the human world, Ella. We all promise that we're all ears!"

     "I think it would be better if I show you all," I stated. I then took off my locket and handed it to Rowan. He looked at it with confusion until Cassidy took it from his hands. Then Cassidy opened it with ease.

     "You looked so adorable when you were little, Ella!" Cassidy cooed. The boys nodded with agreement. I heard Cameron whisper to himself, "That man looks familiar," before rubbing his eyes. Was he talking about Papa Papyrus?

"Is the man and woman in the portrait your family back in the human world?" Rowan asked me. I nodded and said, "Yes, they are. Mama Anita and Papa Papyrus. That's what I called them, since they weren't my birth parents."

"I once knew a man by the name of Papyrus, a strange coincidence..." Rowan stated.

      "But they were really amazing. Mama Anita was the strongest woman, no person I ever met. She went through hell with a big smile on her face," I sighed.

"What's hell? And how did she walk through it?" Cassidy asked me with confusion.

"Hell is a place where evil people go when they die in some of the religions back in the human world. And saying that someone walked through hell with a smile is a metaphor for how they dealt with horrible experiences in an optimistic way," I answered.

"What did this "Mama Anita" go through?" asked Cameron with air quotes on the words, "Mama Anita".

"Well...her brother, my uncle Antonio, was an important captain in the Peruvian army where Mama Anita grew up. He died in the Cenepa War when she was twenty two. Mama Anita then decided to move to America for a job offer, where she had to go through a horrible citizenship test. She faced discrimination in America for being Latina," I explained to my friends.

     "What's a Latina?" Rowan asked with confusion.

      "A woman that is either from Spain or a South American country," I said.

     "Why was she bullied because she was a Latina?" Cameron then asked.

     "Because in the human world, there is racism. It's one of the things that tears humans up into groups, with each group full of horrible stereotypes. It's a horrible thing that happens to all races, but mostly the people of color," I answered.

     "Who are the people of color?" the three of them asked in unison.

     "People who don't have European ancestry," was my quick response.

     "In Tywlyth, there's no discrimination for your skin color. The only political problem is the hate between us, halflings, fae ones, and Warons. We also have a bit of a problem with gender equality also," stated Cameron with a frown.

     "That's like the race problem in the human world. I hate when people are racist against Latinx and Asians, since Mama Anita's Latina and Cora's Asian," I said sadly.

     "Is Cora the one in the other picture in your locket?" Rowan asked, pointing to the other picture. It was one of me and Cora on our first day of middle school. We were leaning on one another and we were smiling brightly at the camera. My hair was in pigtails and my teeth had braces on them. Cora, on the other hand, looked like an eleven year old supermodel.

     "Yes, that's her!" I exclaimed with a sad smile. The twins then began to compliment about how me and Cora looked so cute in the picture. Rowan, on the other hand, suddenly blushed and mumbled, "She's very beautiful..."

     I nodded in agreement, causing Rowan to blush even more. His little dragon wings began flapping all of a sudden. Was Rowan crushing on Cora? Awe!

     "Cora's super amazing. She was by my side for each smile, each achievement, each tear shed, and more. I don't know what I would have done without her," I sighed, holding back warm salty tears. The twins and Rowan suddenly hugged and swiped away my tears. Three more people to be there with me.