Urei shut the heavy wooden door behind her and made her way into the kitchen. Her head was swimming, so she had to do something to keep herself busy, at least for a little while. She put a kettle of water over the hearth-fire to boil. Hearing footsteps behind her, Urei got up and turned around to face her brother Kage. "Oh, Kage," Urei said, "perfect timing! Would you please go clean those rabbits for dinner?" Urei asked, trying to be cheerful, even though she felt like her head would split in two. Kage only looked at her, his face expressionless. Urei waited a moment, then waved her hand in front of her brother's face, saying,"Kage? Are you al-" Suddenly, Kage's hand shot out at Urei's head, tousling her hair. "Kage!" Urei yelled, "what did you do that for?!" Urei smoothed her long silver hair back with both hands, and it fell neatly back into place, for the most part. She had been blessed with fine, pin-straight hair, which usually cooperated in times like this, but rarely cooperated any other time.

      "Stop worrying so much, little sister. At least you can finally ask Mother all those questions you've been pestering me with all these years." "Yes, I suppose you're right," Urei said, doing her best to look happier. "But then why do I feel so uneasy, as if the whole world were changing around me, and there's nothing I can do about it?" Urei thought. Breaking out of her reverie once again, Urei shoved Kage out the door. "Now go clean those rabbits for me, all right? Thanks!" Picking up where she left off, Urei went to the pantry in the corner of the kitchen and brought out some vegetables to chop up for the rabbit stew she was planning on making. As she chopped, diced, and minced, Urei thought about the situation some more, but got nowhere. "It's just like Kage said, I have to ask Mother," she concluded. "I have to ask her everything."

      Not much later, Urei emerged from the kitchen, red-faced and carrying a steaming tea kettle in one hand and trying to cradle four teacups in her other arm. A mouthwatering aroma filled the room as Urei poured the tea for everyone and sat down. "You must have learned that from your father," Kenmei said with a smile as she breathed in the delicious scent. "He became quite the cook after we left Qualinesti, and I was never very good at it myself." "So you are an elf then," Kage said, "but then why did you and Father have to leave Qualinesti?" "No Kage," Kenmei said, smiling sadly,"I come from a more ancient, and lesser known people. I am fae, a fairy. You and your sister are both half-fae." "But you look just like an elf," Kage said, frowning. "Why would the elves have made you and Father leave?" Her smile now gone, Kenmei said,"Fairies don't exactly have the best of reputations. Most are considered to be bad luck, and the rest are considered to be purely evil. One of the elders recognized me for who I was, and I -" "But why did you leave us?" Urei interrupted. Everyone looked at Urei, who's head was bowed. She lifted her head, and her eyes glittered with tears that she was fighting to hold back, making them look like beams of light playing with the waves of a cold gray sea.

      Kenmei's heart broke as she looked at her daughter's face. How could she ask her to do anything, she who had hurt her only daughter so badly. She bowed her own head, and whispered,"I had to. I had no choice. If I could have taken you all with me, I would have, but even I have rules that I must follow." Kenmei took a napkin off the table and wiped the tears from her face. She cleared her throat and put the napkin back on the table, and stared at her hands for a moment. "I will tell you both everything, Kage and Urei. Your father already knows most of it, but I do owe it to you to explain it all. It may not make much sense at first, but it is all part of who you are."

      She looked up at her children, and began. "There were nine planets surrounding the sun, including this one. Together, all nine planets made up a galaxy, called the Andromeda Galaxy. Each planet has fae people to watch over and protect it, the lives of it's creatures, and the balance of good and evil on that planet," Kenmei explained. "Within each group of fae people on each planet, there is a sort of royalty amongst them, and when each line of royalty began is unknown, as the fae have been with their planets since time began." Kenmei paused and looked at Junsui, as if to receive some kind of encouragement. He took his wife's hand, and that seemed to be all Kenmei had needed, because she looked back at her children and said,"I am the Queen of the Fae People of Ansalon, chief protector of this planet, and also the Queen of the Galaxy Andromeda."