'Miah?'
'Yes, Nineveh?'
'Where are our parents?'
Nehemiah shook back his softly-curling chocolate hair and laughed cheerfully. 'Really Nineveh, you ask the silliest questions.'
Nineveh shuffled his feet about a bit, looking embarrassed. 'But, we don't have any parents. Other people have parents. Why?'
Nehemiah smiled broadly, his deep blue eyes twinkling. Miah always looked like an angel when he smiled.
'Well, not us. We're different.'
'How? Where did we come from?'
'The rivers, rocks and trees.'
Nineveh did not say anything, but he eyed his brother carefully, looking incredulous.
'I can see you don't believe me,' Nehemiah chuckled. 'But it's really true. Come sit here and I'll tell you how it happened.'
He pat the spot next to him on the log he was perched on, and Nineveh glided to his side obediently.
'A long, long time ago, there was a Sidhe king who ruled the fairest tribe of the noble fey, under a great tor. The sidhe king had only one child, a beautiful young daughter. At the sidhe princess's birth a prophecy had been told that she would perish in the forests outside the tor, leaving the sidhe without an heir. The king loved his daughter and his people, and was afraid to let the young princess venture outside his kingdom. He kept her locked away for one hundred years, and she never saw the sunlight, nor walked in the wilds beyond his regal halls.
'One day, a traveller stumbled into the sidhe realm. He was a great prince from bright, faraway lands, and he had become lost in the mists. The sidhe tribe was good and kind, and they brought him in and fed him from their table, served him their wine, and offered him to dance in their halls. In that time, mortals feared the sidhe halls and told stories of men entering never to return, but the prince was young and strong, and he did not fear the superstitions of the peasant folk. He was a gracious man and accepted their invitation.
'But time passes differently in the sidhe realm, and whether by accident or design, the man stayed what to him seemed only a few days, but to the mortal world turned to decades.
'During this time, the young prince had caught glimpses of the beautiful sidhe princess, and they began to fall in love. The prince went to the sidhe king and begged that the princess be allowed to join him in the land of man, to have her hand in marriage and make her a queen in his distant kingdom.
'The sidhe king was furious at this, for he knew that the propecy may truly come to pass should his daughter venture from his halls. He forbade the prince his daughter's hand, but the prince persisted, and finally carried the maiden off, fleeing the enchanted castle. The king gathered all of his warriors, and the lovers were chased into the forests.
'As the young prince and his bride fled, a stray arrow meant for the prince, fired from the warriors' mighty bows, struck the princess instead, and she fell to the ground. The princess knew that if the warriors overtook them, she would never join her prince in the realm of man. She made the the arrow grow and entangle her, until she became a tall, strong oak, and in this great oak was a hollow where her prince could take refuge and hide as the warriors passed by. Though she would never escape the branches of the mighty tree, she knew that in this way her love would be safe, and so the princess sacrificed herself for her prince.
'The prince, upon seeing his lovely bride so changed, crawled into the hollow of the oak tree and mourned bitterly. Though the sidhe passed him by, he would not leave her side, and he stayed there in the mighty oak until he became like stone.
'The sidhe princess saw her prince become changed as she had, and wept in the only way that a great oak can weep. From her long branches dropped a small tear-shaped acorn, part dark as night and part light as day, and on the stone that had once been the prince the acorn landed, split asunder. From one half stepped the lord of the forest, and from the other half the child of the moon. And they were named Nehemiah and Nineveh. And that is where we came from.'
Nehemiah leaned back with a satisfied look, his story finished.
Nineveh laughed, flashing his twin a tender but disbelieving smile. 'Miah! That's not really what happened... Is it?'
'Yes, Nineveh?'
'Where are our parents?'
Nehemiah shook back his softly-curling chocolate hair and laughed cheerfully. 'Really Nineveh, you ask the silliest questions.'
Nineveh shuffled his feet about a bit, looking embarrassed. 'But, we don't have any parents. Other people have parents. Why?'
Nehemiah smiled broadly, his deep blue eyes twinkling. Miah always looked like an angel when he smiled.
'Well, not us. We're different.'
'How? Where did we come from?'
'The rivers, rocks and trees.'
Nineveh did not say anything, but he eyed his brother carefully, looking incredulous.
'I can see you don't believe me,' Nehemiah chuckled. 'But it's really true. Come sit here and I'll tell you how it happened.'
He pat the spot next to him on the log he was perched on, and Nineveh glided to his side obediently.
'A long, long time ago, there was a Sidhe king who ruled the fairest tribe of the noble fey, under a great tor. The sidhe king had only one child, a beautiful young daughter. At the sidhe princess's birth a prophecy had been told that she would perish in the forests outside the tor, leaving the sidhe without an heir. The king loved his daughter and his people, and was afraid to let the young princess venture outside his kingdom. He kept her locked away for one hundred years, and she never saw the sunlight, nor walked in the wilds beyond his regal halls.
'One day, a traveller stumbled into the sidhe realm. He was a great prince from bright, faraway lands, and he had become lost in the mists. The sidhe tribe was good and kind, and they brought him in and fed him from their table, served him their wine, and offered him to dance in their halls. In that time, mortals feared the sidhe halls and told stories of men entering never to return, but the prince was young and strong, and he did not fear the superstitions of the peasant folk. He was a gracious man and accepted their invitation.
'But time passes differently in the sidhe realm, and whether by accident or design, the man stayed what to him seemed only a few days, but to the mortal world turned to decades.
'During this time, the young prince had caught glimpses of the beautiful sidhe princess, and they began to fall in love. The prince went to the sidhe king and begged that the princess be allowed to join him in the land of man, to have her hand in marriage and make her a queen in his distant kingdom.
'The sidhe king was furious at this, for he knew that the propecy may truly come to pass should his daughter venture from his halls. He forbade the prince his daughter's hand, but the prince persisted, and finally carried the maiden off, fleeing the enchanted castle. The king gathered all of his warriors, and the lovers were chased into the forests.
'As the young prince and his bride fled, a stray arrow meant for the prince, fired from the warriors' mighty bows, struck the princess instead, and she fell to the ground. The princess knew that if the warriors overtook them, she would never join her prince in the realm of man. She made the the arrow grow and entangle her, until she became a tall, strong oak, and in this great oak was a hollow where her prince could take refuge and hide as the warriors passed by. Though she would never escape the branches of the mighty tree, she knew that in this way her love would be safe, and so the princess sacrificed herself for her prince.
'The prince, upon seeing his lovely bride so changed, crawled into the hollow of the oak tree and mourned bitterly. Though the sidhe passed him by, he would not leave her side, and he stayed there in the mighty oak until he became like stone.
'The sidhe princess saw her prince become changed as she had, and wept in the only way that a great oak can weep. From her long branches dropped a small tear-shaped acorn, part dark as night and part light as day, and on the stone that had once been the prince the acorn landed, split asunder. From one half stepped the lord of the forest, and from the other half the child of the moon. And they were named Nehemiah and Nineveh. And that is where we came from.'
Nehemiah leaned back with a satisfied look, his story finished.
Nineveh laughed, flashing his twin a tender but disbelieving smile. 'Miah! That's not really what happened... Is it?'
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