The bruised guards brought up the prisoner to her shadow. He was ragged and was bleeding in many places. The guards let go of him and he fell to his knees. His rosy blood seeped from his damaged body and puddled on the glass floor. His head was bowed and his otherworldly black hair was hanging loosely over his ears. He was breathing deeply like he was in pain but he didn't lift his hands off the ground.

When she spoke, pixies chattered in the bushes to the sides of the pavilion and the blue air lit up when her breath touched it. Her voice was smooth and soft but confident and powerful. Even her presence was wrapped in a glorious aura.

"Lift your head, Traveler," she said in her magical voice. The guards who were standing to either side of the great pavilion's steps bowed their heads at her voice.

The prisoner slowly lifted his head and his hair fell back to his neck. His dark eyes gleamed in the woman's Godly presence and his warm breath made clouds in the cold, pure air. He could tell that this woman was important and had great powers amongst her but he didn't understand how deep her magic was.

He blinked and the tiny sound of his heavy eyelashes brushing on his skin sounded like a bomb in the perfectly quiet grove. The woman slowly lowered her hand to his face and he kissed the green ring that was on her finger. Her blue dress sleeve fell over her hand and covered the kissed ring from the prisoner.

"You are dying," the woman said sadly. Her words depressed all living things around the entrance of the pavilion and the man shed a single tear. The tear hit the cold glass floor and ran down the step. His breath grew shorter as he kneeled before the woman.

She carefully placed her hand upon his forehead where the hair curled above his eyes and whispered some fancy words into the perfect air. A light arose between her hand and the man and a flash of blue enveloped the man. It lasted a few moments before it faded into the night.

When the prisoner was visible again, his blood was gone and his war wounds healed. He gasped in joy and bowed his head to the woman. She folded her hand back into her dress and nodded to the man.

"What is your name?" she asked. He felt a power hit him and his name was forced from his lips into her presence.

"Fer- Ferrin," he stuttered. The woman nodded and waved her arm down in thanks. "W-what is yours?" he asked bravely. She acknowledged his bravery and nodded.

"My name is Latiya. I am the healing elf of Trier," she replied.

"Thank you for saving me," he said. She nodded.

"It is my job." She motioned to the guards and they took the man's arms in silence. Slowly, they lifted him off his knees as he bowed his head again. Latiya wrapped her hands into her sleeves and held herself in the cold as the healed traveler was carried away.

She bowed her head, looking down at the glass ground with not a wonder in her mind. Her soul was at peace and her heart in rhythm with the world around her.

She turned slowly and took the steps easily up to the pavilion. She stepped in and stepped carefully out of her sandals. Her lover was standing in the hall, waiting for her with calm eyes.

She walked up to him and they embraced deeply before walking to the bedroom. Latiya slid the door shut behind them and took off her dress gracefully. She hung it to the side and lay down in bed next to her lover. Her powerful magic heightened their lovemaking. Latiya so badly wanted a child to care for and call her own.

Her people saw her as an empty shell that healed travelers as they passed through after battle but really, she only wanted to care for a youth for the rest of her happy days.

The next morning, when Latiya woke, her lover was gone and his side of the bed was creased and messy. She stood up and pulled the sheets tight over the mattress. She walked to the window and slid open the shutters, letting the blue morning sun waft into the room, illuminating the dark corners.

She sighed and breathed in the cold air. This day was just the same as all her others as she stepped out of the pavilion and waited as traveler after traveler were brought to her feet to soak in her beauty as she saved them from death.

The weeks went on like this with the only saving grace that she may get pregnant. Her lover would leave her as soon as her womb was filled but Latiya had formed no bond with the man she went to bed with every night.

One morning, she woke up and touched the pale skin on her soft belly. A bulge had appeared when she looked closely and joy that she had never felt before filled her heart.

She went to the steps as usual, but that night, her lover left her. She went to sleep with her delicate fingertips on her growing womb, happy that finally, she would be a mother.

The months went on and Latiya grew larger. Soon, she was bedridden and could not heal any more of the passing travelers. The people of Trier started to wonder what had become of their graceful queen and no longer counted on her power to defend themselves. They became savage and fought among each other, thinking it would help them survive.

One day, an outside tribe attacked and decimated Trier. That was the day that Latiya gave birth to her child.

It was a bad birth and the baby boy would not live. The midwife told this to Latiya and Latiya knew she would have a choice.

She could either save the baby with the last of her strength and die or she could save her strength and let the baby die. Tears came to her eyes as she realized she could never have what she wanted. The midwife looked at he sadly, knowing the decision her queen had to make was not one that most people could bring themselves to do.

Latiya could not bare to allow another creature die and so, with the her remaining strength, she touched the baby's tiny forehead and whispered some words.

Before she cast her magic, she said one last word to the midwife.

"Ferrin," she whispered, naming the baby after the man she had saved so long ago. Latiya shut her eyes and concentrated.

Blue light covered the baby and when it was gone, he was rosy pink and awake and his dear mother lay dead on the bed beside him.

Latiya saved the very last person she would ever save by taking her own life. Now, her baby boy would have to learn to survive in a world of chaos.