Eibhlin felt as though she had just awoken from a nightmare. Sunlight danced with leafy shadows, birds trilled their melodies, and the grass around her smelled sweet. It was like the morning among the elves after the attack, only this nightmare had been worse and so the waking all the better. With much protest from sore muscles, she sat up. At once she knew where she was, even though she had never seen this particular place before, but the colors were too bright and the smells too pleasant, and the sunlight too tangible for it to be mistakable. She was back in Mealla’s realm, and in her hand she still gripped the hammer. Beside her, leaning upright against a tree, sat a kithara.

“Mel?”

“Yes, Milady.”

Tears welled up in Eibhlin’s eyes. She pulled Melaioni close and laid her forehead on the instrument’s crossbar. “Oh, Mel!” she whimpered. “I had the most awful dream!”

“Call it not a dream, Milady,” said the instrument. “Unless you propose we shared the same vision, and what a terrible one, indeed! I tried, Milady; I tried to speak with you, to tell you everything, but at any attempt, I found my voice muted, caged within me. And when I spoke to you after we got back, the weight of my sorrows so pressed upon me, I lost the will to speak. Oh, Milady, my strings shudder at the mere memory of my grief!”

“But Mel, if it wasn’t a dream, why do I remember everything? Wasn’t that the deal, that I would return the hammer in exchange for my memories?” she asked.

“But you never returned it. If you had, the deal would have been final, but you did not. Instead, you came back here,” said Mel.

By now, Eibhlin’s tears were running down the kithara’s sound box. She cried a while longer before she found her voice again. “Mel, oh Mel, I couldn’t do it! I couldn’t return it to him! It was just… it was all wrong! He isn’t supposed to be like that! Home isn’t supposed to be like that! Mel, it’s not supposed to be like that! I didn’t want him to forget me or for me to forget him. I didn’t want to give the hammer back like that. That’s not what I wanted!”

“Then what did you want?” Mel asked.

Eibhlin gasped back another sob. She slowly brushed her hand over the instrument, tracing her fingers along the decorations and carvings. She felt the cool metal and warm wood. A deep, shaking sigh ran through her body.

The kithara’s voice came again, deep and warm and kind.

“What do you truly want, Eibhlin?”

All restraint gave in to that gentle question, and her tears flowed freely. Between cries, Eibhlin said, “I… I want him to remember me. I want him to care about me. I want him to be my father! I want to be the daughter he loves!”

“And why can’t you?”

“Because I hurt him!” said Eibhlin. “I got angry, and even if I didn’t think it in that moment, I knew selling the hammer would hurt him. But I didn’t know how much! I just wanted him to notice me more. I just wanted him to care about me. But I hurt him. I hurt him so much! I was wrong! Everything was wrong. What I did, what I said, it was wrong!” Eibhlin’s throat hurt, and she could hardly breathe. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I was scared. I… I had to make it right. I had to fix things so that Papa would love me again. I had to get the hammer back. But, Mel, if I have to stop being his daughter to do that… Oh, Mel! I can’t! It would be pointless! I can’t do it!”

“Then what will you do?” said another voice.

Eibhlin looked up. Mealla stood before her, as beautiful and powerful as before. The girl trembled and flinched when the fairy knelt beside her. However, the fairy’s eyes held none of the cold hardness of their last parting, and her touch was warm and gentle as she reached up and brushed the girl’s bangs from her eyes. With hands like a blanket on a cold, rainy day, she touched Eibhlin’s cheek, softly wiping tears. “What will you do, Eibhlin?”

The girl’s voice trembled as she said, “I will go back. I have to go back and tell Papa I was wrong, that I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!”

“He might still reject you. He might never forgive you,” said Mealla.

Eibhlin’s chest tightened further, but she said, “Even so, I must go back.”

The fairy nodded. “Then you understand our contract is canceled. We agreed that I would take your memories, and you would receive and return the hammer. However, if you wish to leave here and still remember….”

“Yes. I know,” Eibhlin said. She held out the hammer. “Lady Mealla, thank you, but I must reject your offer.”

The fairy took the hammer. “Very well,” she said, and Eibhlin almost thought she saw the Lady smile.

Eibhlin and Mel remained in Mealla’s realm till the next morning.

“Your ankle must be treated,” said the Lady. “Only that, though. Anymore, and I shall have to charge you for my services. And you can rest safely here. Tonight, you shall be under my protection. The Fae Moon’s poison is also countered here; it cannot hurt you, not much. So, rest until tomorrow.”