Chapter 1
Two trolls were walking down a forest trail when they heard crying nearby. They stopped, surprised. The smaller of the two, a troll named Fern, grunted.
“Did you hear that?” Fern asked her companion, Twig.
“What was it?” He asked.
“It sounded like a crying baby. Let’s go look!”
They followed the sound until they found a woven basket under a tree. Fern walked closer and gasped when she saw inside the basket screamed a little baby human wrapped in a wool blanket.
“Oh, You poor thing!” Fern said as she picked up the baby, “There, there. It’s alright. Don’t cry. You’re safe now.”
“It’s a human child.” Twig said, “Does it have a name?” Fern looked under the folds of the blanket and saw the name ‘Helen’ stitched across it, but said nothing. The trolls looked around the forest to see any sign of whoever had left the baby, but no one was around.
“Who would leave their child in the middle of the woods?” Fern wondered.
Twig scowled, “Those foolish humans, they’re always leaving their children behind. If I see them, I’ll throw rocks at them.”
Fern glared at Twig. “Twig! How could you say that. Not all humans are fools. I’ve seen their village from a distance. The children were always with the older ones wherever they go!”
She put baby Helen back into the basket. “Come now. We must take the child to the King!” The troll couple carried the baby in her basket back to their valley. It took hours to follow the hidden trail through the woods. It took a while, but eventually little Helen stopped crying, and then would occasionally burst out in a random giggle. Fern couldn’t keep a calm smile off her face.
After entering their home valley, Twig and Fern approached the ancient Troll King were he always sat, on a throne made of rocks inside the highest cave. He held a plain wooden branch as his scepter.
“My daughter, you have come.” The cave made the Troll King’s voice rumble out from the shadows. “What did you bring?”
Fern grinned, “Father, we found a human baby in the forest.”
“Is the child from the House of Chairn?” The king asked.
The two trolls looked at each other in confusion. Twig coughed and stepped forward. “We couldn’t tell, Your Majesty. But, we saw that the name ‘Helen’ is stitched on her blanket.”
The Troll King hummed, then said, “Let me see the child.” Fern handed the basket to the king, who then looked down at the baby. Helen stared up at him with her emerald green eyes, then she smiled, cooed, and reached out her small hands towards his face. After looking over her for a few minutes of silence, the king said, “The child is not from the House of Chairn. She doesn’t have raven hair, blue eyes, or skin white as snow. But, Fern, my daughter, you must listen to my command. You will raise this child, and tell her about the prophecy when she is older.”
Fern looked shocked. “But Father, I shan’t take care of a baby, a human child!”
The king stood up to his full height from his throne. The ground rumbled as he yelled, “Do what I say or you will be banished from this valley!”
Fern backed away, bowed her head low, and softly said, “Yes, Father.”
A few hours later, inside her hut, Fern rocked Helen from side to side while the baby whimpered. “Hush, child, close your eyes and sleep. I’m your mother now.”
