Prologue
The moon broke through the clouds to reveal a girl running through the trees. Her hair streamed out behind her, snagging on branches as she went . Suddenly the ground became slick with mud and she lost her footing, tumbling over the edge of the embankment and into the river below. She gasped as cold water flooded over her head and filled her mouth and nose. She kicked her legs, fighting to reach the surface. The current swept her onward away from her home and the man who she was to marry.
