Prologue

The sun was shining rather weakly as it fought its way through the numerous clouds that had cluttered the sky. Inea turned to look out of the window next to her. Her family estate stretching out for great distances. She could imagine the little things that would go unnoticed until she could approach them herself on foot. Her mother was overprotective, Inea was only eight.

Among the gathering mist, she saw a lone figure. A man on horseback. His riding cloak fluttered dangerously in the wind. The young girl could scarcely tear her gaze away from the figure. His effect on her was strange. It was deeply alluring to stare at the unknown figure.

In an instant, Inea could sense the rapidness of her heart beats, the terrified pace of her breathing. The child threw her book down on the lounge that she had been resting on and hurled herself out of the room. She ran as far away from that window as possible. For something in that little girl’s mind had told her that the man on horseback was dangerous, dangerous and unreal.

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The room she had fled would have been ghostly quiet had it not been for a gentle whistling. The window Inea had been seated by was open a crack, the strong wind slipped into the room. The wind became a sudden howling. There was a slam as the window was thrown back. The sound of glass shattering on the ground two stories below echoed.

Slowly, the cloaked figure on horseback turned his steed around. He disappeared into the surrounding mists.