Prologue: Clipped Wings

The girl had been here only a few days, only a few days and yet it seemed so much had changed. Aspen, he was different from when he had left, it had been only a month or two and yet he seemed so changed. He often came back different when dealing with mortals, they all did, more impatient and irritable. But this was different.

The girl was still asleep and they could see the ugly metal burned into her back and the nurse made to carve it out. The woman was a healer but with a wound like this there would be no way to keep it from scaring. Saron had helped with removing the metal, guiding the healer to where small shavings or pieces remained before she began to heal over the wounds. They left deep ugly grooves in the girl's back. After a few minutes the healers had said the rest the girl would have to do on her own though it looked to them like the slightest movement would tear the wounds open again.

Now they watched from a window, looking at this girl their queen had ordered brought to her and with such haste. And she thought that the girl seemed awfully small for someone Queen Aine believed would soon loom so large