Prologue

“Oh, Auntie, look!” said the excited girl from her bedroom window high in the old mansion. Fifteen years old and she still didn’t know how they came to live in the ancient fortress. If it weren’t for the spells Auntie cast, a person could push at the garden wall and it would crumble. That person would have easy access to the treasures of the garden her aunt tended year-round.

Aunt Lilith rushed to the window to see what the girl was on about. Passing outside the garden walls, a carefree youth had stopped to closely examine a spot on the ground. Then he gently lifted a baby bird and set it in a nest above his head. It seemed he spent a moment accepting the thanks of the mother bird, who sang to him.

The youth glanced at the garden wall, stepped toward it, and looked around, then wandered on past the mansion and into town.

“Isn’t he beautiful, Auntie?”

“He is well-formed,” Lilith admitted.

“And kind! He helped a poor little bird.”

“And kind.”

“May I go meet him?”

“And shifty,” Lilith answered. “Did you see him start toward the garden wall? He’s gone now, but he’s plotting a way to get in. He was not here to see you. He only wanted fruit from the garden. One day, perhaps you will meet, when the time is ripe.”

“Oh, Auntie! When?”

Lilith scowled at her niece.

“When you are old enough to look for other qualities in a man besides whether he is handsome and kind. Now go about your lessons.”

The girl sighed, but went to her desk to study the ancient manuscript and practice the fundamental incantations.

Lilith knew the time was coming. She’d grown so attached to the girl over the years, it would be hard to let go. She’d thought when she claimed the child from her cruel parents, she would raise her as a servant and have a comfort in her old age. But she’d grown to love the girl. She had become closer than a daughter. Lilith would certainly not tolerate losing her to the first handsome boy who came along. At least not right away.

Lilith went to the garden she tended every day. While she pulled weeds and harvested vegetables for their dinner, she reinforced the spells that held the ancient walls together and kept people out. She certainly wanted no one crossing her boundaries!