Prologue
Our youngest, although I could never tell my other children so, was my favorite. She was a strange one from the start (I'll admit), born too early and thought to be too sickly to even live past the age of one. Some how, she had wound up with her biological grandfather's hair and a mix of both Colette's and my own personality. She was very protective of the other children, as well as independent from them. Thankfully she didn't inherit her mother's clumsiness, unlike her older sister. Her eyes, although a seemingly normal brown, blazed with the light of pure thought and wisdom. When she was 10, she was allowed to accompany me through the forest for the first time (I had a sneaking suspicion, that it wasn't really her first). She took to fighting immediately, but instead of my style of two swords like her brother, she chose one. In fact, the day she told me, her voice seemed to bring back old memories and good times: "Dad, I am amazed by your skill and strength, but… two swords just leave you too open. Besides one sword just seems right." At that moment I gave her a side glance and a smile, "Really?" She smirked in response and gave me a glimpse of her pink tongue. She always stuck by her principals and said what was on her mind. The only big difference between her and me… she had no friends. She protected half-elves, younger kids, older kids, but never had any real friends to show for it. I always felt so happy for her braveness; sad for her alone-ness. But it just was her nature to be a loner, something her parents would never understand. She was lucky to grow up in a peaceful world, but also cursed to be a fighter at heart who could not use her skills for what they were made for. I'm sure that was why her life ended the way it did…