Prologue
Katniss
I'm on my knees praying, trancelike, in the godswood of District 12. I know it is forbidden but I feel an urge deep within that does not allow me to rest until I am here. I need solace, I need peace.
I have no means to know how long I stay, but gently the beginnings of sunlight reflect through an array of trees surrounding the weirwood. The face within illuminates and omniscient red eyes burn into me. The old gods know.
When I was just a young girl, my father would bring me here to pray and to spend time with both me and Primrose. It was only us, as my mother was from Storm's End, and they prayed to the new gods. These memories with my Father were all rose-tinted, the trees surrounding the weirwood were thick with red leaves and beautiful white branches. The smell of summer was in the air and there was green grass underneath our feet, even here in the North where summer still meant snow. He died, taken from us all in a mining accident, and now I come here alone. Primrose cannot face it.
Then I met Jon Snow, and my life changed forever.