Prologue

He was in a field of maize. There was a man before him before him, tall and regal. A green cloak covered his shoulders. Held with a brooch wrought in the emblem of Zuratia, his hair was light brown and long. It hid his eyes until he looked up towards him.

He felt as if he knew this man, as the man looked up. He saw his eyes, his lips uttered but two words, "Protect her..."

Conrad woke with a start.

That dream again. He knew that field of maize was in Zuratia. He had seen when Greta unwittingly brought him into her memory with the others while trying to remember her mother's face. But this figure was not Lady Izura. It was a man...

A man with Greta's brown eyes...