prologue A girl, no more than seven years old, was happily playing in the grass outside her hut. She had five dolls, three appeared to be roman soldiers and the remaining two were a man and a woman, although the man had longer hair than the woman did. Blissfully unaware that roman soldiers were nearby, fetching young boys and men. She continued to play, making the man and woman fight the soldiers. The Romans saw her and one leaned down and grabbed her long flame red curls and lifted her up, ignoring her screams of pain.
A man, the larger version of the doll, raced out of the hut, his expression of worry quickly contorting into of anger. Before he could stop them, they'd walked off with his daughter. He thought he'd never see her again.
A knight scouted through the forest, trying to stay focussed on his task. But his mind wandered to his daughter. She'd be twenty-two now. He could see her in his mind's eye. A beautiful petite girl with long strawberry blonde curls and big golden eyes like his. She would be identical to her mother except for his eyes. She was most likely dead by now. He had to face the facts. She was dead, there was hardly any doubt in his mind. Although there was a little voice in the back of his head that said she's alive and you know it.
He shook his head and finished scouting. It's been fifteen years, she's gone. He reached up with one hand and brushed away the solitary tear trickling down his face.
A man, the larger version of the doll, raced out of the hut, his expression of worry quickly contorting into of anger. Before he could stop them, they'd walked off with his daughter. He thought he'd never see her again.
A knight scouted through the forest, trying to stay focussed on his task. But his mind wandered to his daughter. She'd be twenty-two now. He could see her in his mind's eye. A beautiful petite girl with long strawberry blonde curls and big golden eyes like his. She would be identical to her mother except for his eyes. She was most likely dead by now. He had to face the facts. She was dead, there was hardly any doubt in his mind. Although there was a little voice in the back of his head that said she's alive and you know it.
He shook his head and finished scouting. It's been fifteen years, she's gone. He reached up with one hand and brushed away the solitary tear trickling down his face.