Chapter One
Cadalyn
The child's name was Cadalyn, and her parents gave up on their efforts to control her when she was a toddler. She was extremely perceptive and intelligent, learning to talk at an early age. Cadalyn was much more insightful than the other children around her, and it was this perceptiveness that caused her to be such a terror. She loved to push rules to their limits and to see what kind of reactions she could get from the people around her. Even as a toddler, she could understand the complex emotions that governed the adults and older children around her, and she fed off these emotions. Cadalyn could manipulate anyone around her. She simply had to experiment and see if the person she desired to influence responded better to sobs or smiles or tantrums or an innocent face.
Her skin was sun-browned, her eyes almond-shaped and soft as a doe's. She was as untamed as the woods she grew up in. Cadalyn could usually be discovered running around with her bare feet, but it was difficult to predict exactly what she would be doing. She never stayed still for long and was never content doing only one thing.
One moment she would be gathering wildflowers to fashion a necklace, the next she would have grown bored of her task and was chasing a dragonfly. Cadalyn was extremely stubborn and had a temper that could flare up in an instant, though generally she was fairly docile.
Even from a young age, she had prided herself on her hair. Once her mother, Elissiana, found the infant staring into her looking-glass and she cried for fear that the child's beauty would cause her to be vain. Cadalyn loved nothing more than for her mother to brush her glossy dark tresses.
The little family was poor. The father, Cyrus, earned a living chopping wood in the dark forest that bordered the meadow where the family's cottage was located. A long scar dominated the left side of his face. They did not speak of it. When infant Cadalyn pointed to it for the first time, her mother quickly shushed her.
There was only one rule Cadalyn was forced to live by: she must not enter the woods. When she was in her third summer her curiosity finally got the best of her and climbed through the brambles that separated the meadow from the forest. When Elissiana spotted the child's green dress disappear into the thicket she let out a scream, dove through the thorns, scooped her up, and raced out again as if being pursued.
Cadalyn was so frightened by her mother's terror that she didn't dare enter the woods again.
Then, when Cadalyn was in her fourth summer, Elissiana became pregnant. She grew weak and her fair hair lost its luster, and the worry lines on Cyrus' brow grew deeper. Cadalyn watched her father stand by Elissiana's bed each morning while she cried and begged him to fetch her the lyndon leaf from the forest.
And every morning, he held her hand and said, "Liss, you know why I can't." It was too much of an effort for her to get out of bed, so Cadalyn played in the wildflowers near the house. Every so often Elissiana would call out to her, her voice thin and pained, to make sure that the child didn't wander too far away.
Once Cadalyn decided not to reply in the hopes that her mother would come out of the house and find her and kiss the top of her head like she had once done. But instead Elissiana stumbled to the door, paler than usual, her green eyes flashing with terror.
She called again to Cadalyn, but made no effort to leave the house, so the child crawled out of the tall flowers in which she had been hiding and ran to the front door.
The relief was evident in her mother's face, so Cadalyn smiled, pleased with her game. Then Elissiana became angry, scolding the child and forcing her to sit in a chair by the window until her father came home.
One night her mother sobbed so painfully that Cyrus could bear it no longer. He tucked the blanket around her, lit a torch, and slipped into the blackness of the woods. Cadalyn watched from the window.
When he returned the sky was a pale gray. From his pocket he removed several purple leaves. He dropped them into a kettle and placed it over the fire. After the water had boiled for several minutes, he poured some of the liquid into a cup and gave it to Elissiana.
She drank, and for the first time in days, her breathing became even and she drifted into a deep sleep.
Before Cyrus left for the forest he placed Cadalyn and his lap and said, "Don't touch your mother's tea. When I get home tonight I will give her some, but until then, forget it is even there."
But Cadalyn did not forget. She minded her father's instructions not to touch the kettle, but she stared at it for several minutes, wondering why it was so special.
Elissiana woke early in the afternoon and called her daughter to her side.
"Cadalyn," she said, "could you please bring me some of that tea?"
But the child shook her head and said, "Papa said I wasn't to touch it until he gets home tonight."
"Oh, but surely since I am asking you he wouldn't mind," Elissiana began. Then she looked Cadalyn, who was obviously struggling to decide which parent to disobey. "Never mind, darling. Could you bring me a biscuit instead?"
Cadalyn was all too pleased to obey her mother's second request, since Elissiana rarely ate until supper when Cyrus fed her broth.
When Cadalyn's father returned home that night, he poured the rest of the tea into a wood cup. It only filled the cup halfway, and Elissiana looked pale again. She drank and drifted off to sleep.
Cyrus left for the woods again the next day, and when her returned home, he had more of the purple leaf in his pockets. He made the tea again, gave it to Elissiana, and her pain lessened.
For days the pattern continued. Cadalyn was nearly forgotten in the routine, and for once she was content to sit quietly and observe her parents' actions.
She lost track of how many cups of tea her mother drank, and finally one night Cyrus woke her, picked her up in his strong arms, and ran to town for the midwife. Cadalyn was left in the care of the baker and his wife, who had no children of their own.
The next morning the baker's wife took Cadalyn back to cottage in the clearing. Elissiana was laying in the bed, looking tired but pleased, and she clutched in her arm a tiny infant.
The baby was christened Avalon, and she was small and sickly with wisps of pale gold hair and gray eyes. For a few hours Cadalyn was content to stare at her new sister, but when she realized that all her parents' attention was being lavished on Avalon, she put her hands and her hips and marched up to Cyrus.
"When are you taking her back?" she said, pointing to the baby. Cyrus just laughed and picked Cadalyn up and swung her around. She was pleased to finally be noticed, but still a little indignant at the sudden arrival of such difficult competition.
For several weeks everything was calm. Avalon was a quiet baby, content to stare up at people from underneath her thick eyelashes. She had much lighter coloring than Cadalyn, making it difficult to tell that they were sisters.
Elissiana recovered from her illness quickly and Cyrus did not venture into the forest, even to cut wood. Cadalyn was pleased that everything had gone back to normal.
Then one night she awoke to the sound of banging on the stout wood door.
"Open this door immediately, Cyrus!" a woman's voice commanded.
Both Cadalyn's parents huddled together in their bed. Elissiana's face had drained of color.
"Cyrus!" the voice called again. Finally he reluctantly swung his legs over the bed and walked to the front door. He opened it slowly and a woman rushed inside.
She had fiery red hair; tall, thin, not extremely pretty but with an air of command.
"Did you think I would forget our deal?" she said, wringing the water from her hair onto the floor.
"No, I . . ." Cyrus sputtered.
"Don't!" she barked. "The baby. Where is she?"
Elissiana stared in horror as the strange woman advanced toward the tiny wooden cradle next to the bed.
"Her name?" she asked, staring at Elissiana as if she was something unpleasant.
"Avalon," she whispered.
The woman stared into the cradle for several moments. Then she whirled around, glaring at Cyrus.
"She doesn't look right," she said. "Her hair! Her skin!"
Cyrus shook his head. "She has Elissiana's coloring . . ." He looked at his pale, golden-haired wife.
"She won't do," the woman said. "We made a bargain and you can't keep your half." She looked around the small room. Finally her eyes landed on Cadalyn, who had the blanket pulled up to her nose.
"You!" she said. "Child! Stand up." Cadalyn looked to her father, who only nodded. Cadalyn slipped out from under the sheets and stood on the floor.
After several moments the woman's eyes lit up.
"Perfect!" she exclaimed almost gleefully. "Oh, Elissiana, she didn't inherit your looks at all. Not that you aren't at least passably pretty, child." She looked back at Cyrus. "I want her instead."
Elissiana cried out, horrified.
"You can't!" she said. "The baby's bad enough. But Cadalyn . . . you can't take her away from her family. Not now. She's too old."
"We had a deal," the woman reminded her. "I kept my promise. Now you keep yours."
Elissiana burst into tears. Cyrus walked slowly to Cadalyn and took her in his arms. He looked into her eyes and said, "Cadalyn, would you like to go visit someone very important?"
She just stared at him, uncertain if she should say yes or no.
"This lady wants to take you to visit someone. Would you go with her?"
"No," Cadalyn said. "I don't want to go."
"But it's very important," he said. "Just for a little while. I promise. Could you do that for me?"
"Just for a little while?" Cadalyn asked. She thought for a moment. "All right."
"Come here, child," the woman said, and Cadalyn cautiously came to her side. The woman turned back to Cyrus and smiled. "We should be on our way."
He nodded stonily and Elissiana's sobs grew louder.
The woman took Cadalyn's hand and rushed out into the rain. Cadalyn rushed as fast as she could with her small legs. She had only walked halfway across the meadow before she had second thoughts.
"Never mind," she said. "I want to go back. I can visit another time." But the woman didn't seem to hear her over the noise of the storm. Cadalyn tugged on her hand, but the woman's grip simply tightened and she pulled the child away.