Darklover
Sila pressed her face to an arrow-slit in the wall of her family's keep, trying to see out. A warm wind blew from the Blight, bringing a rich, heady scent like fields at harvest; of life unfettered and unafraid. From far in the distance came a high, sweet fluting of voices, tugging her soul.
She ground her teeth. How she hated these walls holding her prisoner, while marvels lay just beyond her reach. Her brothers and cousins had all left, many to hunt Trollocs. She was forbidden to leave the keep, forced to act happy when they came home boasting of how many they had killed. Inside, she wept for every death.
There seemed no escape. No man would marry the strange girl who liked Shadowspawn. She was a skilled healer, so she might be able to make a living treating villagers' ailments. But without the freedom and companionship she longed for, her life would be misery.
Suddenly, there he was—a Myrddraal gliding out of the Blight. Her breath caught. Peace, but he was beautiful. Tall, slim, with gleaming black hair and skin the pristine white of new snow. The liquid grace of his movements set her pulse racing, and without pause for thought she was running down the stairs, through the keep and out the door, towards him.
Her brother Taeric was entering the keep when she tore past him. Following her with his eyes, he saw the Myrddraal at the edge of the forest. Gasping in fear, he sprinted after her and grabbed her arm. "Sila, nooo!"
A fire kindled within Sila, born from years of beatings and stern lectures, silent tears and desperate loneliness. Rage washing over her, she turned and sunk her teeth into Taeric's hand.
He screamed and let go, and she ran off, beyond capture. He ran back to the keep, crying that Sila had run off with a Fade.
Eran sighed sadly and closed his eyes. "Her heart was ever given to the Blight. Why will remain a mystery"
Their father's eyes grew hard as obsidian. "No child of mine turns to the Shadow. I have no daughter, and the woman who for nineteen years has lived ungratefully under this roof will henceforth be known as Sila Darklover."
