Ch. 1-The first nightmares.

There was no way for the people my mother's small village in España to deny that the man who came looking for treasure was of noble birth, or that he was from the north, what with his dark gold hair and pale skin. Of course, that didn't stop my mother. She saw him for what he was…a good man. Elaina begged her father to let him work for lodging when he asked. That was the first of many things she did for him.

Much later (about two years) my grandfather agreed to let them marry, if only they stayed and lived at the blacksmith's shop. And they did.

Elaina soon gifted him with a beautiful little girl…yes, that's me. They raised me with two younger brothers, who I loved dearly, though we often fought. We were a happy family…except for one thing…my curse.

My father, Wilhelm, was chopping firewood, while my mother did the laundry. I was out in the woods collecting herbs…then I heard the screams. The tiny thatch and mud house I had lived in was burning. I ran to my home, worried that there was someone still inside, but my father caught me.

"No, child, you have to run! Get away from here!" he yelled in our tongue as the men grabbed us. Father fought for all he was worth, and so did I…until I saw my mother in the grass, blood turning the ground beneath her into mud.

"MAMÁ!" I dug my elbow into the gut of the man holding me, making him let go of me. I ran to her, my father close behind me calling out her name. We collapsed next to her, crying.

The men were bearing down on us, and Father pressed something into my hand before getting up and running at the men in black leather. But they cut him down with ease, as if he were a young boy rather than the ox-like man that he was. I screamed at the sight of my family being slaughtered in front of me. I pressed my face to the dirt, seeking comfort from the earth as I often did as a child…but none came. I heard my father moan, so I crawled to him.

"Papá, por favor, no me dejan…*" I begged him.

He just smiled, "Mi…flor…" Father struggled against the wounds that pulled the life from his body. " Recuerde que su familia. Acuérdate de nosotros, mija, la flor…**"

Suddenly, a snake started slithering along his body. It reached his head and sank its wicked fangs into his neck. I watched in horror as his life light drained from his eyes. I closed my eyes and started crying, until I felt something touch my hand, and I looked right up into the lamp-like eyes of the snake, my worst fear. It's piercing gaze froze me like a helpless bird.

I didn't hear anyone give the order, but I was suddenly being pulled away from the terrible beast.

In the days that followed, I began to wish the snake had bitten me. The men were brutal, and they had there way with me and the other twenty-five girls they had also kidnapped from various villages. I was eight years old.

It took us three months to get to Albion, a frozen country in the month of December. Most of us had no shoes, and the blankets they gave us were hardly adequate for the freezing temperatures that we marched through. Many of the girls died along the way, before we finally made it to our destination…Camelot. My father had often spoken of his home with fondness, as a place of reverence. But now, the people stared at us as if we were mange-ridden dogs. These people with their full bellies and thick cloaks, why did they not try to help us? Did they not see the torture in our eyes? The answer was no.

*Father, please, don't leave me…

**My…flower…Remember your family. Remember us, my daughter, the flower…