Prologue

The beryl hue of the midmorning sky, bright and luminous, casted moving and shifting shadows from small and interspersed clouds across the lands sprawled out beyond the monastery. Innumerous shades of malachite mosses and grass sprawled out in every direction, the morning dew shimmering beneath the impending sunlight. In the distance, grave and jagged cliffs jutted from the earth, upward toward the clouds, carving a wall of mountains, their edges, from a distance, blade-like but not ominous. Life sprouted from every corner, every trickling stream, every tall shrub. Large stones smoothed by the running water of the estuary lay within the bubbling drink, their tops barely visible after the week's rain.

Caiside, standing at the window of her room, tilted her head to the side, only now noticing how specifically the stones were placed by nature, as if the hand of God himself carefully measured and moved each boulder, watching as the years of running waters wore away at the crumbling and rough surface, creating a smooth and perfect stepping stone far out into the waters. Directly beneath her sill, at the base of the large stone monastery, were imperfectly planted flowers sprouting from the earth, their colors only beginning to blossom as they woke with the light, pushing the shadows of night from their petals.

Much like the blooming flowers below, Caiside felt like she had only begun to reveal the very colors of her soul. But at the same time, she had never felt more at home or more at peace than she had the last ten months there at the abandoned monastery, surrounded by people who had become a family to her. Where she came from, gray clouds held tenancy, bringing the rains pouring from above on a near daily basis. Thinking back to childhood, long before she was plagued with so much loss and sadness, she swore she could remember playing in the fields of her father's clan under the warm sparkling sunlight. Then again, the child's mind had a tendency to create whatever world they needed or wanted.

In some ways, Caiside missed that childhood imagination, but after everything she had been through, she knew her days of flightful fantasy and beautiful adolescent dreams were long gone. She had become a woman before it was even her time to do so. Life demanded it of her, and she met its call.

The sound of laughter below the sill drew Caiside's attention away from the past and those dark and trying times. She smiled, watching her six friends, almost sisters to her by that point, dancing through the grasses on their way out for their morning chores. They were free from the constraints of a normal Highland woman, their hair wild and flowing, skirts dirty at the hem, and their bare feet always covered in moss and grasses. Caiside could feel that free spirit coursing through her own veins.

"Don't ferget the heather, or ye won't be brewin' any ale fer the summer solstice," an older voice echoed from right below Caiside's window.

Caiside peeked over the edge and smiled at the older woman. Though she could only see the top of her head and her slim figure, her hands exhaustively perched on her hips as she watched the women run off into the fields, Caiside knew exactly what face she was making. Her brow would be pulled together, with two small folds of skin perched above the bridge of her nose. Her light blue eyes were almost gray in the bright sunlight. Her white hair, brushed and parted in the center, cascading down her back to her waist, sparkling from the herbal treatments she washed with.

Though the woman's skin was kissed for many years by the sun of the Northern Highlands, she had only begun to show the appearance of the years of teaching and healing that she had endured. As she watched the girls skipping and singing, her brow would slowly unfurl, and a comical grin would pull at her lips, her crows' feet deepening as the laughter began to fill her chest.

Caiside smiled down at the unaware healer below until the woman turned, tilting her head upward as if she knew Caiside had been there all along. Immediately, Caiside stood up and took a step back from the window, her surprised expression returning to a pleasant smile as she walked over and sat back down at the small desk in her quarters. That woman down below had become so special to Caiside. She had become a mother figure, a teacher, a caregiver, and an always patient and still-tempered guide through the turmoil Caiside had spent months shedding from her old life.

Each of Caiside's small delicate fingers tapped against the parchment in front of her as she thought of her mentor, and how much she had given to Caiside since they met. The comforted smile slowly faded as her eyes dropped to the letter in front of her. She sighed heavily, knowing that, by nightfall, the promise she had made the healer would be broken, something she was not proud or happy to be doing. But life had a funny way of shifting one's path with sudden sharp movements, like the cracking and falling jagged stones at the top of the distant mountains.

And life without him …it didn't seem possible to Caiside.

The slow and steady thumping of Caiside's heart sped up at the mere thought of him. And with every thump of care, a beat of heartbreak followed, unsure of what she would find. Ever since the prior day, Caiside had asked herself over and over if leaving the monastery, her newfound family, was the right thing to do, not sure if she would even find him out there. And each and every time she questioned it, his face would flutter through her mind. She knew the answer was yes . Caiside had to find him. She had to know the truth. It was the least she could do. She owed him so much, after all.

A sudden gust of wind swirled through Caiside's window, whipping around her, over the letter on her desk and back outside. There was a frigid edge to the air, yet it was far too late in the season for it to be a winter chill. The icy breeze pulled Caiside from her thoughts and daydreams, waking her with a sudden jolt. She slapped her hand down on the flapping edges of the parchment, trying to catch the quill rolling for the floor with her other hand.

As the pen hit her palm, a knock rang out. Caiside glanced over her shoulder, seeing the shadow of feet and movement cutting over the light shining narrowly from beneath the door. "Yes, one moment. I'm comin'."

Caiside quickly covered the letter with a book on her desk and placed the quill into the drawer, quietly shutting it. As she made her way to the door, she glanced back at the desk. By the time the moon was high, she would have broken her promise. By the time the moon was high, Caiside would be gone.