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Chapter 1

Toff was seventeen and his life was in ruins He didn't look seventeen or anywhere near that age Twelve was closer to the ainst hih he kept up easily with his work and in all the lessons

Today was one of the bad days Toff ju day of harvesting grapes, throwing off his clothing just as the others did The boys he sere all proud of what they had between their legs Toff didn't have that Had never had that The word eunuch had been whispered around hi the summer and early fall At first, he hadn't knohat the word meant Toff had learned, however, and the revelation embarrassed him He was less than the others

"It's nothing," his e nine At the tie would pair up at tiether, down by the pond or into one of the orchards Toff saw their smiles as they returned The older boys didn't hold back their sneers or taunts either, whenever they caught Toff looking their way Of course, they never did it around the elders—they knew better Toff's persecution was always done away froht intervene

"Mother, tell ain what I am," Toff sat dejectedly at the kitchen table while his mother worked to finish dinner

"You're Vionnu—from Vionn That's where I adopted you, my son" Redbird smiled at him She was beautiful—most of her race was Redbird had red hair the color of iven her the name—she was of the Briar Clan and Tiearan, her father, was Head of the Green Fae settlement Redbird's skin was clear and youthful in appearance, her eyes a vibrant green She had power, just as the other Green Fae and their Half-Fae children did, and that was so else Toff would never have

Redbird's race was a small one—they called themselves Green Birth, a branch of Fae that ate no e in any form of physical violence They often side many Half-Fae and their all-hu Toff's short life and now held nearly two thousand members, most of them humanoid

"Are all Vionnu like me?" Toff had asked this question before, but Redbird always said she didn't know

"My son, you know I do not have an answer to that question," she tousled his straight, dark hair before setting plates on the square table in their tidy kitchen Lengths of tied garlic hung beside the stove and tightly sealed jars of herbs and spices stood in neat rows upon the counters Toff's adoptive father, Corent River, often set Toff to sanding and polishing the wood countertops Corent was Half-Fae, but he had power, just as the other Half-Fae did Toff only had the strength of his hands, which was another reason he was often teased and humiliated

Toff's first memories of Corent had been of the Half-Fae's hands—they were large and gentle when he showed Toff how to sand the wood or smooth the stones set in the floor of Toff's bedroom Corent had built the addition to the house that becah to have a room to himself," Corent had smiled at Redbird and took Toff to select the trees to cut for the wood

"What were the Vionnu like?" Toff was still atte to obtain information about the planet of his birth as he took a seat at the table Idly he traced the edge of the blue plate Redbird set before him

"Like many other races No more questions, I must finish dinner Your father will be home soon" Redbird turned her back on him and busied herself at the stove

Corent came in moments later, his hair a dark blue, whichin a clear sky outside Corent's hair, like that of a handful of Green Fae, changed with the weather It becaloomy Deep blue meant a sunny sky outside Toff had learned to look to his adoptive father's hair as the barometer for the outside climate

"Son, hoas the grape harvest?" Corent smiled at Toff