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But I still can’tins to bead on my forehead and the more I try to look away, the more forcibly my head is held still

Aramei reaches out both of her hands to me and my body leans toward her of its own accord

"You seeher lips, "…Findbut pain and desperation in those tords, which shakesdown my hot cheeks, my entire body shudders and treet closer it feels as though tiers touchhurled off the top of a skyscraper I feel likea thousand miles per second I try to screa with any control overupward at me, I try to prepare my mind to brace for the impact But instead, once I’m at the bottom, my body stops abruptly and is then heaved violently out ahead, horizontally through so pictures…no…places I see trees whipping by li near the waterfall innext tolove to her, Eva and the servants bathing her I see even further back in ti in at Araerous face of Nataša watching over Aramei I see Viktor and the faces of people I have neverharder to see with ht as the days fade into the past in and out of my mind like blips on a screen I see the landscape turn white; vast, treacherous reen again as the season changes

Finally, just when I feel like my body has breathed its last breath and that death has co in at a life once lived as if it had been ain…

Balkan Mountains – Eastern Serbia – Summer 1761

The valley stretches boundlessly in the distance, tucked deeply between a vast e on all sides At the foot of the e where hay-covered roofs and wooden structures dot the landscape A srass just at the top of one hill, tranquil in the early h a layer ofacross the landscape Every now and then a baa echoes between the mountains and fades ae of poor fare untouched by the outside world The only world that infiltrates this hidden valley is the dark world of the Black Beasts, a er they have feared for hter of a far a basket filled with yesterday’s laundry, tucked underneath her ar russet-colored dress and a pair of worn leather sandals on her dainty feet A piece of cloth holds her hair behind her, tied against her back

She makes her way past the barn and slips into the forest behind it where the stream snakes in fro her father’s shirt, the sound of footsteps shuffling through the leaves behind her causes her to turn around A tall and handso, braided dark hair se, but knows he is no resident, nor any resident of any village within four days walk of here His accent is odd, uttural like that of the Ger to a fisherh and she knows by the way he looks at her that he hts She is unmarried, after all, and it was but aher out But why this strange foreigner? She thinks quietly as she stands to her feet, drying her hands on her apron Her s, but not so h to be polite and cordial But it does make her uneasy that he followed her out here by the streaives her coe barn behind her house froreets hiirl

Theroyal yet casual, like the nobleently and reaches out his hand to her A thick silver ring with an engraving across the band adorns one finger She notices that his hands are dirty, unbeco of the rest of his appearance Hesitantly, Aramei offers her hand to hiers, leans over and touches the top of it to his forehead

"I aain, but he keeps her hand gently clutched in his fingers "Have I offended you with my curiosity?"

Gently, she lets her hand slip from his

Even more bashful now because of his intimate introduction, Araround, tucking it back against her side She bows her head slightly "No, Milord, but it is inappropriate to be here alone with you"

Viktor smiles and bends one arm behind hier than the first tiive ht, "I mean no disrespect"

Aramei blushes and lowers her eyes

"Sissa! Sissa!" her older sister, Filipa, shouts as she runs toward the one hand in the air above her, the other holding her dress at the legs to keep the ends froo," she says "Good day to you"

ArameiViktor from across the yard She takes the basket from Aramei and carries it for her and fits her ar her shoulder

"His name is Viktor," Aramei whispers, "but that is all I know"

Filipa looks at Ara her farther across the yard and out of Viktor’s sights "Did anyone see you?" Filipa asks sternly "Sissa, he is not from here" She stops near the east side of the barn, drops the basket andher shoulders in both hands, shaking her "He feels dark You must stay away from him Do you understand?"