The Brothers Moonborn

Prologue

"I had another dream."

"About?"

"My old home. My... my mother."

"You remember your mother?"

"Some things about her, yes. She had red hair and pale skin. She always wore her hair in a braid. She... she raised Farkas and me alone. Our father... he was never around."

"Do you remember where you were?"

"Somewhere between Eastmarch and the Pale. We lived in a small cabin in the woods. We were surrounded by pine trees."

"Anything else?"

"I... I saw how we were taken."

"Vilkas, if you don't want to talk about it—"

"If I don't, I won't remember. I can do this."

"I'll be quiet and let you talk, then. I'm here for you, always."

"I know you are, Ylva.

"It was a summer's day, sometime in the late afternoon. I was lying outside our home on a small hillside, watching the clouds, when my mother asked me to find Farkas. He had wandered off and hadn't come back. I got up and ran into the woods to a favorite hiding place, only to find Farkas in the clutches of people in black robes. They grabbed me, tied us up, and carried us to their lair. We... we never saw our mother again."

"Gods, Vilkas. How old were you?"

"Four winters, or thereabouts. We were very young."

"You were younger than our babies. Gods, that's horrible."

"Ylva, I have to find my mother. She may be able to tell me who my father was, why we were taken away."

"I understand. Go if you must. Just... be home before the baby is born."

"Dear Ylva, I'll be back by then. That's a promise."