Through This Hell Together

prologue

Men, have turned a new shadow. A shadow of darkness, a shadow of evil. Kingdoms fell, blood was shed, and men had no mercy to give. No one dared to speak up, no one dared to go against men. Yet, even though some tried, hope was lost to us. Brother turned on brother, mother turned on children, and the rest of us cowered in the darkness, afraid. Women and children were locked up, and sold as slaves, and men were taken to work and war. Many had died, murdered at mens hand. Some escaped to the forests, but never survived long.

One night, a woman gave birth to a baby girl, hair brown, and hazel eyes that took you in with a rare kindness and love. But, as the men looked and took the newborns, the woman somehow escaped to the river bank. There, she put her child into a woven basket, setting it afloat down the river. The womans last, frail words to her daughter were, "Bring hope to us, save us..."

As the child flowed on the river in that basket, something unfortunate happened. The queen, Riana, a kind, beautiful woman, found her. She opened the basket with caution, but, as she laid her soft green eyes upon the child, she smiled sweetly. The child looked upon the queen, her eyes sparkling in the starlight. The queen was instantly attatched. The queen took the child in as her own, and named her Katherine.