Prologue

A little taste of the very beginning for you:


Lily Andrews was staring out the window as the rain poured down outside. She loved car trips like this; when you can never see where you're going. She stretched her brown curls over her eyes, like an emo kid, peering through both them and the fleeting raindrops. The man sitting in the driver's seat next to her smelt of wine and perfume, not her usual type, but the elders had put them together. Why? She didn't know. They were both very good looking; maybe that was it.

The road started to become stony and wet. They were going up the side of a mountain, further and further to a tip, where they would fall off the edge of the world, or at least that's what Lily wished.

“Lily?” Henry asked.

“Yeah?”

“What do you want your new name to be?”

“Do I have to pick a new one?”

“Yep.” Henry said, smiling and tossing his head of blond waves. “I think I'm gonna be... Neville Trout.”

“No, that's terrible!” Lily giggled. “At least pick something that sounds good, like... Vincent Vadelucci. That would be a great name.”

“I dunno. Maybe I'll ask the elders for suggestions?”

“You can get good ideas from street signs.”

“Like which?”

“Shasta Daisy.” Lily said, “Doesn't it sound awesome?”

“Yeah. I'll just let you do all the family naming from now on.” Henry said, not without sarcasm. Lily giggled again and resumed staring out at the dripping landscape of huge, empty, frozen fields and the mountains towering in the background. She thanked the gods for setting her up with someone she could really get along with.