• CHAPTER 1

    Willow sat up in her bed. She had waken up from a bad dream just a few seconds ago. The dream was about a very attractive man, but something about him just scared her. He said he was going to make her happy, but all she felt was pain. Pain when he touched her and pain when he went away. 'Who was this man? Haven't I seen him somewhere before?,' she thought as she put her gown on and went to join her father for breakfast. She walked down the stairs, having the strange feeling that something was about to happen.
    “Hello, father. How are you today?”
    “I'm fine, thank you. Why don't you have a seat? I have something I need to talk to you about.”
    Willow got a little worried. Life hadn't been great since her mother died three years ago, and her father didn't earn much money. She sat down, and let her father speak.
    “Willow, do you know Alexander, the priest's oldest son?”
    “Yes father, I've met him once or twice. How so?” She took a small bite of her bread and a sip of milk before he answered.
    “Well, I talked to him yesterday, and it seems he wants to meet with you tonight.”
    “Tonight?,” Willow asked. “But tonight is the night of the ball! And Alexander is the priest's son, he has to be invited!” “Yes, well, he wants to take you.” Her father went on with his usual nagging about her getting married, starting a family and so on. He tried to convince her, talking about her sister that was only seventeen when she got her first son.
    She sometimes got tired of her father's nagging, but Alexander was one of the wealthiest, most charming men in the town. He was known to be a little brutal, though, especially when he had had too much to drink.
    “I'll go dad, and I promise I'll look as good as I can.” The annual dance was very important for the aristocrats in town. It was held in October, to celebrate good harvest, and was where the young men used to propose to their ladies.
    That was why it was such a big deal. Mr. Miller thought that if she went to the ball, Alexander would maybe choose her over the other girls, and she was promised a better future than her mother got, marrying a merchant.