Part I
The Book of the Veil
"Sealed in the first days, spoken in the last, unbroken until the end of all things."
I. The First Covenant
In the days of famine and plague, Hiram the Devout stood before Death.
And Death said:“I do not strike, I only gather. Yet kings defy Me, priests write themselves outside My book, and the world groans beneath lives that will not end.”
And Hiram answered:“Then take one set apart. Clothe them in shadow. Let them be Your hand in the world.”
And Death decreed:“So it shall be. Year by year, one shall walk the roads of autumn and winter, striking down those who deny their fate. They shall have no kin, no children, no name but Mine. In return, your line and Annon shall endure.”
Thus was the covenant bound.
Thus was the Veilwalker made.
Vasha.
Chapter 1
Ninth year in the life of Ilys of the Veil
Ilys did not fear the knife in her hand.
She was too young to understand the permanence of sharp things—how they forged final moments, how they forced bodies still—but not too young to take a life. Such is the nature of a Veilwalker.
Chosen. Obedient. Cleansed by blood.
