Nectar
- Prologue
At
dawn, before the town of Aversa had woken from its slumbers, a sugar pink
woman with white hair was observed by the gargoyles sneaking toward the portal
of the convent of Santa Maria della Pieta. She was holding by the hand a tiny
replica of herself, a girl aged about three, who was biting and wailing and
dragging her little feet in the dust so that rose it around them in a cloud.
The two disappeared into the vestibule and seconds later the woman reappeared
alone, closing the heavy door firmly behind her, and hurrying away. She did
not look back.
