PrologueNoah Caramine hid in the shadows under the old apple tree outside his garden. It hadn’t borne fruit in years. He believed there had been a flower or two in the spring, but nothing had come of it.
He didn’t care. He didn’t have anything against apples, though he couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten one, but he liked the tree. It was by the corner of his house, and whenever Gertrude, the leader of their community, called a meeting, people gathered in the square. He could stand underneath the tree and watch out over the people without having to be in the crowd. He hated crowds. He hated people. He hated meetings. But it was a rule to attend. If you wanted to live on their little slice of land where no humans were allowed, you had to follow the rules.
It wasn’t all that small.
