Clouds gather over the riverside. Pellets of rain briefly moistened the earth earlier this morning. It would appear they mean to return, and with reinforcements. Wrapped in furs, I maintain my watch at the water's edge, along a stone path, among the reeds and grass. The Rhine and I wend sharpy south, where the old mill appears through the underside of my father's stone fortress. The mill is now maintained by our servants, but it remains a constant reminder to my sisters and myself of our simple beginnings. Before the gold.

Yes, the gold did bring us wealth, but we quickly learned how it crippled the heart, and we agreed the hoard was best left to the Rhine, forever hidden. Especially from...him.

I stop suddenly, in spite of the increasing patter of raindrops. I exhale a misty breath and take my spear with two hands, eyeing the woods sharply. On the other side of the Rhine, under the cover of ash and alder, he watches me. I feel his eyes upon me like cold fingers slithering across my body. They say he lords over a nearby hamlet called Habsburgh. I am the youngest daughter of Lorelei, but I am no less capable of defending that which was entrusted to her children. "Stay where you are, Alberich," I mutter under my breath. "Or you shall be ensnared and meet your end by the Rhine...

"...just like the rest of them."