(You can find Kateesha in Brothers of Darkness & the Amaranthine saga. Her story begins in May, 1868, roughly three years after the American Civil War, and takes place in Missouri, Iowa and Arkansas.)

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Kateesha and Daniel steered their horses through the trees. The night clung to their shoulders like the black cloaks they wore, and they moved through it wordlessly. Ahead, shafts of moonlight danced into a clearing. Kateesha stopped and threw back her ...