Chapter 1
Beginnings and Endings
In this chapter, you learn about the life of Elissa, who is a princess of a city called Tyre. After she talks about her family, her father suddenly falls ill and abruptly dies. Her brother Pygmalion, sister Anna, and herself mourn. Against their father's wishes to share the crown, Pygmalion takes over the throne by himself.
Elissa marries a man named Sychaeus, whom she falls deeply in love with. She begins to have troubling dreams, where her brother sneaks into her room at night and kills Sychaeus. When Sychaeus goes missing one morning, Elissa is embarrassed by considering the thought that her brother would kill her husband. Even so, she begs Pygmalion to search for him.
After the search appears to have come up empty, Elissa returns home and dreams about Sychaeus. He explains that Pygmalion has murdered him and thrown his body over the cliffs by the sea. He gives proof in the dream by explaining where he had hidden a secret stash of money. Finally, Sychaeus tells Elissa that she must take her sister, change her name, and leave Tyre before Pygmalion can kill her as well.
