Prologue Summary

The author states that this work of fiction is set during a time like 1450, but it is not really 1450. The island the story takes place on is like Mallorca, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea, but it is not Mallorca.

The reader is asked to think about the island, and what it looks like from above. This view would reveal orchards and towns, mountains and valleys. This vantage point would be more like what angels see rather than islanders, and the reader's position is compared to that of an angel who hovers above and sees everything. The time when this story is set is "the time of angels."

The reader now sees two parties traveling on a mountain. One, a group of men and donkeys, is struggling to ascend the mountain. A young man dressed like a shepherd is heading down the...