" He didn't think they were all after a criminal. He suspected it was an innocent girl.
Well, a beautiful young woman, really; as comely as his niece Tasha, who was so clever with her loom and quick with her tongue. But this girl had extraordinary silver hair-- a color so unusual the captain had seen it only once before in his long years in the guard.
On a royal princess, a tiny baby, dead to the world.
In fairy tales and myths, when children were given up because of a prophecy or because the family was starving, they did disappear into the world for a while-- and then came back years later like a cicada, bringing the power of youth and the unavoidable anger of the gods with them. "

― Liz Braswell , What Once Was Mine