Chapter 11

That night Ayla dreamed of her grandmother. They were sitting on a bench in her little garden she had in Myrthana and talking. A blanket of snow covered the garden, and white bell flowers rose nervously above it.

Ayla was older in her dream. Her eyes were those of a person who had seen too much. Around her left wrist, she had tattoos of golden runes that Ayla did not recognize. They went all around her wrist like a bracelet. Her grandmother was telling her something, but Ayla was too distracted by the runes and did not hear what Grandmother Anza was saying. There was something about the runes that made her uneasy. They seemed important, and yet she did not know what they meant. Her grandmother kept talking, and Ayla knew she had to listen, but she could not take her eyes off her left wrist.

The dream changed, and Ayla was a nine-year-old again. She was still in the garden but now with her mother. Queen Lavia brushed Ayla's hair while teaching her about herbs and plants. An o