Chapter 20

The strange dreams I’d started having came nightly now.

At first, they were simply flashes of scenes, places I’d never been, doing things I’d never done. I stood at a cliff top once, staring out at a violent sea, though instead of being unnerved by the ferocious view, the sight of white-frothed waves crashing against the rocky surf below calmed me. In the dream, it felt as if I were home.

Then I was fishing, hollering with delight when I jerked my wriggling catch from the water. I wielded a sword in other dreams. Sometimes, it was just for fun, training, I guess. Other times, the fight was real. My adrenaline would race as I slew an enemy only to turn and save one of my men from being run through. It was all so very perplexing. I’d never even seen a war, much less been in one. And I doubted I’d know how to properly hold a sword if anyone had the insanity to hand me a blade.

There were people too—complete strangers—I encountered in these dreams. One was a strict, old king, or at leas