Chapter Four The dream woke her up again that night. It was the strangest thing—she and her mother were in a meadow, the one where sapphire-petaled lupines bloomed every summer. She was probably about ten, and she wore a smocked dress that Mom had made for her. Even though she’d never said so, Isabelle detested that dress. Why would she dream about a dress she hated? Her mother was tying something to her ankle. A long string made out of pieces of cloth. She was young in the dream, maybe twenty, which made no sense since she didn’t even have Kai until she was twenty-four. Not that dreams had to make sense, of course. Just like in real life, Mom’s hair was long and light, and she wore a crown of flowers. “There you go, my darling pigeon,” she said as she tied the knot tight. “Now you can

