Ayla POV
The first thing I felt was warmth.
I lay completely still and let it settle over me. For the first time, there is warmth below, warmth above and warmth pressing in from every side. There's no cold stone under my back, no chains cutting into my wrists or any sound of water dripping somewhere in the walls.
I keep my eyes shut.
'It's a dream,' I tell myself. 'The moment you open them it goes away. Keep them closed.'
So I keep them closed and I lay there waiting for it to end.
It doesn't end.
The warmth doesn't go and neither do the softness or the quiet.
I open my eyes slowly and above me is a white ceiling made of plaster instead of stone. There is a curtain at a window on my right letting in grey morning light and the sheets under my hands are clean and smooth because someo
