![\"\"](\"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/maite-and-kepa-v3b.png\")
\u201cMil esker!\u201d replied Ainhoa. She looked up at the waiter. \u201cCortado, mesedez.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The waiter nodded as he disappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ainhoa turned back to Kepa and Maite, who was already nursing her coffee. \u201cSo,\u201d she began, \u201cI admit, when we met, I didn\u2019t think you\u2019d keep reaching out like this. It\u2019s a bit\u2026\u201d she paused a moment while searching for the right word \u201c…unusual. I don\u2019t usually get this kind of attention.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite nodded. \u201cWe\u2019re sorry to be bothering you so much, but the truth is, you are just so interesting. I can\u2019t get enough chatting with you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ainhoa looked at Maite a bit warily. \u201cSee?\u201d she said. \u201cStrange\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOk,\u201d said Kepa, trying to alleviate the tension that was quickly growing at their small table. He pulled out the journal they had found in Marina\u2019s destroyed baserri. He put it on the table and pushed it over toward Ainhoa. Maite gave glared at him as he did so, but he shrugged as Ainhoa picked up the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cZer da?\u201d she asked as she opened the cover. \u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo be honest, we don\u2019t know. I found it at an antique book store and thought it was pretty cool. Some of the designs in there are just pretty awesome and I thought I could use them for some graphic design work I hope to do. But then I remembered\u2026\u201d He pointed at Ainhoa\u2019s bare shoulder, where there was a tattoo of a triangle inscribed within a circle. Next to the point of the triangle was another circle, on the left, and a crescent on the right. \u201cThat tattoo you have, it\u2019s one of the symbols that is pretty common in this book. I hoped you might know what it means.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ainhoa absentmindedly rubbed her shoulder as she thumbed through the book until she saw the same symbol. \u201cHuh\u201d is all she said as she stared at the book and the other strange symbols that filled the page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be honest,\u201d she began, \u201cI don\u2019t know what it means. It came to me in a dream one night. I don\u2019t even remember the dream, but I remembered the symbol. It spoke to me, you know? I could sense a power within it.\u201d She shrugged. \u201cSo, I thought it would make a great tattoo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is pretty cool,\u201d admitted Kepa. \u201cDo you know anything else about it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AInhoa was silent as she sipped on her coffee. \u201cWell,\u201d she said, \u201cI only have some vague images from the dream, nothing coherent. Just images of three woman. One was older than the other two, who looked like twins, except one was very bright and the other was obscured in shadows. However, all three smiled at me. I could feel an immense power coming from all three of them. They then somehow morphed into this symbol -\u201d she pointed at the open page of the journal \u201c- and then the dream ended.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThree women, one older, and two sisters?\u201d repeated Maite. \u201cReminds me of the legend of Amalur.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOf course!\u201d exclaimed Ainhoa. \u201cHow could I not have seen that? That\u2019s exactly what it is. Amalur and her daughters Ilargi and Eguzki.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf this symbol represents Amalur and her daughters,\u201d pondered Kepa as he tapped the drawing in the journal, \u201cwhat do the rest of these symbols mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ainhoa shrugged. \u201cSorry, but I have no idea. They don\u2019t mean anything to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n