Prior to the events of the story, Aramina's parents Dowell - a skilled woodsman - and Barla lived in Ruatha, but they fled when Lord Fax of High Reaches invaded; partly due to Dowell's refusal to hold under the usurping Lord Holder, and also because Barla was a relative of the deposed Lord Kale, and Lord Fax coveted her. By the time Fax died - killed in a duel with F'lar - Dowell and Barla were in Keroon, and had had three children; Aramina, Pell and Nexa. Dowell and Barla's plan to return to Ruatha was slowed by the onset of Thread, however, they discovered Aramina had the rare ability to hear dragons, which allowed her to warn them where they would be fighting Thread - and thus which areas would be unsafe.