“But what about you?” asked Fifer, distressed.

“I’ll be fine,” said Simber. He stared at the floor for a long moment. “Just… stay safe and tell Florrrence I’m sorrry.” He sniffed, then looked up. “And if you surrrvive, don’t forrrget me in herrre when this is all overrr.”

A Siege

Shaken, Fifer and Sky left Simber in the theater and returned to the mansion via the tube. Hearing a crowd in the vast entryway, they crept over to the bottom of the staircase, keeping their faces hidden behind the large baluster that still stood, although precariously, and peered around it. Then they heard a familiar, unpleasant voice—Frieda Stubbs was gearing up to speak to her people, most of whom were gathered in the large open space. Fifer and Sky looked through the spindles and listened. They could see the 3-D door drawing rolled up at her feet.

“Greetings, my good people,” Frieda began. “As you are all becoming aware, the remaining Stowes are a menace to our island. I’ve been aware of this for years, because I knew their mysterious mother better than anyone.” She narrowed her eyes. “Nadia Stowe was not the quiet, demur Necessary she appeared to be. She was a pirate who snuck into our world. Her children, except for Alex, are worse than she ever was. I tolerated them through all of Aaron’s disastrous choices, through Fifer and Thisbe’s uncontrollable and dangerous dark magic. I trusted Alex to rein them in, and he did his best. Unfortunately, the girls stirred up a bee’s nest far bigger than anyone ever imagined in the land of the dragons. And when Alex died, killed by the evil Revinir, this situation escalated. Now the three remaining siblings have brought danger to Artimé—more danger than this island has ever seen.”

The group was utterly silent, taking in this revelation.

Frieda continued. “Against Alex’s wishes, the twin girls engaged with the Revinir, ruler of the land of the dragons. They set off a chain of events that will eventually destroy Artimé. And Quill. And our entire world.”

Several people scoffed. Surely she was exaggerating.

Frieda’s most ardent supporters shushed the doubters, and the head mage went on. “Hear me out,” she said, sounding deceptively rational for once. “Thisbe and Fifer awakened a beast. This Revinir isn’t the woman Alex sent packing back when she was Queen Eagala—not anymore. Now she has transformed into a dragon-monster. She’s got all of the other dragons from far and wide under her command, even our own dragons, which is also the Stowes’ fault—they’ve left us with no allies who can fight this army. Plus, the Revinir is furious at Thisbe and Fifer.”

Fifer frowned from behind the bannister. Well, she’s angry at Thisbe, anyway, she thought, but that was a minor inaccuracy compared to all of the other exaggerations and lies Frieda was telling. But that wasn’t even the point! The issue wasn’t that the Revinir was angry at them. It was that she wanted to abduct and control Thisbe. The dragon-woman didn’t seem to care about Fifer at all. But Frieda was making things up to convince her supporters that Fifer was dangerous to have around too. Fifer didn’t like it. She wrinkled her nose and pushed up on her tiptoes to try to see better.