When they finished in the office, Lani took the lead, rolling down the hallway in the direction of the mansion’s balcony, which overlooked the entryway. “Did Alex leave an extra robe up here anywhere? We might want to take possession of it before someone else does.”

“Yes,” said Fifer. “Florence told me there’s one hanging in his living quarters.”

“Good to know. Alex stored even more components in there. I suppose we’ll have to go in after them.” Lani’s expression was grim. Going into the office was one thing, but entering Alex’s personal apartment felt so… invasive. And sad. Lani had kept her emotions in check so far, because of the severity of the task before them, but this wasn’t going to be easy.

Lani stopped in front of Alex’s door and peered out toward the main mansion, looking for any sign of Frieda or the dissenters. “Be careful not to get too close to the balcony,” Lani said over her shoulder. “I’m not sure if anyone in Frieda’s group is magical enough to see into this hallway, but if they are, we don’t want them to know we’re coming.” She hesitated, then added, “I really wish Florence were here. I’m worried we’re not going to make much of a splash without someone big on our side.”

Aaron frowned. “We’ll do what we can. Attack to let them know we won’t go quietly, then retreat to the jungle to plan our next move. All we need to do right now is let Frieda know she’s not going to take over unopposed. And hopefully bring some of the more reasonable people back to reality and open their eyes to what’s happening.” He glanced across the hall from Alex’s apartment at the door to the Museum of Large. While Lani went into the living quarters with Samheed, Carina, and Sean, Aaron touched Fifer’s shoulder. “I can’t stand to go in there just yet,” he said to her in a low voice. “Let’s check something out in here.”

Fifer nodded, relieved to not have to enter Alex’s room and experience all the sadness there. She followed Aaron. The Museum of Large was a lovely storage place. True to its name, it housed large things that couldn’t fit anywhere else, like the gray shack that was now reassembled after it had exploded, as well as Mr. Today’s personal library, which Lani had painstakingly organized once Artimé was finally at peace. A pirate ship rested nearby too—Alex had put one up here as a spare, a precaution in case their other ships were ever stolen or sunk by enemies in the future. He’d prepared them for almost everything imaginable except his death.

Once inside, Aaron headed for the gray shack while Fifer searched the room for weapons and spell components. Finding neither, she stopped in front of a large frozen statue of a mastodon. His name was Ol’ Tater, and he was the only frozen statue in Artimé because he was so destructive and dangerous. Mr. Today had created him many decades ago but sadly had to put him to sleep and keep him in the Museum of Large. The beast occasionally came to life—sometimes by accident when the world was restored after a head mage’s death. Other times he could be awakened when Artimé needed him, as when the pirates and Queen Eagala had attacked the island of Quill when Fifer and Thisbe were two years old. To put him back to sleep, one needed to perform a singing spell.