Thisbe pressed her face between the handrail balusters, watching Fifer go until she couldn’t see her anymore.

“You’re on the third floor,” Fifer called up through the center of the spiral. Then: “Ooh!” she said, startled.

“Are you okay?” asked Thisbe.

“Just some animals down here in the shadows under the stairs. Foxes, I think, hiding from the dragons.” She was quiet for a moment, then called up in a softer voice, “Definitely four dragons, all red. They’re staying still. I’ll be back soon.”

While Fifer was gone, Thisbe checked all of her pockets to take stock of her components. Luckily, she still had the three obliterate components, individually boxed and safe in her inside pocket, thanks to the flap and button she’d added to it. That had kept her from losing them when the Revinir had dumped her and Fifer upside down and shaken them.

They were her answer for getting rid of the Revinir. But in addition to not knowing where she and Fifer were at this moment, Thisbe also had no clue where the Revinir was. And that’s what unsettled her most.

Intruders

Dev Suresh, as he now believed himself to be, sat squeezed inside a broom closet in a tiny vacant house in the deserted village bordering his broken-down palace. He’d picked a dwelling that seemed solid and was located deep inside a maze of houses that were separated by narrow paths rather than broad roads. It was one that would be harder for dragons to get to if they were looking for him on foot.

He’d stayed perfectly still inside the cramped closet, feeling every joint and muscle in his body begin to ache. But whenever he started to doubt or question his resolve, he remembered the last time he’d been forced to hide from this group. “It’s better than the river” had become his mantra, and he repeated it over and over in his mind to get him through. Anything was better than that.

When hours passed and no disturbances were felt or heard, Dev began to wonder if the Revinir and her team of dragons had passed him by without stopping. Was it possible they hadn’t noticed him sneaking out of the center turret and running for his life? Or perhaps they’d seen him but didn’t care? He thought back to the time in the river. He’d nearly drowned and hadn’t witnessed where they’d gone after that. Perhaps this palace was just a spot along their path to some other place.