Tinder’s eyes round, and she forgets her wariness. “No.”

“Do you want to go?” I ask.

“Can we?” Ceara asks, looking at Blanaid, who hasn’t moved an inch from where I left her.

“Yes.” I turn and start walking, talking over my shoulder. “Follow me. I’ll show you a prince who dresses like a peacock, a market full of color, and a stone maiden who has been waiting for me to save her for a very long time.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

FIRST, I’D LIKE TO THANK Allah (swt) for granting me the ability to bring stories to life. This grace has comforted me and kept me alive thus far.

Croi came to life in the wilds of a small village in Fiji called Vitogo. I dreamed her up in the company of my cousins, so they deserve my thanks. In no particular order, thank you to Shabrina, Wahfiqa (who read Road of the Lost back when it still had a “The” attached to it and told me it was BRILLIANT), Faaiza, Shafeen, Zaynah, Ziyad, Aliyah, and Hina. Thank you to my maamu, Azeem Khan, who lugged a suitcase of Enid Blyton books to Fiji from New Zealand because I was starving for new stories. Thanks to my late naana who took me on long walks (and walked faster than me every single time), accompanying me without complaint to libraries and secondhand bookstores. I don’t know if I deserved you, but thank you for loving me. Thank you to my big sisters, Sanna bubu, Bina bubu, and Rifu bubu.

Thank you to my family: Amma; Abba; my brothers, Izaz, Isharaaz; my sisters-in-law, Robina and Farzana; the demons—I mean kids—Pakeeza, Waaizh, Zara, and Ruwaiz. (As you can see, my family loves the letter Z.) My aunts, Sadrul and Samrul Buksh, thank you for keeping things real. Thanks to my cousin Shaina for the long-distance support.

Thank you to Professor Maggie de Vries, who was my thesis supervisor and guided Road of the Lost through its painful first draft. Thank you to Rebecca Hales and Jeffrey Ricker, whose comments about Croi and her story in that writing class so long ago kept me from despair and made me think of myself as a writer. Thank you to Yashaswi Kesanakurthy, whose particular brand of wit has me putting down the knife on many dark days. Thank you to Jane Whittingham, who has served as a willing ear so many times when I felt the world was ending. Thank you to Janet Eastwood, whom I can text message when in a grammar crisis (it happens far more often than it should). You all read Croi when she was but an amorphous mess of words and didn’t let me give up on her. Thank you.

Thank you to Rossi Hyunh, who has been through thick and thin with me. We’ll keep our dark history under wraps, of course. Thank you, Teng, for all the foodie dates and for being willing to share the huge pajeon with me every single time. Thank you to Jasdeep Deol. You mean the world to me. Thank you to Amparo Ortiz, who is the warmest person I’ve encountered; Gabriela Martins, who is a pleasure to talk to; Sabina Khan, who tells amazing stories. To Karuna Riazi: I love you, little sister. Axie Oh and Kat Cho: thank you for the support. Thank you to Kate Elliot for your stories and your kindnesses. Thank you to also to Lana Wood Johnson, Julian Winters, Mason Deaver, Melody Simpson, Natalie C. Parker, Rena Barron, Ronni Davis, Becca Coffindaffer, and Lu Brooks. You’ve let me vent, comforted me, and cheered me on so many times. Thank you to Natasha Deen for the Zoom coffee dates and the giggles that accompanied them. A warm thanks to Roselle Lim and Judy Lin.