“We are refugees,” she snapped. “You have no idea the things our people have suffered.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

She stared stonily ahead. “What we’ve done here has bought us favor with Varia and will lift the blight from our land.”

“If you hadn’t betrayed us, we could have worked together to lift the blight and keep your self-respect.”

With a scowl, she left me and rode on ahead.

Withywele was impressive when it came into sight. The Otherworld had few cities, and while they were hardly strewn with concrete or skyscrapers, there was still an urban feel to them. Stone and wood buildings were built closely together and had multiple floors, something rarely seen outside of castles. The cobblestone streets were busy with horses and people. Vendors were everywhere, hocking their goods. A few buildings were true works of art, with marble and fanciful architecture. Nobody paid much attention to us captives as we went by, though the crowds quickly made way for the guards to pass. Maybe prisoner transport was a common thing around here.

Varia’s palace was one of the pretty buildings. It had rounded domes adorned with that white and green stone the Yew people seemed to like. Damarian jade, that was it. The palace spread out over extensive gardens, which were adorned with statues and fountains. As we passed them, I occasionally caught glimpses of name placards. One statue, of a sharp-faced woman with a beehive hairdo, was labeled Ganene the Great.

Ganene. The name was familiar, and I rifled through my memories to try and figure out where I’d heard it. Soon, it came to me. When Volusian had first seen the ambassador’s statues, I’d mentioned they were from Varia. She must be Ganene’s daughter, he’d said.

Volusian!

Volusian might be my ace in the hole here. Of course, there was one slight problem. I couldn’t summon him in this kingdom without the help of my wand, and the guards had taken that from me.

Inside the palace walls, our party dispersed. The Hemlock people were escorted to “guest quarters” to rest before making some appeal to Queen Varia. As they left, I saw Alea giving me one last look, which turned to a glare when she realized I’d noticed her. I figured the rest of us would be taken to prison cells. What I didn’t expect was that we’d be taken to different ones. Dorian and I were led one way, the rest of our party another.

“Hey, wait,” I protested, coming to a halt despite my escort’s attempts to move me forward. “Where are you taking them?”

“To the dungeon, of course,” said Gallus.

I frowned. “Then ... where are you taking us?”