The galleon sailed around to a large inlet where an enormous mansion was perched at the crest of a hill, a long dock stretching out into the water like a silver tooth. The mansion was made mostly of glass and it sprawled across the grounds, disappearing into the forests surrounding it.

A man was standing on the dock, and as the galleon pulled up, Sera recognized him from Bellamy’s memory—Hektor.

The gangplank was lowered and Ambrosine led the descent onto land. Sera was glad to have her feet on solid ground again. The air was cold and crisp, scented with heather and dogwood. The path up to the mansion was lit with lanterns, like golden will-o-the-wisps marking a trail to the door.

“Mother,” Hektor said, bowing to her formally. He eyed Leo first, then Sera, but whatever thoughts he had about them remained hidden in his dark blue eyes.

“Hektor,” Ambrosine replied. “May I introduce your nephew, Leo McLellan. And his friend Sera Lighthaven.”

“Welcome to Culinnon,” Hektor said. There was no warmth in his tone and Sera felt Bellamy squirm beside her, ready to embrace her husband as she had in the memory. The thought made Sera’s fingers itch and tugged her eyes in Leo’s direction.

“I must see to a few matters,” Ambrosine said.

“We received a dove from Ithilia,” Hektor said. “I have sent out scouts to track the movements of the Renalt. She won’t be hard to find with all those warships.”

“Good,” Ambrosine said. “Mckenna, show Leo and Sera to their rooms. The western sequoia should do.” Without another word, she strode off down the dock, taking a different path than the one that led to the main entrance.

As soon as she was out of sight, Bellamy flew into Hektor’s arms.

“I missed you,” Sera heard him whisper in her ear.

“Come,” Mckenna said.

Hektor briefly pulled away from his wife. “You look just like her,” he said to Leo.

“I know,” Leo replied, his shoulders hunched.

Hektor’s mouth twisted. “So this is Mother’s salvation for the family?”

Sera didn’t know what he was talking about, but Bellamy shushed him. “Leo has been very kind to me,” she said. “Sera too. Let them be.”

Hektor turned back to her, and Sera and Leo followed Mckenna up the path to the mansion.

The foyer was huge, encased in glass with a thick growth of purple and blue hydrangeas climbing up the outside of one wall. There was a long, low firepit in the center, and the furniture was in strange shapes, armchairs that looked like eggs and couches with peaked backs. Everything was colored in browns and olive greens and watery blues. Without pausing, Mckenna marched straight across and through another door that led to a glass hall, then up a set of stairs, then down a hall that had a boulder for a wall, water flowing over its smooth gray surface in a thin sheet.