“So now what?” Winnie asked. “Apparently, we need to find Madame Nasirah, but where do we begin? Where could she be?”

“Why,” a familiar voice said. “I’m right behind you, dear.”

The two whirled around. Sure enough, there stood the Gamekeeper, in her familiar endless folds of cloth, looking entirely untouched by the gusting wind and reddish sand that flew around her.

“Madame Nasirah!” Ahmad called, relieved. “You’re all right!”

“Where have you been?” Winnie asked eagerly.

“In a meeting with the Architect,” she said, picking her way delicately toward them. Under her veil, her eyes were solemn. “I’m sorry to have concerned you with my absence. There have been some . . . complications.”

“What do you mean?” Ahmad demanded. “We got the last puzzle piece.”

Madame Nasirah pressed her lips in a tight line, but before she could say anything more, there was a low lightning crackle from the edges of the city. Ahmad and Winnie whirled around, watching in horror as the Minaret sent up its green flare.

“It can’t be!” Ahmad gasped.

“But we just finished the last challenge!” Winnie protested.

But there, again, was the spark of flame from the minaret, and the words streamed out over the sky.

ALL THREE PUZZLE PIECES HAVE BEEN CLAIMED. AN ADDITIONAL TRIAL HAS BEEN DEVISED BY THE ARCHITECT IN COMPENSATION FOR AN INFRACTION OF PAHELI LAWS. PROCEED TO THE PALACE OF DREAMS. THE PIECES HAVE BEEN WON. IT IS TIME TO ASSEMBLE THE PUZZLE.

“When did we break a law?” Winnie sputtered. “If he means that joy ride with his police force, they were shooting at us! And that fake challenge was all his partner’s fault too!”

“Like he would listen to that,” Ahmad grumbled.

When he turned to look at Winnie, though, her eyes were shining.

“This is it, Ahmad,” she whispered. “I can feel it. I don’t know what else is going on, but we’ve gotten under his skin. We’re making him nervous. I mean, why else would he feel the need to make Madame Nasirah disappear, to mess his own ground rules. If there’s anything we know from the past, a player making the Architect worried about his hold on Paheli is only ever a good thing. We’re going to win this, and he knows it.”

Ahmad wasn’t so sure, but looking at his friend’s calm and confident expression gave him hope. He nodded. “Okay. We’re going to show this guy who’s boss. But where is this Palace of Dreams anyway?”