“Ahmad, take my hand!” Winnie’s voice was muffled, but close enough that he was able to reach out in its direction. He felt her fingers close around his hand. A moment later, he was yanked up and out of the fog, shaking his head to get the last of it out of his ears.

“What was . . .” he began, trailing off in amazement.

They hadn’t only been in a cloud.

They were now standing on top of one, and not only that, in front of one of the most incredible palaces he had ever seen. It resembled the ones in the pictures from their trip to India, back when he had only been a small, pouty toddler: hundreds of eyelike windows and elegant domes.

It looked far too grand for one kid Architect, but then again, the Amari style was apparently overblown and oversized.

“This is incredible,” Winnie whispered beside him.

“The Palace of Dreams,” Ahmad responded. “I feel like . . . I’ve been here before.”

Winnie squared her shoulders. “Good. Hold on to that feeling so we can get through this. Let’s go.”

They strode forward. They froze as the Palace of Dreams right split in two. A moment later, it split again.

The cloud-earth shook beneath them and they clung to each other, watching as palaces split and split and split to reveal more palaces, leaping out from the frame of one another like nesting dolls and fitting together with neat clicks before floating upward to dot the sky, resembling clouds of deceptively heavy brick and inlaid marble.

“I . . . wasn’t expecting that,” Ahmad managed as the last palace darted upward like a balloon with a cut string. “What are we supposed to do with that?”

“Maybe . . . nothing,” Winnie said, staring upward in amazement, as the palaces glided in place. “Maybe that was a show of force.”

They continued forward, stopping within the grand main lobby. It resembled that of a museum, complete with walls lined with artwork and elegant glass cases filled with beautiful and bizarre antiques. But Ahmad and Winnie only had eyes for one.

“Doesn’t that frame resemble the puzzle pieces?” Winnie asked. She kneeled down on the ground and started pulling the pieces out of the satchel, counting them carefully, and satisfied that they were all there.

Ahmad rushed off and lifted it off the wall. They squatted on the ground, trying to study the frame and how the pieces could click together.

“I think this is one of those puzzles that creates a box. The fame is probably the bottom,” Winnie said finally. “The other pieces should click into place. Look, see how the joints are fashioned?” She traced her finger over one of the elegant blocks. Ahmad could see a raised line that looked like it might join with one of the others.

He nodded in agreement. “Okay, let’s go.”