“When I was in my attic prison,” Bitterblue was saying, “I couldn’t fathom why Estill would ally with Winterkeep in a war against Monsea, and why Estill would think they could win. Now we know. Benni Cavenda was going to sell them this weapon.”

“Remember, in the beginning,” said Hava, “Mikka wanted to tell you something about zilfium?”

Bitterblue’s voice, when she responded, was terribly sad. “He wanted to tell me about this zilfium weapon. He wanted to warn me of how the world had changed.”

“Lovisa,” came Katu’s voice again. “What does the queen mean by her ‘attic prison’?”

Lovisa could not bear the burden of explaining these things to Katu. He was her uncle. He was the one who was supposed to explain the world to her. He was supposed to say, “I’m going to take care of you and your brothers now. It’s all over, Lovisa. You’re safe.”

“Let me explain it to you later, Katu,” she said, “please?”

“Lovisa?” he said. “Are you all right? You’re all scratched up. What happened to you?”

Through the window, she caught sight of a dot in the sky, moving steadily between the trees. It took shape—balloon above, sails in the middle, car below. It was an airship, coming from the south. It was losing altitude, as if headed for the Cavenda house.

Lovisa dropped Katu’s hand, stepped closer to the glass. She knew all the airships of the important Ledra families. This one was deep blue, covered with gold stars, which made it the Tima family airship. The Timas were Industrialists, friends of her father.

From Hava’s sofa, Nev said, “Lovisa? What’s wrong?”

Lovisa left the room, heading upstairs to the roof.

—

On the roof, the wind gusted, sending her sideways.

The airship hovered, buffeted to and fro, having some trouble docking, because no one was present to feed it a dock line. Lovisa knew she could come forward to help, but she didn’t. There were two flyers. She squinted against the light, unable to make them out, but unsurprised when the ladder lowered and the person stepping down resolved into her father.

He was supposed to be in jail, but of course nothing happened as it was supposed to. Pushing her mucky mind back, she realized that the head magistrate’s visit to Bitterblue had been only yesterday. Benni had probably left Ledra in a borrowed airship before the magistrate had ever returned.

When Benni spotted Lovisa, his footsteps faltered. She saw the surprise in his expression, and also a kind of relief. Then he found a careful mask, one she recognized. It was his Disappointed Father face.

“My darling!” he said. “I can’t express how happy I am to see you. But what happened? You’re a mess!”

“Don’t come any closer!” said Lovisa.