Erian crouched under the table with her arms wrapped around Llor. Their father was huddled beside them. “If we’re quiet, they won’t know we’re here,” Father whispered. He flinched as something heavy crashed against the door. There was screaming out in the hall. Lots of crashes and the tinkle of shattering glass.
“I want Mama,” Llor whimpered.
“Shh,” Erian told him.
“Your mama is out there, helping keep us safe,” Father said.
“She’s doing it wrong,” Llor said. “She should be in here, keeping us safe. You shouldn’t have made her so mad. Then we’d all be together. It’s your fault!” His voice was rising with each word.
Erian clapped her hand over Llor’s mouth. “Shh! Spirits will hear you!”
He bit her hand.
“I’m going to find Mama!” He dove forward, out from under the table, and both Father and Erian scrambled after him. He was as quick as a squirrel, darting across the room, over the couch and under a table to the door. Throwing back the lock, he threw it open just as Father reached him—and a young woman rushed inside.
She slammed the door shut and locked it. Then she sank down, hugging a glass bottle to her chest. Her hair was singed and dirt streaked her cheek, and she looked a little familiar.
“Are you all right?” Father asked her.
“It worked,” the woman said. Girl, really. She looked maybe fourteen. Older than Erian, but not as old as Mama and Father. “I’m not dead. Not temporarily. Not permanently. It worked, and I have to get it to her.” Her voice became more and more shrill.
“Slow down,” Father said. “It’s not safe to go anywhere. There are spirits out there. You can hide with us.” Father saying “hide”—that scared Erian more than all the screaming. He was the one who waltzed out of the house forgetting his ax. He was the one who forgot to stuff charms in their school bags. He was the one who said everything would work out fine, as long as they were cheerful and positive. Mother used to get so angry when he’d say that.
The older girl shook her head. “Can’t. Got to get to the queen. I can do it. I can cure her. But the spirits came. They—I don’t know if Master Garnah’s alive or dead. I don’t know if everyone’s dead. I took it, and I ran.” Tears leaked down her cheeks.
“You aren’t making sense,” Llor told her.
“Shh,” Erian said. “She’s upset.” But she agreed with Llor. She didn’t know what the scared girl was talking about, let alone who Master Garnah was.
“The queen is in the tower,” the girl babbled to Father, “the tallest one. The Queen’s Tower. So she could see the battle. I have to get there, but there are spirits everywhere. . . . You have to help me!” She showed them the bottle she’d been hugging: a vial filled with ruby-red liquid. “This will heal the queen.”
Erian stared at it. Heal the queen!
If the queen was better . . . then Mama wouldn’t have to be an heir anymore. Then she wouldn’t have to be away, she wouldn’t have to train, they wouldn’t have to be here, she’d forgive Father, and they could all go home! If the queen gets better, then Mama won’t die.
Father was shaking his head. “I promised my wife I would take care of our children. No risks. I have to prove she can trust me—”
“We’ll help you,” Erian interrupted. She then turned to her little brother. “Llor, we have to be sneaky to get past the spirits.”
His grin lit up his face. “I’m the sneakiest.” Dropping to the floor, he stuck his face against the tiny space at the bottom of the door. “Looks messy out there,” he reported. “But nothing’s moving. We could go now!”
“Llor, Erian, you aren’t going anywhere,” Father said firmly. “I told your mother—”
“Mama would do it,” Erian argued. “She’d want to help the queen. She’s helping her right now.” She unlocked the door and peered out.
Father reached over and pushed it shut. “I know I’ve made mistakes. But ever since you were born, ever since I looked in your faces, I’ve wanted to give you everything. I never wanted to say no. I never wanted to make you cry. So I let your mother say no. I let her be the parent. I wanted to be the friend, the one who could make you happy. I thought if your mother came here, if she became an heir, that we’d have everything we needed—no more worries about anything. You could have all the toys and books you wanted, all the food we could ever eat, the biggest house . . . It was stupid. I know that now. I wasn’t thinking it would be dangerous. Your mother . . . nothing has ever stopped her or scared her. I didn’t think . . . Anyway, I am here now. And I am going to keep you safe and make the smart choices, even if it means saying no. So no, you cannot leave this room. We are going to hide here, safe and sound, until it’s all over.”
The older girl reached into a pocket of her skirt, pulled out a handful of dust, and blew it into Father’s face. He crumpled onto the floor.
“You killed Father!” Llor cried. Balling up his fists, he ran at her. Erian intercepted him, catching him around his waist. Father didn’t look dead or even hurt.
A second later, Father began to snore.
“He’ll wake,” the girl said.
“Wow!” Llor said. Erian let go of him—in an instant, he seemed to have forgotten his desire to beat her up. “How did you do that?”
The older girl didn’t answer. “You two stay here. Keep yourselves hidden. Out there is no place for children. The spirits have gone rogue.”
“But you said you need help!” Erian said. “I want to help.” Especially if the queen was sick again. That meant that Mama was out there, fighting the spirits all by herself. I have to help!
“You aren’t much older than us,” Llor put in. And then his eyes went wide as if a sudden thought had occurred to him. “Erian”—he pulled her closer to whisper—“we can’t go with her! Mama said never go anywhere with a stranger!”
He was right. But if they could help Mama . . . “What’s your name?” Erian demanded.
“Arin,” the girl said. “I’m the queen’s sister.” She cracked open the door and poked her head out. Erian noticed that it was quiet outside: no crashing. Peeking out around Arin, she didn’t see any spirits. She did see a mess: half the roof was caved in.
“I’ve seen you!” Erian remembered seeing her in the garden—the queen had pointed her out, when they first met her. “It’s okay. She’s not a stranger,” she told Llor.
“I’m going,” Arin said. “Stay here, and stay hidden.”
“We’re coming with you,” Erian insisted.
“I don’t have time to argue—” Arin began.
Erian cut her off. “Then don’t.”
“Wait!” Llor said, and then he tucked his stuffed squirrel under Father’s arm. Father mumbled in his sleep but then continued to snore softly.
They all slipped into the hallway. Llor grabbed Erian’s hand as the door closed behind them. Shadows were everywhere, and it was strangely silent. They tiptoed through the hall, stepping over broken chandeliers. Scorch marks ran across the wood walls. Vines crisscrossed over them, as if they were bandages over the burns.
Arin hurried forward. “She’s up—”
She halted.
Llor bumped into her. “Hey!”
“Shh,” Erian said. “What is it?” She tried to see around Arin.
“The stairs are gone.” Arin stepped aside, and Erian and Llor pressed forward. The stairs down were fine, but the stairway up had collapsed, folded together, as if the walls had been squeezed by a giant hand. “I don’t know another way up.”
Llor grabbed both their hands. “I know all the ways!” He pulled them away from the stairs, and they hurried back through the hallway.
He led them through the maze of corridors, to another set of stairs and up, but this one was blocked before the next level with branches that had woven together into a thick barrier.
“No!” Arin cried.
“Follow me,” Llor insisted. “There’s one more stairs.”
They hurried through another corridor—and then stopped again. Here, the wall had been ripped off the building. Erian caught Llor’s arm before he barreled forward. Outside were trees and sky, and the stairs dangled into emptiness.
In the city, spirits drifted aimlessly among broken trees. Several treetops hung upside down, split in the middle, and she saw black smoke staining the sky.
This time, Llor didn’t race away. He stood staring at the open sky as if someone had stolen his favorite toy. They stood side by side.
“Llor,” Erian asked, “are there any other stairs?” She knew the answer. She just hoped she was wrong.
He gulped. “No.”
Arin clutched the vial of medicine. “I can’t fail! She needs me. Don’t you see? She never needed me before. She was always the one who was going to protect me. Protect everyone. But now I have a chance to save her . . .”
A sudden thought struck Erian so hard that she took a step backward. “The secret passageway! Llor, didn’t Captain Alet say it went all the way up?” She knelt in front of her brother, forcing him to look at her and not at the swirling spirits and smoke outside. “All the way up to the Queen’s Tower?”
“Yes!” Excited, he pulled them until they were running back through the corridor.
“It’s not really a secret. It’s a dumbwaiter, a lift,” Erian told Arin as they ran. “The kitchen staff uses it to send food up, so they don’t have to climb all the stairs.”
“Yeah, you could ride in it! Like you’re food!” Llor said.
“It’s controlled by a crank in the kitchen,” Erian explained.
Arin was nodding. “I’ve used it before, to send a cake. But how—”
This could work! It really could! “We could go turn the crank for you, and you could ride it up.” The two of them together should be able to turn the crank—it hadn’t looked that hard.
And behind her, she heard a crackle.
Glancing back, she saw ice spread across the wall. It looked like a many-figured hand reaching to grip the palace. “Ice spirit! Run faster!”
Wind whipped around them, hurling shards of ice in every direction. One hit her cheek. She felt it sting and then felt wetness and knew she was bleeding, but she kept running, stumbling over her feet but running faster.
Behind them, in a nearby corridor, the spirit shrieked.
“Faster!” Llor shouted.
Turning a corner, they reached the dumbwaiter, and Erian, with Arin and Llor, lifted the door. “Hurry, hurry, hurry!” Erian cried. She could hear the spirit in the corridor behind them—she didn’t know if it had seen them or not. Maybe it had gone another way. Her fingers felt so cold that it hurt to move, and the wind continued to howl. It was close but not here yet.
Arin pulled on the rope, raising up the lift. She engaged the lock that kept it from plummeting when she released the rope. “Run, both of you! Get to the kitchen! Before the spirit finds you!” Without looking back to see if they’d obeyed, Arin tried to climb in—and Erian saw at once she was too tall. Inside, the cupboard itself was large, but the opening was narrow. She couldn’t fold her legs enough to fit through. She tried to shove herself in, grunting and wincing. “Can’t do it,” she panted.
Llor hopped from foot to foot. “I’m little! I can fit!”
Arin was shaking her head. “It’s too dangerous! If anything goes wrong, if a spirit finds you, you’ll be trapped. I can’t let you go. I have to find another way.”
“But I can do it!” Llor cried.
Erian said to Llor, “You aren’t going.” If a spirit found him inside the shaft, he’d be trapped with nowhere to run. Plus anything could be up there. More spirits. A dead queen. “I am.” She climbed into the lift and held out her hand for the medicine. “You have to promise to take care of Llor. Hide him from the spirits. And Llor, you have to promise to take care of Father when he wakes.” Her heart was thudding. She didn’t want to leave Llor, but bringing him wasn’t the responsible—
The ice spirit screamed again, closer. It’s coming!
Llor climbed in with her, his elbows and knees bumping against her as he squeezed in with her inside the lift. “I’m just as safe in here as out there. Safer! Please don’t leave me!”
It was the “please” that convinced her. Llor never said please. And what if the spirit turned down this corridor? How could she leave not knowing if he’d have time to hide? “Okay.” She held out her hand to Arin. “Medicine?”
Arin hesitated and then handed Erian the vial. “The queen’s my sister. Not just a queen. She’s family. Please . . .”
“We can do it,” Erian promised. “Can you turn the crank in the kitchen? I don’t think I’m strong enough to pull us all the way up.” I know I’m not. It was a long way up.
“I can,” Arin said. “I will.”
Erian tucked the vial into her pocket and kicked the lock to release the dumbwaiter. It jerked down, but she and Llor held on to the rope at the back of the lift. Together, they pulled the rope. The dumbwaiter lurched upward.
Soon, they were in darkness.
Below them, they heard Arin scream.