That was the truth. I’d killed Wicker when I’d ousted Cassava from the Rim. Not that I was going to tell them and confirm the accusation.

“Truly, you were there?” She faced me but her words were for him. “Ender Boreas, please do not spread rumors. I cannot abide by them. And if she was the one who killed Wicker, then so be it. He chose his path and it took him from us. He was banished for a reason.”

That was news to me.

His whole face shut down. “As you wish, my queen.”

She held a hand out to me. “Come. You three must be cold and hungry.”

“What about Tom?” I asked, holding the fairy out to her. “Is he not one of yours?”

Ender Boreas snorted, but the queen held out a trembling hand. “Tom, in trouble again, my old friend? One day you will end up at the ends of our world, I think. Perhaps as far as the Valley of Death.”

“Aria, I cannot stay away from the berry wine. It loves me too truly.” He gave an awkward bow as I transferred him into her palm.

She put him on her shoulder and went back inside. “Let them pass, and do not molest them.”

Peta pressed herself against my leg as we walked through the doors. We said nothing as we followed the queen into the Eyrie. The mountaintop was ringed with a platform at least a mile wide. Seemingly supported by clouds, our footing was anything but certain, and that made me nervous. It would be nothing for any of the Sylphs to take exception to us and toss us into open space. I put a hand to the gem hanging from my neck, remembering it was there for the first time since we’d left the boat on the beach in Greece.

Here and there the wind gusted over us, once with enough force that I had to lean into it to keep from being shoved backward. Peta’s fur ruffled in the hard wind. She blinked up at me. “Some of the strongest winds in the world reside here.”

I was sure she didn’t only mean the natural forces of air.

Ender Boreas kept pace with the queen. Where he was tall and muscled, she was petite and frail. Then again, she was stooped with age. If she stood, she might have been as tall as me. More than once I’d been mistaken as having Sylph blood because of my height.

We were led along open streets paved with nothing but thick clouds, past buildings that hovered, always a few feet above the footing we stood on.

Ahead of us at the mountain’s peak was what I could only assume was the palace. Its spires were jagged, like lightning bolts reaching into the sky. Colored a bright gold, they reflected the morning sun so they glowed with its light.

I held my tongue, though to be honest, that was easy. The Eyrie was as stunning as the Deep in its own way. Certainly outstripping the Rim with its grandeur and glittering surfaces.

“Come, there is someone I want you to meet.” Aria held her hand out and I looked at Boreas. I pointed at my chest. He nodded, though the look on his face was grim.

“Stop making faces, Boreas. You’re much more handsome when you smile.”

He blushed and I couldn’t help but grin. I put my hand in the queen’s and she moved it to the crook of her elbow.

She leaned heavily on me as we walked up the last of the steps to the gates of her inner sanctuary. “Here we can speak without fear of anyone interrupting.” Blind though she was, she led without hesitation. The throne room opened to us, and I couldn’t help but suck in a breath. Pillars of brilliant white ice reached as high as any redwood to the open sky. A whisper of clouds curled over our heads and snowflakes floated to our feet. A dream . . . it looked as though we walked through a dream made entirely to dazzle the eyes and ease the soul.

Only my soul was anything but calm. The exterior of the Eyrie may have been beautiful, but I knew all too well how beauty could hide the ugly truth.

“Your home is . . . exquisite.”

“A home is not the place you live your life, child of the earth.” The queen’s voice was strong and firm. “Home is the place your life blooms.”

I hadn’t been expecting advice. She patted my hand. “I think you will understand one day. Rumors have come to us that you did some marvelous work in the Namib Sand Sea.”

I blanched. “How?”

“Oh, the usual. Spies. Spies are everywhere. Even mine.” She laughed and waved at me. “Fairies mostly, if you must know. Elementals don’t notice them, yet they are everywhere. Close your mouth, child of the earth. You will learn soon enough that in our world, very little is as it seems. You have been led on a merry chase, haven’t you?”

“The mother goddess,” I said before I thought better of it.

Aria blinked up at me. “Well, she is a goddess. She sees what we cannot, even the future as it should be. But that is not what I meant. I know you seek your father, but he is not here, child. Whoever told you he was, led you wrong.” She stepped away and toward her throne.

I glanced at Cactus. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. I dropped a hand to Peta. She flicked one ear, her voice low. “There is no way the Tracker was wrong.”

Aria turned and smiled at me. “I see a question in your eyes. Ask it.”

“May I look around? It is my father I seek, after all.”

“I cannot let you wander on your own. The Eyrie is dangerous for the simple fact that not all the footing is grounded. If you are amenable to a guide, you may stay as long as you wish.”

“Take it,” Peta whispered, “you will not get better.”

“Thank you.” I bowed at the waist.