The tunnel opened up into a wide cavern. The walls were of darkest rock and from them glinted chains. There were cages perched atop stone spikes, though Ari couldn’t see their occupants—a mist filled the space, especially thick up high. She could clearly see a pair of thrones shining silver as the blade of a sword in the center of the space, though. In them sat the man with the silver tooth and a girl. Her hair was jet black instead of the golden blonde it always had been—a shade that grew richer in the summer sun—but Ari would recognize Dee anywhere.

Ari wanted to run to her sister, to scream her name, but she knew that she would only end up a captive of the silver-toothed man as well. So she stayed hidden in her tunnel, trying to come up with a plan.

Just wait until he leaves and then get Dee’s attention, was Ari’s first thought. While Dee sat in her throne completely still, the silver-toothed man did move around. He drank from a large silver cup, which other black-haired girls brought to him and, finally, he got up to speak with a man in black leather. When his back was turned, Ari tried to wave and signal to Dee, but Dee continued to stare straight ahead, unseeing. The distance must be too great, Ari told herself even though Dee had always been the first one to spot an eagle circling above the trees.

He will eventually have to sleep, was Ari’s second thought. Then I will tiptoe close enough to signal to Dee. But it seemed that the silver-toothed man did not need sleep. The flickering orange light in the cavern never changed, but Ari knew that many hours passed, because she grew so hungry that she feared that the growling of her stomach would catch the attention of the man or one of his servants. She ate the rest of the bread, one slice of apple, a lick of honey, and a sip of tea, but she wanted to save the rest for Dee because while the silver-toothed man was eating and drinking, she was not.

Perhaps she knows instinctively not to eat his food, Ari thought, remembering what the singer had told her. She also remembered the singer saying repeatedly that she would need energy and this was proving to be true. Crawling back through the caves with Dee, especially if Dee was weak and needed help, would be arduous. Just a cat nap, Ari told herself as her eyelids grew heavy. If he isn’t asleep when I wake, I’ll have to come up with a new plan.

Of course when Ari opened her eyes, the silver-toothed man was still as awake as he had been. Fortunately, while she was sleeping, she’d remembered the singer’s second piece of advice: to give something of herself when she needed help. She wasn’t sure what she had to give or what she needed to receive, but she reached into her pocket. Her fingers grazed one of the two feathers that remained in her jacket and then the feather seemed to disappear and her fingers connected with something metallic.

Confused, Ari withdrew her hand and found that two gold rings had slipped down fingertips. They were her parents’ wedding bands. She had very little that belonged to them and she’d always kept these in a jewelry box at home, waiting to exchange them with her beloved. But you love Dee more than anyone and would give anything for her, Ari reminded herself. She closed the rings in her palm, whispered, “Please, help me distract him,” and then flung them as far as she could into the cavern.

She wasn’t sure what she expected to happen—an explosion maybe, or a brilliant flash of light—but instead the rings turned into two black birds. They flew toward the man with the silver tooth, right at his eye level. He nodded at them and they swooped up and over his head. He murmured something to Dee, then rose and walked across the cavern, disappearing into a wide-mouthed tunnel far away from Ari.

As soon as he was gone, Ari ran to her friend. “Dee!” she exclaimed. “Let’s get out of here.”

Dee’s eyes were closed, so Ari tugged on her hands, finding them ice cold. Dee’s skin was even paler than it had been before, but her lips were red as fresh blood. Finally, her blue eyes blinked open, although the color was more like ice than the lake now.

“Ari,” Dee said, speaking slowly as if in a dream. “You’ve finally arrived. I told King you would be here. Now our family is complete. We will be sisters. We will be brides. We will rule His Kingdom with Him.”

“This is no kingdom. It’s a prison!” Ari tried to gesture up toward the cages that sat on spikes and behind her to the wall with the chains, but the fog was growing thicker and she couldn’t see where she’d come from or any higher than the crown that sat on Dee’s head.

“I have one for you too, sister,” Dee said. “Put it on and you will see.”

And Dee sat upon Ari’s head a ring of purple flowers that looked so familiar…something from the woods where once someone, maybe an old woman had told her…

No, there were no woods, no old woman. Only Dee and here and now in this… Ari gasped. This beautiful palace.