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and I’m so glad. And I know just how they can help.” King Ingram reaches out and grabs Basil and me each by the left hand, and holds up our ring fingers like a pair of identical trophies. “Love,” he whispers excitedly. “It’s the biggest thing our two worlds have in common. You two are the perfect representatives for your world. You are young, vibrant, hopeful, in love. You’re a prime example of what life on your floating city is all about.”
    My mouth and throat have gone dry, and I can see my hand paling in the king’s grasp. On the surface, he’s correct. Basil and I have always been what we were expected to be. Basil still is. I’m the one who has strayed. I’m the one who daydreamed about the edge and admired the sharp angles of another boy’s face and throat in the moonlight. I’m the one who has left the pair of us in limbo, wondering what we are and what we will be.
    The king releases our hands, and we withdraw.
    Nimble senses our trepidation and does the asking for us. “What is it they’re expected to do?”
    â€œWell, obviously the pair of you will not be involved in anything dangerous. No. You’ll only be asked to appear before a crowd, read a few prepared speeches, and smile.”
    â€œWe’d be honored,” Basil says, without any resentment at all. I’m proud of him for that. I know how much he hates the king; I saw it in his eyes after the bombing at the harbor. It is the same hatred he has for our own king, who has taken the same liberties with the lives of his own citizens. This whole ordeal has made us all quite wary of kings.
    But if Basil can fake it, so can I. If wearing a pretty dress and speaking some pretty words will keep us all safe, I will happily oblige. We’re getting off quite easily, I think.
    And then King Ingram says, “And after the festivities here, the pair of you will return home.”
    I open my mouth to speak, but words don’t form. I can only try to subdue the alarm that is surely washing over my face. Only the two of us?
    Basil is once again the steady one. “We’re going back to Internment?”
    â€œYou’ll meet with my father,” Prince Azure says. “You’ll oversee the phosane mining and speak to the workers.”
    I look at Prince Azure and just for a moment I see it—a glimmer of fear in his eyes. Worry. Dread. He, too, is a captive of King Ingram.
    But it is not safe to ask my questions, and I may never have all my answers anyway. What I do know is that Basil and I are in for something much bigger than festivities. And home will not be as we left it.

    King Ingram’s staff works quickly. By the time we make the drive back to the hotel, the capital city of Havalais is already hanging banners welcoming the Sky Prince. A stage is being set up before the library.
    I look away, down at my betrothal band. It is made of glass and a bit of the phosane this world so desires. It is identical to all the other betrothal bands on Internment. I wonder at the factory worker who crafted this exact ring. That person would never have dreamed what trouble a little ring could cause.
    Tears threaten in my eyes and I force them away. Now is not the time to show weakness. I make myself feel nothing.
    The driver brings us to the front door, and I do not want to get out of this car. I do not want to face Alice and my brother, and especially Pen, to tell them that I will be returning home without them, and I do not know for how long, and I do not know if I will be back.
    Nimble exits the car first, and then he opens the door for me, and reluctantly I step out into the calm, tepid air.
    He pats my shoulder in some small gesture of reassurance. “I’m going to walk into the city and visit with Birdie,” he says. “I’ll tell her you said hello?”
    I smile. That does lift my spirits a little. “Yes. Thank you.”
    â€œAttagirl,” he