“You’re sure it was Hollander’s?”
“Of course I’m sure,” she huffed. “My voice is broken, not my eyesight. It’s not the name of any merchant or seller I know around here, but Drosselmeyer is looking into it.”
“Drosselmeyer?”
“You know, the wizard? Queen Celesta’s godfather? The fae who’s been almost single-handedly setting things to rights in Faerie for the last few years?” Sienna shook her head in amazement. “Honestly, where have the two of you been living lately?”
Casper’s answer was prompt. “Out at sea.” His face and general demeanor were back to being terse and grumpy. Heseemed to hesitate for a moment. “But your wizard friend isn’t going to find Hollander’s anywhere around here.”
She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. “How do you know?”
“Because Hollander’s Emporium is a store on the isle of Norditch.”
“Norditch? Where’s that.”
“In the human realm.”
Sienna jumped to her feet, wincing when the movement caused her sling to bounce against her chest and jostle her sore arm. “What? How do you know that? And how is that even possible?”
The two men shared another look. Jem was the one to answer. “We know because we’re from Norditch.”
“You’re human?” Suddenly Casper’s lack of musical and magical knowledge made sense. Sienna slowly sank back to her seat, closing her eyes and rubbing her temple. The day had been full of enough excitement and surprises to last her a year, and it was just past noon.
“Fairly certain,” Jem confirmed cheerfully. “At least, I was the last time I checked.”
“But…how?” Sienna’s mind jumped back to Drosselmeyer and Celesta’s visit. “Dross is the only one who can make gates. Hold on—do you know anything about the Flying Dutchman.”
Casper suddenly coughed. “I’ve heard of him.”
“I only ask because Drosselmeyer thinks that he’s human as well, but he couldn’t puzzle out how a human ship could get to Faerie when he didn’t set up a gateway between the realms. But if the two of you—”
“And the rest of Captain Helmrud’s crew,” Jem added.
“—are from the human realm, that means you must have gotten here the same way.” Sienna looked back and forth between them.
Casper shifted in his seat. “The how is fairly simple. There’s a place about ten miles from here where giant rocks rise above the surface of the water.”
She nodded. “Sentinel’s Keep.”
“Well, whatever you call it, there’s a breach there.”
“A what?”
“A thin spot between the realms. When storms align on both sides, the wind blows through the rocks of—what did you call it? Sentinel’s Keep? It harmonizes with the wind cutting across the tall, empty cliffs of Norditch’s southern coast and opens up the breach. At least, so I’ve been told. It all sounds like wind to me.”
Sienna’s mind was spinning. “So there was a storm and you just…sailed through?”
“Yes.”
“And the crates? They came from someone else who also came from the human realm?”
“Yes.”
I need to send a message to Drosselmeyer. This is something he definitely would want to know. But speaking of…
“But if this breach is just there, why is this the first time I’m hearing about it? Why has it been kept such a secret?”
Jem re-inserted himself into the conversation. “I would imagine because it’s better for business that way.”
