Chapter 3

Zarina returned to her lab and instantly started working on the new dust. She broke off a piece of Kyto's scale and, using her mortar and pestle, ground it into a fine powder, which she added to the mix. The moment she dropped in a speck of blue, the sparkling gold pixie dust deepened to a fiery red.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, twirling in a circle. Another success!

She poured the contents into a satchel. After changing into warm clothes, she slung it over her shoulder and dashed out, stopping at Tink's cottage on her way to the Winter Woods.

"Tink!" she practically shouted the moment her friend opened the door. "I just created a dust that will protect the Winter fairies when they visit the warmer seasons. Now they won't need to have snow blown on them and can stay here longer."

"Zarina, that's wonderful!" Tink jumped up and down in excitement. "That means my sister Periwinkle can visit more and even join us at Fairy Camp. I've been wanting to take her to meet Lizzy and now she can. And Lord Milori—"

"Yes. He can stay here with Queen Clarion for as long as he likes."

Tink grabbed a long, thick coat from her closet and slung it over her shoulders. "Let's go!"

Zarina could feel the chill as they neared the Winter province before they even reached the border. Blinding white snow dotted with barren trees formed a striking contrast to the rich golds and reds of the Autumn Forest they were leaving. Periwinkle, Gliss, Spike, and Sled, who had been playing in the snow, hurried over as the border sparrow man frosted Tink and Zarina's wings.

"Zarina has a surprise for you guys," said Tink. "And it'll help Lord Milori too."

"What is it?" asked Gliss, her pale ponytail bobbing.

"Is it a new kind of dust?" Periwinkle, whose wings had taken on an iridescent glow, along with Tink's, peered into Zarina's bag.

"It is. Let's see if it works." Zarina sprinkled a pinch of dust over each Winter fairy. It flashed like fire sparks as it settled on their clothes, wings, and hair. "Now you should be able to stay in the warm seasons without snowmakers."

"Yay! I'll go first," said Gliss, fluttering across the tree-bridge border into the sunlight on the other side. "So this is what it feels like," she shouted, flying in a circle. "It's great! I didn't know warmth could feel so good."

"Hey, wait up!" called Spike, hurrying to catch up with her friend. Sled and Periwinkle followed.

"I have to find Rosetta and tell her," said Sled, a grin stretching across his handsome face. He snatched up a daisy the moment he crossed over and flew off.

"Zarina, thank you!" Periwinkle, her cheeks flushed a bright pink, dashed back into Winter and nearly knocked Zarina over in an eager hug.

"Now we have to try this on Lord Milori," said Tink as the three of them flew toward his palace. It rose above the endless snow in crystalline spires.

"They have something for Lord Milori," Periwinkle said to the courtier at the door.

Zarina caught her breath as they entered, following the sparrow man into a vast room made completely of ice.

"There are fairies from the warm seasons here to see you, my Lord," the courtier said to Lord Milori.

"Sir," said Periwinkle, bobbing her head. "Zarina has dust that makes it so we Winter fairies can cross the border and not be harmed by the warmth. Now we can visit without having snow blown on us."

"Is that so?" Milori cocked an eyebrow.

"Yes, sir," said Zarina. "You sprinkle it on, just like regular pixie dust." The moment she spoke, she remembered, with a pang of horror, that he didn't use pixie dust. He couldn't fly on his own because of his broken wing.

"You were the one who performed with the different colors of pixie dust at the Festival, were you not?" he said before she could apologize for that comment. He smiled down at her with kind brown eyes. Zarina nodded. "That's quite a talent you have there." Pride filled her.

She sprinkled the dust on him before they headed back to the border. Zarina could sense Milori's eagerness as he climbed onto his great snowy owl. She, Tink, and Periwinkle flew beside them out of the Winter Woods and toward the Pixie Dust Tree.

Queen Clarion was holding counsel with the Seasonal Ministers in her bedchamber when they returned. She was frail and her skin held a pale translucence. She gasped with delight and surprise when she saw Milori. He gingerly took her into his arms. "But…how…?" she asked in a stunned voice after he had kissed her.

"This young lady," he indicated Zarina, "created a dust that allows Winter fairies to safely cross over."

Warmth flooded Zarina as Queen Clarion smiled at her. "Thank you so much." The queen kissed her forehead and nearly fell over. Lord Milori placed a firm arm around Clarion's shoulders to steady her.

She'll be fine, now that Lord Milori is with her, Zarina later tried to convince herself as she headed home. Her mood brightened when she saw Tink and Peri sitting on a branch, talking and giggling. Their identical wings sparkled in an array of rainbow patterns. Periwinkle's brilliant white hair stood out against the deepening shadows. In the air above them, Rosetta and Sled chased one another in a friendly game of tag while Spike and Gliss, lazily lounging on an upper branch, watched.

Zarina smiled. At least her Alchemy talent was proving to be useful.

She was trapped in the lantern as James held it up, his handsome face distorted in a sneer.

"Bon voyage, little captain," he taunted as he tossed her over the side of the ship.

She screamed as she plummeted, and slammed painfully against the glass when it hit the water. Panic overwhelmed her as seawater gushed into the container, soaking her clothes, her hair, her wings. Tink and the others hovered above.

Zarina pleaded with them to help her. In seconds the water would fill her lungs, pull her deeper into the sea.

"You betrayed us. Why should we save you?" Tink said coldly. Laughing, she and the others flew away.

Zarina jolted awake. She gulped in deep breaths and scanned the room. The long worktable cluttered with her lab equipment stood next to the unlit fireplace. Early morning sunlight spilled through the window.

She was home. Her friends had not deserted her. They never had. Still, it took several moments for her rapid heart to calm and her breathing to return to normal. She'd had similar nightmares before but this was the worse so far, the most vivid. Was Kyto responsible? With revulsion, she remembered her promise to visit him. She'd almost forgotten.

The shrill blast of a shell horn yanked Zarina from her thoughts. Her blood chilled. Those horns were only blown for emergencies. If only she was still dreaming. She quickly dressed and dashed outside.

Swarms of fairies and sparrow men streamed toward the Pixie Dust Tree. Many looked as if they had just woken up. The Seasonal Ministers hovered before the Tree, their faces drawn and distressed. Queen Clarion! Ice clotted Zarina's heart. She spotted her friends in the crowd and hurriedly joined them.