He gave the queen a moment to grow accustomed to the misshapen contours of his ungainly skull, then raised his chin slowly, allowing her ample time to brace herself as each disfigured feature grew visible. When his head had risen high enough for him to observe her mouth, he saw that she had pasted a charitable smile on her lips. The smile wavered occasionally as the rest of his face came into view, but it never vanished entirely, not even when she found herself struggling to gaze into both of his cocked eyes at once.

"There," she said, though Atreus knew she was speaking more to herself than him. "That isn't so bad."

"Majesty, it's better not to make light of it," said Atreus. "I know what I look like, and pretending otherwise only makes us both uncomfortable."

At once, a look of great weariness replaced Rosalind's smile. "I am so glad to hear you say that, Atreus. It makes it easier to tell you what I must."

Atreus nodded, well-accustomed to seeing doors close because of his looks. "I understand. If you can't help me, King Korox will take no offense."

"I can help you, explorer," said Rosalind. Atreus's head snapped up, and the queen's eyes grew soft. "But I fear it is not the aid you seek."

"I would be most grateful for whatever you can do." "I hope that will be true when I have said what I must." The queen turned away, looking out the window across the rooftops of her city. In the distance, floating on a cloud of hazy green hills, stood the soaring wall of white-capped peaks toward which Atreus had been traveling for more than four months.

"The Yehimal Mountains are a mysterious and vast place," said Queen Rosalind. "There are many legends about what can be found in them. Diamonds as large as mountains, rivers that run yellow with gold, valleys filled with heavenly beauty… perhaps those legends are even true, but it does not matter. Those who seek such places never return except as jabbering lunatics, too crippled and mad to make sense of what they say. The Mar claim it is because Ysdar still roams the wilderness, preying on those foolish enough to trek where they don't belong. We Ffolk have another explanation. We know that these places exist only in the minds of those who seek them."