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“I mean . . .” Clement looked ashamed at first, then said heatedly. “Of course Ash is my son!”

A buzz shot through Lucienne’s head as she caught Clement’s fading secret. Clement wasn’t Ashburn’s mother! And none of the natives were Ashburn’s parents. Unknown to the islanders, the boy was actually the first outsider.

“I only wanted to know if . . . if Queen Lucienne has a cure if Ash is—” She looked at Lucienne with sad anticipation.

“Of course, Mrs. Fury,” Lucienne said. “We have a cure.”

“The gods be blessed!” Peder rose to his feet, wringing his hands.

“But Ashburn must come to my world for the cure,” Lucienne said.

Ashburn’s parents froze. “But we’ve never been to the outside,” Peder said. “It’s forbidden for citizens to—”

“What are you afraid of?” Violet cut in. “Ash was trying to find a path out.”

“Violet!” Clement said. “You can’t say things like that. If the neighbors hear that, they’ll report to the king.”

“Right now, the most important thing is to find your son.” Lucienne stopped the argument. “I need to know more about him to find out where he might have gone.”

“He’s a very sweet boy,” said Peder, choked with emotion.

“It was so hard to watch him be bound to that chair while the other boys ran around free.” added Clement, dabbing her tears.

She regarded her son as a liability,Lucienne thought.

“Why is he called ‘Ashburn the Extra’? Does it have something to do with his birth?” Lucienne asked. If Ashburn was the one who activated the Eye of Time, then his genetic code may be the key to solving part of the puzzle.

The Furys’ faces went very pale. “After Ash was born, no boys have been born into the kingdom. Only girls,” Clement said.

Lucienne swooped into Clement’s mind. A wave of nausea came to her. The intensity of the mindreading was burning her energy quickly. She withdrew as soon as she got what she needed. Only it was no help at all. Ashburn’s heritage was as complete a mystery to his adopted parents as it was to her. Who was this Ashburn? Lucienne narrowed her eyes.

Clement looked at Lucienne nervously.

She thinks I’m judging her son the way her neighbors do.“Your son is a special boy,” Lucienne said, “and you must know that he didn’t cause this misfortune in Nirvana.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling everyone,” Violet said. “Don’t blame Ash just because their bellies can’t produce boys!”

“Mrs. Fury, if you don’t mind, I’d like to see Ashburn’s room. Every little clue helps,” Lucienne said.

Clement nodded and led Lucienne to her son’s bedroom, but Violet put a hand on Lucienne’s arm. “If you want clues, you should see the basement instead.”

Clement immediately protested in the local dialect; Violet argued back. Lucienne, who didn’t understand a word, also didn’t have time to wait for them to resolve their disagreement. “I’d like to see the basement first.”

As Lucienne and her team followed Violet down a ramp toward the basement, she realized that the track was built for Ashburn’s wheelchair.

Violet stopped at the door. “After you, Queen Lucienne.”

Sensing a trick, Lucienne smiled. “No. After you, the guide.”

With a shrug, Violet eased the door open, entered the basement, and pressed a series of symbols on a glass box on the wall near the door.

A red light inside the box turned blue.

This farm boy invented a keypad system?Lucienne thought, as she stole a quick glance at the electronic toys packed on low shelves. Many of the innovations must be disguised weaponry. She had seen how the Screamer had disabled her and her men. She suspected that if she had entered the room first, she’d have been a target of the redhead’s amusement.

Lucienne followed Violet into the room. The floor was made of ceramic tile. The air smelled of pinewood and machine oil. Random tools hung on the wall.

“What’s that?” cried Ziyi, scurrying toward a redwood workshop table in the center of the basement. On it rest a thin, flat screen made of three crystal pieces—each the size of an iPhone. Texts and numbers pulsed on the screen.