1564024802

husband and his brothers were born. Once the
last of the ancient wayfarers had died out, the
paths between realms were sealed, their
methods of world-walking lost with them. Or
so all had thought. But deep in her husband’s
private library, she found the old spells. She
began with small experiments. First, she
opened a door to the realm of resting, to find
one of those wayfarers and ask her how it was
properly done.” A knowing smile. “The
wayfarer refused to tell her. So the queen
began to teach herself. Opening and closing
doors long since forgotten or sealed. Peering
deep into the workings of the cosmos. Her
own world became a cage. She grew tired of
her husband’s warring, his casual cruelty. And
when he went away to war once again, the
queen gathered her closest handmaidens,
opened a door to a new world, and left the one
she’d been born into.”