There were preparations to make first. I had the energy—the comments just kept coming—but now I needed direction. Wandering into Faerie with nothing but a lovelorn heart and bald desperation didn’t seem like it would take me very far at all, and it certainly wouldn’t do Sy any good.

I gathered up the various mismatched scented candles from around the chalet’s various over-designed bathrooms and arranged them in a careful circle on the living room floor. There was a ...