Vesper ran home from the mask shop and up the driveway of her grandfather’s house. Her school backpack dangled low on her elbows and flopped back and forth while she ran. In contrast, Vesper held the mask box close in front of her with both hands.

   “Grandfather!” Vesper said as she dashed into the house through the front door. The backpack landed in the corner and Vesper held out the black box with the purple ribbon.

   “Grandfather?”

   Vesper peeled her shoes off without a thought, stepping on the heels and prying her feet out. She kicked them off and one shoe landed on the oak floor under the radiator, the other landed in the hallway.

   “This is amazing! It’s so perfect,” she continued. “It’s just what I wanted!”

“What’s perfect?” Arthur Rowan stepped into the hall. He was wearing his glasses, holding a book, and distracted by whatever secrets he was reading.

   “And it’s all thanks to you!” Vesper hugged Arthur and set the black box on the dining room table.

   “What’s this?”

   Arthur moved beside Vesper as she pulled the purple ribbon bow off the box and lifted the lid. The mask rested under the thin layers of paper.

   Vesper lifted the mask.

   “Wow! When did you get this?” Arthur asked.

   “I got it from the mask shop today after school. I went with Sadie’s mom, Ms Green—the owner gave it to me, for free. Can you believe it? It’s such a perfect mask!”

   Vesper began to put it on, moving over to the mirror and tying the ribbon.

   “Gave it for free?”

   Arthur’s words faded away as he was struck by the familiar lines and textures of the unicorn mask.

   “I haven’t seen a mask like that in a dragon’s age!” Arthur said. “When I was a youngling, my friends and I loved to dress up for something called the unicorn festival, and some would have masks just like that. Vesper, you look majestic—the unicorn princess.”

   The words slipped out before Arthur could stop them. To him the idea of Vesper as the unicorn princess was so natural, but he knew Vesper didn’t yet know about Noominia, the truth about her mother, or about him. He came over to help her fasten the ribbon.

   “Unicorn festival? Why haven’t I ever heard of that? How come you never took me?” Vesper asked with a pained look.

   “You know, this mask jogs so many memories from this old noggin of mine. And some of it happened so long ago, it’s a bit foggy, so it’ll have to be a story for another time, after the masquerade. You know Vesper, you remind me of your mother, beautiful inside and out.”

Vesper beamed.

   “And before I forget, here is your majesty’s gown from the royal cleaners,” Arthur said with a bow and a gesture to the plastic bag draped over a chair. “Now you can get ready for masquerade merriment.”

   “Thank you, Grandpa,” Vesper said. “I wasn’t sure before if I wanted to go, but now I can’t wait to show Sadie my mask.”

And with a huge smile and a quick hug, Vesper was bounding up the stairs to her room. She carried the mask box and her dress, the protective plastic from the dry cleaners crinkling with each step.

   “This is gonna be awesoooome!” Vesper sang to herself on the way.

When she was out of sight, Arthur’s brow wrinkled into a puzzle of lines. Did he recognize the mask as a Noominian mask, or was it just similar? Such things Arthur knew were not usually coincidence. Could someone have brought it here from Noominia? It reminded him of the prophecy burned into the pages of the Trismegistus twelve years ago, and of the commitment he and the others close to Vesper made to protect her.

   He worried there was something he was missing, but Arthur was not about to ruin the night for Vesper. He knew letting her go to the dance was the right thing to do, and after all, unicorns were loved by many here, just like in Noominia.

Arthur grabbed his ginger tea and walked out to the backyard, placed the mug down on the small glass table and reached inside his pocket to pull out his pipe. It had a smooth curvy bowl, and was carved from a rowan tree, in the elven tradition. He tamped down a combination of mugwort and sage, and pulled the flame of his match down through the dried leaves with a puff, in the hope of finding some solace with his decision to let Vesper go to the masquerade with a unicorn mask. Before long he was wrapped in pipe smoke and thoughts, both of which wound around him like long, curled fingers.

   Upstairs, Vesper called Sadie on the phone.

   “Hey, Sadie, it’s Vesper.”

   “Hey! I heard you got a mask today! That means you’re coming, right?”

   “Yep, I guess so! Thank your mom again. I wouldn’t have gone into the shop today if not for her. This mask is amazing!”

   She recounted every detail of the afternoon with Sadie’s mom in the shop.

   “It does sound amazing,” said Sadie. “Mom mentioned she met you at the mask shop picking up our masks. I love my black swan mask! Did you peek at it?”

   “Nope, I didn’t. So I guess that means we both have big reveals for tonight. We’re meeting up before, right? You’ll walk in with me?” asked Vesper.

Vesper was nervous. Since her mom died, she’d missed most of her classes until a few weeks ago. It felt strange missing the last part of eighth grade.

   “We’ll walk together. What else, Vee?” Sadie replied.

Both girls laughed.

   “The black swan and the white unicorn. We’ll rock this masquerade!” Vesper crowed.

   “Yep-pah. It’ll be fun! I wonder what Robert will wear? I bet he’ll be a wolf or something.”

   “What mask did George get?” Vesper asked.

   “An owl.”

   “Cool. I like owls.”

   “It’s okay,” Sadie said.

   Vesper heard George comment something in the background.

   “—George, get out of my room! . . . No, I didn’t say your name. . . Ughhhh. Is your name ‘owl’? Go! Why are brothers so annoying? Especially grade-seven brothers named George?”

   “A brother wouldn’t be so bad,” admitted Vesper, then returned to the business at hand. “My stuff’s ready; I can’t wait for tomorrow. Hair is the next step—how will it match this awesome mask?”

   “I’m almost ready, too,” Sadie said.

   As Vesper spoke to Sadie on her new cell phone, she paced around her room. The phone was a gift from Arthur. Vesper guessed her Grandfather wanted to cheer her up and thought she’d be more likely to reach out to friends.

   “Wait a minute,” Vesper whispered as she remembered her grandfather’s book stuffed under her pillow. “My grandfather left this awesome old book in the upstairs hallway. He never leaves it out but when I saw it left alone, I knew I had to read it. It’s the only book he wouldn’t show me or even tell me anything about—so this morning . . . I took it.”

   “You what? Have you read it yet? What’s in it?” Sadie prodded.

   “I read a bit this morning but I can’t read it now. I’ll bring it tomorrow to the masquerade. If it’s a bust, we can read it together; or later at your house, at the sleepover,” whispered Vesper.

   “Yes!” said Sadie excitedly.

   “Oh ya, and this weird note dropped out of the book, addressed to me.”

   “Why would there be a letter for you in your grandfather’s old book?”

   “I don’t know, but it wasn’t signed.”

   “What’d it say?”

   “They said they knew my mother was alive, they knew where she was, and would meet me after the masquerade.”

   “Now, that is pretty weird. But don’t worry about it for a second. I’ll be with you the whole time. We won’t let some weird letter ruin our night, right?”

   “Right.”

   “Perfect, see you tomorrow.”

   “Yep, see you tomorrow. Bye.”