My gaze snapped to the shadows where a single arrow spiralled through the darkness toward the table. The loud chatter of the Greens faded from my awareness, and my stomach dropped as the arrow pierced the garland of the Queen of the Pines’s crown, ripping the wreath off the queen’s head. Lucas spat his pudding; I watched in awe as the arrow carried the Crown of Pines through the night, disappearing into the trees.

The entire table erupted in shouts. Host soldiers grabbed their weapons and raced into the woods, guessing at the location from which the arrow had come. The Axemen launched from their seats to chase after the crown, batting branches out of their way.

“Find it!” the queen screamed; gray eyes wild.

All at once, everyone at the table stood, tossing napkins, cutlery, and pudding.

…orange leaves and golden sap. Make sure you find it first.

Good grief, Eliot.

We dropped our spoons and escaped the table, jogging into the hazy trees. People rushed past in every direction. Zane’s hand fell onto Lucas’s shoulder as Lucas led us through the dark. The table’s candles faded at our backs.

Lucas detached from us, veering in the direction Eliot had told us. A second later, his whisper sailed through the darkness, “I found orange leaves!”

The silhouettes of tree branches cast black patches over the starry sky. I could vaguely make out Lucas’s form climbing the trunk and reaching into a gap. “Ragnashuck,” he said, pulling something out and hopping down to hold it beneath a patch of moonlight.

I blinked at the Crown of Pines. The emerald-feathered arrow was still lodged into its side.

“How did Eliot get the arrow to carry it?” Kaley whispered.

“Well, darling, it’s a nifty trick I learned in my early seasons—”

“Save it for later, Lucas." Zane tugged him toward the woods, but the wreath’s candles burst to life, jolting us to a halt. We looked at each other. Against the dim night, we glowed. Shouts boomed through the darkness as everything in the woods turned for us.

“Well. Frostbite,” Lucas muttered. “Yes! What a relief! We’ve found it!” he shouted to the half-dozen Evergreen Host soldiers flocking us.

Clattering bells sang through the pines as the queen’s garland dress brushed over the snow. In the glow of the crown’s candles, her gray eyes were liquid bullets. My gaze followed the crown as Lucas passed it to her Axemen.

“The Emissary of the Second King of the East has fled.” Ice layered her words. “I’m inclined to believe he meant to take this from me.” She reached for the crown, holding it up. But her liquid stare fired over to me. “You’re thieves. You meant to take my blessed crown and flee, like your husband.”