Beginning with the Spyden’s words, she told them all about her journey to Needle Pointe, the discovery that the Love Knot Tine was a fake, and how they needed to gather the four tines of the powerful Crown of Arden in order to make Nadia queen. Because only a queen could defeat a queen. And only then would they be able to stop Estelle.

Estelle, who wanted a unicorn’s heart.

By the time Claire got to the end—with a few helpful insertions by Thorn and a few gazillion questions from Nett—Scythe had stood and started to pace. His legs were so long, however, that he needed to take only five steps to cross the entire length of the room.

“How did you know that the tine was fake?” Scythe growled, not angrily but in a focused way. Claire pulled the pencil out from behind her ear, and his brow lifted in amazement.

Next to her, she heard Sophie let out a soft “Wow.”

“Give it to me,” Scythe said, holding out his hand. “That looks like Charlotte Sagebrush’s pencil! It’s one of the most valuable treasures in all of Arden! Why, I bet it could fetch—”

“You’re right,” Claire agreed. “It is priceless.” But instead of handing him the pencil, she tucked it back behind her ear. Scythe frowned, and Claire wondered what he would do, but then suddenly, from beyond the hidden door, they heard a sound: bells.

Sena shot upright, her eyes flicking to Scythe. “What are they saying?”

Scythe was already walking to the door. “It’s muffled,” he said gruffly. “I’ll need to go out to hear the message properly. You,” he said, pointing at Thorn, “come with me to keep watch.” A second later, both Forger and Spinner disappeared.

“What’s going on?” Sophie asked, setting down the cloth napkin she’d been folding into a blossom, as though she’d wanted to make something for the pencil’s leaf.

“In a time of war,” Sena explained, “if the Fyrton leaders need to get a message out quickly, they relay it through the bells.” She shook her head, her brows furrowed. “Usually around this time of year, the bells would be tolling ‘Unicorns in the Snow.’ ”

At Sophie’s cocked eyebrow, Sena added, “It’s a traditional Forger song for the Starfell holiday. On Starfell night, the newest class of apprentices get to ring the bells during the shower—supposedly to let the stars know not to fall on our roofs.”

“But I’m guessing whatever we just heard wasn’t ‘Unicorns in the Snow,’ ” Sophie said, and when Sena shook her head again, Claire felt Sophie’s warm breath on her shoulder as her sister sighed. Sophie was worried about the unicorn.

Claire looked around and lowered her voice. “Sophie,” she said, “what’s it like to share a dream with a unicorn?”