“But it just doesn’t make sense,” Sophie said, shaking her head so vehemently that her ponytail brushed the tip of her nose. “In my dr— I mean, my information doesn’t say the queen has him. His messages are images of the four guilds: locks, and reeds, and jewels—he’s definitely been captured by one of the four guilds!”

But Nett, who’d been unusually silent, finally spoke. “Maybe he wasn’t saying the captor is one of the guilds, Sophie,” he said quietly. “Maybe your, uh, informant was trying to tell you he’s at a place where all four guilds are gathered together. After all, the Royalists have members from all four guilds, right?” He glanced at Thorn for confirmation, and Thorn nodded. “And they will all be gathered at Hilltop Palace.”

“Maybe …,” Sophie said, though she still sounded uncertain.

“There’s only one thing to do, isn’t there?” Sena said. “We have to save the unicorn. We have to free him from Estelle so she can’t convince the Forgers to join her. We’ll save the unicorn, and then the unicorn can help us convince the Forgers to give Nadia their tine. And then …” She shrugged. “Then we’ll tackle getting the other three.”

“But how will we get there in time?” Nett asked. “Starfell is tomorrow—how are we going to travel there without being captured ourselves?”

Claire remembered the one red Seven League Boot out there in the chimera’s mouth, but even if they could retrieve it without being seen, there were too many of them to make the journey with one boot.

No one spoke. And then—

“Me,” Thorn said, looking miserable. “You’ll sneak in through me.”

Chapter Eighteen

CHAPTER

18

The first few hours of traveling as prisoners of His Royal Highness Thorn Barley of Arden were surprisingly fun. Though the wooden cart and bony mare Scythe had procured for them were a far cry from Mom and Dad’s car, it didn’t feel too unlike going on a special weekend trip to the lake.

After Thorn’s suggestion, they had spent the rest of the day and most of that night preparing for what was to come. When dawn had at last broken, Scythe had helped them ride out of Fyrton without any questions. Once they were on the road that led to Hilltop Palace, he’d handed the reins over to Thorn and clambered off the cart. The Forger would not be traveling with them to save the unicorn and collect the tines, but instead would be following his Messaging Threads to wherever Nadia and Woven Root were currently camped and would let her know the Spyden’s words: Only a queen can defeat a queen.