And that’s when Thorn had reached into his coat pocket—a special, Spinner-sewn one for secret things—and produced the fake Love Knot Tine. “After I saw you in the lobby, I grabbed the tine before the diamond branches could re-weave themselves. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Thorn had said to Claire as he handed the tine over to Nett for inspection. “When you told me it was fake, it didn’t seem to matter whether I had it or not, but now I think it can come in handy.”

Now, Claire could barely breathe as she pressed her ear to the wooden planks, straining to hear what Thorn would say next to the Royalist.

“The Love Knot Tine!” Flax said, sounding slightly awed. “You have it!”

“Of course I do,” Thorn said, his words as pointed as a spindle. “And the Forgers I have in here”—there was a thump on the side of the cart—“are the very Forgers who have been harassing Needle Pointe. I caught them trying to steal the Love Knot, but as we’re trying to get the Forgers to cooperate without a war, I thought it best to keep what happened to myself. Now let me in.”

“Y-yes, Prince Thorn,” the Royalist guard said, though he still sounded hesitant. “Do you mind, though, if I see your prisoners?”

There was a creak, and evening light suddenly filled the cart as Thorn opened the back and stood aside to let the guard peer in. Claire kept her head down, and she was aware of Sena tugging her own Forger’s hood tighter around her bright red hair. But their Forger disguises must have worked, because a second later, the guard shut the cart without another look.

“My sincerest apologies, Your Royal Highness,” Flax said. “I can take these prisoners while you go explain to Mira Fray, so she can let Her Majesty know. Mira is in the south wing.”

“I will keep the prisoners with me, Flax,” Thorn said so scornfully that, for a moment, Claire wondered if he was really acting. The Thorn she’d known would never be able to make his voice so cold, his tone so derisive. “No one is taking credit for capturing them other than me.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Flax cried out, but the rest of his words were lost in the crack of the reins, and the wheels lurched forward—they were in!