“Come on, Elaina, don’t get lost,” Lyric called over her shoulder. The box of ribbons she was carrying bounced in her arms.

The closer they got to the city center, the larger the crowds became. An excited hum seemed to thread throughout Needle Pointe, the sounds of laughter and excitement amplified by the waterways. Spinners kept breaking out into bursts of song, and from far off, Claire could hear the notes of a violin dance down the canal while the snapping of flags kept time.

“Almost there!” Lyric said, hurrying Claire over one last bridge and around a final turn—

Claire gasped.

In the center of the plaza stood the most beautiful building Claire had ever seen. It was made of swooping arches and stately columns that rose over the crowd like a giant wedding cake. The many long, low stone steps leading up to it looked like a fancy serving tray, which only added to the confectionary effect.

So this was the Historium.

It must be a museum, the kind that looked as grand as a castle, and Claire’s heartbeat ticked up as she imagined all the wonders that must be contained within. She always loved field trips to museums, loved wandering through massive, echoing halls, hearing the soothing click of heels against marble floors, and staring at the artwork made by visionaries long since dead and gone. In her world, it was the closest she had ever felt to magic.

Hundreds of tiered balconies trimmed the outside of the building, and as they got closer, she saw that from each one dangled a crescent banner, with the same symbol repeating again and again: a single star suspended over a white crown against a field of Royalist blue.

No need to wonder whose seal it was, though. Lyric squealed in delight again: “They put the queen’s banners up!” She looked at Claire proudly. “When Grandmaster Bobbin heard about Her Majesty’s return, he had all the preambles practice our embroidery on the banners so that we would have them in time for Starfell.” Lyric shielded her eyes from the sun and scanned the tiers. “I think that one there is the one I did!”

“How can you tell?”

Lyric waved an unconcerned hand. “I accidentally added a fifth point to the crown, but who’s counting? Come on!” She took the stone steps two at a time, and Claire hurried to keep up. But with each step that took her nearer to the Historium, the more certain she grew that her plan was a terrible one. Maybe she should just tell everyone the truth as soon as possible. Dad always said the truth would set her free, but what if the Spinners didn’t want to listen to the truth? Everywhere she looked, from the banner-wrapped building to all the blue cloaks on the streets, she saw how excited the Spinners were for Queen Estelle’s return.