Page 21 of Wings of Starlight

Another fairy—a dyeing-talent spattered with pigments—spoke from the back of the crowd. “How will the preparations for autumn be handled?”

Murmurs erupted from the crowd again, their voices low with fear. Clarion hadn’t truly considered the impact of it until now. If a season did not arrive on the Mainland in time, the effects could be disastrous. A long summer meant drought. It meant deadly heat waves and wildfires. Crops withering in the soil and waters choked with algal blooms. Nature was a vast network, like a spider’s delicate web. If one thread was touched, it reverberated through the whole. There were things not even pixie dust and the work ethic of fairies could help.

That vicious voice in her head whispered,And it would be all your fault.

If she were a more competent governing-talent, then…

“There are still several months before autumn is due to arrive on the Mainland,” Elvina replied, with far more confidence than Clarion could muster. “We will do everything in our power to ensure preparations continue without a hitch. The autumn fairies are knowledgeable, and Princess Clarion and I will manage in the minister’s stead. However, I anticipate he will be back on his feet well before we feel his absence.”

Some of the crowd’s restlessness seemed to dissipate. Clarion thought she saw some of the tension bleed from Elvina’s shoulders when their subjects once again fell quiet. The idea that she had been rattled, even for a second, seemed preposterous to Clarion. Elvina had never once shown anything but unflagging conviction in her own plans. She had refused to hear anything different last night.

“Before I dismiss you,” Elvina said, “I would like to share the names of those who are recovering from the attack.”

Her cupped hands filled with the light of her magic. With each name she recited, she let an orb of light rise to the ceiling. Pixie dust rained softly down on them. From here, Clarion could see fairies holding each other close or joining hands to comfort one another.

“We will deal with the creatures that did this,” said Elvina, when all eleven lights burned brightly above them. “But we must not be reckless. Beginning today, I am instituting a curfew again. Now that we have learned these creatures are active in the darkness, no one will go out after the sun has set. There will be no exceptions. Anyone who breaks this rule will answer to me. Are we understood?”

The silence was complete.

Then, a weather-talent, his hair wild from tracking the wind patterns, asked, “And what of Winter?”

There was the faintest note of accusation in it. All at once, Clarion became acutely aware of the mountain looming to the north—all the windswept, glaring white of it.

Several fairies spoke at once, clamoring to be heard:

“You said those beasts came from Winter.”

“Have they set them loose?”

“Have they lost control of them?”

“Have they fallen victim to them as well?”

Elvina held up her hand, demanding silence once more. When the commotion died down, she replied, “The Warden of the Winter Woods has not made contact with the warm seasons in quite some time. However, I do not believe this is their doing. I can only imagine that they must be suffering, too. My thoughts are with them.”

Did Elvina believe that, or did sheknow? Clarion flinched at the turn of her own thoughts. She hated this newfound paranoia—this mistrust of the woman who had all but raised her.

“That said, I share your trepidation. We must take measures to protect ourselves in the long term.” Elvina canted her chin, and the hooked shadow of her crown stretched across the floor. “I intend to tear down the bridges between Winter and the warm seasons.”

If the crowd reacted, Clarion could not hear it over the ringing in her own ears. Horror felt like claws raking down her back.

“It will take time,” Elvina continued. “The magic flowing within them is powerful and cannot be destroyed by ordinary means. But rest assured, the plan is already in motion.”

Thiswas Elvina’s plan? To abandon Winter to the Nightmares—worse, to set them adrift from the rest of Pixie Hollow entirely? Perhaps Clarion had little experience ruling. Perhaps she did not understand exactly what they were dealing with. But she knew, down to the very heart of her, that this waswrong.

When Elvina dismissed the assembly, fairies began filtering out. A familiar voice cut through the gloom of her thoughts.

“Clarion!”

She looked up to see Petra fighting her way to the foot of the dais, her red hair blazing bright beneath the sunlight. The sight of her comforted Clarion more than she expected. Before she could open her mouth to greet her, Petra launched herself forward and seized Clarion’s forearm. Something as familiar as embracing her in public would raise eyebrows, but she felt all the warmth and relief Petra intended in the steady pressure of her grip.

“You’re all right,” Petra breathed. “When I heard what happened, I…”

“It’s all right.I’mall right.” Clarion offered her an uncertain smile. “Mostly.”

Petra withdrew her hand, instead letting it curl protectively in front of her chest. “What’s wrong?”

Clarion’s gaze darted to Elvina, who had begun speaking with Aurelia and Iris in hushed tones. Artemis, standing dutifully at the foot of the dais,of coursenoticed her feeble attempt to be sneaky. She narrowed her eyes at Clarion, as if to say,I know you’re up to something. After her disappearance two nights ago—and the attack in Autumn—she supposed she’d never slip away from her guard so easily again.