Page 73 of Wings of Starlight

“She also wanted a chance to test her other prototype.” Artemis stared covetously at Petra’s weapon. She lifted her own, which—while otherwise more or less identical—looked held together with a dream rather than anything concrete. To Clarion’s untrained eye, it seemed to be a scout’s bow nailed into a thin wooden block. A long groove ran down its center, where an arrow would be nocked. The bowstring, once pulled taut, was held in place by a mechanism released by a trigger. “Or at least,mineis a prototype.”

“That’s why you need to stay close to me,” said Petra, with an almost roguish smile. “All my efforts have finally paid off.”

“Your efforts to ruin a perfectly good bow and arrow,” Artemis muttered, with no real heat behind it. “It takes all the artistry out of it.”

Petra jabbed an accusatory finger at her. “Thereisartistry! You just don’t appreciate—”

“Wait.” Clarion’s stomach twisted into a knot. “Thisis what you’ve been working on? Not the sword?”

Artemis and Petra fell silent. The tension fizzled in the air between them.

“Of course.” Petra gave her a wobbly smile. “I would have told you earlier, but I never exactly got the chance.”

Clarion flinched at the reminder of their fight, but before she could speak, Petra barreled onward. “I mean, I was working on Elvina’s sword, too. But after a certain point, most of my time was spent making it look convincing.”

Clarion furrowed her brow. “Convincing?”

“It doesn’t work.” It burst out of Petra, a confession of guilt she could no longer contain. “If she finds out—”

“She’s not going to find out,” Artemis interjected, a little wearily. This had the air of a conversation they’d had at least twice before.

“—then I’ll be exiled for real this time!”

“It doesn’twork?”

Petra paused to consider it, collecting herself. “Well, I suppose it works insofar as sunstones channel sunlight. So it’s not a stretch to think it would work on the starlight governing-talents wield….” The mention of governing-talents, evidently, reminded Petra of her more immediate concerns. “The point is, it won’t do what Elvina wants. I was going to tell her, but you seemed to think you knew what you were doing, and—”

The rest of her sentence fizzled into nonsense. All Clarion could latch on to was this: “You lied to Elvina?”

Petra’s face went very pale, then vaguely green. “I guess I did.”

But Petraneverlied. Clarion could hardly process it. “Why did you do that?”

“I don’t know.” Petra dragged her hand down her face. “By the time I’d done it, it was too late. And now, when she finds out—”

Artemis sighed. Diplomatically, she said, “We both believed in you.” She slid her gaze pointedly to Petra. “Even when we worried about you.”

Guilt chased away Petra’s panic. “I’m sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have been so…”

“Judgmental?” Clarion supplied.

“Right. That.” Petra winced. “I’m sorry for involving Elvina when I knew that was the very last thing you wanted. I panicked, just like I always do. I worried you would do something foolish. I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“I know. And I suppose you weren’t wrong,” she choked out through a laugh. Clarion could have wept then and there—from relief or regret, she wasn’t entirely certain. There were still so many things knotted up between them, but for now, this was enough. It had to be, when she did not know if they would make it through the night. “I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have—”

“We’ll talk later,” Petra said softly.

“Later, then.” Clarion did her best to swallow down the sudden wave of emotion. She gestured vaguely at the weapon Petra was holding. “What exactly is this thing, anyway?”

Petra brightened. “Oh, this?”

Apparently, it was some sort of Nightmare-vanquishing contraption. At least, that was what Clarion gleaned from the enthusiastic—and very technical—description Petra had launched into.

“I’ve decided to call it a T-bow. Or maybe an X-bow? I’m still working on the finer details, but you can load it with pixie dust–infused arrows. Obviously, it isn’t quite as potent as governing-talent magic, but I hypothesized…” Petra trailed off, her face going pale. “You know, I don’t think the science behind it matters right now.”

The end of her sentence broke off in a squeak. Clarion turned to see the Nightmare Petra had shot earlier beginning to knit itself back together. Its mist-like form collapsed and bubbled as it attempted to rise to its feet. They didn’t have much time before it could strike again.

“What’s the plan?” Artemis asked, ever pragmatic.