Daphne

Daphne can feel Beatriz's skepticism, but she doesn't have time to explain the wild, desperate idea that came to her. She hurries to her side of the bed, to the potted fern there. Grabbing the plant firmly by the base of its stem, she pulls it out of its pot. Then she digs her fingers into the dirt at the bottom of the plant and sifts through the roots, caring little for the mess she makes of it, until she finds the wish bracelet her mother gave her when she left Bessemia. After Violie refused to take it, Daphne hid it carefully in case her mother sent one of her spies to retrieve it.

It very well might not work. The magic in their bracelets was strong enough for Beatriz and Sophronia to rescue other people, transporting them from one place to another in the snap of a finger, but both of her sisters were in the same room as the people they were trying to save. Daphne isn't.

"Daphne?" Beatriz asks.

Daphne turns the bracelet over in her hands, knowing she has to hurry before the connection between them breaks, but she isn't sure what to wish for. Will the stardust be enough to transport Beatriz all the way to Bessemia? And will Beatriz be any better off there, defenseless and alone, surrounded by her mother's allies? There are too many pitfalls if she goes that route.

But there's another wish she can make, she realizes.

It may not work—but then all of this is a desperate last attempt, and Daphne knows that even if it fails, she'll never regret using her wish like this, doing everything she can to save her sister.

"Beatriz," she says, placing the wish bracelet on her desk and taking a heavy book from the shelf beside it. She lays the book on top of the stone and places both hands on the cover. "I love you. Meet me in Bessemia. We'll take Mama down together."

"Daphne, what are you—"

Daphne presses all of her weight on the book, feeling the stone crumble under the pressure. "I wish Beatriz had full, unimpeded access to her magic again."