Violie

Empress Seline leads Violie, Leopold, and Bairre to the graveyard outside the Sororia, a maze of tombstones and crypts, many trampled by ivy and cracked by time, but others shiny and new, the dates etched in recently.

"When the castle was built, the emperor and empress at the time had a disagreement," Empress Seline tells them. "The empress was common-born and wanted to be buried with her family, while the emperor understood the need to secure their tombs where they could never be desecrated or robbed. As a compromise, he arranged for the royal crypt to be below the graveyard, connected by a tunnel to the rest of the palace. At this very moment," she says, stopping and looking back at Violie, Leopold, and Bairre, "your friends are below our feet. Deep below our feet, admittedly, but should you dig straight down, I have no doubt you would reach them."

Bairre nods, looking at the vial of stardust in his hands.

"You have to phrase it carefully," Leopold says. "If the catacombs collapse altogether, they're all dead."

"How much sunlight will Beatriz need?" Violie asks Aurelia.

"A single beam should do," Aurelia says. "But will she know it for what it is?"

"She will if I can tell her," Violie says. "Do you have any more stardust—specifically from Friv? If so, I can speak with her."

Aurelia purses her lips. "I don't, only what I gathered in Cellaria," she admits, and Violie feels herself deflate. "But," Aurelia adds, "we have no way of knowing how strong Cellarian stardust is. And given that the stardust will have a personal tie to Beatriz, it might just be enough to work."

Violie smiles. "Then what are we waiting for?" she asks.