Beatriz

A beam of sunlight hits Beatriz, bathing her face in warm, golden light.

"What in the name of the stars…," Cliona says, but Beatriz ignores her. She tilts her head toward the light, closing her eyes and feeling it the same way she feels the stars. But it isn't the same, she thinks. The sun doesn't make her blood dance, it doesn't fill her with a giddy energy that tugs at her, begging her to use its magic.

Yet she feels its magic all the same, now that she's searching for it. She feels the thrum of its power echo through her, its warmth enfolding her in its arms. She smooths Daphne's black hair away from her pale face and smiles as tears spill down her cheeks.

"I wish—" she begins, her voice clear and strong.

"Beatriz, no!" Pasquale shouts, fighting against the ropes that still bind him, but Beatriz ignores him. He'll forgive her for this, she hopes. One day.

"I wish my sister's wounds were healed," she says. Then she leans down to kiss Daphne's cool forehead as she reaches to pull the dagger from her stomach.

The air ripples around them, the ray of sunlight flickering and going dark, leaving only the glow of the three lanterns. Daphne's body tenses in Beatriz's arms as she gasps, bolting upright to sit and looking around with wide silver eyes. Daphne's hands fly to her stomach, feeling for a wound Beatriz knows isn't there.

In the dim light, Beatriz watches as understanding sparks in Daphne's eyes, as her mouth forms a small O and she looks at Beatriz with a mix of awe and horror and fury.

"Beatriz, what did you do?" she demands.

A familiar pain stabs through Beatriz's head, sharper than ever before, and Beatriz can feel the energy spill from her body like blood from a wound. The world spins around her, but she focuses on Daphne, even as darkness edges her vision.

"I love you all the way to the stars, Daph," she says, and then she allows the darkness to drag her under.

Sophronia stands before Beatriz, surrounded by the inky black of a starless midnight sky. In some ways, she looks just as Beatriz remembers her, but this Sophronia stands taller, smiles more brightly, and shimmers like she bathed in stardust.

"Sophie," Beatriz breathes, reaching for her and seeing her own hands shimmer with the same incandescence. Sophronia steps into her embrace, holding her tight. Sophronia's body fits against hers, just as it always has, and she even smells the way Beatriz remembers—warm sugar and roses.

"Is this death?" she asks against Sophronia's shoulder. If it is, it's a far better fate than what she envisioned.

"Yes and no," Sophronia says, stepping back to look at her. "Nigellus pulled us from the stars, Beatriz, and to the stars we must return. You pulled down the sun."

Beatriz remembers that—the beam of light shining down on her face, going dark after she made her wish. "But Daphne survived. She must be furious with me."

"She is," Sophronia assures her with a small smile. "The stars aren't pleased either, though they admire your brazenness."

Beatriz knows she should apologize, but she can't. Daphne is alive, so she has no regrets.

"Aurelia said a piece of me returned to the stars each time I used magic," she says to Sophronia. "That the stars being reborn was actually pieces of me replacing them."

"She was right," Sophronia says. "But to replace the sun itself…no piece of you would suffice. In order for a new sun to rise in its place, it requires all of you."

Beatriz suspected this. She knew exactly what it would cost her when she made her wish, and being here, seeing Sophronia again, holding her…it's more than she could have hoped for. And yet.

"You aren't ready," Sophronia says, silver eyes searching her face.

"Were you?" Beatriz replies.

Sophronia considers it. "I believe so, yes," she says softly. "Which isn't to say I wouldn't have liked more time. More time with you and Daphne. To grow more with Leopold. To meet new people and try new things and see more of the world. I would have loved all of that. But I'm happy here, watching you and watching the world, seeing things grow from the seeds I planted during my life."

"You planted a lot of seeds," Beatriz says, thinking about how much Leopold changed after marrying Sophronia, and even more after her death. Violie as well. Even defeating the empress—it couldn't have been done without Sophronia's influence months ago. Her seeds were still growing.

"You've planted some of your own," Sophronia tells her. But when Beatriz doesn't answer, she smiles. "But not enough."

Beatriz shakes her head. "Perhaps it never feels like enough," she says.

Sophronia tilts her head. "What would you do?" she asks Beatriz. "With more time?"

Beatriz laughs at the question. "What wouldn't I do?" she asks. "Travel the world, spend more time with Daphne and Pasquale and Ambrose. Ensure that Gisella stays in line. Perhaps kiss Nicolo a few more times."

"Really?" Sophronia asks with a snort.

"Why not?" Beatriz asks with a laugh. "The kissing was quite fun before all that came after it. I wouldn't mind doing it again. But then, I'd likely kiss other people too. Whoever I wanted to, if I had the time. And I would want to make certain that Bessemia is all right, of course. Daphne will be a great empress, I have no doubt, but I'd help her as much as I could—make sure she and Bairre have time for themselves."

"Anything else?" Sophronia asks.

Beatriz looks at her. "I would just do what I wanted—become who I want to be. Isn't that what anyone wants fromlife?"

Sophronia smiles. "That," she says to Beatriz, inclining her head, "that sums it up well. I did what I wanted and became who I wanted to be and in the end, I was ready to go. But you aren't."

Beatriz's throat tightens, but she forces a smile. "All the same," she says, "here I am, and the sun needs to be reborn."

"It does," Sophronia says slowly, her brow furrowing in deep thought, the way it always used to when she was trying to decipher a particularly challenging code. "But perhaps…I could be the sun."

Beatriz watches her mind work—always a fascinating thing to behold. "Can you…do that?"

Sophronia nods. "For a little while, yes. It's a star, after all, like any other. But it isn't my place. The sky will call you home someday."

"A little while?" Beatriz asks. "Is that days? Weeks?"

If so, perhaps it would be better to go now, to die with just the taste of life on her lips, before she can take a bite and know all that she will be missing.

Sophronia shrugs. "Oh, I think I can manage to hold it long enough to see you wrinkled and gray. Seven decades. Maybe eight. Nine would be a challenge, but I do enjoy a challenge."

"That's a little while?" Beatriz asks, surprised.

Sophronia laughs, the sound buzzing through Beatriz like champagne bubbles.

"We're stars, Beatriz," she says. "Ninety years is nothing when we have eternity. I'll wait for you, and for Daphne. And I expect you both to arrive with a lifetime's worth of stories when your time comes."

"Sophie…," Beatriz says, reaching out for her sister and taking her face in her hands. "You sacrificed yourself once. I can't ask you to do so again now."

"Sacrifice," Sophronia says, shaking her head and leaning into Beatriz's touch. "I consider it a gift, Triz. After all, how many girls get a chance to be the sun?"

Beatriz laughs. "Well, when you put it like that," she says. "I miss you so much. Daphne does too."

"I know," Sophronia says. "Give her my love and tell her how proud I am of her. And…if I could ask you one favor…"

"Anything, Sophie," Beatriz says.

Sophronia hesitates. "Tell Leo and Violie that I want them to be happy, that I'm happy they've found each other. That it would hurt me if they let my ghost stand between them."

"I will," Beatriz tells her, then hesitates. "Is it not a bit soon, though?" she asks.

Sophronia shakes her head. "A human lifetime may pass in a blink for us, Triz, but it's all they get. And I won't begrudge them a single moment." Sophronia reaches up to take hold of Beatriz's wrists, easing her hands away from Sophronia's face.

"Go now," she tells Beatriz. "We both have work to do."

Beatriz wants to protest—wants to stay here with Sophronia forever—but it isn't goodbye. They'll see each other again, even if it isn't for ninety years.

"I love you all the way to the stars," Beatriz tells her.

"I love you all the way to the stars," Sophronia echoes.