“Our number one goal is to kill Prince Gin and restore our kingdom and our people to their peaceful ways,” Sora said. “Carrying out the assassination will be a mission for me and Hana.” She looked over at her sister.

Hana gave her a solemn nod.

“We’ll wait five days to give Empress Aki, Fairy, and Broomstick time to return with our allies. In the meantime, Hana and I will head to the Imperial City to make sure we understand the lay of the land. You’ll send me one of my dragonflies when you’re on your way, so that we can time our attacks to coincide with each other. Papa will stay hidden here, where it’s safe.”

“And then what?” Papa asked.

Sora fidgeted with her necklace. She didn’t know.

“I have an idea,” Hana said.

Everyone stared at her.

“Prince Gin doesn’t know I’ve turned,” she said. “As far as he’s concerned, I’m still Virtuoso, his second-in-command. We have to find a way to get the soul back into his body so that he’ll no longer be invincible—I’m the only one who can get close enough to him to do it.”

Sora mulled it over. She’d have to trust her sister completely for it to work.

“Believe in me,” Hana said softly.

Sora stopped playing with the necklace.

This is what Mama would have wanted, for Sora to stretch beyond what a normal person would, to tap into the well of kindness inside her and believe that Hana could change.

Could she do it?

But she already had, hadn’t she? She’d accepted Hana’s capture of Tidepool as proof of her loyalty, and she had welcomed Hana into the planning.

“All right,” Sora said. “We have a few days to plot out the details of how you’ll get to the prince, but we’ll figure it out.”

Papa beamed at his two girls working together. Sora wasn’t quite that enthusiastic—she was still working herself up to fully believing that Hana was on her side—but she still gave Papa a smile.

Then Sora turned to Daemon, who was guarding Tidepool by the roots of the tree. “And that brings us to the last thing we need to do—learning about the purification ritual. But I have to admit, I’m at a loss here. We could try to contact Liga again, but he’s not that helpful—”

“I’ll go to Celestae,” Daemon said.

“You’ll what?”

“Fly to Celestae. Pound on the gates or shout at the fortress walls or whatever it is that’s supposed to keep me out. And then I’ll find Luna and persuade her to tell me about the purification process. She’s my grandmother and the taigas’ patron god. She has to help.”