As Lottie delved deeper into the books, remapping all her discoveries about Liliana Mayfutt the wayward princess, her adventures in Japan, meeting her ancestor Henry, becoming William Tufty, the founder of Rosewood, and locking away that wild part of herself, something rekindled inside her. It felt like a light had been switched on deep in her body, one that had always been there, dimmed, but was now growing, as if every word she ate up was feeding the fire.

How could I have been afraid of this?

She remembered what Ellie had said before their fight, pleading with her to think about what else she could be beyond her Portman role. Don’t you ever wonder what that means? What else you could be?

As soon as she heard the words in her head, everything shifted. It was as if her vision had been clouded since Jamie had left and it was finally clear.

They had to find out who they were, all of them – and that meant Jamie too.

It hurt to admit it, but it was a sweet ache, a peacefulness settling over her now that she finally understood why Jamie had left.

‘I hope you find what you’re looking for,’ she said to his ring, ‘and when you’re ready, come back to us.’

His ring winked at her in response as it passed through a stream of sunlight from the window, the stars erupting into thousands of tiny lights. It reminded her of her tiara with the opal moon. Now she had the whole night sky.

With a start she realized that’s what they were, the three of them together: Jamie, Ellie and herself. They were a whole universe they’d built themselves and she had faith that one day they’d orbit back to each other.

The thought felt like déjà vu, a happy memory before Leviathan, Claude and the unknowable future. She was dancing in a dress with threads of gold and fabric woven from sunshine. She was twirled between a boy who was a knight, in a suit as dark and wondrous as midnight, and a girl who was a prince, drenched in a dress sewn out of the moon and stars, the three of them spinning together in an endless sunrise.

Jamie had said he’d gone to his family, but he was wrong; they were their own family. He belonged with Ellie and Lottie the way sun and stars belonged to the sky, but she also understood that he had to find that out for himself, just as she had.

Before Lottie could even register what she was doing, her hands were moving over the canvas beside her, graphite lines linking her abstract thoughts to the page.