Elowen's ears were still ringing from the countess's explosive exit. She spotted Brennon across the ballroom, motioning for her to stay put. He was holding back their father, and she was sure he was attempting to reassure the earl. 

Estefania de Sahar lay on the ground, her veins turning green. Her face was pale, and her breathing was labored. The marquis curled up under her head and whimpered as Trix examined the poor princess. 

The moment Elowen locked eyes with the fairy, she knew it was too late. Estefania was the victim of magic that could not easily be undone. It was only a matter of time before Sahar's heir passed from the world to the realm below the sunset. 

"How can I help?" She shouted. 

Trix grimaced and touched the side of Elowen's face. The touch was cold at first but warmed. Immediately, her hearing cleared up, and she could hear the screams and scrambles of the ball attendees. 

"Oh, child," Trix said. "If only this were simple."

Elowen reached for Estefania's arm to feel her fading pulse. They didn't have much time. The princess was dying. She could feel it in her bones. 

"I brought Rillian out of his stasis," Elowen said. "Is there a way around this magic?"

"It can be traded," Trix bit her lip. "But the poison will bring death."

Avangelique joined Elowen beside her fading sister. The younger princess gave Trix a pleading look. The older fairy just shook her head. 

"I don't have the magic to save her," Trix said. "The only person who could undo magic like a wish was the fairy empress herself using her royal scepter and the book of records. The scepter was lost in the fall, and the book is in Mona's hands. Either way, we don't have time. Your sister has half an hour if she's lucky."

"But it can be traded," Avangelique said. 

Trix shook her head. "That would be foolish, Ava."

A mad gleam entered Avangelique's eyes. She pulled a hairpin out of her hair and pricked her finger. Blood blossomed at the wound, quickly covering her finger. 

Trix tried to move to grab Avangelique's arm. The princess held up her opposite arm, and the fairy froze in mid-motion. Then Avangelique de Sahar pressed her crimson finger to her sister's fairy mark on her forehead. 

"I desire this wish, for it was wrongly given," Avangelique said. "And I now take this magic into myself as a consequence for what was gifted."

Both princesses begin to glow so fiercely that Elowen was forced to tear her eyes away from the sight. She focused on the two as her vision readjusted. Then she felt a rush of power, like a final breath fly from one princess and hit the other with the force of a carriage. 

Elowen watched as Estefania's breath stabilized and her eyes flew open. At the same moment, Avangelique convulsed, screamed, and fell backward in a dead faint. She barely had a moment to reach out and catch the princess's body before it hit the floor. 

Avangelique's body was warm, but Elowen could see the poison in her veins as black as it was in her sister. Avangelique's chest rose and fell at a steady pace, but her eyes didn't open as Elowen set her body on the floor. Then she saw the color drain from the girl's skin, but she still remained breathing. 

Lorenzo rushed forward and grabbed her wrist to check her pulse. He murmured her name over and over as he rubbed her arms and shouted for smelling salts. His fingers fumbled for her other arm and pressed to her wrist before moving to her neck.

"Gods, her pulse," he said. "I can't find her pulse."

"But she's breathing," Elowen said, but she'd seen this before. 

Her heart sank. Avangelique wasn't dead. The poison hadn't killed her. Somehow, this was different. A new curse.  

Trix broke free from whatever invisible barrier had held her back. "Oh, child, that was far more foolish than you know."

Estefania pulled herself over to where her sister lay. She pulled Avangelique's tower of braids down from their spiral, letting them fall around her head. Avangelique didn't stir even when Estefania loosened her sister's corset. 

"I can't find her pulse," Lorenzo kept repeating the phrase like a maniac. "I can't find her pulse."

"You won't find it, prince," Trix said. "She's not dead, but she's close."

"What?" Lorenzo looked like he was about to draw the sword at his waist and point it at the fairy's neck. "What have you done to her?"

Estefania's eyes filled with understanding. "It's a death sleep."

Trix sighed. "She can't die now. It was always her fate. It was the cruel way Mona cursed her. Whenever she was at the height of pain, it would continue but wouldn't kill her. A curse worse than death, she called it. Your princess is asleep and trapped in a world of her own agony."

Fletcher limped over and handed Lorenzo the salts. He wafted them under her nose, but Avangelique remained unconscious. The prince's eyes watered, but he blinked back the tears before whirling on Trix. 

"Fix her," he demanded. "If you're really a fairy, bring her back."

"Oh, Lorenzo," Trix said. "Only the fairy empress could retake a wish like this without backlash. I'm not Cressida. I was only a student."

"We may be able to reverse it," the quiet voice behind Elowen made her jump. 

She turned and came face to face with Rillian, son of the fairy empress. He had at least gotten a bath since they'd gotten to the Cyran Castle, and his hair still glistened with water. Someone had found a better-fitting robe for him, and his wings extended behind him like a massive bat. 

"Is that Rillian?" The king shouted from his throne as a bottle sloshed in his hand. "My boy, we thought you were all dead. All you silly little fairies blasted to bits."

"Your majesty," Rillian stepped before the throne. "You are as eloquent as ever. I see your wish is still serving your family. My mother was sure you'd demand she reverse it."

"Magic is good for the soul," the king laughed. "And entertainment. See the party we had tonight?"

"The Saharite royals nearly all died tonight," Rillian said. 

The king hiccuped. "Not my problem, boy. Besides, you're magic. You'll set it all right."

Rillian glared at the throne. Elowen was surprised that he didn't try to incinerate the king with whatever magic he did have. Instead, the prince of the fairies turned away from a cruel king and turned back to Avangelique. 

"What do we do, Prince Rillian?" Fletcher asked. 

"Don't call me that," Rillian said. "My mother is dead, and I'm not her successor. This spell is more complex than the one I was under, but I think we can undo the poison and the death sleep with my mother's book and scepter."

"Rill, Mona has the book, and the scepter has been missing since the fall," Trix said. 

Rillian stiffened as if he'd just noticed Trix. He stepped towards his beloved, and she dipped her head at his outstretched hand. He pressed his skin to her cheek. 

"Hello, you," he said. "My darling Beatrix."

"I thought I'd have to pass below the sunset before I saw you again, Ril," she said. "Why did she keep you alive?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Rillian said. "But we both know she wanted to marry me after her betrothal to Prince Hadrian fell through. She was furious when I declared my intentions for Trix, and days later, everything fell apart."

  "It all was rather sudden," Trix said. "One moment, Cressida was telling me she was going to talk to Mona about misuse of power, and an hour later at dinner, all of my sisters just vanished in the middle of dinner. By the time I figured out what Mona had done, it was all far too late. She wished everyone gone and the isle crumbled to ruins."

Elowen had never been to the fairy isle. She'd heard her father regale tales of its splendor and show off paintings of artists' renderings of the magnificent magical land. The same paintings captured the imaginations of her father's party guests each night as they came to remember the past. 

Despite her home, it never truly felt real. The artifacts were exactly that: relics of a bygone era. Fairies were gone, and very little magic remained in the world. She supposed that was why she was immune to her family's parties. She knew that nothing in those glitzy outfits or artifacts could make any difference in the world anymore. 

Elowen couldn't stand around and wait. No one was going to save Bastien and Wryn. The longer they waited, the more likely Avangelique's magical coma would slip, and she would die. There wasn't time to sit down and commiserate the past. They needed to act. 

"How do we find the scepter?" Elowen asked. 

All eyes turned to her. She hated this much attention, but it seemed like the only way to snap the royals and the fairies back to the issue at hand. After all, Rillian said, the only things that could save Avangelique were the book and the scepter of the fairy empress. 

"She's right," Fletcher said. "Avangelique was hurt on our watch in our kingdom. We have to put her right."

"That's a daring task, prince," Rillian said. "Is the isle still even accessible?"

Lorenzo nodded. "The old gates still work, too. Ava and I used to play there when we were younger. The whole place is abandoned."

Fletcher shook his head. "You never did see sense, Zo. If we take a party to the isle, how do we get the scepter?"

"I'll take you to the vault," Rillian said. "My mother kept most of her possessions there. Except the crown on Elowen's head, apparently."

Her cheeks heated. She wondered if he'd recognized the crown the moment when he saw her and why he hadn't said anything. 

"It was the only thing I found of Cressida," Trix said. "So I took the tiara for safekeeping."

"I thought you might be a reincarnation of my mother when we first met Lady Elowen," Rillian said. "But you're a little too old, and magic doesn't come entirely naturally to you. You merely have a fairy's intuition."

"What about the book?" Estefania asked. "Mona won't give that up."

"We challenge her to another trial," Rillian said. "It's the only way."

Estefania's entire body shook. "I can't do that again."

Trix set a gentle hand on her arm. "Nor should you, princess. I think this task should fall to Elowen. She's proven kind and intelligent. We should not count her out. I believe she will succeed where you did not."

Fletcher tapped his cane on the floor. "Elowen doesn't have to be involved in this. She's not cursed or affected by Mona."

"While I appreciate your concern, Fletcher, I want to do this," Elowen said. "I can't let Mona ruin any more lives. Especially not any of yours."

"Zo, take Rillian, Estefania, and Than to the fairy isle," Fletcher said as if that settled it. "Trix is going to stay here, and she's going to make sure Elowen is prepared for a trial."

"What about you, brother?" Lorenzo asked. 

Fletcher crossed his arms. "We're going to figure out how to kill a fairy."