"What are you…how are you…?"
"I'm a witch, and I'm fine, thank you." Her familiar pedantry made me laugh, but I put my head down on the vanity table suddenly, overwhelmed with seeing her and not wanting to shed tears. Her voice softened unexpectedly. "We're all right, Amber. Are you?" I lifted a hand, trying to indicate a yes, and she went on, still more gently than I expected from my austere older sister. "That Beast paid well for you. The pearl he sent is a focus. I knew it had power the moment I touched it, but it's taken me this long to understand it well enough to contact you. I couldn't do it without the full moon. The ocean bends to the moon's pull, and the pearl is a prize of the sea. Its power waxes and wanes, but even in the dark of the moon it's a focus like nothing I've ever imagined."
By then I'd recovered myself enough to raise my head again, and even to smile at Pearl's enthusiasm. "Witchery suits you."
A pale gleam came into her eyes. "With a little more time, I think I can cast an enchantment to free you, Amber. Can you hold on there a little while longer?"
"Yes, but I don't think you can—" I cut myself off, remembering the Beast's inability to directly affect his fate, but his confidence that Pearl's magic would have an indirect effect. My sister, pale eyebrows elevated, waited for me to finish, and I spoke more slowly, trying to think out what the Beast had implied. "He knew you would discover its magic. He had faith in you."
"In me? How could he—" She stopped herself just as I had, muttering, "Obviously he knew us all, or he'd have never sent these particular jewels and stones. Maman has worn hers since the day it arrived, just over her heart. What does he expect me to do?"
"I don't know. The enchantment here is dreadfully powerful, Pearl. Whatever you do, don't rush it."
"Me." Pearl smiled faintly. "When have I ever rushed anything, Amber?"
"Never. Oh, Pearl, it's so good to see you. How are the boys? How is Glover? Has Opal noticed him yet? Is Father all right? I miss you all so much." A tightness constricted my chest, crushing further questions a way.
A suspicious glimmer shone in Pearl's eyes, but she wouldn't lift a finger to dash tears away. "The boys are strong and healthy. Jasper has grown four inches since you've seen him, Amber, and Flint's voice is changing. Jet has an opinion on everything and gets elbow deep in dirt whenever he has the chance. Opal was well on the way to noticing Glover before Father returned without you. She's been…well, you know how Maman often is? Faded? Opal has become more like that than I'm happy with, and even Daniel can't bring her out of it."
"Daniel?"
"Daniel Glo—oh. Glover. His forename is Daniel." Pearl, for the first time in her life that I could recall, looked vaguely ashamed. "I never knew, until I heard Opal use it. Now we all call him Daniel."
"It's a fine name. And Father?"
Pearl's voice lowered. "Worse than Opal. He can't forgive himself for leaving you there, although the way he tells the tale, I'm not certain he had much choice."
"He didn't. Pearl, can you waken him? So he can see that I'm all right?"
"I don't know if more than one of us can use the pearl. You told him!" she said, suddenly more acerbic and more herself. "You told him I was a witch."
"It came up," I said, hardly remembering how. "Has he taken it all right?"
"He hasn't fought me on it, if that's what you mean. He's taken nothing well since he came home, though. He feels guilty."
"Wake him up," I said firmly. "He needs to see I'm all right."
"Are you? The Beast sounded…" Pearl faltered, obviously uncertain what words would sufficiently describe my captor.
I nodded. "And he is. But he's more than that, and I don't even understand all of it yet myself. I'll be all right, Pearl, I swear it. But please, let Father see that I am. At least let us try."
She nodded and stood, climbing the stairs without releasing the pearl. I heard her whisper his name, and could see from how my field of vision moved that she shook him. He awakened with a concerned grunt, and I heard explanatory murmurs before she sat beside him on the edge of the bed, and his face, with hers in the periphery, swam into focus. He had aged visibly, more than just the old careful dye job having fully grown out. He looked thinner, paler, in a way the moonlight didn't account for. "Amber?"
"It's me, Father. I'm all right." Tears spilled over my smile. "I'm fine. Pearl says you've been worried. You don't have to worry, Papa. The Beast and I are getting on reasonably well, and I'm fine."
"How can you get along well with that monster?" His hoarse voice cracked, tears shimmering in his eyes.
"He's better tempered when someone hasn't just stolen his roses." I tried to loosen the tightness in my chest with a deep breath, and failed. "Is it still alive?"
"It's putting out roots," Father said bitterly. "Opal tends it, and Daniel says it should go in the ground soon. Your mother won't touch it, and neither will I."
"Perhaps it will thrive as long as I do," I said, then regretted it as Father's face pinched. "I intend to thrive a long time, Father. The Beast makes no demands of me. We usually dine together."
"How can that thing eat in a civilized manner?"
I breathed, "Awkwardly," and thought better of trying to offer further solace. "I'm so glad to see you, Father. I wish I could see all of you."
"Next time," Pearl promised. "At the next full moon. We'll have the whole family awake, now that we know it works."
"It will give me something to look forward to," I promised. "Tell everyone I love them, please?"
"We will." Their image blurred, and Pearl cast a sharp look toward the window. "There are clouds coming in. They may affect the spell. If it's cloudy the next full moon, Amber—"
"I'll wait for all three nights of it," I said. "And if we miss that one, there will always be another. I love you. I love you!" The last words were cried as murkiness swept my mirror, and I heard nothing in response. I buried my face in my hands, dragging great gasping breaths, and only dared lift my head again when I was sure I had conquered tears.