Shannon and Kanon both raise their left hands as Beatrice lifts the pipe with the golden butterfly perched on the end. The sparks are already starting to fade to little more than the coffee stain of a birthmark, but still unmistakably a butterfly, and the destinies of all three of them are unmistakably linked, have been from the start.

“The first circle shall represent the release from bonds such as the ties of obligation and inescapable fate, which are rather more difficult to break than some silly chain across a door, don’t you think?” Beatrice laughs charmingly as they plot together.