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A thread here, another there. It was easier to weave the spells together. Took less aether, and it allowed her to monitor a single enchantment rather than nineteen.

The spell executed, and the last fairy froze.

But as expected, more had already been added. The Queen always waited until the very last moment to add more fairies, though the wisps that entered the field…

From this vantage point, it almost seemed...

“They’re moving too fast,” she murmured. Like they were being propelled.Sped up.

And two of the fairies that had been frozen—they had somehow managed to force their way out of the spell holding them in place. She’d originally thought it was because of some weakness in the spell. That’s what the Queen had made her believe. But if she stopped to think—now that she was outside the game and actually had time tothink—stopping time was a basic spell, one she’d long ago mastered. There was no flaw in her casting, no chink for the fairies to exploit.

Which could only mean one thing.

Taly turned to stare at the Queen. Her eyes were slightly unfocused as she no doubt used her own magic to predict the outcome of the game.

And then alter it.

“You’re cheating,” she whispered. Sabotaging her spells, helping the fairies, and Shards knew what else. “You don’t want me to win.”

Even through the numbness of the dream, Taly felt her heart seize.

This was not a game she had ever beenmeantto win. It was just a farce, some impossible task to keep her reaching for some impossible goal.

Out in the arena, her other self slammed to her knees, the fairies converging on her in a flurry of shocks and blue sparks.

And Azura… smiled.

Confronting the Queen would get her nowhere. Taly had known the woman long enough to recognize that. Azura would just say something like,“Leto, get the champagne. She finally discovered her real opponent.”Or:“Do you really expect your enemy to fight fair?”

Taly pushed herself to stand. “You’re a…” She let out a frustrated scream, kicking a spray of pebbles onto Azura’s skirts. It was petty and childish, but it also felt really good, so she did it again, sticking out her tongue for good measure.

Still grumbling a long stream of curses under her breath, she strode to the center of the arena, stepping over her dream self as she groaned in pain. It was the end of the day already, so she tugged at the spell holding the dream together.

The day began to rewind.

She was going to have to approach this differently. This wasn’t just a straightforwardgame. One where she might eventually eke out a victory if she could just be faster and stronger than she had been the day before. It had been designed to be unbeatable, and while she couldn’t cheat directly—Azura would see it coming—she might be able to find a weakness in the rules. Something she could exploit.

“I don’t know why you’re surprised,” she muttered to herself, watching as the world whirled by in a blur of movement. In her frustration, she yanked on her aether, pulling that tether that would take her back to early morning. “This is Azura, after all. It’s not like she’s the patron saint of clear intentions.”

The sky went dark.

“Shit.” She’d gone too far.

Gripping the spell, she tried to pull it back, but time was still rewinding, day turning to night and back again. Even worse? The process was speeding up—days blinking by so quickly that the scene was now only flashes of black and white and red. A strobe light that signified the rapid passage of time.

Taly started getting nervous, images of that damn time loop returning to her. Except this time, there was no Queen to bail her out if she went too far.

It stopped. As abruptly as if she’d hit a wall.

Taly blinked. She was still in the training arena. There was the tree overhead, the red dirt underfoot, the cloud of splintered light where the palace should’ve been. She’d lost her grip on the tether, and that was a problem. A big one. She was dreaming, yes, but she’d entered this vision deliberately. A fall wouldn’t pull her out of it likea natural dream. Without that tether, she had no way of waking herself up.

That was something she’d worry about later, though. Right now, she was more interested in the people that now stood around the base of the oak in groups of twos and threes. Some held staffs like hers, others held no weapons at all as they went through training exercises that were second nature to her now. Their hands glowed gold with magic, and in the center of them all stood—

“Azura.”

Taly turned as two more figures walked into her field of vision. The man was tall and broadly built with sandy hair and eyes that glowed like molten blue metal. He was dressed in white robes of state with a crown upon his head. The gold swirled like the tentacles of a kraken, and a trident marked the apex.

Taly knew him instantly. Not because of any personal connection, but because she’d seen his image in books and newspapers. He was a very important man, but right now, that’s not who she cared about. She only had eyes for the woman beside him, her face so familiar it caused her heart to clench.