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Halfway across the hall, Azura finally released Taly’s arm, and she lurched back, rubbing at her bicep and what would surely be a bruise come morning. The Queen looked different than she had before. Her entire demeanor had transformed and hardened, every trace of softness gone. She held up a hand, and the fairies abruptly quieted—like an orchestra following a conductor’s command.

“I just want to go home,” Taly said in the silence. “Please, just... just send me home. I don’t know who this person is that you think you know, but it’s not me.”

The Queen began to circle her, heels clicking on the checkered marble floor. Taly swore she felt the ground shudder.

“You are a time mage, Talya.” Clear, precise words, devoid of warmth but not unkind. “And I am your High Lady. For a human, that means very little. I realize that. But you are no longer human, and if it is my wish that you stay here and train, then you will obey.”

“And what if I don’t?” Taly raised her chin defiantly. “You can make me do a lot of things, but you can’t make me obey.”

Azura’s answering smile was a thing of frightening beauty. “Is that so? Well then, far be it from me toforcesomeone into my care.” Her tone was far too sweet. “If you really value your life so little,” she said, waving at the wide double doors that still hung open, “then by all means.”

Taly’s eyes went wide. This woman made no sense. She was erratic, unstable, inconsistent… “But you said—”

“Forget what I said,” Azura chirped imperiously. “Go. Before I change my mind and decide to let you spend the night in my dungeon.”

“Majesty,” Leto interjected softly. She stood off to the side, her ghostly hands gripping the tea caddy. “Is that—”

“Do not interfere, Leto,” Azura warned. The fairy hung her head.

Taly searched the Queen’s expression, but it was a look she knew all too well. She had seen it countless times, plastered on the faces of the Highborn nobility. Pleasant and deceptively blank—it was a look that gave away nothing.

Taly took a cautious step towards the door, ignoring the hushed whispers of the fairies. Between staying here with an all-powerful god of a woman whose sanity seemed to be teetering on the edge of a fathomless abyss and going home—she chose home.

Yes, there was the Sanctorum. And Vaughn. And the shades. But she would deal with those problems as they arose. There were plenty of places to hide on the island. She would figure out a way to get by.

Another step. When Azura made no move to stop her, Taly broke into a sprint, heading for thedoor and the freedom waiting just on the other side.

Beyond the towering arch, dark clouds streaked a blood-red sky, and the scent of smoke carried on the wind. Thunder rumbled from every direction.

Taly stopped just outside the door, eyes on the horizon.

Lights flickered in the distance, too bright to be stars, too sparse for city lights.

Snow began to fall from the sky.

Except… no. Not snow.

Taly held out a hand, watching as something downy and black fluttered into her palm. “Ash,” she whispered.

And then the world exploded.

The sound was deafening, the wash of light that devoured the land near-blinding.

And it repeated, over and over and over again.

The air clogged with ash, and Taly choked. The ground shook, and she began to stumble. The stairs to the palace were falling away as the land buckled and broke, destruction rolling in from every direction.

There was another mightyboom,and Taly’s legs buckled as she began to fall, thrown sideways—

A rough hand grabbed her by the collar, and she barely managed to stifle a scream as she was yanked back onto her feet and into the palace, away from the door and the rain of chaos that was quickly unfolding.

It was silent inside the palace. Completely still. The explosions still rumbled, but it was like distant thunder.

“You’re safe,” the Queen said softly,soothingly. It was only then that Taly realized she was shaking. “We are all safe so long as we stay inside the palace. Look.”

Taly looked to where she pointed. Beyond the doorway, pillars of smoke speared the air, and violent flashes of white light cracked open the sky. Ash swirled in the air and pelted the ground, but it all stopped at the palace doors, as though there was an invisible line.

“What is that?” Taly breathed.