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Leto placed a rucksack on the table filled with food and water and other supplies.

“Skylen.” Azura rose from her chair, her dress giving a soft sigh. “If you would. I need a moment alone with my Acolyte.”

Skye hesitated, unsure.

“I’ll be fine,” Taly said, giving his hand a squeeze. “Really.”

He still looked conflicted but made no argument as he pressed a kiss to her head and moved to gather their supplies. “She had better come through that gate before it closes,” he said to the Queen, his eyes sparkling with something dangerous and unfamiliar. “If she doesn’t…”

He let the words hang, and Taly shivered at the implicit threat.

Azura merely smiled. “Skylen, it’s always a pleasure. And be sure to take the beast with you.” She threw a glance at Calcifer as he loped toward the gate. “Shards know I’m not going to miss having a mimic in my palace.”

Skye let out a low growl but said nothing else. His footsteps echoed on the metal plating surrounding the gate, and the rippling sheen of magic slipped across his body like water as he disappeared through the portal, Calcifer close behind him.

The gate hummed in the resulting silence. The Queen made no move to speak. She simply waited, hands clasped, knowing exactly what she had done and the things that still needed to be said.

“I should hate you,” Taly breathed.

“But do you?”

“No.” And in that moment, Taly realized it was the truth. Though this woman had created a nightmare tailor-made to each and every one of her darkest fears, she had learned something about herself.

She was strong. Stronger than she had ever allowed herself to believe. Stronger than she would ever have allowed herself to be.

She had set a trap for a man thousands of years her elder, mastered grief and panic and finally embraced that vicious, brutal part of her that was and had always been unmistakably fey.

That had been the Queen’s final lesson, and Taly was grateful for it.

Taly turned to Leto. “If you need us,” was all the fairy said as she reached for Taly’s wrist, fastening a small bracelet with what looked like little bells attached to the clasp.

“I’ll never take it off,” Taly said, tears welling in her eyes as the fairy’s form began to shiver, evaporating into mist. She was going to miss Leto—the one voice of reason in all this insanity.

Taly toyed with one of the bells, the sound like windchimes. Like the fairy’s laughter. “Are you really not going to tell me anything else?” She lifted her eyes to Azura’s. “You said we were at war, but who are we fighting? And why did the Council split when we would’ve been stronger together? Why did the Genesis Lords run to themortal realm? Why would the Dawn Court waste resources hunting down time mages when they could be preparing to fight?”

Azura sighed, taking Taly’s hands in hers. “All knowledge has its time, and for now, you have what you need.”

“That’s horribly cryptic and incredibly annoying,” Taly muttered.

Azura smiled—a real, genuine smile despite the tears that shimmered in the corners of her eyes. “I’m aware. But I’m also a time mage—we are, at our core, horribly cryptic and incredibly annoying.”

The tears flowed freely from Taly’s eyes and… Damn it. Why was this particular goodbye so hard? She’d always thought she’d be glad to be rid of this insane woman.

Azura let her hands drop. “I haven’t told you this enough, but you’ve done well. Better than I expected. You’d think I would’ve learned to stop underestimating you by now.”

Oh.That felt better than Taly wanted to admit.

Azura went on, “I have one more thing to tell you, and if you only retain one lesson from your time here, remember this. You are going to be asked an important question very soon. And though I cannot tell you what it will be, I need you to say no.” Azura’s voice caught. “Do you understand me, Talya? When the question comes—and you’ll know it when it does—it is imperative that you say no. Promise me. You have to promise me. Swear it.”

“I swear,” Taly said, and meant it.

“Good.” Azura wiped at her eyes. “Good, good… And I suppose, if there’s nothing else, it’s time to send you home. Before Skye comes back through and decides to commit regicide.” Her lips quirked. “It’s not the first time he’s made the threat. Not the first time he’s meant it either.”

“I imagine not,” Taly said dryly.

Azura snorted at that, then placed her hands on Taly’s shoulders. “Good luck, Talya Caro.”

With that final statement, she gave Taly a slight push, through the gate. Multi-colored swirls of energy danced all around her, cascading, growing, expanding, and condensing as Azura faded from view.