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“Spell.”

Taly’s heart lurched. The spell. She’d forgotten about the spell, and now it was unravelling, allowing beams and other debris to come crashing down. She managed to grab some of the wreckage, slowing the descent of some of the larger pieces directly overhead, but splinters and chunks of stone still bombarded her.

“Azura,” she pleaded, trying to reshape the spell, throwing more aether into it as the it continued to fray. “Help. I need help!”

The altar toppled, the statues shattering as one of the largest beams hit the ground with a mightyboom.

There was a loud sigh as the Queen held up a hand, and Taly felt the enchantment rushing past her. But not to stop time.

Instead, the debris began to lift into the air, spiraling and spinning as pieces came together and beams reformed. Cracks melted and dissolved into nothing, and stones fitted themselves back into walls.

A moment later, the beams were once again crisscrossing overhead. The altar had been righted. The temple was pristine, the same as when they had first walked in.

Azura leaned back, rubbing at the bridge of her nose as though she were trying to ward off a headache. “That’s good enough, I suppose. You pass.”

Taly was still gaping at the scaffolding above, trying to figure out the magic the Queen had used. The fairies were once again bouncing off the shimmer of air magic just beyond. “What?”

“You - pass,” Azura repeated, enunciating each word as though she were speaking to a small child.

Taly finally managed to pull her eyes away. She stared at the Queen, confused.

“Daft girl,” Azura muttered. “Your exam. This was your second seal assessment, and you passed. You’re a Neophyte now.”

Taly went still. It was as if a hand had reached up inside her, slowly squeezing her heart as the realization began to sink in.

A test.

This had been atest?

“But…” Taly rasped. “But you didn’t tell me this was an exam.”

She hadn’t studied, hadn’t prepared. What if… what if she had failed? How long would that have set her back? How much longer would she have been stuck here?

“Oh, don’t give me that look,” Azura said. “You either know a thing, or you don’t. And true, you likely would’ve failed if I had held you to Guild standards, but we’re on a schedule, and I figure you can sharpen up your skills during the next seal. It’s more hands-on, and we’re far past the point of you accidentally getting yourself locked away in your own little loop.”

Leaning forward, Taly placed her head against the back of the pew in front of them and resisted the urge to scream.

She hated time magic. She hated the Queen. She hated feeling so horribly out of her depth, and she absolutelyloathedthat part of her that was starting to crave this woman’s approval.

“Come along.” Azura rose from the pew. “It’s almost time for tea.”

Of course, it was. It was always time fortea, and Taly—well, if she was being honest, that didn’t sound all that bad right now.

Chapter 12

-An excerpt from Pointless Battles in History

“To the fey, family is everything, though I wish a few members of mine would have the decency to die.”

Eyewitness accounts report that this phrase was first uttered by a patron in a bar of no renown. Relatively benign in isolation, it was followed by so many rounds of toasting, a drunken mob formed in the hours before dawn.

This, of course, led to the burning of Emir. The blaze was so impressive, the Fire Guild funded the reconstruction, and then promptly relocated their guild.

“Taly?” Skye’s eyes stared at the sky, pain-addled and blank. “Taly, are you there?”

Taly was sobbing as she crawled through the mud, her nightgown soaked and transparent. All around, people were lying on the ground, screaming out their pain as the camp burned. Tents had been reduced to ashes, and the trees of the surrounding forest were still burning. The sky had turned black with smoke as rain pelted down.

Della. They were in Della. The inn was gone, but she could still see the columns standing through the smoke.