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But the Queen just tsked her tongue and looked to the fairies who were regrouping just outside the edge of the arena. “Again.”

“No.” Taly backed up a step. “I’m not doing that again.” Just the memory of that sizzling pain was enough to make her wince.

The Queen turned to exit the arena. “That’s too bad,” she said over her shoulder. “I was going to send you home after you won.”

Taly’s heart leapt into her throat. “You don’t mean that.”

“Oh, but I do,” Azura said. Behind her, Leto’s light looked uncharacteristically dim in the shadow of the arch. “Our agreement was that I would send you back when you earned your third seal. You have the knowledge. Now all that’s left is to show me you know how to apply it.”

“You give me your word?” Taly stooped, picking up her staff. “If I win a game, then I get to go home?”

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” Azura smiled, but it was far from comforting. “Consider this a part of your final examination.”

Taly swore under her breath. She was missing something. She knew it. Nothing with the Queen was ever so cut and dry. But right now, she had no other choice. It was never her choice. Not anymore. It was a pretty cage, no doubt—with soft beds and good food. But at the end of the day, she couldn’t leave.

Not until the Queen said so.

The fairies were already lining up—ten dots of blue energy that circled the arena.

Taly fell into a defensive position.This is going to hurt,she thought, adjusting her grip on the staff.Oh Shards, is this going to hurt.

The Queen signaled the start of the next game, and Taly let out a sharp bark of pain as a blast of crackling energy immediately crashed into her shoulder.

Taly doubled over.

The pain was a living thing, clawing at her chest, crawling beneath her skin. It knocked the breath out of her lungs and brought her to her knees. Even after six hours of this nightmare, the intensity of each blow hadn’t waned. Her sense of pain hadn’t dulled. If anything, she had just grown more sensitive to each strike.

Another fairy crashed into her shoulder, and her arm went limp.Shit.She needed to focus. She raised her staff with her off-hand, flicking the switch embedded in the grip and barely managing to deflect another bright-blue ball of energy hurtling towards her with a gust of wind.

Grunting, Taly lurched to her feet and hobbled across the open area of the training yard. Her left leg was almost useless at this point, and she had to lean on her staff, dragging her leg behind her.

One hit stunned. Two hits paralyzed. Thankfully, the effect was transient and didn’t radiate beyond the point of impact. A few more minutes, and she’d get her leg back thanks to the miracle of fey healing. The blow on her arm had only been glancing, leaving her a small amount of movement. If she could keep from getting hit again, she just might be able to win this thing.

Her breath came in ragged gasps, and her boots slid on the damp, red dirt. Her vision was a cloud of gold, but the premonitions were erratic—unreliable.

Taly hated her Sight. Maybe one day, when she learned how to use those visions that had signaled the initial manifestation of her power, it would be useful to her. But right now, amid this bizarre fairy war game, trying to glean anything valuable from the flickering afterimages that danced across her field of vision was a near impossibility.

There was a flash of movement, but it skittered away. Taking a breath, Taly grasped at her aether and tugged.

The arena exploded in a wash of gold, gilded in a fog only she could see.

Three seconds. Since she had started training her Sight, she could only see three seconds ahead.

How disappointing,the Queen had said.Your grandmother could see 10 seconds backward and forward when she was your age. I expected more.

It had been an effort not to rip her face off.

A tinny buzz sounded from her left, and the hazy wash of magic surrounding her rippled. A small mental tug laced with a sliver of carefully honed intent was all it took to summon more aether.

Three seconds. She saw the fairy’s afterimage zip past her three seconds before she dropped to the ground and rolled, just managing to dodge the shrieking blue orb that careened through the air. Another tug on her magic and her net tightened, freezing it in mid-air.

Six down.

Panting, Taly scanned the yard and the six dots of blue fairy fire that hung suspended. Their ghostly forms shivered despite the spell that held them in place. This was another rule of the game Azura hadn’t explained until it became necessary. It wasn’t as simple as just tagging the fairies out. No. She had to keep them contained until she had managed to stop time for every fairy in play.

Even now, Taly could feel the fairies struggling. If they managed to break free, they could rejoin the game.

She had learned that rule the hard way.