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“She needs to get stronger.”

“At what cost?” A gentle question, laced with quiet fierceness. A wolf defending a cub. “You made me your advisor for a reason, Majesty, so listen to me now. I know you have plans for the girl. I know that some things have already been set in motion. That certain events would’ve played out even if we hadn’t chosen to intervene. But this trial, thisgame—she is no good to us if she breaks.”

Azura’s lips pressed into a thin line. “We both know what’s coming for her. We both traveled through the Weave, and we saw that future.” A nod. Leto’s shoulders slumped forward. “If she is to break, I would rather it be now—rather it behere, where we can still pick up the pieces.”

Leto shifted her gaze back to the girl heaving in the center of the arena. “I still think about that day.”

Azura placed a hand to her chest, as if she could force down the hollow ache that had settled there. The Schism—it was such an appropriate name for the thing she had done. She had torn the world apart and then scattered the pieces.

“As do I,” Azura said softly. “I want her to live, Leto. I set her down this path, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try to mitigate the damage. When this war finally finds its conclusion, I want that girl to have a life. I know you question my methods, but everything I have done so far has been towards that end. Towards that chance, slim as it might be.”

Leto went quiet for several long moments as they both watched the girl still kneeling in the mud. Taly’s retching had finally subsided, and she seemed to be having some sort of internal debate.

“She did well today,” Leto said as she turned to go. “She would’ve won if someone wasn’t cheating.”

Azura barked out a laugh. “Time magesalwayscheat,” she called over her shoulder to the surly fairy. “You know that as well as I.”

“But she doesn’t,” came Leto’s reply as she disappeared down the long tunnel, moving back towards the palace.

No,Azura conceded silently.Not yet, at least.That was always a difficult lesson to teach. And just one of the reasons why she had decided to go with a more unorthodox approach when it came to this final phase of Taly’s training.

Azura looked back to the yard as Taly began to pull herself up, barely managing to stagger to her feet and swaying slightly. Her hair was falling out of its braid, and mud stained her clothing and streaked every visible inch of skin. She was in pain, but that didn’t stop her from taking one lurching step forward, then another, straightening her shoulders and holding her head high.

“Good girl,” Azura whispered, guilt shifting into pride.

Leto was wrong. The girl wouldn’t break. Not when it mattered.

Smiling, Azura called after Leto, “Tell the kitchen to make veal and truffle risotto tonight—the human recipe you and I picked up the last time we were on Earth. Taly doesn’t know it yet, but it’s her favorite.”

Chapter 15

-An excerpt from the imperial scrivener’s collection of medical records, housed at the Arylaan Archive

Hundreds of shades remain now that the fighting is done. We continue to experiment, doing our best to make them comfortable, but all they ever utter now that they are free of their masters’ control are two words:

Kill me.

Kill me.

Over and over.

It has led me to a single conclusion. For the shade, death is a door that remains locked. The kindest thing we can do for them now is to open it.

It had been three days since Skye entered the tunnels that ran beneath Ryme. At least, that’s what the mages that came bringing food, water, and medical supplies had told him what might’ve been an hour ago. Time lost all meaning in the dark.

Skye swung his sword, feeling the crunch of bone.

Another shade fell at his feet. One of many.

After stumbling down that stairwell drunk and alone—and then stumbling back out—Skye had rushed to the townhouse, thankfully sober enough that Ivain hadn’t taken his words as the ramblings of a mad man.

The tunnels were unlocked. The guards were gone. He had heard a low growl shuddering through the dark.

Within the hour, Ivain had mages down in those tunnels, working to repair the locks and fighting off the first wave of shades that had already found their way into Ryme. No one was hurt, though a few traders lingering at the entrance of the Swap after closing may have soiled themselves when a shade poked its head out of the station entrance, only to be immediately cut down.

An attack had been imminent. One more hour and they might’ve lost Ryme.

Something rattled up ahead, and he burned more aether, letting his pupils go wide. The only light this far inside the airtram tunnels came from algae that grew on the brick arching overhead, feeding off the groundwater seeping through the cracks. Even with its soft blue glow and his enhanced senses, he could barely see more than a few yards ahead.