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Skye pulled the door shut as he left, attempting to fix the lock as best he could. But he didn’t turn towards the townhouse. There was still one more thing he needed to find before he was done with this place.

Beneath the stairs, there was a gap between the ground and the building’s foundation. Pulling a mealy carrot he’d bought along with the canvas sack, he crouched, holding it towards the gap.

Moments later, a quivering pink nose emerged, followed by a mangy ball of white fluff speckled with bits of tan. A rabbit. Its eyes were ringed with black, and it limped slightly. There was a scar on its back leg devoid of fur.

Skye sighed as the rabbit began to nibble on the end of the carrot. It was obviously used to being fed. “Marshmallow, I presume.” The prize from Taly’s first and only attempt at hunting. She had always had a soft spot for animals, so it came as no surprise that she hadn’t been able to kill a rabbit, not even when she was starving.

With a sigh, he grabbed the rabbit by the scruff. It struggled and squealed, calming slightly when he pressed it close to his body.

“C’mon,” he said as he turned for home. “Taly will have a fit if she comes back only to find out you got turned into stew.”

The rabbit looked up at him, wriggling its nose. He could only assume that meant“thank you.”

Chapter 17

-An excerpt from Of Tyranny and Time Mages

We already bow down to our noble houses. We give our allegiance to the Shards. But there is a great distinction that no natural or religious reason can account for, and that is the distinction between fey and time. We all have our allotments of aether, the good or bad fortune we are born with, but why do we also bow down to the time mages? Why are they exalted above all others, and why do we continue to give them our allegiance when they have yet to earn it?

Only the time mages are able to see the Weave, and yet they expect us to believe in their good intentions? They shape time, determine the fate of nations, but they go unchecked. They ask for trust, but do nothing to earn it. They have proven themselves to be tricksters and cheats, and I will no longer bendthe knee to a false Queen, whose only power derives from tradition and fear.

Taly took her time in the bath. Even with the gift of immortal healing, there were still bruises on her arms, her knees, up and down the length of her spine, and even a black eye that still felt swollen and hot to the touch. After so many weeks of playing“tag”day after day, every part of her ached, and she could’ve spent all night soaking in the scalding heat. Maybe part of the next morning as well.

The Queen’s magic was good for some injuries—like burns and broken bones—but in order to reverse time on a wound and make it so that it had never been, the pain had to be re-experienced. Considering the beatings she took most days, Taly had come to prefer traditional healing methods and very, very hot baths.

The tower washroom was massive, with gold-veined marble and gilded fixtures. The back wall had been left open to the elements, and wind and ash pelted at a veil of protective magic that muffled the sounds of the explosions in the distance. Fire crystals heated the air, the floors, and kept the water from going cold. The ceiling was glamoured, and the nighttime sky stretched out above her, slowly cycling through the heavens.

She wasn’t sure which sky she was looking at tonight—none of the constellations looked familiar. But judging from the twin red moons that were drifting across the vast, starry expanse, she figured it must be some forgotten gate world.

The view was lovely. Undeniably so. But also, off in a way. Too flat to be anything more than an illusion.

There was a knock at the door, but Taly ignored it, sliding down even further in the bath. A tiny horse made entirely of water galloped across the surface, climbing the raised dome of her knee like it would a mountain ridge. It was a simple enchantment, one intended to lure reluctant children into the bath, but even as an adult, she had never tired of playing with water clones.

The miniature horse reared back, and Taly tapped a finger to its nose, watching as it morphed into a sparrow that began to flutter about the room. Skye was always complaining about how long she took in the bath, and yet he never failed to bring her back a new water clone when he visited the mainland. Dragons, and lions, and bears. Even a giant sea serpent.

She hadn’t really liked that last one, and when she’d told him so, he’d had the brilliant idea to install the clone inside the pond that bordered the main highway. It had given everyone that passed by a good scare, rising out of the water when anyone got too close to the fence. They had even figured out a way to make it roar a few years later—this horrible, screeching sound so grating it frightened away the local wildlife.

With a sigh, Taly sunk down even further into the fragrant water. As usual, Skye was never far from her thoughts. She wondered what he was doing, if he was safe. Every time she looked in a mirror or felt the tips of her ears, she imagined what he might say when she finally found her way home and he saw that she was… changed.

Would he still find her beautiful? Would he still want her the same way he had in Ebondrift? After all, she was no longer human. She was like him now. Fey. Highborn. A time mage, but maybe he wouldn’t mind that so much. And if he did… well, she couldn’t really blame him. He would have to give up everything to stand beside her. His family, his home, any hope for a normal life free from the Sanctorum.

Everything was a lot to ask of a person.

A vision of a Yulemas ball flashed through her mind’s eye.

Most of her dreams were filled with blood and death, but that one… that one she had liked.

So much that she often found herself revisiting the dream, fantasizing about what might’ve happened if she had let the vision play out rather than trying to dive off the side of the balcony.

He would’ve slowly closed the doors behind him, glancing at the footman that stood just off to the side in a way that said there would be a generous tip coming his way so long as they remained undisturbed. And then, he would’ve slowly sauntered towards her, hands in his pockets, looking utterly breathtaking in his black dress suit and white tie.

She would’ve stared at him the entire time, trying not to fidget with the bracelets at her wrists, but he would have known exactly the effect he was having on her. He was a shadow mage, after all. He would’ve sensed the frantic beat of her heart and known that the flush on her cheeks wasn’t just from the cold.

But she wouldn’t care. Because his eyes would reflect the same hunger that had haunted her eversince he’d pressed her up against that library bookshelf and kissed her.

Closing her eyes, Taly sighed as she let her fingers drag along the inside of her thigh.

And then, when he got close enough, she would’ve reached for him. Just a hand, outstretched and trembling. Because even though they had kissed and teased and flirted… this line they were about to cross—that wasn’t something that could be undone.