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“I know.” Sometimes, it was hard not to hope.

They were quiet for several long moments. Eventually, she gathered up the glamographs, tucking them back inside her cloak.

“For what it’s worth,” she said softly, not quite meeting his eyes, “I think you need to tell Skylen about Talya.”

“I know,” he said again. Because he did. “I’m just afraid of giving him false hope. He’s grieving, and I don’t want to be the reason he goes off and does something foolish.”

“Then wait until after the funeral. Let them bury her, mourn her, but after that, you have to tell them. If not Skylen, then at least Uncle Ivain. It’s going to hurt, but they deserve to know.”

Aiden sighed and pulled the jug of wine from the sack. “I was afraid you were going to say that.” He took a long draught. “On a scale of one to ten, how dead do you think I’m going to be when Aunt Sarina finds out?”

It was a feeble attempt at humor. Aimee took the wine from his hands. “An eight.”

“Only an eight?”

She shrugged and took a sip of wine. “You saved Talya’s life after the harpy, and then risked your own trying to find her. There’s a decent chance she’ll let you live. Though you’re going to get a little singed.”

Chapter 21

-The following is an interview with Miriam Fernlace

I still remember my seventh seal exam. Azura gave me a single task: she wanted me to break into a bakery and steal their recipe for sugarberry strudel.

Sounds simple, right? Except that this “bakery” she wanted me to break into—it wasn’t just any local patisserie. It was Shadough Sweets, the bakery empire that services half of Lycia. As you would expect, they carefully guard their recipes. They’re stored on a 300-acre compound surrounded by a 40-foot wall. The Mechanica patrolling their orchards, as well as their state-of-the-art surveillance system capable of detecting time anomalies, were both recent additions to their security detail. I’ll give you one guess who was responsible for those generous “donations.”

So, yeah—I failed the first time. And the second time, and the third, fourth, and fifth… I did everything I could think of, used every spell I knew and some I didn’t. Hell, I even hired a professional thief at one point, but nothing worked. I was in and out of the local jail so much, the warden and I would sit and share a beer while we waited for the imperial pardon.

This went on for six months, until one day as I was preparing to add yet another criminal offense to my record, Azura just walked into my room and announced, “You pass!” around a mouthful of sugarberry fucking strudel. “Unbeatable games aren’t meant to be won,” she said. “They’re meant to build character, and you’ve finally proven yours.”

I checked myself into Calming Meadows that very night. I still have panic attacks when I smell baking bread.

A blast of energy slammed into the base of her neck, and pain exploded behind her eyes. Taly could vaguely sense herself hitting the ground, but the sensation was muted, momentarily dulled by the wave of mind-numbing agony that swept through her.

“Son of a Shard-sucker…” she groaned as she lay panting, sprawled across the red dirt of the training yard. Crackling electricity radiated down her spine, and she didn’t even try to move her arms and legs. The hit had been mild compared to others, but experience told her she’d be paralyzed for several minutes at least.

Azura had added a new rule to the game last week. She could add more fairies, as many as she liked. Without warning.

Today’s game had started out with ten. And when Taly had nine of them frozen, five more were added.

She had only managed to tag thirteen of those little bastards before she’d gotten herself completely paralyzed. Which meant she’d lost.

Again.

Lying flat on her back, she stared at the rapidly darkening sky. Rain began to drip into her eyes—just like it did every day at 12 minutes past the thirteenth bell—andfourwisps of fairy fire lazily whirled above her. That meant the Queen had added two more during the final seconds of the match—bringing the final number to seventeen fairies in play.

That was a new record.

Their light had already turned from that cold, icy blue back to something soft and gentle. As they circled, golden duplicates trailed a few seconds ahead of each one, glowing and seeming to drag them along.

Taly blinked, dismissing her Sight. Their afterimages faded.

Azura clapped her hands, slow and mocking. “That was just short of nearly okay.”

Taly groaned irritably, closing her eyes as the rain began to fall in earnest. “You could’ve at least told me that you’d added two more fairies.”

Azura leaned back in her chair, sheltered from the rain by one of the gray stone arches that circled the arena as she sipped her tea. She wasdressed in a pale golden gown, the color a perfect match to her eyes. The skirts pooled at her feet, a river of silk and lace.

“Where’s the fun in that?” she chirped, setting her cup on a heavy marble tea table with a softclink. “And really my dear, it’s not as though your enemies are going to announce themselves before they take the field. You need to learn how to compensate for the unexpected—think on your feet and all that.”