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“Am not,” Taly muttered. But the blush that heated her cheeks said something entirely different.

“If you say so.” Azura gave her a knowing smile but let the subject drop. “Still, shadow mages aside, you seem a bit out of sorts today. Anything you’d like to talk about?”

Taly considered sayingno, just brushing the woman off and trying to fake a good mood until she could retire for the evening. But she knew the Queen would see right through that. The woman was irritatingly perceptive when she wanted to be.

“I’m scared,” she said, surprising even herself. “All the time, I just feel so afraid. I’m worried about Skye, and Ivain, and Sarina, and every day, I find myself wondering if they’re still alive, if they’re safe, what they’re going to say when I get back. I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m a different species now. And a time mage. I’ve gone over that conversation at least a thousand times in my head, and I still have no idea what I’m going to say. What Icouldsay. How am I supposed to tell the people that love me that I’ve been lying to them my entire life? That everything I ever told them, everything I ever knew about myself was alie, and that sometimes, I still wish that the lie was true.

“And then…” Taly let out a mirthless laugh. “Even if they do decide to give me another chance, if they decide they want to protect a time mage… they’re going to have questions. Questions that I can’t answer. Like where I come from, or who my family is—because these glowey Highborn eyes mean that I’ve probably got family somewhere. Family that I can’t remember and whose surname certainly isn’t Caro. That’s just a made-up name to go with that made-up human.”

Taly growled at the tears that threatened to fall, viciously wiping her eyes. “And then on top of all of that, I feel like I can’t think straight most days. I’m so tired, and my head feels sofull,like if I try to cram one more fact into my brain, the entire house of cards is going to all come tumbling down. I should’ve been able to figure out this match by now, but I’ve just hit a wall, and I don’t know how to find my way over. I would usually talk to Skye, and he would help me figure it out. But he’s not here. He’s not here, and I don’t know if—”

Taly let out a strangled scream of frustration, scrubbing at her face with her hands. Here she was—whining and on the verge of tears, in front of the bloody High Lady of Time, no less… How much more pathetic could she be?

“You know what I think you need?” Azura said after a moment. She waited for Taly’s red-rimmed eyes to find hers. “Some fun. It occurs to me that there has been an alarming shortage of fun during your stay here, but thankfully, that is something easily rectified.”

The Queen chuckled, then clapped her hands as she pushed herself to stand. “Come along.”

Taly rose to follow. “I’m almost afraid to ask what you considerfun.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Azura said with an airy wave.

Taly had learned by now that meant she should probably be worried.

“Just step out,” Azura called from where she stood in the middle of the Water Maze. The stone paths had been pushed to the side, and Taly was still gaping after watching the Queen stroll across the surface of the water like it was solid ground.

“I don’t trust you,” Taly shouted back.

“That’s a fair assessment,” Leto said from beside her.

“No one asked you, Leto.” Azura began pacing back to them. The water didn’t even ripple. “All liquids are made of particles,” she said. “Each one with its own individual timeline. There are two ways to execute this spell. You can grab a cluster of particles, gripping their timelines like you would a rope, or you can manage each timeline individually. I shouldn’t have to say which one is easier.”

Taly peered into the water, plucking at the Weave with her aether. If she squinted, she could see faint threads crisscrossing the water, each one an individual strand of time.

“All you need to do is freeze time beneath your feet,” Azura said, and then gave a little hop to emphasize her point. “The particles will remain stationary. Like ice, but more slippery.”

Taly said, “You’re not going to let me go until I do this, are you?”

Azura shook her head, smiling. “No.”

“Okay then.” Taly rolled her shoulders, reaching out with her aether and grabbing thethreads she could see flickering across the surface of the water. Like a rope, the Queen had said, and that’s what Taly imagined as she gripped it. Once she felt the spell catch, she took a step—

And the water held.

Taly began to laugh as she took another step, then another, groping for Azura’s hand because it was, indeed, slippery.

“Holy shit!” Taly crowed as she watched a long silver fish drift beneath her feet. “I’m walking on water.”

“You’re still using too much aether,” Azura said, smiling as she grabbed Taly’s other arm, keeping her upright.

Taly’s lips twitched at the corners. “Don’t ruin this.”

Azura looked unapologetic, but still she shrugged. “Sorry, dear.”

And so, lurching like a toddler that had just found its legs, Taly allowed herself to be led farther out on the water, laughing for what felt like the first time in months.

The next morning, Taly dragged herself up the stairs to the arena, feeling just a little bit lighter than she had the day before. She had barely stepped foot inside the training yard when an arrow whizzed by, almost clipping her ear.

“What the hell!” Taly yelped as she rolled out of the way, barely dodging a second arrow thatcaught in the gray stone wall behind her, embedding itself down to the fletching.