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Three of them stood over her, laughing at her from behind their shadowy masks as she lay on the ground, trying not to choke on her own blood.

Cowards, all of them. She opened her mouth to say as much…

Then a boot pressed to her cheek. Laughter rang out as it bore down. Harder.Harder—

“What are you doing?” one of them hissed. “This isn’t what we do to the real ones and you know it.”

“The Seren Gate is offline,” the man with the boot to her face snapped. “What are we supposed to do? Hold her until we can contact the Conclave?”

“Yes,” the first voice answered firmly. “That’s exactly what we should do. She deserves a trial.”

A chuckle, mean and low. “Ooh, hear that?” he cooed, boot lifting. “New guy thinks this is a courtroom.”

“But—”

“She’s a time mage. We all saw it,” said a woman’s voice—harder, older. A gauntleted hand snatched Taly by the hair, yanking her upright. Battered and bloody, she stared unblinking into that restless, swirling darkness. “It’s as I feared. This is Castaro’s ward.”

A few cursed. More, however, laughed with anticipation, having already put it together.

“The longer we wait,” the woman said, voice muffled beneath the shifting veil of shadows, “the more we risk him stealing her back and spiriting her away to the mortal realm. If we don’t do this now, we lose her.”

The first man hesitated. “These are not our orders.” He sounded young.

Taly tried to take a breath, but something in her chest caught, and she began to hack. Blood splattered on the pavement.

“You need to relax, Will,” the woman said. “Look at it this way. Why should those pricks at the Conclave get to have all the fun? I’ve never gotten to see a real time mage, and I’m certainly never going to be posh enough to execute one.”

“Plus, Dareth’s been pouting ever since the tavern,” said a Sanctifier with a voice like gravel. “Let him have this.”

Taly felt any remaining hope she may have had wither and die as the first man—Will—hung his head. He gave her one last glance, something like pity churning in those anxious shadows, before dutifully stepping away.

Moving to the edge of the crowd, he began pushing them back with a gentleness the others lacked.

The Sanctifiers gathered around her in a circle. Dareth—the creep from the tavern, because of course that would come back to bite her—announced in a booming voice that carried over the hum of the crowd, “This woman has been found guilty of possessing time magic. How does she plead?”

Taly was hauled to her feet. “Seriously?” She spat blood onto the pavement. “If I said you could beat up on me a little more, could we just skip over this sham of a trial?”

A metal gauntlet backhanded her from behind, cuffing her on the ear.

“New guy’s right,” the woman hissed, wrenching Taly’s arms behind her. “Even if the verdict’s a given,everyonedeserves a trial. Even time mages, filth that they are.” She gave Taly a hard shake. “He asked you a question, filth. How do you plead?”

Taly glared up into the face of the nightmare. And pouring into it every ounce of defiance, venom, and hate that she could muster, she growled, “I plead guilty. That is the answer you want, I’m assuming. The only answer you’ll accept considering everyone here just witnessed me saving the city usingTIME MAGIC!”

She shouted those last words to the sky as her coat was torn away. Two Sanctifiers stood on either side of her, gripping her arms as another man ripped her tunic down the back.

The crowd was silent, utterly silent as the Sanctifier addressed them.

“Time mages almost destroyed the Fey Imperium. Their Queen shut down the Gates, killing so many billions of people, the blood will never be washed from their hands. It will be inherited by those who share their capacity for destruction, which is why we remain vigilant.”

Someone cut Taly’s stays with a dagger, leaving the shredded fabric to hang around her.

“They left us vulnerable, nearly destroyed our empire, and this woman—their legacy—will now pay the price for their crimes. For the countless lives lost. For the cowardice of her Queen and Guild.”

“Stop!” The word cut through the chaos like a blade, sharp and desperate.

Taly’s head jerked up, her vision blurring as she focused on the figure stepping out of the crowd.Ren.

“This is wrong!” he shouted. He turned to the crowd, arms wide as if to hold them accountable. “You know this is wrong! She saved us!”