Page 38 of Acolyte (Tempris #2)

-The following is an interview with Arcana laureate Savannah Selket

What was Azura like as a teacher? Well, she was tough, stern—unconventional.

You never quite knew where you stood with her, though it was easy to see exactly which students she thought were special.

She pushed them harder than the rest, purposefully breaking them down so she could build them up stronger.

Not all of them made it. Most of them didn’t, in fact.

Me personally—I quit the day of my seal three examination.

The sun had barely begun to rise as Taly surveyed the arena.

It was a large, circular space, blanketed with red dirt and surrounded by a ring of crumbling stone arches.

A row of training dummies lined one side, each decorated with scatterings of water and shadow crystals.

The dummy on the far right was malfunctioning, flickering through a series of combat presets—first a wyvern, then a basilisk, then a mountain of a man with eyes that burned like fire.

Taly pulled her eyes away. She still had a bruise from where the mannequin had knocked her on her ass the previous day.

She’d been stupid enough to think she could spar with the shadow-mage-preset at full strength, and one swing of the man’s staff had thrown her to the ground so hard, she’d dislocated a shoulder.

She was stronger now—but not that strong. Next time she would listen to Azura’s advice: get away, get distance, assess . The only thing a time mage needed to know about close combat was how to get out of it.

Taly stood beneath one of the arches, wrapping both hands with long strips of linen.

Leto had dressed her in plain, sturdy clothes that morning: trousers that were easy to move in, a tunic light enough to ward off the heat, and leather vambraces that covered her arms from wrist to elbow.

Her boots were old and worn—comfortable.

They were the kind of clothes she might have worn to spar with Skye or Ivain, and that thought immediately put her on edge. After five months at the palace—five long months spent with the Queen—Taly had learned to hate surprises, especially ones that involved armor.

“Are you sure you can’t tell me what she’s planning?

” Taly asked, leaning back against the curved wall of the gray stone arch.

Leto crouched beside her, tightening the buckles on a pair of greaves that matched the other few pieces of armor she’d been given over the past few weeks as her training intensified.

“No, Ma’am,” the woman said, rising to her full height.

Her form shivered in the dim morning light.

It was a struggle for some of the fairies to change their appearance, and no one except Leto was able to mimic the fey form so effortlessly.

She gets help from the Queen , one of the fairies had whispered to her one evening when she’d found her way down to the kitchens. Leto was always Her Majesty’s favorite.

Now that they were starting to warm to her, the fairies really were hopeless gossips.

And even though she still couldn’t say for sure just who they’d been in life, she had her theories.

They had been fey—she was sure of that. They knew far too much about magic to be anything but.

And judging from the few mannerisms some still clung to, many had been part of the noble class.

“Are you positive?” Taly asked, even if she knew Leto wouldn’t budge. “You’re absolutely certain you can’t tell me anything?”

“You seem concerned, Ma’am.”

“Usually, the Queen’s ‘surprises’ don’t involve armor.”

Leto selected a long wooden staff from a nearby rack.

“Or weapons,” Taly added, her heart sinking, not quite to the floor, but definitely somewhere around her knees.

She took the staff, inspecting the alternating rows of air and shadow crystals before giving it a few experimental swings.

Heavy, but balanced. Likely reinforced with a core of pure viridian.

This was not going to be a good day .

“Good morning!” Azura’s voice carried across the yard, far too bright and chipper given the early hour.

She was dressed in a dove-gray morning coat that flowed down to her knees, and the sleeves had been rolled up to reveal several long, coiling chains of silver and gold threaded with time crystals.

Her riding boots were polished to a mirror-like shine, and her hair was so tightly coiled, the ends brushed her shoulders rather than her waist.

She looked like she would be more at home on a courtly ride through the forest than in a dusty sparring ring. Clearly, she didn’t plan to get her own hands dirty.

“Is it?” Taly sighed. “Good, that is.”

Azura stepped into the shade of the stone arch, pouting. She looked to Leto. “Someone’s already surly, I see.”

“It’s dawn,” Taly grumbled. “Of course, I’m surly. I barely had enough time for a few sips of coffee, much less breakfast.”

“I didn’t say anything regarding your plans, Majesty.” Leto bobbed her head. “Although, she did ask.”

“Of course, she did,” Azura said with a knowing smile. “I’d be disappointed otherwise.”

“Can we get on with this?” Taly twirled her staff. “I’m tired, I’m hungry, and I’m not in the mood to play ‘ Let’s guess the Queen’s newest plan to torture her prisoner and make her wish she’d never been born’. ”

Azura crinkled her nose. “Prisoner feels a little kitschy. I prefer, reluctant student . Has a much nicer ring, I think.”

Taly frowned. “No matter what you choose to call it, I’m still being held here against my will. ”

Azura and Leto shared a look. “Surly and dramatic,” the Queen drawled with an exaggerated roll of her eyes.

Then, chuckling softly, she turned and strode back into the arena, gesturing for Taly to follow.

“It’s been two months since you earned your second seal, and you now have a working knowledge of every spell and enchantment required to pass the third seal examination.

Granted, you have yet to fully master many of the concepts, but I personally believe there are some things that one must learn by doing. ”

The Queen came to an abrupt stop in the center of the ring, turning on her heel. Taly barely managed to stop herself from barreling into her.

“After all,” Azura said, stabbing a finger in Taly’s face and forcing her to back up a few steps, “time mages need to be able to anticipate any obstacle, outthink any foe. No matter the terrain, even if their aether is nearly gone, they must be able to cast instinctively. For someone like you—a young woman who has spent most of her life without any magic of her own—the reflexive use of aether in a combat situation isn’t something that can be taught.

It must be trained. Which is why we’re here. ”

Azura spread her arms and took a deep breath. “From now on,” she announced, smiling in a way that made Taly nervous, “you’re going to play…” A dramatic pause. “ Tag .”

Taly’s brows rose. “Come again?”

“ Tag , dear. You’ve done well, make no mistake, but your theoretical knowledge is starting to outpace your applied proficiency.

That’s not uncommon, and if we were still living in a world where my fellow Council members didn’t seem so intent on hunting my mages to extinction, we would have more than enough time to make up for your deficiencies during a later seal.

However, we don’t have that luxury. You will be hunted from the moment you set foot back on your island, and it really would be a bother if you went and got yourself killed after I’ve put in so much effort to train you. ”

Despite the warmth of the rising sun, Taly felt a chill cut straight through her. The Sanctorum, the shades, Vaughn, and his so-called master —she certainly had accrued an impressive list of enemies in a very short period of time.

“And how,” she asked, “is a game of tag supposed to help me stay alive?”

Azura tilted her head, a small smirk curling her lips.

“Tag is a ruthless, petty game, my dear .” She took a step forward, and those eyes—those strange, golden eyes—began to burn.

“It is a test of spirit. Of valor and determination. It is a dance between predator and prey—a push for survival that even children can understand. Stalking one’s opponent, laying traps, doing whatever it takes to vanquish and conquer and slay until only one remains.

A champion, gazing out over the field of battle, standing victor over the corpses of the fallen. ”

The Queen’s voice had continued to rise in pitch, and she stared down at Taly, still smiling that small, horrible smile.

Taly took a step back, clearing her throat nervously. “I think one of us has been playing tag wrong,” she rasped, worried that after only five months in this place, she couldn’t exactly say which .

“You need to learn to think on your feet,” Azura said, holding up a hand and signaling a small group of fairies that bobbed just outside the perimeter of the training yard. “And since there are no other mages for you to practice sparring with, this is the next best thing.”

“I thought you said to avoid close combat.”

“And how do you think one does that?” Azura waited, then said, “A shadow mage is deadly in close range, which means they will always try to pull you in. The only way to survive is to get very good at running away.”

“But—” Taly tried.

“No buts .” Azura waved a dismissive hand. “It is my wish that you play tag, and you will comply. Now then—the rules are simple. Freeze the fairies in place. Once you’ve captured all of them, the game is over.”

Taly gripped her staff. “That’s it?”

A vague nod. “You’re not to use time crystals during the match, and since I know you feel more comfortable with a weapon in your hand, I’ve instructed the fairies to respond to air attacks.

” A glance at the staff in Taly’s hands.

“Not that it will do you any good,” the Queen added as she moved to rejoin Leto underneath the stone arch.

Leto leaned in to whisper in Azura’s ear.