Page 5 of Acolyte (Tempris #2)

-An excerpt from When the Bridges Fell: Letters from a Lost Island

They’re calling it the Schism now—the day the world broke apart.

Most people, if you ask them, will say they remember the flashes of light, or the explosions, or the way the ground around the gates began to fall away.

But me—I was at home that day, far away from any of the gates.

All I remember is the ash. I thought it was snowing at first, but then I remembered it was summer.

-Author and recipient unknown. This letter is part of an unclaimed collection discovered after the evacuation of the mountain pass villages.

Taly’s boots clicked on the gold-and-white checkered marble as she followed Leto down the darkened hallway. The ghostly woman drifted ahead of her, glowing softly. Her light expanded to fill the space, casting everything in shades of pale blue.

Leto had been circumspect in the information she gave.

Tea was to be served in the Water Maze, though Taly had no idea what or where that was.

And aside from the Queen and the fairies and now her , the palace was uninhabited.

Something that seemed as absurd as it was wasteful for a place so large and grand.

Taly had read once that the Infinity’s Edge complex boasted over 1,500 rooms, and those were only the ones that had been officially mapped.

Enchantments were woven into the very stone, spells that made time and space twist and fold in on itself, concealing even more rooms and more treasures.

It would be easy to get lost in such a place.

Before the Schism, Ivain said that at least one person would go missing inside the palace every week.

Some were never found.

Taly took a long breath—in and then out—but her fingers still shook as she smoothed her hands over the supple velvet that hugged her waist. Growing up as the Marquess Castaro’s ward, she was no stranger to finery.

Sarina had always made sure that Taly’s wardrobe was full of the latest mainland styles—pretty, feminine clothes made of rich fabrics that would’ve been better suited on some fey beauty.

And yet it all paled in comparison to the ensemble Leto had cobbled together from the tattered remains of her tower closet.

A formal frockcoat spun from shadows and threaded with stars, a silky tunic as blue as the sea—both perfectly layered and draped over a pair of steel-gray leggings that flaunted every curve.

Sapphires dotted her ears, and water magic darkened her lashes.

A simple diadem painted a streak of silver through the graceful riot of golden curls that spilled over her shoulders.

She looked like a noble, like some proper Highborn lady one might find roaming the halls of the Dawn Court, surrounded by a flock of sycophants and fellow courtiers.

After spending so much of her life learning to accept her human imperfections, to stop idealizing the flawless beauty of the fey, seeing that beauty reflected in herself now…

she still wasn’t quite sure how that made her feel.

After what seemed like an eternity, they came to a long receiving hall flanked by doorways and columns and little alcoves.

Like everything else, it was empty, though it was easy to imagine lords and ladies milling about, each one waiting for an audience with the Queen.

A set of massive oak doors stood at the opposite end, opening on silent hinges as they approached.

Taly blinked, raising a hand to shield her eyes as she stepped into the bright light of day. The formal gardens stretched into the distance—a kaleidoscope of color punctuated by gently rolling lawns of green candy-colored grass. The air was warm and fragrant, thick with aether.

So unlike the Tempris she knew, where even on the best days, Highborn fey would still walk around gasping and complaining about the quality of the air.

They continued to walk, down pathways and stairs, through grottos and groves.

Taly was sweating by the time they came to a large reflecting pool.

Heavy bricks of white moss- covered stone formed a twisting path across the smooth surface, and a raised platform lined with trellises covered in bright-blue ivy floated in the center.

A water maze, Taly thought, almost smiling.

And the trellises no doubt formed their own kind of labyrinth, one that occasionally reordered itself so that no one ever memorized the path.

The fey loved puzzles, but they bored easily.

They would never build something as static and unchangeable as a common garden maze, which is why it came as no surprise when Leto gave a command, and the blocks immediately regrouped, rippling the water as they scraped against each other to form a straight line.

Across the path and through the wide, wooden arch leading into the trellises, the leaves pulled back to let them pass and then closed behind them as they walked further into the maze. It wasn’t long before Leto stopped beside a natural break in the hedges, inclining her head.

“I must leave you here,” she said. “Her Majesty wishes to greet you alone.”

Leto didn’t wait for her reply before turning and drifting back through the hedges.

Taly watched her go, her heart thundering too fast and too loud in her new fey ears. She was tempted to run, even if the still-functioning part of her brain knew that would do her little good.

What’s the next step?

Talking to the Queen. If she wanted to go home, that had to come next.

So, Taly took a breath, clenched her fists at her sides, and then stepped into the clearing.

Inside, a woman stood in a circle of white stone. Her ebony hair fell down her back in waves, and the pale pink of her dress shimmered in the sun. She wore no crown, nor any jewelry except for the pendant at her neck. A crescent moon set inside an unbroken circle—the symbol for the Time Shard.

The woman’s face lit up when she caught sight of Taly still lingering at the edge of the clearing, and she rushed forward, arms extended. “Finally!” she exclaimed, beaming from ear to ear. “I was getting worried!”

Taly backpedaled, but the Queen caught her, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug.

The Lady Azura Raine was a giant of a woman—taller than Skye, maybe taller than Ivain—and even in heels, the top of Taly’s head barely grazed the woman’s chin.

She kept her arms firmly at her sides, her body stiff.

When the Queen took a merciful step back, her eyes flicked up and down in a way that made Taly feel as though she were being weighed and measured and somehow found lacking.

“Have you been eating well?” the Queen clucked with what seemed like genuine concern flashing behind those strange golden eyes.

“You’re thinner than you were the last time you visited.

I’m always telling you: good nutrition is important.

It shouldn’t take you three days to recover from a little aether depletion. ”

The Queen squeezed her shoulders, and Taly squeaked, managing to wriggle away. Three days ? She’d been asleep for three days? That couldn’t be right.

The Queen followed Taly’s retreat, still talking.

“I’ve seen you in all manner of states, my dear—covered head to toe in blood, out of your mind from poison, and let’s not forget that wyvern you left splattered across my throne room.

But you’ve never been so low on aether that you just collapsed .

I daresay, you had us all dreadfully worried. Especially when you wouldn’t wake up.”

Taly’s back hit one of the trellises. That would explain why she couldn’t remember anything, though it pained her to imagine collapsing right at the Queen’s feet. If this woman had wanted her dead, that would’ve been her chance.

A small comfort, she supposed.

The Queen abruptly grabbed Taly’s arm, looping it through her own. Taly was still too shocked to put up much of a fight as she was dragged from the clearing and into the hedges.

“Your Majesty,” Taly finally managed to say. “I think—”

The Queen let out a sharp bark of laughter. “Since when do you call me Your Majesty ? It’s Azura. Or Az, if you feel so inclined. I keep forgetting this is your first time here, especially now that you look a little more like yourself.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Taly mumbled weakly. She didn’t understand any of this. Couldn’t figure out just how this woman thought she knew her.

“As for Vaughn,” the Queen went on, and it took Taly a moment to follow the rapid shift in subject, “he’s always been a bastard.

Ever since he was a child. And I know that’s a horrible thing to say about a child, but, in his case, it’s true.

Your mother was the only one that could ever stand him for more than five minutes.

Maybe that’s why he took her betrothal to your father so badly.

Shards, I really thought he was going to make a scene at the wedding. We all did.”

Taly’s thoughts were a jumbled mess, and she could feel a dull ache setting in behind her eyes as the Queen flitted from story to story.

Azura knew about Vaughn and seemed personally acquainted with both her mother and father?

Taly hadn’t even been aware she still had a father.

Her memories from before the fire were scattered at best. Little more than a tangle of half-remembered dreams already worn away by the passage of time.

They finally came to a small wooden and glass gazebo, and the Queen was still babbling—something about a blowfish, a bottle of tequila, and a top hat.