Page 55 of Acolyte (Tempris #2)
-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.
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 ot hers, 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—and four wisps 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 was dressed 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 soft clink .
“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. ”
The Queen’s viewing area had become quite grand. Plush rugs concealed the jagged flagstone underneath, and comfortable chairs and couches had been artfully arranged inside the cramped space, each one covered with jewel-colored suede and decorated with plush, silk pillows.
There was even a chandelier hanging overhead, and though Taly couldn’t see the bejeweled monster from where she lay on the ground, she could hear the delicate chime-like tinkle of the crystals as they clinked together.
“You’re a cheat,” Taly huffed. “You just couldn’t stand the fact that I was about to win.”
“If you feel better believing that, then go right ahead.”
Taly scowled, squinting against the rain that continued to drip into her eyes.
It did make her feel better. Granted, she should’ve known about the additional fairies.
The Queen wasn’t exactly inconsistent in the way that she cheated.
But it still felt good to believe that the unfairness of the situation was the reason she kept losing.
Not her own recklessness. Or stupidity. Or pride—what little of that she had left.
Taly muttered a curse as the water began to pool beneath her .
Great—now she was paralyzed and wet.
Taly sighed when she felt the Queen’s magic wash over her, wriggling her fingers, then her toes. Every part of her ached, but at least she could move again. “I still hate you, by the way.”
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.” Azura held out her cup as Leto moved to refill it. “Do come in from the rain, dear. Your tea will get cold.”
Pulling her legs to her chest, Taly kicked up to her feet.
She peeled off her vambraces, then her tunic, revealing a soiled camisole and plain white undergarments, and began wiping at the sweat, mud, and rain streaking her skin.
A small mental tug was all it took to release the suspended fairies, and Anka—one of the few fairies that seemed to have taken a genuine liking to her—chittered as she drifted across the training yard and rested on Taly’s shoulder.
“I know you’re sorry,” Taly said to Anka, who seemed to shiver in relief. The orb of light pulsed before twirling back into the air, trilling out a chiming giggle as she rejoined the other fairies.
Taly frowned as she watched her go. As long as the fairies stayed inside the loop, they were safe, but if they ventured outside, back to where time followed its natural rhythm, they started to lose parts of themselves—pieces from when they had been alive.
Leto had confided in her one evening that Anka had spent a considerable amount of time in the real world, and it showed.
The poor fairy was barely capable of stringing together a few words, much less sentences, and most often communicated in chirps and flashes of light that the other fairies seemed to understand instinctively .
Leto was standing at the entrance to the Queen’s viewing area, and Taly gave the ghostly woman a wan smile as she took her soiled clothing, handing her a fluffy white towel that smelled faintly of lavender.
Thank the Shards for Leto. Without her, Taly was pretty sure she’d have already lost every one of her marbles.
“You still fight like a shadow mage,” Azura remarked, eyeing Taly from head to toe and frowning at the blood trickling down the side of her face.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Taly asked with a tired sigh, sinking down onto a green settee. Leto brought her a glass of water, and she gulped it down eagerly.
“You’re a smart girl,” Azura said with a dismissive wave. “Surely, you can figure it out on your own.”
“That’s not helpful.”
Azura met Taly’s glare with one of her own. “You’re still allowing yourself to get hit,” she said.
Taly couldn’t help but laugh at that. “ Right ,” she drawled, flexing her fingers.
Her entire arm still tingled uncomfortably, and she was pretty sure there was going to be a sizable bruise right on her tailbone.
“I’m allowing myself to get hit. Because this game is so much fun.
I just love getting my ass kicked every day while some crazy lady sits on the sideline, commenting on my performance while taking her tea. ”
“Get up,” Azura snapped, rising from her seat in a single, fluid motion, flicking her skirts behind her .
Setting her glass down with an audible clink , Taly rose to face the Queen. She had to crane her neck to look the woman in the eye.
“Good.” Azura clasped her hands in front of her. “Now then—kill me.”
“What the hell are you on about now?”
“Kill me,” Azura repeated. “Using only your magic, I want you to try to kill me.”
“But…” Taly hesitated, going through every spell she knew, both in practice and theory.
There were very few offensive spells, and the ones that did exist were far beyond her current ability.
It would take her centuries to learn the kind of magic that could accelerate a person’s timeline to the point of decay. “I can’t.”
Azura’s eyes went comically wide. “Wait, do you mean to tell me… Oh my— what a revelation! Here I am, the High Lady of Time, and I never once realized that time mages have so few offensive spells.”
“You’re mocking me.” Resisting the urge to mutter a curse, Taly kicked at a fragment of a chipped cup that had rolled next to her foot, still there from earlier that morning when Azura had sent the entire tea service flying into the air just to prove a point.
“You’re still not using your head,” Azura said. “We’ve been at this for almost two months, and you still charge headlong into the fray without ever stopping to think if this is a battle you need to be fighting.”
“But you told me I have to play,” Taly pointed out. “Believe me, if I didn’t have to play this stupid game, I wouldn’t.”
“Not all battles are won by fighting.” Azura gave her a pointed look. “You’re going to have to get more creative if you want to win. Part of being a time mage is knowing when to fight, when to run, and when neither one is necessary.”
“That makes no sense.” But then again, half the shit the Queen spouted ever did.
“You’re also still using too much aether,” Azura said, reclaiming her seat.
Something inside her caved at that. She thought she’d been doing better.
“How is your Sight?” Azura went on. “Have you had any luck increasing your range? I really would like you at five seconds before you return to your own timeline.”