Page 91 of Acolyte (Tempris #2)

-An excerpt from the Book of the Faera

Beware the firstborn child of Magnus. For he is beloved. He is the Judge.

And now, he is Death.

Taly and Skye walked side-by-side, their footsteps echoing down the long, mirrored corridor.

Leto drifted ahead of them, followed closely by Calcifer and his great loping strides.

The fairies peeked out of doorways, whispering amongst themselves.

It seemed that nearly every resident of the palace had come to see them off, and Taly couldn’t help but smile at the way Skye’s eyes would follow every fairy that skittered across their path, chiming out a laugh as they disappeared into the shadows .

They were showing off for him, transforming into butterflies and birds, cats and snakes. Some were little more than ribbons on the wind, and there was even a little spectral bear following a few paces behind.

Smiling over her shoulder, Taly gave the tiny bear a wink, giggling softly when its chest puffed up with pride. Most days, Lucan would drift listlessly through the ballrooms, humming songs she only vaguely recognized. Where he found the energy to pull off the transformation, she didn’t know.

“You like them.” Not a question. Merely an observation from the man walking at her side. Leto had managed to clean the blood from his armor and even produced a new surcoat and cloak for him to wear—both black and nearly identical to the layers of heavy fabric she wore over her own armor.

It was still spring where they were going. Which meant it would be cold and wet, and honestly, Taly couldn’t wait.

“Some of them,” she replied, turning to look ahead. Others, like the old cuss that roamed the main library, she could do without.

“And are they really… spirits of the dead?”

She nodded. “They’re the time mages,” she said, answering what she was sure would be his next question. Leto glanced over her shoulder, but Taly just smiled as if to say, Yes, I figured it out.

That day in the training yard, when she’d dreamed of a time when this palace had been filled with life and learning, she’d finally discovered one of the secrets of the Schism.

The time mages were dead. All of them. The great disaster had claimed them, and while she couldn’t say how or why, she knew their staying had been a choice.

Instead of passing on, they had stayed behind, still loyal to their Queen.

They rounded another corner, and Leto announced, “We’ve arrived,” as she pushed at a mirrored panel that looked like all the rest.

The glass slid to the side, and a narrow stairwell stretched up, spiraling out of sight.

“Where is here exactly?” Taly asked as they began to ascend. This was the Queen’s private wing, and she had never spent much time in this part of the palace.

“Her Majesty has been making preparations for your departure,” Leto replied.

Her soft blue light provided the only illumination.

“Due to the events surrounding your initial arrival,” she said to Taly, “we had to use emergency protocols to bring you here directly. For most visits, however, you will come through the bridge room.”

An open doorway appeared at the top of the stairs, a light in the dark. Calcifer bounded ahead of them, and as soon as they stepped across the threshold, a familiar voice chirped, “Well, look who finally decided to make an appearance. I was starting to think you’d decided to extend your stay.”

The Queen was sitting at a long table at the center of a room that was easily the size of Taly’s entire tower apartment, sipping a cup of tea while her free hand flew across a glamour interface.

Giant screens lined the walls, each one covered with scrolling lines of Faera and complicated calculations.

Some of the equations were familiar—she’d learned a fair amount of multidimensional mathematics over the past year—while others were entirely foreign and incomprehensibly complex.

Each time the Queen tapped the interface in front of her, the equations would shift, more numbers clicking into place.

The screens almost seemed to ripple as waves of information cascaded around the room.

Taly moved further inside, her attention immediately drawn to the massive sheet of violet crystal that spanned the entire length of the back wall.

A long strip of gold punctuated the center, and two pillars of translucent hyaline flanked it on either side, flashing in time with the staccato tap of Azura’s fingers against the interface.

It was a gate. Fully functional. And suddenly, the screens and the interfaces made sense. Azura was programming the gate, aligning the timelines, stabilizing the bridge that would take them from this world to the next.

“How did I not know about this?” Taly asked, still staring at the gate.

“Because I didn’t want you to, dear,” Azura replied simply.

And that was that. Because even though Taly had explored every inch of Infinity’s Edge and its grounds, she knew there were still places left unexplored. Rooms and corridors that had been hidden away in their own little pockets of space and time, only to be revealed at the Queen’s discretion.

Azura was dressed in soft yellow chiffon, the color a perfect match to the jewels woven into the nest of dark hair piled atop her head.

“Feel free to look around,” she said with a distracted wave of her hand that set the sheer fabric of her sleeve to shimmer.

“I’m still working on the coordinates, but I’m hoping to be able to put you back just a few hours after Skye left. Sunrise, I think—or close to it.”

“You can control that?” Taly asked, wandering over to a control panel. Skye followed close behind. He kept a wary eye on the Queen.

Azura shrugged. “To a degree. This was the original prototype for the dimensional gates.”

“Really?” Skye asked with genuine curiosity, and Taly almost rolled her eyes. Leave it to a Gate Watcher to be interested in, well, gates.

“Yes.” Azura frowned at the interface. “I’ve modified it, of course, but the controls aren’t nearly as sensitive as Aion.” A sigh. “If I had the Aion Gate, I could program your destination down to a tenth of a second, but we work with what we have.”

Taly approached one of the screens, watching as it flickered between worlds filled with lush forests and barren deserts and cities surrounded by nothing but water.

“That’s Dromeda,” Skye whispered when a dark world of stars flashed by. “And Eya.” The Draegon homeworld.

“The Fey Imperium used to be a vast and wondrous place,” Leto said from where she drifted nearby. Calcifer batted at one of the flickering screens behind her.

“It’s still a wondrous place.” Pushing the interface aside, Azura rose from her chair. “When those idiots at the Dawn Court aren’t mucking it up, that is.”

Azura moved around the table, only to lean against it. She looked to Taly. “You’re angry at me.”

There was nothing but ice in her tone as Taly replied, “I’m more than angry at you. ”

Crossing her arms, Azura chuckled, dipping her head before she said to Skye, “Be careful with this one. She holds grudges. And judging by just how quiet your room has been the last few nights, it seems you haven’t quite figured out how to uh…

How shall I put this delicately? Talk your way out of trouble. I hear you have a silver tongue.”

Taly’s cheeks immediately burst into flames. Was she implying… She looked to Skye, the way his brows rose, a hint of a smile playing at his lips—yes, that’s exactly what the Queen was implying.

And she and Skye… well, they had only kissed the night before. A lot. In the grotto, and then late into the night as they were lying in bed. But that’s it. He hadn’t pushed for more, and she hadn’t known how to ask. That was still very new territory.

Azura looked to Skye, smiling wickedly. “She’s loud, you know. I can’t tell you how many times—”

“Azura, I will kill you,” Taly ground out, sure that if her cheeks got any warmer, she might combust.

“Alright, alright…” Azura gave a dismissive wave of her hand.

“What the two of you do behind closed doors is none of my business. Although” —a glance back at Skye— “I am well-versed in all the ways that time magic might be applied… in the bedroom? Just let me know if you’d like me to add anything to her future lessons.

Left to her own devices, she can be a bit of a prude. ”

“That’s it,” Taly snapped. “Skye, give me your sword.”

Skye caught her hand, then wrapped an arm around her shoulders and yanked her body against his, tightening his hold when she squirmed. “Please don’t murder our way home,” was all he said.

He had a point, so Taly settled for growling at the Queen while glaring daggers over her shoulder.

Azura just smiled serenely back. “You really do make it too easy,” she murmured, reaching for her teacup. Even Skye’s lips twitched.

“Majesty.” Leto inclined her head, gesturing towards one of the screens.

“Yes, yes…” Azura picked up a portable interface, keying in another series of commands.

“You’re angry at me,” she said again, then tossed the interface aside, not looking where it landed.

“So, as my own attempt to land myself back into your good graces, I’ll give you one question, Taly.

Ask me anything, and I’ll answer to the best of my ability. ”

Taly waited for her to rescind the offer. This couldn’t be real. Azura never answered questions. Or if she did, it was in a way that only led to more confusion. “Any question?” she asked, stepping out of Skye’s grasp. With the Queen, it was always important to be clear.