Page 32 of Shardless (Tempris #1)
Taly could feel an uncomfortable crick forming in her neck, and even in her languid state, she could tell that she was resting against something hard. None of that mattered, though. She was having the loveliest dream, and she wasn’t nearly ready to return to the waking world.
She was back at the cottage in Vale, but for the first time in her life, there was no fire. She barely would’ve recognized the place had it not been for that strange vision in the woods. The sun felt warm on her face as she lay on the ground, staring up at the sky through the leaves of an old oak tree. If she strained her ears, she could just make out the sounds of birds chirping in the woods outside the garden wall. It was the kind of summer day that poets might’ve described as idyllic.
A woman sat next to her. The same woman she had seen night after night in her dreams ever since she was a child—her mother. The older woman’s clothes were plain but well made, and her golden hair spilled down her back in long waves. She leaned against the trunk of the tree, humming to herself as she wiped down the blade of a black rapier. The sweepings of the hilt, crafted to look like the tentacles of a kraken, gleamed so brightly in the afternoon light that Taly couldn’t help but reach out and run a finger along the lustrous metal.
“Your father gave me this,” the woman said, smiling as she ran a hand through Taly’s hair. Taly leaned into her touch, clinging to that feeling even as the dream started to fade around her. “On the day I passed the rites to become his Guardian. I told him it was too expensive, but the man never would listen to reason.”
“When will I meet him? Father?” Taly asked. Her voice sounded childlike and far away.
The woman shook her head. “Not for a while yet, I’m afraid. Not until the Aion Gate opens.”
Taly fiddled with a stray leaf, holding it up so she could see the light shining through, illuminating the intricate pattern of veins. “Do you think he’ll like me?”
“Of course, my darling girl,” the woman replied simply. “In fact, I have it on very good authority that he’s going to love you. Now then,” she said, standing and shaking the grass and dust off her trousers. “I should go check on the stew before I burn it.” She grimaced slightly as she turned to walk away. “ Again .”
As Taly watched the woman disappear behind the blue door of the little cottage, she felt a twinge of sadness. The dream was ending. She was about to wake up. But even with the landscape crumbling around her, she couldn’t help but smile. For as long as she could remember, she’d always felt an inexplicable sense of loss for a woman whose name she couldn’t recall. It had plagued her, more easily dismissed as she made the transition from child to adult, but never completely gone.
As she tipped over that edge that would plunge her into wakefulness, she knew that a part of that wound had somehow mended itself. Something inside her, something that she hadn’t even realized was empty, had finally been filled.
Because now, no matter what, she would always know, would never again forget, that her mother had loved her—and that her name had been Breena.
Taly felt a little disoriented as she cracked open her eyes. The storm of magic surrounding her had dissipated, and only a few wisps still lazily drifted above her. Their soft blue glow almost blended into the cloudless sky.
What the hell had just happened? She had been falling and then... nothing. Her mother—she had met her mother, or, the ghost of her mother. Shards . What had happened to her, to Breena? She had been facing off with Vaughn before the wisps had completed their spell, but Taly had no idea what had happened after the ground gave out beneath her.
Pushing herself into a sitting position, Taly took stock of her surroundings. Instead of the worn, unkempt path she remembered, she found herself sitting on a perfectly manicured gravel road in front of a securely locked gate. The filigreed wrought-iron had been scrubbed and polished till it shone in the bright afternoon sun, and on either side of her, artfully clipped bowers of wisteria in full-bloom arched up and overhead, covering her in a fragrant veil of dappled shade.
Behind her, Infinity’s Edge glowed in the soft light of a late summer day. The structure was no longer crumbling, no longer wasting and withering. It was resplendent, and even from this distance, Taly could see that the crystal roses that decorated the facade were lit from within.
“They’re time crystals,” she murmured softly. But these looked nothing like the dark, lusterless stones Ivain had shown her once. No, these crystals were shining, brought to life by the roiling eddies of time magic swirling beneath the faceted surfaces of the carved flowers. It almost made the coiling vines that crept across the giant edifice look alive.
“Taly?” came a soft, lilting voice.
Taly whipped her head around only to be confronted with one of the loveliest creatures she had ever encountered. The woman was tall, perhaps as tall as Ivain, with hair as black as the night sky. The inky blue of her dress perfectly complemented her milky skin, and the fluttering chiffon of her bustle floated out behind her like a dark cloud. Her lips were painted the perfect shade of petal pink, and right now they formed a tiny “oh” shape as she stared at Taly with wide, unblinking golden eyes.
“Oh, Taly!” she sang as she rushed forward. Her skirts billowed on an invisible wind, and she threw her lace parasol off to the side. “I was starting to wonder when I was going to see you again! Where’s Skye?”
“S-Skye?” was all Taly managed as she painfully pushed herself to her feet, her gun held at her side. Her knee protested, but it held her weight—barely. Her aether must have finally begun healing the injury.
“Yes!” the woman exclaimed, oblivious to the pistol that Taly jerked around, the barrel aimed at the ground and ready to fire off a warning shot. “That boy hardly ever lets you out of his sight. Now, where is he? Shards, he and Kato better not be trying to trick me again. I swear, those two—"
Taly’s back hit the gates. “Stay where you are!”
The woman stopped—those perfect features the picture of confusion. “What?” she asked delicately, one gloved hand coming to rest against her breast. “Why… oh, my.” Her eyes widened as she finally took in the blood that still streaked Taly’s skin, and a small smile tugged at her lips when she saw the gun. “Oh, darling. That won’t work on me.” Her steps were measured as she approached Taly and placed a single hand on the gun, pushing it off to the side. Taly felt pinned in place, unable to move. Something about this woman made the air around her feel… heavy .
“My, my,” the woman mused, “look at how young you are. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this young. Shards…” The woman almost looked sad as she demurely clasped her hands in front of her. “You don’t know me, do you?”
“Know you?” A hysterical laugh bubbled up from Taly’s chest. She didn’t know why, but something about this entire scenario seemed exceedingly funny. Had she finally cracked? Had the events of what had quickly become the longest, most arduous day of her life finally caught up to her? “I’ve never seen you before. How would I know you?”
The woman cleared her throat, sniffing delicately and wiping at the tears on her cheeks. “Look at me—causing a scene. And even after you warned me, I… Shards, I thought I was ready. You said yourself that having a friend not… I’m so sorry, my dear. Please, excuse me.”
The woman turned slightly, pulling a lace handkerchief from her sleeve and dabbing at her eyes. “Well, needless to say, I was not expecting you so soon, but since you’re already here, we may as well get started. Although,” she said, her eyes flicking down to Taly’s injured knee, “I suppose we’ll have to do something about that first.”
A golden cloud snaked through the woman’s gloved fingers, and Taly yelped when she felt something in her knee abruptly shift. She stumbled, but her legs didn’t give out beneath her like she expected. The startling burst of pain had been sharp but fleeting. She gave an experimental hop, her eyes widening when she realized that the stinging ache in her knee was gone.
“Good!” the woman chirped. “Now, let’s go.” Her toe began to tap, and her hands came to rest on her hips. “We have a lot to do, and not much time to do it in, which, coming from a time mage, I realize is a bit of a contradiction. Still, there’s no time like the present.” A soft giggle fell from the strange woman’s lips at what Taly could only assume was some sort of inside joke.
“I’m sorry,” Taly said, leaning heavily against the gate. This was all becoming just a little too much for her to handle. “But I’m confused. Really, really confused. About a lot of things. So, first question—what are we starting exactly?”
The woman’s brow furrowed. “Well, your training, of course. You’re the last time mage, after all. Who else did you think would be training you?”
Taly pointed a tentative finger at the woman, nausea coiling in her belly when the strange fey nodded in affirmation. “Okay. Um… so, I guess, next question. Who are you? Do you have a name or…?”
The woman’s eyes widened for a moment, and she let out a shrill, high-pitched laugh. “Oh!” she exclaimed, embarrassment coloring her cheeks. “Look at me! Where is my head? I’m terribly sorry, my dear. Yes, of course. Introductions —very important things. Or at least, they used to be before... or was it after…? Anyway, I digress. Let’s see, I already know you—Lady Talya Caro. So, I guess that leaves me.” Here, she dipped down into a deep curtsey. “I am the Lady Azura Raine of House Thanos. I am so pleased to finally make your acquaintance.”
Taly’s grip on her gun faltered as her arms fell to hang limply at her sides. “Azura Raine?” She started shaking her head. The edges of the iron filigree on the gate behind her caught on her jacket as she attempted to back away. “That’s not possible.”
“Oh, I assure you, dear. It is quite possible.”
“No,” Taly whispered. “It’s not. Azura Raine is dead.”
The woman shrugged indifferently. “I’m afraid you were misinformed.”
“But… that would me an…” Taly shook her head, her heart thundering in her ears as the realization of who this woman was, what she was, finally began to sink in. “If you’re Azura Raine, and you’re alive—that would make you…”
The woman nodded her head, her shoulders straightening. “Yes. That’s right, dear. I’m the Time Queen. And you … well, I’ve been waiting a very, very long time to meet you.”
The End
(for now)