Aimee looked up, shock gracing her delicate fey features. “Oh! Talya. You’re here too?” She reached up to fidget with a raven curl, unable to completely conceal her irritation behind her schooled expression.
Really? Taly thought, recalling their unscheduled and uncomfortable meeting the night before.
Taly took a step forward, coming to stand next to Skye. She made no move to subserviate herself as the noblewoman’s superior station demanded. “Yes. I believe I had the pleasure of your re-acquaintance last night. I’m pleased to see the Shards blessed you with a safe journey.” Taly tried to smile, but it came off as more of a pained grimace.
Aimee smoothed her hands over the bodice of her gown, no doubt trying to draw Skye’s gaze towards the feminine dip of her waist. Even though the fey noblewoman didn’t participate in anything unladylike like sparring or being outdoors in general, her highborn blood still granted her a natural fitness and tone to her body that Taly had only ever been able to achieve after years of training in the ring with Skye. Seeing as how Taly had lost more muscle mass than she cared to admit over the past year, the disparity between the two girls was stark.
“I had no idea you were still… in residence. I offer you my sincerest apologies for any discomfort I may have caused,” Aimee replied in the cultured accent of the mainland nobility. The look in those inhumanely blue highborn eyes was anything but sincere.
Taly took that as her cue to exit and gave a curt nod. Skye grabbed her arm as she moved away. “Please don’t leave me with her,” he whispered desperately.
Prying away his fingers, she said through gritted teeth, “No. This is your problem. Not mine. So play nice, have fun, and keep her away from me.”
Walking back towards the workshop, Taly smiled when she heard Skye’s barely suppressed groan of pain. Since she had lost the sparring match, she wouldn’t get to see her little prank play out—but this would be almost as much fun.
Chapter 5
-An excerpt from The Fey Imperium: Institutions and Policies
The Genesis Council was originally made up of the six fey mages chosen to wield the Genesis Shards and functioned as the primary ruling body in the Fey Imperium. Chosen by the Shards—those six objects of ultimate power believed to house the souls of the slumbering gods—each mage was granted the title of High Lord or Lady of their respective magical discipline, and they were responsible for legislating and enforcing the rule of law within the confines of the Lycian homeworld and its territories.
The High Lord and Lady of Shadow and Time carried an added burden. Ruling under the titles of King and Queen, they were the peacekeepers of the Council. In times when the Council could not come to an agreement, their word was law.
In the wake of the Schism, the Genesis Council was effectively dissolved. The High Lord and Lady of Water and Fire as well as the Shadow King moved their courts to the mortal realm, and though the Council members have refused to comment, scholars believe that this division was the result of a disagreement concerning the Sanctorum’s brutal treatment of time mages. As a result, the Dawn Court is now the effective ruling body of both Tempris and the continent of Lycia.
Having finally extricated himself from the clutches of his overambitious, female suitor, Skye was now searching the manor grounds for Taly. He wasn’t exactly surprised that she had abandoned him when Aimee showed up, but he was irritated. And he planned on letting her know it—assuming he could find her.
The sun had finally melted away the last of the early morning frost, leaving crisp green grass in its wake. Skye tugged at the collar of his leather breastplate. Age had molded the hide armor to his frame, broken it down until it no longer protested and groaned with each movement. The heady scent of beeswax, oil, and saddle soap now clung to his skin beneath the heavy wool of his greatcoat. Even though he wasn’t expecting trouble at the Aion Gate, it was always a good idea to wear armor when venturing outside the main cities. The creatures of the island were dangerously erratic when the aether was thin, and even small amounts of the right venom could be devastating to the fey.
Coming around the corner of the house, Skye finally spotted Taly. She had found herself a sunny spot and was stretched out on the front staircase like a lazy cat. He should’ve known. This wouldn’t be the first time he’d found her napping on the wide, stone steps. She made no indication that she heard his approach. Her eyes remained closed, and her chest rose and fell evenly.
“What are you doing?” Skye asked with an exasperated sigh.
Her lips quirked ever so slightly. Opening one eye, Taly replied, “Waiting. You were taking forever.”
“No thanks to you.” He took a seat on the step below her and leaned back. He was going to enjoy this next part. Without ceremony, he dropped a small dagger on her chest. “As per our agreement.”
“Shards. You’re not actually going to hold me to that, are you?”
“Yes. Yes, I am,” he replied mercilessly. “Every word of it, you little brat.”
Taly looked up at him and pouted, and there… there was a look he knew all too well. When they were younger, it used to get her whatever she wanted.
“That’s not going to work this time. I’m immune to your tricks.” Skye laughed and tugged playfully at her hair, enjoying the look of frustrated defeat on her face as she slapped his hand away.
“Fine!” Taly theatrically hoisted herself into a sitting position and settled next to him. Picking up the dagger, she studied the ornate scabbard. Filigreed metal swirls swam across the surface, sheltering opalescent flower petals within their silvery tendrils. As she unsheathed the dagger, the sharpened blade gleamed in the morning light. The crossguard was thin and nimble, and a tiny row of shadow crystals peeked out of the poplar handle. The pommel was carved out of a single, glassy air crystal.
“It’s beautiful,” Taly murmured. “But I can’t accept this. It’s too much.”
Skye pushed her hands away when she tried to return the dagger. “You can accept it, and you will. The bet was that you would let me give you a better dagger. That one’s better.”
“But this dagger is pure viridian! Even the scabbard! And these are all A-class crystals, Skye. How am I going to find someone that can repair a dagger with A-class crystals? This isn’t practical.”
Skye chuckled. Crystal quality was important when it came to spellcasting and magical crafting. Though higher-class stones could channel aether more efficiently, they could be temperamental. Every increase in crystal class required an exponentially more powerful shadow mage to perform the necessary repairs, and at the present point in time, Skye and Ivain were the only two shadow mages in Ryme that had enough magic to properly maintain a weapon with A-class crystals.
“I don’t see a problem,” Skye said. “I can take care of it when you come to dinner because… Oh! That’s right. I won. And that means that in addition to letting us feed you occasionally, you have to let me, and only me, maintain your weapons from now on. And your crystals—that was part of the deal too.” He draped a companionable arm around her shoulders, ignoring the way she groaned and buried her face in her hands. “What day works best for you? I’ll need to let Eliza know to set an extra place at the table. And I’m sure Sarina’s probably going to want to make sure she coordinates the laundry.”
“I was so close. So close to beating you!” Taly elbowed him in the side, but he just tightened his grip, laughing. With a sigh, she exclaimed, “You know what? I don’t care. I’ll take your stupid dagger. But I want Zephyr back too.”
“Oh, come on. What is it going to take for me to get you to let that thing go?” Skye asked, releasing her and pulling her beloved dagger from his boot. “It’s embarrassing.”
She accepted the dagger eagerly. Holding it up to her cheek, she gently stroked it and cooed, “It’s okay, baby. He doesn’t mean it. I know he still loves you.”
“You’re weird, Tink.”
“Says you. I like to think that I’m ‘adorably quirky.’” Taly stood and gav
e him a friendly punch on the arm. “You ready to go? If we leave now, we can be at the gate by" —she pulled out a beat-up pocket watch— “midday? If we make good time. That’ll put us back here with plenty of time for me to get back to Ryme before dark.”
Shit. Skye cleared his throat uncomfortably and averted his gaze. In the short time since they parted ways at the training yard, he had messed up. Badly.
“Uh…” His mouth suddenly felt very dry. Ducking his head, he mumbled, “Yeah. So, Aimee asked to see the Aion Gate, and I might have” —chancing a glance at Taly’s face, he could see the dawning horror in her eyes— “told her that she could… come.”
Taly didn’t say anything immediately. She just stood there with her back to him, her shoulders tensed, staring straight ahead.
That made him nervous. Channeling just a tiny bit of aether, he heard the rapid flutter of her heart. “You know,” he stammered, wincing when her hands fisted at her side, “to be nice? I mean, Aimee is a guest.”
Taly exhaled forcefully and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“I’m sure it won’t be that bad,” Skye continued. She still wasn’t saying anything, and she hadn’t started hitting him yet. That made him really nervous. “I tried pawning her off on Sarina already, but then Sarina kinda disappeared. Ivain—well he just laughed, and then he disappeared too.”
Jerking her head, Taly finally looked down at where he still sat on the steps. The sunlight enveloped her slight form, casting a long shadow across her face. Skye braced himself, expecting her to release the full force of her fury.
But that didn’t happen. Instead of ranting and fuming, Taly took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders. “The price just doubled,” was all she said before turning to walk away.
Skye could hear Taly quietly grumbling beside him as they made their way to the stables. He wasn’t happy about the situation with Aimee either, but he couldn’t exactly do anything about it now.
He had messed up. He knew that. When he had been walking with Aimee back to the manor, she had started prattling on about the Aion Gate, but he had only been half-listening. At the time, his mind was somewhere far away still replaying the events of the sparring match. So naturally, when Aimee had asked to see the Aion Gate, he had stupidly and unknowingly mumbled, “Uh-huh.” It seems years of just nodding along to her babbling had finally come back to haunt him. Before he could try to dissuade her, Aimee had let out a squeal that should’ve made his ears bleed, said something about going to change, and then ran off.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Taly muttered.
Following Taly’s stare, Skye could see that Aimee had somehow managed to beat them to the barn. The noblewoman stood in the center of the training yard issuing instructions to a very agitated groom. And while she had changed clothes, Skye wasn’t sure he saw any more utility in her new wardrobe. She wore a traditional ladies’ riding habit, complete with tapered sleeves and a bustled skirt. Gold cord adorned the front of the green velveteen gown in swirling loops, and a small, black dressage hat sat atop her immaculately coiffed hair. She tapped her foot impatiently as she watched the groom finish adjusting a sidesaddle on their most docile mare.
That’s odd, Skye thought, squinting to make sure he had seen that correctly. Out of the vast array of riding equipment and horse tack that Harbor Manor’s stables had acquired over the years, he had never seen a sidesaddle among the collection. As far as he knew, there had never been a need for one. While Taly would’ve outright laughed in the face of anyone who dared suggest she ride sidesaddle, even Sarina—a proper fey lady worthy of the title of Matriarch—chose to sit astride.
This was not going to be a good day.
“Skye,” Taly whispered, “you need to tell her to stay here. She’s going to get hurt.”
“You know that’s not going to work. She’s just going to whine and pout until she gets her way,” Skye replied. His irritation from before was starting to resurface.
Taly huffed and angrily shoved her hands into her pockets. “Oh, Shards forbid she might complain. You really need to learn to stand up to your girlfriend, Skye.”
“You know what?” Skye snapped, trying to keep his voice low and stabbing a finger at Taly. “This is partly your fault too. You left me alone with her. You know that never ends well.”
Taly turned on him, halting their advance. “Really? That’s the argument you’re going to go with? You’re a grown man, Skye, and I’m not always going to be around to be your chaperone.”
Her careless words made something inside him snap, but Skye did his best to hold back the surge of anger he could feel threatening to break loose. “Oh, believe me. I got that. You’ve already made that point loud and clear.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Taly shot back accusingly.
“Are you kidding?” Skye asked in disbelief. “Have you just completely forgotten about the fact that you up and left last year with no explanation whatsoever?” Taly’s eyes widened. Since she’d returned, they had both been dancing around this subject, trying to avoid the pain and awkwardness. But the hurt, the resentment, was still there—a gaping wound that had yet to heal.
When Taly continued to silently stare at him, her expression unreadable, Skye finally allowed himself to give into his anger. “What’s the matter?” he hissed, the edges of his mouth curling up into a sardonic smile. “Having a hard time remembering how you just ran away from home without so much as a ‘goodbye’ or even a ‘hey, I’m stepping out, so don’t wait up?’ It’s okay. I get it.”
Taly opened her mouth to make a retort, but Skye cut her off. “After all, why should it matter that I spent three weeks unable to do anything but hope that you weren’t dead? That’s on me, right? Because I worry too much? It’s not like you were screaming in pain the last time I saw you. I must have imagined that.”
“Stop it, Skye,” Taly whispered.
“No,” Skye growled in reply, taking a step towards her. He ignored the way his eyes began to sting, the way his breath caught in his throat, as he charged ahead, channeling all of his pent-up frustration into words. “Not until you tell me how you could just throw everything away without any regard for anyone’s feelings but your own. The girl that I knew—my Taly… she never would’ve done that. She never would’ve cut everyone that gave a damn about her right out of her life with no explanation whatsoever.”
“Skye—"
“Why did you leave, Taly?”
“I’ve already told you,” she said quietly. “I’m mortal. You’re not. That’s going to end up being a problem when we’re older.”
“That’s bullshit, and you and I both know it,” Skye replied, his voice equally quiet. “All the years that we’ve known each other—when has that ever mattered? Just tell me the truth, Tink. Please… just tell me something that’s true.”
Taly regarded him for a long moment. If he hadn’t been watching her so closely—reading every breath, every heartbeat—he might’ve missed the almost imperceptible shake of her head. “I’m sorry, Skye.” She tore her eyes away from his, wiping at her cheeks with her sleeve. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I… I never wanted to hurt you. But me leaving? It was for the best. And I know you want a better reason—a different reason. You want something that you can fix so that you can bring me home and we can go back to the way we were. But that’s just not going to happen, Em. I’m not coming back. You need to let me go.”
Skye wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but it hadn’t been that. His shoulders slumped forward. He had asked for something true, and she had given it to him. She had no intention of coming home. He could see it in her eyes.
Taking a deep breath, he pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to regain his composure. “Look, I messed this up today. I wasn’t paying attention to what I was saying while I was with Aimee, so that’s on me. But I can’t tell her not to come at this point. For the time being, we need to keep the little twit happy. Ivain is trying to get a loan from the Dawn Cou
rt so we can finally begin repairs on Tempris’ fast-travel system, and for whatever reason, House Thanos currently has the favor of the High Lady of Air. If Aimee goes home and whines to her family, Ivain likely won’t get the loan.”
Taly frowned. “Why can’t you endorse Ivain at the Dawn Court? Doesn’t your family have more political sway than House Thanos?”
“Yes,” Skye replied evenly. “Significantly more. But I didn’t attend court last year, and the High Lady of Air decided to take that as a personal snub. As you can imagine, that puts House Ghislain at a bit of a disadvantage right now when it comes to currying personal favors from the Air Guild.”
“You skipped the court season?” Taly asked, her eyes widening in surprise. “Why? You always go to the Dawn Court in Arylaan when you visit the mainland.”
Skye rubbed the back of his neck. Taly’s departure was just one of many reasons he was in no rush to reminiscence on the events of the past summer. Deciding to ignore her question, he just shook his head and said, “Everything will be fine, Taly. I spoke with Ivain already, and even he didn’t see a problem with bringing Aimee along. He just quoted that mortal saying he likes so much: ‘there’s strength in numbers.’ You’re worrying too much.”
“And you’re not worrying enough.” Grabbing his arm as he moved past her, Taly whispered, “There’s been a lot of talk around the Swap this week. Some of the traders are saying that people are going missing. No one really knows why, but I’m starting to think it might be the beasts. Whatever the Gate Watchers are doing differently with the gate this cycle is making the magical beasts even more erratic than usual. I know this trip might seem routine, but we really should be careful.”
“And we will be, Tink,” he said, trying to sound reassuring. “I promise. But if worst comes to worst and something does happen, let’s not forget that Aimee is a mage. She might be a twit, but she’s not completely defenseless. Who knows? She might even be useful.”
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