Lilly's skin buzzed with the familiar rush and thrum of magic. The change came swiftly now, as easily as slipping into a warm bath after a long day. It was as if her body wasn't learning something new but instead recalling some long-forgotten memory. Her blood sang in response to her call, ready to be wielded in whichever way she commanded. Magic before felt like a dull sword in comparison to the perfectly sharpened blade it was now.

Lilly's lashes fluttered open to find Elias grinning back at her. They sat in his sunlit cottage, a place that had quickly come to be a home to her. A hot cup of herbal tea sat between them, the steam interrupting their view with its thin white tendrils. Lilly bit her lip and waited expectantly for Elias to speak. The lines beside his green eyes crinkled, assuring her that what he had to say at least wouldn't be too bad, even if it wasn't what she wanted to hear.

He'd grown years older in the months since The Beast had been defeated. Blonde hair, once peppered with gray had now morphed entirely into silver strands. His skin had collected wrinkles faster than Lilly thought possible. Each day she saw a change in him. The magic Jane had used to keep him young was fading with every passing day now that she was gone. She couldn't help but think that soon he would be too.

"You're a natural. You even got the eyes right this time." He proudly held out the hand mirror, and Lilly hastily checked her handiwork. A second identical version of Elias reflected back at her.

"It took me six months to do it. I don't think that means I'm a natural." She scoffed, her voice deep and undeniably his.

"You changed through eye contact, Lilly." He met her gaze in earnest. "It can take years for Shifters to make a perfect shift using blood, decades even for optical shifts." Lilly picked at a loose thread of the armchair pensively. Signing, she shut her eyes once more. Elias's identity slipped away like water off her skin, and when she returned to her senses she was once again herself.

"I can't help but think that if I was stronger, then maybe I could've saved him." Her voice was her own, and the pain that laced every word was achingly familiar. She sat back in her chair, and Elias gave her a saddened look.

"I know what it's like to blame yourself for losing someone dear to you. My sister, Jane, Evelyn, you. I tore myself apart for so long, just thinking there was something I could've done differently. I know your pain, and I know that it's all too easy to let it consume you. Alex would want you to move on. Both of you." Lilly wiped at her eyes, though only a slight mist had formed. It was a conversation they'd had many times, but it never got any easier. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Lilly stood, eyeing the ticking grandfather clock in the corner.

"I should get going," Lilly announced, cutting through the growing tension like a knife. Her fingers compulsively smoothed the wrinkles of her shirt. Elias eyed her knowingly but said nothing. "We have a lot to discuss today." She gave her grandfather an apologetic look and a chaste kiss on the cheek. He didn't try to stop her as she hurried out the door. The fresh air was a welcomed distraction from her troublesome emotions climbing their way up her throat. She made the short walk in a daze. It was second nature now, finding her way through the ancient trees and moss-covered homes of The Valley.

Sweat had begun to form on Ava's brow, her cloak long forgotten in the midday sun. Lilly stopped at the treeline, watching as she swung at the open air with trained grace. Ava leaped into the air to avoid the swing of a nonexistent opponent. Her blade glinted, shooting beams of light off in different directions. Her sword twirled around her head and sliced diagonally down, stopping short centimeters from the ground. A small projectile flew through the air and struck her in the arm. With a cry of pain, Ava lost her grip and dropped the sword with a thump.

"Damn it, Omari!" She yelled, immediately pinpointing the source with a vicious glare. Lilly let out a soft laugh, stepping into the clearing and easily spotting the little boy perched in the trees. He had taken to watching them practice, and he'd even managed to weasel his way into a few lessons.

"You're getting good." Lilly bent down to retrieve Ava's weapon from where it had fallen. It had some weight to it, but the balance was perfect, making it a superior weapon to many.

"If you don't watch your back, I'll be better than you." She handed it back by the hilt, and Ava tucked it away in its sheath with a smirk.

"It's sweet that you think that." Ava glared at her, though it was good-natured. She pulled the waterskin up from its place next to her cloak and took a much-needed swig. The liquid had warmed from sitting in the blazing sun.

It had been six months since the battle, six months without Alex, and six months of nonstop training. Lilly and Ava had settled into a new normal within The Valley. It seemed they had similar ways of coping with their loss. They'd thrown themselves into action. For Lilly, this meant focusing all her attention on assuming her duties as heir. Elias had been teaching her everything there was to know about Shifting, and for once, she no longer felt lost when it came to her identity. She knew where she came from, and she was moving towards a new goal. Ava had taken to swordplay, and she'd grown to be quite the warrior.

Yet still, each night, Lilly's sleep was plagued with memories of that day. Screams rang through darkness, blood-stained grass, and Martin's satisfied smirk forever remained behind her eyes. Ava suffered just the same, and on the worst of these nights, they would seek comfort in each other, clashing swords in a moonlit field. It was easier to fight than it was to voice the demons clawing to get out. But they didn't need to. They knew what each other saw in their nightmares because they were one and the same.

Lilly glanced to the edge of the clearing with a fond smile. Her eyes landed on the man sat with a book in his lap. Penny scanned the pages of a massive leather-bound spellbook with a look of consternation on his face. In the months since he'd had his hands fully healed by The White Woman, the sight of Penny with his head in a book became commonplace. While his hands were once again his to command, magic was lost to him. His Traveling abilities remained intact, but he was incapable of even the most minuscule spell.

Lilly leaned over his shoulder, her braided hair tickling his cheek. He looked up at her with a smile, though his eyes were strained. He hadn't taken well to his handicap. Lilly couldn't blame him, they'd all become reliant on magic. It was a part of them, just like the blood in their veins. He'd nearly exhausted both The Valley's and Castle Whitespire's wealth of knowledge, and Lilly could feel him growing hopeless.

"Are you ready to go?" She asked, and he shut the book with a heavy thump.

"Yeah," he gripped her hands and allowed her to heave him up to standing. "I'll drop you off, but I have a date with Mayakovsky, and you know how he gets when I'm late."

"You don't have to put up with that, you know." She sent him a meaningful look. Penny sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair.

"Let's not get into it now." Lilly let out a forlorn sigh. His insistence upon regaining his ability to cast was straining him, and as a result, Lilly too. It pained her that he felt inadequate, despite her constant assurance that he was no less valuable. She looked over her shoulder to Ava, who lay sprawled on her back in the middle of the field.

"Ava," her head rolled to the side to look at Lilly. "Could you stop at the market and grab some ingredients for dinner tonight? I might not be back till late."

"Yes, your highness." Ava flourished an arm exaggeratedly. "Have fun at your tea party." Lilly didn't bother responding. Penny tucked the book he'd been reading into his bag and held out a hand.

"I just need to change into something more presentable," she announced, looking down at her plain pants and top. "Queen Margo has a dress code."

A sky-blue waterfall of chiffon brushed across the marble floor like fluttering wings. It swept along behind her as she paced restlessly back and forth. Margo and Eliot lounged across the seats of the massive oak meeting table, nursing full goblets of wine. The throne room was empty, save for the three of them and a few guards posted at each entrance. While they'd met each week since The Beast was defeated, it seemed that they were no closer to solving any of the issues plaguing Fillory.

"Another one of my people went missing this week. Darrow was supposed to send a bunny letting me know he was okay, but it never came." Lilly knotted her fists in the fabric of her skirts, wringing and releasing anxiously. "I thought since The Beast was gone, it would be safe enough to let a few people leave The Valley."

"And you think they're what, being picked off?" Margo leaned her elbows on the table and followed Lilly's fidgeting movements.

"I don't know." Lilly stopped to grip the back of a dining chair as her lips pursed thoughtfully. "Fillorian's are notoriously superstitious. Shifters are the monsters in countless children's fables. If he showed signs of being one, they may have done something to him thinking they were protecting their families." Elliot took a sip from his goblet and raised a brow.

"You don't actually think they'd do that, do you?"

"Salem killed twenty people because a couple of little girls said they were possessed by the devil." Lilly shrugged in defeat. She didn't like the thought any more than they did. "Fear is a dangerous thing."

"Not sure how well they'll respond to palace guards poking their noses in their business, but I'll send a few to ask around anyways." Elliot offered, and Lilly sent him a thankful nod.

"The barrier still seems to be unaffected by the brownouts, but I worry if the situation with the Wellspring worsens, we'll be exposed." The possibility had been at the forefront of her mind. Any time magic flickered out like a candle, her attention would turn to the wall of protection that stood unwavering between The Valley and the rest of Fillory. "We have highly skilled warriors, but the majority of us are civilians. I don't know if we can withstand an angry mob of Fillorians if they come knocking." Lilly remained the only one capable of opening the barrier, through some mysterious gift inherited from Jane, or something else, Lilly had no idea.

"There's got to be a reason why the barrier is holding. If we could ally with your people, then maybe we can figure out an alternative to The Wellspring's magic." Margo spoke with purpose, her crown glinting as she shifted in her seat.

"We can't make a political alliance until there's written protection for The Shifters. We've been over this." Lilly shook her head determinedly.

"I know what you said, Lil, but we're currently being ass fucked by Loria and I really need a nuclear deterrent. If not, they're gonna Red Wedding me, Eliot, and probably Fen and our unborn niece or nephew within the week." Margo gestured forcefully between herself and Lilly at the end. Fen was indeed growing by the day and the safety of hers and Eliot's baby was of the utmost importance. A child in the midst of a war was a very unsavory thought.

"If it comes to it, Fen is always welcome in The Valley. But my people are not going to be a nuclear deterrent for a war they have no part in, Margo." She crossed her arms, careful to avoid the pointed edge of her golden ambassador's pin.

"Well, I need something! They already managed to castle-nap Whitespire and a secret army of Shifters would be pretty fucking convenient right about now." The incident with Prince Ess of Loria had thankfully happened without Lilly needing to intervene, though she'd heard the entire story from Penny and later a more dramatized version from Margo and Eliot.

"It's not my fault you waged war on them before knowing if you could even win." Lilly shot back with a pointed look.

"Ugh," Elliot groaned, rubbing his forehead. "I'm gonna need something stronger than wine if we're going down this road again." He waved a finger and summoned a servant to supply him with whatever drink he desired.

"Okay, look. If we're going to fix anything around here, first we need to solve the issue of your finances." With a frustrated sigh, Lilly pulled out a chair and settled into it. Her skirts billowed around her, and she looked every bit the queen.

"Our gold shitting Beatles have come up constipated, so it's not looking too good." Margo drawled, leaning back in defeat.

"I might have a solution to that." Lilly whirled at the familiar voice.

"There's our little king."

"Quentin, you're back." Lilly stared at him as he hovered uncertainty in the doorway. Lilly hadn't seen him since he'd borrowed her bow to hunt The White Woman. Penny had returned to her with his hands intact, but Quentin was nowhere to be found. She'd tried countless times to contact him, but he seemed to have disappeared. Lilly wanted nothing more than to run and wrap her arms around him. The circumstances of their separation gave her pause. "How are you?" He shifted between his feet, never truly meeting her gaze. Much had changed since the battle of The Beast.

"I'm...managing." The dark circles under his eyes said otherwise. Clothes wrinkled and hair unkempt, it was hard to believe he was doing anything short of suffering since the loss of Alice. Lilly couldn't help but feel wounded by his distance. The others had seen him in passing, whether at Brakebills or in Fillory, but it seemed that he was hell-bent on avoiding Lilly. Quentin's gaze shifted between his friends and the archway he'd come through as if weighing his chance at escaping. In the end, he scurried into the throne room, eyes cast downward until he reached the table and took a seat beside Eliot. Leaning her arms across the table, Lilly observed him.

"Ember shitting in The Wellspring really screwed us in a cornucopia of ways."

"So, praytell, little Q, what's your solution? And don't say Alchemy. We've already talked to Dani, and apparently, anyone claiming they can turn lead into gold is a lying cheating Illusionist. No offense, Thumper." Eliot looked to Lilly, who rolled her eyes at the insult. Quentin paused, seeming to ponder something. He stared at the empty space beside Lilly with furrowed brows. She looked beside her, wondering what he was looking at. Before she could ask he blurted out the most absurd question he could've asked.

"How would you guys feel about robbing a bank?" Dumbstruck faces stared back at him. Slowly, Margo and Eliot's lips curled in matching troublesome smirks. Quentin's eyes shifted from each of them to flick nervously at the spot of empty air beside Lilly.

"A bank heist, wow." Margo raised a brow in interest.

"I think the time we've invested in him may actually pay off." Eliot reached across the table to grip Margo's hand like two proud parents. Lilly shook her head at their antics and huffed.

"I should probably be the voice of reason here, but we're so desperate I don't have it in me to care." She scoffed humorously.

"Okay, first, there's something I have to tell you." Quentin shifted in his seat, wringing his hands together in a familiar gesture.

"It can't be more shocking than you telling us you want to rob a bank." Lilly raised a brow, wondering what he could possibly have to say that would have him in such a state of unease. Quentin took a steadying breath and grimaced.

"You're not gonna like it."