Chapter 24
W e were in the middle of practice a few days later when King Asmond interrupted. The room was still aglow with our magik going out into the ether, leaving the air crackling and sparkling.
Fortunately, I was near the bottom of the silks, only a few feet off the ground, because everybody froze in place the moment he stepped onto the sandy floor. The King was barefoot beneath a colorful kaftan.
Wrenley was in xer aerial hoop, hanging upside down twenty feet up, and that was the way xe stayed while Asmond spoke. Xer hair hung around xer head like a curly halo, and xer cheeks reddened from the blood rush.
“Your Majesty,” Madge said, sounding rather nervous as she bowed before him. “What an unexpected surprise.”
"Yes, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you," Asmond said. "I know you've all been working so hard, which is why I wanted to ensure you have some fun while here in Lamida. As part of the Dandy Days, a fantastic garden labyrinth is behind the palace. It's typically closed to the public at dusk, but we're having a special night labyrinth open only for you and some other performers and servants.
"I know that you have already given so much," he went on. "But I have one more thing to ask of you: that you kindly accept my invitation and attend the labyrinth and that you have a good time."
After that, he left, and all of us devolved into excited chatter. Now that we knew we had something to look forward to, the rest of the practice dragged on. Afterward, I got ready as quickly as possible so we could get going, but Wrenly did not seem to have the same urgency.
Xe tried on five different outfits, which was really unlike xer. It wasn’t that xe didn’t care about xer appearance. On the contrary, xe cared a whole lot, but xe was always so confident and certain about xerself, never second-guessing something once xe had put it on.
But after practice, xe rummaged through both our wardrobes. Xe even tried on one of my tops despite being taller and thinner than me, so xe was drowning in fabric.
I’d chosen a colorful tea skirt with crinoline underneath to fill it out, and I paired it with a simple white top that tied around my neck with a ribbon.
“Are you ready?” Rowan asked through our closed bedroom door after he knocked. “It’s almost dusk.”
I looked to Wrenley for an answer, and xe stood in front of the mirror, turning this way and that to admire xer reflection.
Xe eventually decided on an outfit similar to the one we would be wearing for the Dandy Days performance: a lace top cropped at the navel paired with light palazzo pants in a vibrant fabric.
"Yes. I am ready," xe said finally, raking xer fingers through xer hair.
Rowan had waited for us, but Madge and the other muses had already gone to the gardens. Wrenley slipped on xer sandals and then plucked a clip from the wardrobe. It had a little pink bird on it, and Wrenley put it in xer hair before turning to look at me and Rowan.
“What do you think? Is this too much?” Wrenley asked.
“Too much for what?” Rowan asked in confusion.
“It looks good, but why are you so worried? You look fantastic, like always,” I said, hoping to cheer xer up, but it only made xer scowl.
“I’m not worried. I don’t care. I just want to have fun,” Wrenley grumbled before yanking the clip out of xer hair, and then xe grabbed a floppy sunhat. “Let’s go.”
“At the risk of slowing things down, you do realize that the sun has already set, and you are wearing a sun hat?” Rowan asked xer.
"It's still a hat, and I still have a head, so let's go," Wrenley said, shooing us out the door.
When I had first heard of the night labyrinth in the garden, I wasn’t exactly sure how it would work. Wouldn’t we get lost in the dark?
The answer became apparent when we went onto the stone patio, raised twenty feet above the garden, and I could see it all clearly. The labyrinth was made of seven-foot-tall hornbeam hedges that served as the walls and dividers along the pathway. Glowing pebbles lit up the path, with small colored lanterns strung on lights along the hedges. Fireflies and fairies glittered in the air, and already, the moon was bright in the starry sky.
Madge and the other muses were just inside the entrance, and we hurried down the steps to join them.
“I’ve never been in a hedge maze before,” I admitted. “Is it easy to get lost if we separate from the group?”
"I've been in this one before. Or at least a variation of this one, since they prune it yearly, so it's different," Rowan explained. "It's fairly easy to find your way through with marked paths. There are a few hidden surprises, but getting back to the main route is easy.
"Technically, this is a labyrinth and not a maze," Madge interjected knowingly. "Mazes have one entrance and a separate exit, while a labyrinth only leads to the center."
Throughout the gardens, woodwind music is softly played, somehow both lively and soothing. The air was filled with the sweet, enchanting aroma of the flowers opening for their night bloom.
The main draw of the night venture was the beautiful flora, like the luminescence of the star violet, the cosmic glow of the night rose, and the shimmering petals of the moonflowers. But there was so much more to captivate the eye beyond the flora.
There were figures carved of marble, carefully manicured topiary creatures, and beautiful art pieces. Giant butterflies made of stained glass and backlit by lanterns cast rainbows across the pathways.
The statues of the Matronae of Muses—the three goddess mothers of muses, Brigida, Mnema, and Freya—had been recreated with stunningly realistic folds in the fabric and dimples in the skin. When the light hit the marble just right, they seemed to move, smirking down at me and shifting their shoulders. But that had to be the light playing tricks because I didn't know of any statues that moved.
There were even a few animals, apparent inhabitants of the garden. A slow-moving tortoise crossed our path, with the night sky shimmering on his shell – a cloaking device that reflected the night above. Snails with glowing shells in blue and green and fluffy bunnies that dove between hedges whenever we got too close.
I crouched to peek at a baby bunny hiding underneath a large toadstool. When I straightened back up, Wrenley had somehow gone. It was only Rowan waiting, watching me with a soft smile as I greeted the bunny, the same way he'd smiled at me when I moved the snails safely off the path.
"Where is Wren?" I asked, and Rowan glanced around as if he hadn't noticed xer absence.
“I’m not sure. Maybe xe went ahead with the others." He motioned ahead, where I could see other muses rounding the corner out of sight.
“That doesn’t like xer,” I said.
Wrenley had never been the type to hurry, but then again, xe hadn’t really been acting like xerself tonight. Maybe xe had hung upside-down too long today.
“Wait a moment,” Rowan said, putting a gentle hand on my wrist, but his eyes were on the wall of vines behind us. “I think there’s a secret spot on the other side.”
“Of the wall?” I asked.
“No, it’s not a wall. It’s a curtain.” He swept the vines to the side and revealed a secret entrance through the hedges.
He held them open so I could see the little koi pond and a bench swing hanging from a cherry blossom tree. The hornbeam hedges surrounded it, creating a cozy, quiet little space.
I crouched down beside the pond, admiring the fish. They were plump with fanned tails and iridescent scales in all the colors of the rainbow. They swam up to the surface, their big eyes imploring me for treats I did not have.
“How did you know about this place?” I asked Rowan.
He languidly strolled around the pond, and he grabbed the rope swing and leaned against it. “I’ve been to a few Dandy Days, so I’ve had my chance to explore.”
“Is the night labyrinth always this lovely?” I asked.
“I actually haven’t been to a night one. I don’t know if they’ve ever had them before, but this is definitely the first time that the King has mandated time off.”
I came over and sat down on the swing beside him. “So how does the night version compare to the day?”
"I'm enjoying it more, but that might just be the company." He smiled at me, and I felt the heat rising in my cheeks.
Romances between muses weren't exactly encouraged, but they were allowed. Which was good because they were actually fairly common, especially among teenage muses.
It made sense, really. We were mostly young, attractive, single people who worked closely together for weeks on end. We were passionate and often shared interests and skills.
But that same combination meant it was not without pitfalls. Forced proximity meant things could get quite dicey if there were disagreements.
It was something that I had tried when I was younger. Mostly nothing more than a few harmless kisses exchanged here and there, but I did have a full-fledged year-long romance with another muse, Baxley Cole. He had been a few years older than me, and I had been swept off my feet before things turned sour.
After we had broken up, I had vowed to avoid dating other muses. Since then, I honestly hadn't even been tempted. Excluding whatever had happened between Soren and me, and that was prohibited anyway. But Rowan was making me reconsider my previous policy.