Chapter 13
13
The door swung shut, sealing me in.
Blackness.
The lack of light was tangible, a heaviness against my skin. I opened my eyes wide, straining to see anything, but it was as if I’d been struck blind. In the absence of sight, my hearing seemed amplified, and I shuddered as screeches and wails echoed from every direction.
This was the void the Fae had named their house after. A nothingness so profound that the absence had formed its own identity. A terrible, unfathomable beast opening its maw.
I managed to find the ring in the wall by fumbling. I knotted the string firmly, then knotted it again just to be sure. I couldn’t afford to have that knot slip.
Listening didn’t give me any hints as to which direction to move in, so I stepped away from the door…and walked straight into a wall.
I hissed, rubbing my forehead, then turned to the right. The corridor was narrow enough to trail my fingers along both sides at once. As I walked, I marveled at how smoothly and silently the string unspooled behind me, periodically testing the tension to make sure it was still attached to the ring. Eventually I stopped testing and trusted my knot work. The thread unspooled with barely any pressure, so I didn’t have to strain against it, and with the box attached to my ankle, it lay low to the ground where hopefully no one would trip on it. If they did, they’d probably think it was one of the chaotic tricks of the maze.
I made the trilling sound Alodie had taught me but heard no response. What if I never found Lara? Would Oriana cast me out or kill me?
I walked faster, trusting that my fingers would find a wall before my face did. Eventually they met open air. My fumbling explorations revealed two choices. Turning right would keep me close to the exterior of the labyrinth, so I chose the left-hand path towards the heart of the maze. I knelt and snagged my string under a rough edge of stone at the corner, creating another anchor point.
As soon as I stepped into the new corridor, my feet slid out from under me. I cursed, gripping the wall to stay upright, then gingerly crouched to touch the floor. Slick, mossy stone met my fingertips, a whisper-thin layer of running water slithering over it. The hazard convinced me I was heading in the right direction, since Void House would make escape as difficult as possible.
I pressed my back to the wall, inching along with sideways steps until the passage finally widened and the floor roughened and dried out. It was now impossible to touch both walls, so I kept my hand on one. I ignored the periodic openings that appeared beneath my fingers, hoping that cutting a straight path inward would help me find Lara quickly.
I kept trilling. Sometimes the trills were met with befuddled squawks, and once by a deep rumble that echoed through the floor. I stopped making noise for a few minutes after that, until whatever malevolent presence had been nearby had vanished.
Finally, maybe an hour into my explorations, I heard it: a raw, keening trill like the call of some bloodthirsty bird. I headed towards the sound, knees shaking with relief.
The darkness was getting to me. So far I hadn’t encountered anything terrible, but it was only a matter of time. If they were like the monsters in the bog, these Nasties wouldn’t strike right away. They would circle, prolonging the tension so they could get as much enjoyment out of the hunt as possible.
It took long minutes to find Lara. I took several wrong turns into rooms with no outlets and once began losing elevation on a sloping ramp. At last, the trill was close enough it had to be within twenty feet, and I heard the slide of a shoe over stone.
“Lara?” I whispered, hoping desperately it wasn’t some other candidate who had figured out the code.
“Thank the Shards.” She was there in seconds, fumbling for my arm. “It’s so horrid in here.”
“Have you met any candidates? Any Nasties?” We couldn’t afford to talk much, but it was important to know if there was anywhere we should avoid.
“Nothing.” Her shiver passed into me. “I thought there was something near me once, but I held still and it moved away.”
“Tokens?”
I heard her patting her belt. “Still there.”
“Then let’s hurry.” Since Lara and I would be at a disadvantage in any conflict, speed was our only hope. “We’ll get through this.”
Lara let me lead, and we explored in silence, linking hands to ensure we were never separated. I carefully only gave Lara my left hand; the dagger on my right wrist had stirred at the presence of another person and was vibrating hungrily.
Quiet , I thought at it. Then, reconsidering, Or stop shaking over her, at least. It would be helpful to know when anyone else is nearby.
The dagger grumbled, but the tremors did indeed stop—after it nipped me. I flinched at the small sting, wondering how many scars I’d end up with when this was over.
An eerie wail came from down a corridor, and Lara jumped; when it faded, she squeezed my hand as if sharing her relief with me. It made me think of Anya, how we’d clasped hands in the bog. The two women were so different, but sometimes I swore there were echoes of Anya in Lara—in a tilt of the head, a sigh over a pretty dress, a squeezed hand as we explored in the dark. Reminders of what I’d lost.
I forced Anya from my thoughts. She wasn’t here; Lara was. If my focus wavered, we both stood to lose even more.
My strategy was to cover as much ground as possible, plotting our overall trajectory as best I could on my mental map. It wouldn’t be perfect by any means, but at least I could maintain a general sense of what direction we were heading in and where we should explore next.
As promised, there seemed to be no logic to how the labyrinth was laid out. Wide, smooth-walled tunnels alternated with paths so narrow we had to edge through sideways. Some curved in long arcs, while others bent at sharp angles. The floor alternated between rough pavers and slick, mossy stone.
A few times we heard growls, and once an ear-splitting roar from what must have been only a few tunnels over. Each time we hurried in the opposite direction from the sound, and none of the monsters followed us.
During one of these strategic retreats, we reached an archway that led into a warren of cramped corridors. I barely fit beneath the ceiling, but Lara had to stoop to avoid hitting her head. We wound through the maze-within-a-maze, encountering dead ends more often than not. This route had to lead somewhere, though—it felt distinct to me, like a new section of the labyrinth, and the ground sloped gradually upward. It even smelled different, like dust and stale earth.
Thirty minutes later it was clear I’d been wrong. The wall in front of me was unyielding, with no hidden opening to be found. “Dead end,” I told Lara, trying to suppress my panic. “And we’ve tried everything else.”
We had wasted a dangerous amount of time in a section with no outlets. Now that I knew there was no escape, the lowered ceiling and narrow passageways made me feel claustrophobic. We retraced our steps quickly.
The dagger pulsed against my skin as footsteps sounded ahead of us.
I drew Lara into a tiny side chamber, barely more than an alcove, and pressed a warning finger to her lips. Someone else was exploring these tunnels. The only way to escape would be to sneak out after they passed and hope they were so stymied by this impossible maze that they wouldn’t follow for some time.
The footsteps came closer. They sounded substantial, like someone wearing boots. Lara and I both wore flexible shoes that whispered over the floor, but whoever this was had enough confidence in their fighting abilities that they hadn’t felt the need to opt for stealth.
The footsteps slowed as they passed. I felt a faint disturbance in the air directly in front of my face.
Lara shrieked.
I leapt into the passage to tackle whoever it was, but rebounded off stone, bruising my hands. The pound of running footsteps receded towards the entrance to the low tunnels.
I reached for Lara. “Are you all right?”
She gripped my arm, fingers digging in. “The tokens,” she gasped.
I fumbled at her belt and then felt the floor, but she was right. The other candidate had stolen both tokens. I swore. “Come on.”
We passed under the archway a few minutes later, finally reaching the main tunnels again. I tugged her after me, heading in a direction we hadn’t pursued yet. We splashed through a small stream before reaching a ramp that led sharply downward. My shoes were soaked through and I skidded on the smooth stone, barely managing to keep my balance.
A furious, inhuman scream sounded directly ahead of us. We sprinted back up the ramp as heavy claws scraped over the stone behind us. Winter-cold breath puffed across my ankles.
I tripped at the sudden flattening of the ramp and tumbled into the main corridor. Lara landed on top of me, knocking the wind from me. I braced myself for the puncture of fangs or claws…but nothing happened.
We lay in a panting heap, ears straining, but the monster had seemingly disappeared.
Someone else had been drawn by the sounds, though. Again I heard heavy footsteps from a distance, and the dagger rumbled hungrily as whoever it was approached.
This candidate couldn’t do anything to hurt Lara’s chances now that her tokens were gone. They also didn’t know there were two of us working together.
“Stay here,” I whispered. “When the footsteps get close, make a noise.”
I moved a short distance away and braced myself for a fight. Lara whimpered, and the footsteps stopped before turning in her direction.
I lunged, crashing into a tall, muscular body, and grabbed every fluttering token I could from his belt. He spun with a snarl, but I skipped away on silent feet, then crouched against one of the walls. He would expect me to run as far and fast as I could, which hopefully meant he wouldn’t expect to find me on the ground mere feet away. I held my breath as the faerie stood motionless, no doubt listening to figure out which way I’d gone. Something scrabbled against stone in the distance, and he took off running.
I returned to Lara and handed her the tokens. Four total. She tucked them into her belt.
I sat back, wondering where to go next. The only outlets nearby led to the low-ceilinged maze, the monster-infested ramp, or the same tunnel an angry faerie had just sprinted down. We had no good options, which meant we had to decide on the lesser of two evils—an unknown candidate who was currently looking for us, or the monster lying in wait below?
I knew my preference: head after the candidate and hope we didn’t run into him again. I was too afraid of whatever icy creature had almost attacked us.
I frowned.
This was a test of courage, and the least courageous option was to run away from the monster. Besides, it hadn’t followed us past the top of the ramp. Was that because it only guarded a small patch of territory—or because it had been trying to deter us from exploring further?
I hurriedly explained my suspicions to Lara—that we needed to always choose the path that required the most courage, which meant heading straight towards any horrible noises. She was silent, thinking it through. “That sounds awful,” she finally said. Her voice trembled. “But it’s exactly the sort of trick I can imagine them playing. The trials have to directly test a specific trait, and right now we’re mostly testing speed and sense of direction.”
The more I thought about it, the more correct the answer seemed. “We have to try it. I don’t know how much time is left.”
She took my hand, and I felt the faint vibrations of her terror as we started back down the ramp. My heart pounded so frantically the monster could probably hear it.
When we reached the bottom of the ramp, a low growl sounded. We stopped, listening. The scrape of claws on stone started again, drawing nearer. The air chilled, and a gust of frozen wind hit my face, as if something enormous had exhaled.
I gathered all my courage and kept walking. Lara trailed a few steps behind, clearly willing to let me test the theory first so she would have time to escape if I was wrong.
The growl morphed into an angry scream. I flinched as talons scraped the wall directly above my head, breaking loose chips of rock that sprayed down on us like hailstones, but I didn’t slow my pace.
More screams, more horrible noises, more gusting frozen air. The Nasty was mere feet away; the prickling awareness of its proximity crept over my skin.
It didn’t attack, though.
Triumph bubbled through me. The next time claws scraped over rock, I didn’t jump. Those claws could have torn me in two, but they hadn’t. The monster was allowing us to pass.
Eventually the sound of the Nasty faded. We walked onward, listening. When a howl rose from our right, we headed towards it.
Again and again we chose the path that sounded the most dangerous, making our way through a gauntlet of screams and roars. Nothing attacked us, and we didn’t once encounter a dead end.
The darkness around us lessened, and I could just see Lara’s outline beside me. She squeezed my hand. “We’re close.” She sounded like she might cry.
The end of the tunnel danced with firelight from the revelry going on outside. My eyes weren’t accustomed to even that small illumination, and I winced.
I stopped. “You go alone from here.”
Lara hesitated, clearly afraid of walking even that final stretch alone, but finally she let go of my hand, which had started to go numb from her tight grip. “I’ll see you at home,” she said before running towards the light.
I was already moving back into the maze, but I heard a cheer go up as she emerged.
The route back was much easier. No monsters growled at me, since I was moving away from the exit, and I had the string as a guide. I removed the box from my ankle and held it, pressing a clever button in the side that wound the thread back onto the spool as I went. With the string pointing the way, there was no need to feel around, and soon I was able to move at a near-run.
I slammed directly into a broad chest.
I yelped and jumped backwards, almost dropping the box, but someone’s hard hands wrapped around my upper arms. Another candidate—an exceptionally tall one. “Who’s this?” My heart sank as I recognized Garrick’s cruel voice.
If he got the chance to examine me, I was doomed. I was too short to pass for Noble Fae, and if he discovered the box and cord in my hands, it would become blatantly apparent someone was cheating. I did the only thing I could think of—I hissed and let out my best impression of a Nasty’s bloodthirsty howl. He jerked away, and I seized the opportunity to kick him, knocking him into the wall. He swore and reached for me again, and this time I raked a clawed hand down his face. Flesh accumulated under my nails as he screamed.
I seized a token from his belt—it would serve him right to lose one—and started running. He stumbled after me, shouting and cursing, but I was too fast and sure-footed. I spooled the string up desperately, skidding around corners at a breakneck pace.
My feet encountered a patch of wet, mossy stone and I crashed to the ground, hitting my tailbone hard enough to bring tears to my eyes. I sobbed, half in pain and half in joy at the realization that I was back in the slippery corridor I’d first encountered hours ago. I crawled, hardly caring as water soaked into my trousers and stone abraded my hands. One more turn brought me to the exit.
I unknotted the string from the iron loop with shaking hands and summoned the key. When I tumbled out into the cavern, the key’s golden glow sparked back to life. It was blindingly bright after so many hours of darkness. I closed my eyes and lay on the ground, tracking the soft red afterimage on the backs of my eyelids.
Lara and I had succeeded.
I returned to Earth House, changed into my dress from earlier, and made it back to the throne room in time to view the closing ceremony for the first trial. I’d hoped to reach Lara in time to hand her Garrick’s final token, but when I arrived, the nine candidates already stood facing King Osric. Many, like Una and Lara, looked triumphant, but a few appeared dejected. Not everyone had made it out in time. Garrick’s fists were clenched in rage, and stark red lines streaked across his face where I had clawed him. He had five tokens on his belt. Five instead of six, because his final token rested in a pouch at my waist.
“Congratulations on completing the first trial,” King Osric said. “Here are the results.”
The goatlike Underfae who served as the king’s steward, whose name I’d learned was Pol, recited the finishing times and how many tokens each candidate had collected. Una was the fastest, but she’d finished with only the two tokens she’d started with. The other Void candidate, Wilfrid, wasn’t far behind. It was suspicious, since I’d learned at least one member of Void House could see in the dark, but the Shards supposedly ensured a level playing field. Lara had been one of the slowest to complete the maze, but her four tokens stirred a murmur of disbelief from the crowd. To my delight, Garrick hadn’t completed the maze, although his five tokens were the most collected by any candidate, which would count for something in the final reckoning. Two of the nonfinishers had no tokens whatsoever: Karissa, the crimson-haired Illusion candidate, and, to my dismay, the other Earth candidate, Talfryn. He was well-liked in the house.
“Garrick,” the king said after the results had been announced, “you are the only candidate with an odd number of tokens. Did you drop one?” A few laughs greeted the question, most emanating from the Void contingent.
Garrick scowled. “I was attacked, your majesty.”
“By one of the candidates? None of them have your missing token.”
“By a Nasty. It clawed me and stole my token.”
King Osric laughed, but this time the Void contingent didn’t join in. Hector and Kallen looked at each other with narrowed eyes. They’d known the Nasties wouldn’t attack during this trial. Hopefully they would assume another candidate had clawed Garrick and the token had been lost in the confusion.
Kallen abruptly turned and scanned the crowd. I looked away, adopting an expression of boredom.
“I can sense it, you know,” a voice whispered in my ear.
I jumped. Drustan stood beside me, looking down at me with raised brows.
“Sense what?”
“The token in your pouch.”
My heart pounded on a surge of fear. He knew I’d been in the maze, which meant he knew Lara had cheated. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You forget that I’m a prince. The strongest faeries are sensitive to magic, and that token is steeped in Void magic. You’d better get rid of it before someone else senses it on you.”
“Why are you warning me?” I whispered. “Why aren’t you turning me in?”
His jaw clenched as he looked at the candidates. “I dislike Light House,” he said with quiet venom, and then his face relaxed into a smile, as if he’d suddenly remembered the mask he needed to wear. “Almost as much as I admire defiance.”
I nodded and started to leave, but he caught my arm, his fingers burning through the thin sleeve. “Remember what I said about Fire House’s friends.”
I slipped out of the throne room, hoping no one would notice my departure. The entrance to Earth House was a long walk away; I would be better served by finding one of the hidden doors to the catacombs. Luckily, there were several nearby.
I was just outside a door, preparing to summon the key, when footsteps sounded behind me. I turned, and my heart sank.
Kallen stood ten feet away, watching me.
I curtsied. “My lord.”
The King’s Vengeance strolled towards me, and I resisted the urge to clutch the pouch that held the stolen token, as if by gripping it I could hide it from his gaze. My feigned nonchalance didn’t fool him, though. His eyes ran over me leisurely, stopping at my waist.
“You’ve committed a crime.” The calmness of his voice sent shivers down my spine.
“I have?” Maybe if I pretended ignorance…
“You were in the labyrinth. I can sense it on you.”
“No, I wasn’t—”
He cut me off with a slash of his hand. “Don’t lie to me, or you will greatly regret it. Tell me.”
I swallowed hard. He was right; I couldn’t lie to him, not with Void magic on me. I could only hope for his mercy. “I was in the labyrinth,” I admitted.
“You took something.”
I nodded, wondering if I was signing my own death warrant. He held out a hand, and I opened the pouch with trembling fingers and laid the token in his palm.
He studied it. “How did you get into the labyrinth?”
I couldn’t betray the secret of the catacombs, but what else would he believe? “I snuck in before the trial started.”
“The labyrinth was well guarded. I find it unlikely that you made it past the sentries.”
I shrugged. “No one ever notices humans. I waited until they were distracted and crept in.”
“If I find out you lied to me,” he said, menace filling that dark velvet voice, “it will go very badly for you. You have one more chance to tell me a different story.”
I spread my hands helplessly. “I can’t tell you anything else. I snuck in. That’s it.”
The token still rested in his hand, the fabric draped like the wings of a dead bird. He watched me for a few more excruciating seconds, then closed his fist around the token and placed it in his pocket, as if marking the end of his questioning. “You could be executed for this.”
An icy chill rippled over me, followed by pinpricks of panicked sweat. I waited, trembling, for my sentence.
“Do you want to be executed?” he asked when I didn’t respond, as casually as if he were asking what time it was.
“No, my lord.” Not that it mattered. He had all the power in this situation, and he knew it.
Dark eyes skated over me consideringly. “I propose a bargain.”
Relief at avoiding death was followed by fresh anxiety. A faerie was a very dangerous creature to bargain with. They lied as easily as they breathed and charmed as easily as they killed. “What sort of bargain?” I asked, hoping the cost of survival wouldn’t be too high.
“I will get rid of this token, and I won’t tell the king what happened tonight.” He paused, watching me process this absolution. “In exchange, you owe me information.”
“What sort of information?” What would the King’s Vengeance want from a human servant? Didn’t he have other, more successful spies? What could possibly be worth a favor of this magnitude?
“Every piece of information you can give me. What Earth House discusses behind closed doors. What Drustan keeps whispering in your ear.” He smiled sardonically at my startled blink. “Oh yes, I’ve seen him speaking with you. You’re a strange choice of companion for a prince.”
“He finds me entertaining,” I replied, feeling defensive. “And he bet on me at the solstice, so he’s invested in my well-being.”
“Perhaps that’s what he says, but everything he does is designed to further his own goals. If you get any hint of what those goals might be, you will tell me immediately.”
I was well and truly trapped. If I refused the bargain, he would have me executed. Better to agree now and find a way to feed him just enough information to keep him happy without betraying Lara, her family, or Drustan, who had been kinder to me than he had any reason to be. It would be a very difficult line to walk.
Still, better to walk that line than to have my journey end right here.
I nodded. “I will tell you anything I learn.”
Kallen smiled, but no mirth reached his cold eyes. “When you have information, go to the antechamber before Blood House. Wait there until I arrive, no matter how long it takes.”
I nodded, silently vowing to go there as infrequently as possible.
As if he’d read my mind, he said, “If you don’t show up there often enough, I will come looking for you.” He stroked a cool finger down my cheek, and I suppressed a shudder of disgust at the touch. “And, Kenna…believe me when I say you don’t want that.”