7. Moon phases
Moon phases
Titan led Sorcha back down the paths, leaping from one bridge to the next and waiting for her to catch up.
As Titan made one last jump, landing in front of someone who was speaking, Sorcha finally reached the last bridge.
She could see who Titan was talking to. The crescent moon birthmark on his face, a dead giveaway, confirmed it was Maelan; his silver jewelry glinting as he spoke.
He seemed surprised when Sorcha approached Titan, who was deep in conversation with him.
“Next time, warn me how far we have to walk,” Sorcha huffed, glancing back towards the treetops, convinced she had already walked miles.
Maelan shot Titan a look. “You didn’t tell her she could use the pulley system?”
Titan replied with a wicked smile, “She never asked.”
“You mean to tell me there was an easier way than hiking up all those miles? That the last three hours could have been minutes?” Sorcha looked at Titan in disbelief.
“In all fairness,” Titan quickly responded, “if we had done that, I wouldn’t have gotten to know our future queen. It’s important we got a little bonding time.”
Maelan patted Titan on the shoulder and smiled, “I’ve got it from here.”
Titan turned to Sorcha and bowed slightly. “I think you’ll make the perfect queen for our people, Sorcha. If the day comes where we’re on the battlefield together, I know I can take pride in dying beside another warrior.” He turned and walked away, leaping through the trees on his way north.
“Already winning over the kingdom, I see,” Maelan said, turning to face her. Still a bit taken aback by Titan’s statement, she replied, “I ran into him, literally.”
“Well,” Maelan mused, “would you like to see how the pulleys work?”
He then turned and headed towards an alcove in the hollow of a tree she hadn’t noticed before. Sorcha followed. Upon entering, she found herself encased in metal, like an elegant, intricately woven cage. Above them, Maelan pulled a metal string. It rang like a bell, and the floor began to rise.
“What’s happening?” Sorcha exclaimed, moving to hold on to Maelan.
She wrapped her hands around his arms and clung tightly as they ascended.
Maelan explained, “It’s a system we created to help the elderly and others get around and transport goods. We’re in a giant basket, pulled up by a rope attached to a large wheel—the same way you raise and lower a drawbridge in your world.”
That made sense to Sorcha, so she eased her grip on Maelan as they emerged from the darkness of the tree’s hollow into the very treetops. Maelan pulled Sorcha forward. The two men ahead waved and greeted him with wide smiles before returning to the wheel in front of them.
“Do they do that all day? Just stand there and wait?” Sorcha asked curiously.
Maelan replied, “No, not at all. When pulled, the rope rings a series of bells to notify those around that someone needs the pulley. So, everyone helps, and it varies whose turn it is to pull.
Maelan was walking toward a small, brightly painted yellow building, adorned with little purple and green painted flowers. He stopped and looked back at Sorcha, holding out his hand. “Come on, I’m starving. You must be too.”
Inside, the cozy building buzzed with conversation. Bowls of steaming soup and fragrant teas, alongside delicate pastries, sat neatly arranged on a counter. A pixie, her tiny wings a blur like a hummingbird’s, zipped past.
“Afternoon!” her small voice chirped as she darted by, a pastry stuffed with lemony yellow curd in hand. Sorcha watched as Maelan approached the counter, picked up a pastry, and took a bite. “Oh, Lily, your hazelnut and acorn buns are especially good today.”
Maelan then offered the pastry to Sorcha, saying, “You must try this. The filling is like a sweet paste inside.” Sorcha bit into it without hesitation, the nutty sweetness exploding on her tongue.
“By the gods, is all the food this good here?” she exclaimed as the little pixie landed on the counter.
“Aren’t you the sweetest?” Lily said, pushing up her sleeves.
She had rosy cheeks and golden curls framing her heart-shaped face. Maelan reached for another pastry, but the pixie playfully swatted his hand.
“Excuse me, king or not, you still owe me for your last tab.” She said, hands on her hips.
Maelan chuckled and pulled coins from his pocket. “My apologies, Lily, I didn’t mean to skip out on payment. May I please have some lunch with my bride now?”
Lily’s face lit up. “Oh my goodness, where are my manners? Of course, Please, have a seat.”
She guided them to an elegant table by an open window.
As they sat, another pixie brought over cups and chai.
She had striking teal eyes and long, wavy black hair that cascaded down her back.
As she poured, Cait arrived with plates of steamed fish, potatoes, and vegetables.
Another wave of pixies brought soup, bread, and more pastries.
“This is too much,” Sorcha announced.
“It’s just to welcome you,” Maelan responded, “to celebrate.”
“I don’t need all this, though.”
Maelan was already dissecting his fish. “Firelight, eat.”
He took a piece of fish and fed her. It was earthy with a bit of spice and cooked to perfection, like everything else she’d experienced here. He held out another piece, and she happily took it from him.
Throughout the entire meal, Maelan took it upon himself to keep offering food to her, refilling her drinks, all the while eating little himself. He insisted that he loved doing it.
“I’ve seen your idea of food, Sorcha. Trust me when I say you need some proper food.”
Sorcha looked offended for a second before agreeing.
After they had eaten their fill, Maelan left coins for Lily and then led Sorcha down a series of spiraling staircases beneath the building.
“Where are we going now?” Sorcha asked, following Maelan’s descent.
Maelan refused to answer, repeating only, “You’ll have to see,” until he abruptly stopped and turned to face her.
“Close your eyes,” he commanded.
“Why?” Sorcha asked suspiciously.
“Because it’s a surprise.” Maelan replied.
Sorcha retorted, “Your surprises are the reason I won’t.”
“Fine,” Maelan conceded with an eye-roll. “We’ll do it this way then.”
He wrapped his tail around her eyes, causing her to laugh. “Are you serious, Maelan?”
“Deadly serious. Now, can we go?” He huffed.
“Lead the way.”
Sorcha allowed Maelan to lead her for a few minutes, winding through the paths and nearly tripping on roots, until he finally dropped his tail.
The sight Sorcha beheld was so beautiful it left her speechless.
She stood in the middle of a magnificent flower garden.
Blue roses, tipped with ocean-like hues, were artfully woven into lattices.
Statues of gods and moon phases adorned the gardens, while paths cobbled with quartz and opal wound through the labyrinth.
Glowing moths danced through the air, and at the very center stood a sunstone carving of a crescent moon with a cat sitting within it, its copper flecks glittering in the sun.
“Where are we?” Sorcha asked, stepping toward the blue roses, her fingers plucking a single petal.
She slowly turned in a circle, taking it all in. The flowers glowed beneath the afternoon sun, and the faint smell of salt and honey.
“It’s beautiful,” she breathed.
Maelan’s smile softened. “I know.”
Just then, Sorcha thought he wasn’t looking at the garden at all.
“It’s the labyrinth of phases. There’s a special entrance to the center of the labyrinth through the basement of the restaurant we were just in. I thought it would be fun to find our way out together. You have to touch each statue in the correct phases of the moon.”
”You want to solve a maze puzzle with me?” Sorcha asked, questioning his motives.
“Who better than my future wife to be trapped in a maze with?” Maelan countered.
“Alright, so what are the phases of the moon?” Sorcha began as she made her way to the statue.
“New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, then….” Maelan began, but seemed to have been thinking when Sorcha added excitedly, “Half of the moon, the full moon and then all of that in reverse!”
Sorcha reached toward the crescent moon statue, fingers outstretched when —“Wait!” Maelan lunged forward, but it was too late.
Initially, nothing seemed to have happened. Then, the path ahead dissolved into shimmering mist. Somewhere deeper within the labyrinth, stone walls groaned as they shifted. Sorcha slowly lowered her hand and asked, “Was that bad?”
Maelan pinched the bridge of his nose and replied, “No, not really.”
“You told me to touch the statues,” Sorcha said innocently.
“I told you there was an order,” he countered.
“You didn’t tell me what would happen, though,” she stated.
“I was getting there,” Maelan looked like he was having the worst headache.
Sorcha crossed her arms, and Maelan sighed dramatically. “The labyrinth follows the phases of the moon. You must touch every statue in the correct sequence. Get one wrong, and the paths rearrange themselves.”
“The entire maze?” she asked, surprised.
“The entire maze,” Maelan echoed.
“That seems excessive,” Sorcha was turning in a circle, looking at the new surroundings.
“It’s magic,” he shrugged.
“Still,” she murmured.
A reluctant smile tugged at Maelan’s mouth. “Now we’re starting from the beginning.”
Sorcha glanced around the endless hedges and winding paths. “Okay then, I guess we better get moving unless we want to be married inside the maze.”
“Firelight, I’d marry you now if you’d let me,” Sorcha started walking before he could see the heat rising in her cheeks.