The Firethorn Crown (4 page)

Eben lounged with a book on one of a handful of overstuffed chairs near the window overlooking the gardens. Shelves of books stood within arm’s reach.

She waved at the white-haired couple who served as librarians, and they returned the gesture before getting back to their board game. Those who frequented the library had long ago dispensed with formalities when the heir entered, another reason she loved these rooms.

She paused before Eben noticed her. The sun had lightened his hair to the same almond shade as her dress. When they’d first met, his hair had been long enough to run fingers through. Not that she would know. But after the accident with the flaming arrow, he’d kept it short, as most dragon soldiers did.

“Boo.”

She jumped—but only a little—and her face heated. Of course, he’d known she was there.

He flashed a brief smile without taking his eyes from the book and nudged the footstool over. She sank down onto the facing chair, hooked the stool with her foot, and slid it close. With a sigh, she propped up her throbbing feet.

“I thought you might be on duty by now.” He wasn’t, but she wasn’t sure what else to say after their awkward moment in the maze.

“Not for another hour.” His lips twitched, wanting to smile again. He knew she always knew his rotations. She slouched into the chair, letting the worn leather swallow her. They’d never had a problem talking, and their silences had always been comfortable. Natural. But that was before Lily’s last birthday, before she was expected to point to one of the men in her circle of acquaintances and say, “That’s him. That’s the one I want—the next King of Ituria.” If she pointed to the one she wanted, then the whole country would point at her. And he might not even want to be pointed at.

“Kev’s fourth arrived yesterday.”

Lily tucked her feet up in the chair and leaned forward, relieved that Eben still felt at ease sharing his news with her. “Boy or girl?”

“He seems to be taking after the royal family.”

She smiled. “I’ll drop a basket off later. Mara will empty the pantries to fill it.”

“If you go now, I’ll help you carry it.”

“You’re on duty soon.”

“It’s on my way.” He closed his book and leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

“What is? The kitchens, or The Tree?” It took an hour to get to Three Mole Tree, the soldier’s village, and back.

“Both.”

“You live in the barracks, Eben.”

“I’ve got to see a guy about a thing.”

“Uh, huh.” She grinned and shifted in her chair, reminding herself not to get too comfortable. She wouldn’t disappoint the twins a second time. “I can’t take it right now, anyway, but thank you.”

He flipped through the book’s pages rapidly. “Do you have somewhere else to be?”

Something was bothering him. “What’s wrong?”

He shrugged and looked out the window. “Just trying to do my job.”

Of course he was. All the royal guards were on high alert since her birthday, as if the increased attention from suitors put her in greater danger. Most of them were harmless and easily put off. All but one. In the meantime, she felt even more smothered than usual.

“Well, you don’t need to do it right now.” She meant to reassure him that she had many guards watching out for her, but judging by the look on his face, he’d misunderstood. “Eben, I didn’t—”

“You should let me do my job, Lily. It’s the one thing I can do around here.” He tossed the book onto a table so hard it slid and thudded onto the floor.

The white-haired couple raised their heads. She waved, and they resumed their game, accustomed to young people who forgot to reign in their noise.

Eben lowered his voice. “You should have let me do my job earlier.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you protect Runson?”

“I didn’t protect him.” Lily put her feet on the floor and scooted to the edge of her seat. Eben wasn’t talking sense.

“You should have let me arrest him.”

“His family owns half of Eltekon. You can’t just arrest him.”

“They don’t intimidate me.”

He meant that. Lily was impressed. Runson’s family intimidated her. “I just wanted him gone, Eben.”

“I could have made sure he stayed gone.” Eben leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, a little wrinkle forming between his brows.

“I don’t plan on giving him any more of my time during the festival, or any more than what is officially necessary afterwards. So, even if he does show his face again, it won’t do him any good.”

“So, he
was
bothering you.”

“Of course he was bothering me! When has Runny not bothered me?”

Eben glared at her.

She sighed. “You know what I mean—that year doesn’t count. I didn’t really know him then.” None of the other guards, except maybe Riva, cared who she spent time with. “Why does it bother you so much?”

He turned his face to the window but didn’t respond. “You’d better get going.”

Barely visible through the flowers and trees, Neylan scurried towards the maze.

“Eben, I . . .” She didn’t know what she wanted to say.

He picked up his book. “Go ahead. You don’t want to keep the twins waiting.”

She didn’t wonder that he knew what they were up to. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She tried to smile.

He nodded.

She left. At least she still had a chance to make
someone
happy today.

Chapter Four

L
ily reached the maze and stood to the side to catch her breath, but only for a moment. Half the girls stood inside the firethorns, and the others milled about under the willows, arguing over who would enter last and risk being caught first by Melantha.

Lily lost her last hairpins on the way, so she broke a twig from the willow, wound her hair tightly, and secured it. Wherever the girls had stashed Runson, he wouldn’t stay lost long. She hoped he wouldn’t come into the maze again. Like most people, he’d never been in before. The place was . . . unnatural; a passageway, even when fully trimmed back, regrew five times as fast as any other hedge in the gardens. Not to mention the spiders, although there were fewer of those than people thought.

“You’re here.” Ruby tugged on her hand. Her dark hair had come down, too. “Let’s
go
.”

Junia and Ivy stood near the hedge with Melantha. Hazel frowned at the pomegranate that had rolled near the entrance.

“Is something wrong?” Lily asked.

Hazel raised her eyes to the hedge as if she could see through it. “I’m wondering if Bay could have gotten lost in there trying to find me. She knew where we were.”

“Would she have gone in?” Coral joined them.

“Bay isn’t afraid of anything.”

“Bay! We’re coming in!” Coral bellowed. “Stay put, and we’ll find you!”

Mara clamped her hand over Coral’s mouth. “Hush! Runson will hear you.”

Coral’s eyes widened.

Lily held her breath, listening. The honeysucklers flitted about in the firethorns, making small rustling noises.

“Someone’s coming,” Ruby and Wren whispered.

The clip of boots on stone grew louder even as they spoke.

“
Go
.” Lily’s limbs tingled as she shooed the girls into the maze. If they were quiet enough, maybe he would think they’d gone back to the palace, or elsewhere in the gardens.

Melantha grabbed Junia, who already had a firm grip on Ivy, and hauled her in. Azure joined them, taking the twins with her, and the remaining girls linked hands in a rush. Gwen snagged Lily last, and they disappeared into the maze, treading softly but steadily into the gloom.

Lily took deep breaths, trying to steady her racing heart, and pressed a hand over her belt to keep the gold links from clinking together. The other exit wasn’t far when you knew the way, and they could avoid Runson altogether. She would lead the girls back to their tower and write out a story for the twins’ birthday. It wouldn’t be the same as a game of Cat and Mouse, but she could do some sketches and bind it nicely, like the one she’d almost finished for Ivy.

It was a good plan. A better plan would have been to ask a couple of off-duty guards to watch the entrances. But she hadn’t wanted to ask, not knowing whether they would say yes out of duty to the crown, or out of affection for the girls. She’d been stubborn, or scared, and it was her fault they were sneaking away from Runson.

Her sweaty fingers slipped in Gwen’s, and she tightened her grip. They had almost made it around the first bend. Gwen turned and flashed a relieved smile, but it disappeared with an irritated huff.

Oh, no. Lily glanced over her shoulder. He’d followed them. Couldn’t he take a hint? Gwen jerked her around the corner and out of Runson’s sight, bumping them into Coral.

“
Go, go, go!
” Gwen pushed and pulled until the girls started running like a caterpillar.

Firethorns scratched Lily’s arms, grabbed her hair. She tripped, and Gwen steadied her.

Around corners. Past junctions, and alcoves, and mottled shadows. Her heart pounded, and from behind, her name grated through the air.

She sped up until her shoulder brushed Gwen’s, and then they both slammed into Coral.

“Oof.”

The girls had stopped. Their voices floated feather-soft on the warm, still air.

“It’s the mirror.”

“There’s a dead-end.”

“Look!”

A flurry of honeysucklers, silhouetted against the orange sky, hinted that maybe Runson had gotten ahead and made it to the exit first.

“Mel, you’re brilliant,” Lily said. Their little map maker had led them deeper into the maze, guessing Runson would go around and try to intercept them at the exit.

“If I’m so brilliant, where’s the junction that’s supposed to be straight ahead?”

Lily stood on tiptoes and squinted. “Could it be an optical illusion?”

“I think it’s a real illusion,” Melantha mumbled.

Azure snorted.

“Lily, look.” Coral tugged them forward.

Lily followed, wondering why they stayed linked, but not letting go. She peered into the hedge that had drawn Coral’s attention. The mirror.

“It
is
ugly,” Gwen said.

Neylan’s head swivelled back and forth between the mirror and the hedge opposite.

“You see it, don’t you,” Lily said.

“There’s a light.” Neylan craned her neck towards the mirror. “Dim—like it’s down a long corridor and around the corner. Maybe another exit.”

“A secret passage?” Ruby sounded hopeful, like maybe her birthday wouldn’t be such a disappointment, after all.

“If it is, where’s the entrance?” Hazel asked.

“Maybe it’s an optical ‘llusion,” Wren said.

Ivy whimpered.

Melantha groaned. “He’s coming this way!” She pushed the girls back the way they had come.

“I thought that was a dead end,” Lily said.

“It’s gone.” She shook her head. “I guess. Or it wasn’t there.”

Lily turned to flee, but then stopped and frowned. “The dead end is over here.”

“What?”

She didn’t know what was going on, but she wouldn’t give Runson the satisfaction of finding them. “It’s Cat and Mouse, girls, and Runson is
it
. Come on.”

Shielding her eyes with her free arm, she plunged into the bushes opposite the mirror. She would fool Runson and have the girls back to the palace and into bed before he made it out of the maze. She just needed to get them into the secret passage before he saw them.

Once they were in safely, she slowed. The thorns should have torn her arm to shreds, but she’d gotten only a few scratches. The entrance
had
been an optical illusion.

Prickly branches tangled above the passage so tightly that no sunlight filtered through. She stretched out her arm, letting her fingers trail lightly along the firethorns as she slid her slippers along the ground and felt her way forward. Unless Runson could figure out the mirror, or determine what part of the gardens this passage opened into, they were safe.

“Can you see the end, yet?” Junia’s voice trembled.

“No.” Lily followed the dim light, and a dozen shades of midnight vied for her attention.

Minutes passed. The light grew no brighter.

“Why are we going down?” Melantha asked.

Were they? Ten steps. Twenty. Thirty, just to be sure.

Lily’s foot hit air, and she caught herself on a shallow stair. This passage must lead outside of the gardens, perhaps down into the city.

“Watch the steps.” Lily counted silently, edging her slippers along the cracked stones, her eyes on the light that taunted her just around the bend. When she reached fifty, the prickly hedge under her fingers disappeared, replaced by a hard, cold surface. She shuddered, thinking of spiders, and curled her arm around her middle.

Ten more steps. “Mel, the wall.”

“I noticed.”

“What do you mean?” Junia’s voice broke on the last word.

“It’s stone,” Melantha said. “Do you think this passage goes
under
the garden?”

“It’s going under something.”

As they descended further, a dry, winter-cold mist advanced from the shadows and clung to her hands and face, wrapped around her waist and swirled into the dark where the girls shivered and gasped.

“Maybe it’s an old service tunnel,” Mara said.

Lily lost track of time and of steps. The maze wasn’t this long, at least, not above ground. The steps took them in a slow spiral, and she had no clue which direction she faced anymore. A chill crawled up her spine. If they were descending, then the light they followed wasn’t the sun.

She stopped. Where was she leading them? “We’re going back.”

“What? Why!” Azure protested.

Coral and the twins grumbled that they would rather follow the tunnel than meet up with Runny again.

“Mel, lead us out, please.”

The girls shifted and shuffled, preparing to tread back up the unexpected stairway.

She couldn’t see Melantha—there was no guiding light at that end.

Minutes passed. No one moved.

Melantha shouldn’t have that much trouble walking, even in the dark. Some of the girls whispered, the sound echoing in a flat sort of way.

“We’re trapped!” Junia shrieked.

Gwen squeezed Lily’s hand. No time to panic.

The buzz of voices grated against Lily’s ears, until she whistled a single shrill note. They knew what that meant and subsided. Mostly.

Junia sobbed, quietly hyperventilating as Hazel spoke to her in soothing tones.

“Mel, what’s going on?” Lily asked.

Three smacks sounded against stone. “It’s solid.” Her voice trembled. “We’re not getting out this way.”

Lily must have turned into another passageway without knowing it, leading them to a dead end. But dead ends usually appeared in front, not behind. Taking a few deep breaths, she turned back towards the light, pushing down her desire to ask Gwen for advice. She didn’t want the younger girls to see her indecision. She had to be strong. Besides, there was only one way to go now. They may have walked through an imaginary hedge wall, but they were not getting through solid stone.

She counted again, starting at
one
. At thirty, her foot slipped on fine gravel. She shuffled forward, but there were no more steps.

Twenty yards ahead, the passageway ended in a small doorway filled with silvery light. Moonlight. They had been in and under the maze long enough for night to fall, and they would exit at the bottom of a hill somewhere outside the palace grounds.

She tried not to wonder at the chill air snaking through the opening, stirring goosebumps on her skin.

Inch by inch, the girls scuffing their feet behind her, Lily bridged the distance between the stair and the doorway. She stepped across the threshold, a banner of fog following.

Clutching Gwen’s hand harder than ever, she continued a few more steps and then stopped. The girls crowded in behind her. No one said a word.

They were not outside the palace grounds. They were not outside at all.

Before them rose a forest thick with skeletal black trees that glimmered faintly in the false moonlight. Grey stone walls stretched out above and to the sides of the doorway, disappearing into the inky distance, far darker than any cloudy night in the forest outside the palace.

“What is this place?” Leading the girls forward—there was no point in staying put or going back—Lily kept to the middle of the narrow path, hoping it wasn’t as long as the stairway.

Melantha veered towards the trees, but Junia held her back. A clicking, squeaking surrounded them, like icy branches tapping and scraping against windows.

Neylan stepped farthest from the path, arms stretched behind her, curious but reluctant to let go of the safety of her sisters’ hands. “They’re volcanic glass.”

The twins’ wide eyes reflected the faint light, and the two girls spoke in hushed tones of which paints and brushes they would use to capture the scene when they got to their rooms, oblivious to any possible danger.

Intent on getting the girls out, Lily slowed, unwilling to stop, but wanting a better look at these trees that existed in a place where it should have been impossible for them to live. Except, they were not
alive.
Slim trunks of the blackest obsidian reached into the mist, marked all over with deep gashes, as if slashed with an ax or sword. Emeralds, rubies, and diamonds dripped like sap from the wounds, each sculpture a treasure. It was a wonder no one had plundered this place.

“I want to go home,” Junia whispered.

As beautiful as the trees were, Lily felt the same. Runson couldn’t possibly still be searching for her, although others might be by now. Mother needed to know about this cavern below the Weaver’s Maze.

They rounded a small bend and lost sight of the door. “There’s an archway ahead.”

The girls perked up, losing interest in the trees. The path had not been as long as the stairway—a small relief.

Set in a wall of grey stone, the archway stood three feet above Lily’s head. Rusted hinges hung like broken teeth on each side. The mist didn’t pass its threshold, as if somehow the missing doors kept it at bay.

“Bay!” Lily said. “Could she have come down here?”

Hazel allowed a small wrinkle between her brows. “It’s possible.”

“She could be anywhere,” Coral said.

Junia cringed. “Don’t yell for her.”

Coral rolled her eyes.

“It’s brighter on the other side of the arches,” Lily said. “We’ll look there first.”

“What’s in there?” Neylan asked.

“More trees. But I think they’re topiaries.” A whole garden erupted beyond the archway. Whether real or treasure, they would soon see. A smooth path—more of the grey stone—wound through hedges no higher than her shoulder, past flowers and plants in dream-like hues. The topiaries were spaced as in any formal garden, and some of the shadows farther on might be fruit trees.

She waved the mist from her face and then sucked in a surprised breath.

“What?” Gwen said.

She pointed. A golden light shone in the distance, small and warm, cutting through the white miasma in the air.

Coral looked over their shoulders. “The sun? It’s still daylight!”

“Let’s go!” Junia spoke in a strained whisper, jostling the nearest girls.

“Watch the claws, June Bug!” Melantha kept her from creating a stampede.

With a few nods from the girls, Lily dashed through the archway, as eager as Junia to be out of the maze, both the upper and lower parts of it.

The girls hissed and gasped quietly behind her. Gwen tore her hand away from Lily’s. Junia shrieked.