Page 34 of Crown and Dragon

Marius made ahmmsound as he pulled a sack from the hidden spot on the floor. Tahlia joined in and they found lock-picking tools, small squares of linen, a tiny crock of grease, and a palm-sized book. Tahlia took that one up and flipped through the old vellum pages.

“Unseelie runes?” What in the world were these doing here?

Marius cut his eyes to her, telling her to keep quiet. “We are good here. Will you watch from the outside and give us a shout if anyone is coming?”

“I’ll do what I can. I hate Durniad. Good luck to you.”

Marius tipped his head at the human male. They divvied out the items their contacts had provided, tucking them into the leather pouches at their belts, in boots, and wherever else things would fit well enough.

“I feel like a walking craftsman’s market,” Tahlia said.

The weight of the rune book and the little lock pick hammer were too much for the loose waistband of her trousers. She tightened her belt another notch to keep the lot of it from falling to her ankles.

She glared at Marius over her shoulder. “No chuckling. Small but fierce, remember?”

He used to chide her for even wanting to be a dragon rider because of her size. She’d proven to him that she was a fantastic flyer and fighter despite her petite build, but sometimes, he still smirked at her inability to reach the top shelf in their chambers at Dragon Tail.

“We have no time to lose,” he said, pushing through the labyrinth’s door. “Time to figure out these traps. Stay close. I don’t want any more blood spilled if we can help it.”

His voice sounded strained. She frowned as she followed him into complete darkness.

“Should I not have killed the bearded guard?” Her question bounced off the walls, walls that felt close.

“You did the right thing. He was going to snap your neck. There wasn’t time for anything else. I’ve seen humans snap necks for lesser crimes than espionage and theft.”

Torches set high into the walls around the room flickered to life, and Tahlia blinked against the sudden brightness. She took a breath, nodding to herself about what Marius had said.That was what she’d thought—that the killing was necessary. It wasn’t her first time killing, but the act certainly wasn’t the norm for her day. Thankfully, the experience with Ophelia and the monster Katk had warmed her up to violence.

The firelight showed a high stone ceiling above them and head-high walls at either side of them, close-set and quite obviously the labyrinth itself.

“We’re already inside,” she whispered, her stomach flipping with the knowledge that anything could come at them at any moment. She got out her knife again and savored the feel of Marius’s powerful presence in front of her.

“Yes, and I assume we have stepped on a plate of sorts that triggered the lighting of the torches.”

“How would that work?” Tahlia asked.

Marius made a grumbling noise. “Mechanisms that are worth a king’s sum, I’m sure.”

“Have you seen anything like this before?”

“No, but I’ve heard stories of the old kings and queens who ruled here,” Marius said. “This wild setup isn’t purely of Durniad’s mind. This place was built ages ago. Before I was born. Durniad has simply fancied it up for us.”

Fancied it up. Tahlia snickered. Marius was beginning to sound like her.

“How kind of him.”

Marius harrumphed. “Indeed.”

“So we have no idea what we’re facing here, aside from the siren, right?” Tahlia’s throat was dry as bone dust. She swallowed and fought a cough.

“We know there are traps. More than one. I would assume the siren wouldn’t be the first.”

Tahlia grinned wryly. “Ah, thinking like a madman, are you?”

Marius’s left eyebrow flicked upwards. “One must see through the eyes of the enemy to know his next move.”

“Perhaps the first two traps will be simple for us since we’re Fae.”

“Perhaps,” Marius said. “Perhaps not. We don’t know if the guard we took out talked to Durniad about our plan.”

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