Page 42 of Her Dark Reflection

‘Lester said the bolt on this one was damaged and never replaced.’

‘That seems careless,’ I grunted as I pushed. More dirt came raining down, but the door didn’t budge. ‘Are you sure?’

‘A kingdom at peace thinks it can afford to be careless. Push harder.’

He lifted me a little higher as I strained with all my might. This time, I felt the tiniest shift right before my strength gave out. I shook my arms out, took a deep breath, gritted my teeth, and tried again. My muscles were starting to burn with the strain and all I managed was another tiny shift.

With a groan of frustration, I shook out my hands again. ‘If I die down here, it will be your fault.’

‘Try one more time.’

Once again, I braced my hands against the door and pushed, and as I did, I felt a strange spark at the base of my spine, like I’d been zapped by a hit of static. The feeling shot up my back, through my shoulders and down my arms, leaving a flush of warmth and a zinging energy behind. I surged upwards, and the door shifted, then groaned and began to rise. Dirt poured down, but I kept pushing, and something snapped, then another something did, and each snap released the door a little more until finally I flung it open with a crow of triumph, revealing a hole lined in dangling plant roots and filled with a grey patch of sky.

Something thumped to the ground, and I looked down to see a ladder had dropped from the door to touch the dirt below. Draven lowered me slowly back to the floor, and the pale daylight dusting his face was a shock as he looked down at me for a breath too long, his hands still lingering at my waist. Then he stepped away and gestured to the ladder, and the simple intimacy of the darkness was gone.

‘Ladies first.’

The ladder was slender and rickety, the metal rusted so badly in places that I was sure it would snap, but it held long enough for the both of us to clamber out of the earth and into the palace gardens, at a dead end in the hedge maze. We eyed each other and I felt oddly embarrassed.

‘It seems ridiculous that there are tunnels emptying out this close to the palace. Imagine if we were an army or assassins. A hedge maze is hardly a hardy security measure.’ My words were too fast, too light, as I spoke to fill the silence.

‘Ridiculous, but lucky for us. Try not to get yourself into any more life-threatening situations. I have my limits.’ He frowned down into the hole, and I realised that he looked weary. It was odd, to think of him being afflicted by something as ordinary as fatigue.

I wondered, not for the first time, what those limits were. Naked flame conjuring, yes. Magicking us into the palace, no. Enchanted apples, magic mirrors, stealing thoughts right out of my head, all yes. And he must have some ability to manipulate flesh if he had saved me from the nagwis venom. Maybe it wasn’t necessary to venture into the Yawn to seek a medical marvel.

I chewed my lip as I worried over whether or not I should ask him. Finally, I blurted out my request. ‘Someone I know is in some trouble. I was wondering if you might be able to help her.’

He fixed his eyes on me, his expression guarded. ‘You think me a trained monkey who doles out magic tricks for all your friends?’

Not an auspicious response. ‘I would pay you for whatever help you can offer, of course.’

‘You are still tangled in your last debt to me.’ He folded his arms. ‘What kind of trouble?’

‘Women’s trouble.’

His gaze cut down my body, suddenly sharp, as though he was slicing me apart, looking for evidence.

I ruffled my skirts irritably. ‘I said someone I know is in trouble, not me.’

‘Good. Birthing bastards won’t help your cause and I hope you aren’t fool enough to think it would.’

I pressed my teeth together. I wanted to snarl at him like some sort of animal, but I inhaled deeply, releasing the breath in an angry sigh. Snapping at him wouldn’t get me what I wanted. ‘Can you help my friend or not?’

‘I don’t work that sort of magic, my dear.’

I didn’t know if he was telling the truth or not. He looked as he always did—detached, slightly smug, a pinch of mocking. If he had some sort of a tell, a hand to the face, a glance to the left, a twitchy bunching of fingers, then I had never noticed it. ‘Can’t or won’t?’

‘It doesn’t matter which. The result is the same. And do I need to remind you that you are here to do a job? This isn’t a time to be making bosom friends. Your situation is still precarious. You still aren’t queen.’

‘I’m working on it.’

He smiled grimly and shook his head. ‘Not good enough.’

Throwing my hands up, I turned away and eyed the fork in the path before me, wondering how long it would take me to find my way out of the maze. I stiffened when I felt his hand on my upper arm.

‘Don’t keep me waiting much longer, Rhiandra. I know how attached you’ve grown to your pretty face. I’d hate to take it from you.’

‘If I said I will be queen, then I will be queen. Climb back down into your hole and let me mind my own affairs.’ I shrugged him off, and his hand slid away.

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