Page 145 of Kingdoms of Night

“They just wanted to scout around and see if they could catch something to eat,” he said. Among other things, of course, but it didn’t seem polite to mention. “They said they can track me anywhere here, so they’ll find us. Probably faster than we’ll find the end.”

He waited to see if she laughed, but she only gave a small nod. Then she disappeared around the corner of the stone wall and into the labyrinth, the pack swinging from her shoulder.

He pursued her. It still felt as if he’d done something wrong. As if he should understand.

Upon drawing closer to the labyrinth, he realized just how clever the illusion was. It was almost impossible to see. It had to be felt. That stirring of magic tingled and stung a little as he pressed beyond it, the scent burning the inside of his nose.

He placed his hand on the stone wall before stepping inside, his eyes insisting he was wrong. This magic or trickery, or whatever it was, was some of the best he’d ever seen.

They followed the labyrinth path to the next opening and then went through. Here it changed from stone to hedges. Aside from Idalno, that green planty scent came through clearer.

This labyrinth was a strange place. Sound was at once muted and far too clear, depending on what it was. He was as aware of Idalno’s breaths and footsteps as if she were directly beside his ear instead of a few paces ahead. The air was close. Too warm. Unpleasantly so.

He rubbed the back of his neck, but his hair was already sticking and curling with the humidity. “If I can get to the top, I’ll help you up. We can make a path over it.”

“Sounds good to me.” She folded her arms, her expression otherwise masked. Based on the tightness of her posture, she was uncomfortable, too. And not just because of him. He had to find a way to fix this.

He turned to face the hedge wall nearest the castle and leaped up. His hand narrowly caught the top ledge. He wedged his boots against the roughness of the stone and hauled himself up. The gray-white granite scraped against his shins and elbows as he made his way to the top.

The entirety of the labyrinth spread out before him. The walls changed multiple times, moving from the outer stone wall to hedge to wood to stone again as it neared the castle. But now he could also see that there were small doors in some of them, pieces of furniture in other portions, and strange paintings on the walls. Sometimes the floor appeared to be no more than dirt, but farther in, it appeared to turn into marble. Large courtyards showed up at intervals as well. Up near the castle, the courtyards appeared to be tiered with grand balconies and staircases that led down into one another.

Still, a cold queasiness in his stomach kept him from relaxing. Everything had been strange here. It was little wonder that the labyrinth itself would be as well. What kind of people had built this place? People like Puck most likely. Fae. That’s what he’d called himself.

This wasn’t a good place. He didn’t like it. Too easy to ambush them. Definitely easy to trap them.

“What do you see?” Idalno called from below.

“A lot of twists and turns. I’m going to test something.” He jumped over onto the top of the opposing hedge.

The branches groaned and cracked, then tipped forward, dumping him—right back where he’d started. He sprawled out, but the shock startled him more than anything.

Idalno frowned as he pushed himself up. “How did you do that?”

“I just—” He brushed the dirt off his trousers. “I jumped the other way.”

“I saw you...” She pressed the base of her palm to her face. “This makes no sense. Let me try something.”

Stepping away from him, she lifted her hands and braced her feet into the dirt. “Honina, tinlore sasbwe aktu nwi ka.”Vines gradually pushed up, intensifying the green musty scent of the hedges. Her face twisted as she curled her fingers and forced the vines to wrap around the hedges and part them. They shuddered.

“At least this works,” she said, stepping through.

Except then the hedges opened beside him and she stepped through just as the path she’d created vanished.

“What?” She turned around, almost frantic, her voice reaching a high pitch. Then she seized him by the arm. “Come on. We’ll go through together.”

Even if she was a fair bit smaller than he, she was surprisingly strong.

He winced at her grip. “I don’t think that’s the issue. We weren’t even twenty steps apart. More like five.”

“We have to try.” She dragged him over to the same spot and then resumed calling up the vines. They obeyed, even slower this time. When the vines peeled back the hedge, she thrust her arm through his and they hopped over.

Once more they found themselves in the same part of the labyrinth.

“I hate this place!” Idalno screamed, grabbing at her head. Her fingernails dug into her scalp. “It makes no sense!”

He wanted to put his hand on her back to comfort her but refrained. He’d only make this worse. And she was right. It was an infuriating place.

She took a deep breath, setting her hands on her waist. “All right. Fine, then. We’re going to figure this out. What else can we do? I think I’ve got some string in the bag.”

---