Page 29 of The Lord of the Labyrinth

“What’s your name, little human?” Babbitt asked in a chirp, holding out her hand.

“Caden.” The boy shook the brownie’s hand, and the brownie led the child away.

Roan smiled at the thought of his sister playing nursemaid to a human child. At least it would give her something different to do with her days other than tease poor Rath.

He returned to his bedchamber, and with a twirl of his wrist, he conjured a glowing orb the size of an apple, which soon grew larger than his head. He let it hover in the air, milky-white smoke spiraling off the orb in illuminating tendrils.

“Show me Kate,” he murmured.

The smoke filling the orb vanished, and he glimpsed the girl jogging through the labyrinth. It amused Roan to watch her futile efforts for a time. She was still on the outer edges of the labyrinth, far from its dangers. If she stayed along the fringes, she would come to no harm. He would be able to visit her nightly and take what he wished from her. He waved his hand, and the orb vanished. The girl was safe, and that was all he needed to know for now.

There were more pressing matters to attend to. It was time he visited the Black Hills and met with Hagni to assess the strength of their alliance with the dwarves and the dryads.

Roan walked to the edge of the balcony, spread his arms wide, and leapt off. He embraced the wild Fae within him and once again became a barn owl. He flew high over the labyrinth, letting the wind carry him on the Fae roads toward the distant entrance of the labyrinth and beyond. But as he passed over Kate, he couldn’t resist seeing her again.

He flew well above where Kate’s human eyes could see him. He tracked her progress as she ran run through the labyrinth. If she continued on her current path, she would spiral around the outside of the maze for days.

Then she will be mine forever...The thought filled him with a dark delight. To have her all to himself, to own her thoughts, her heart, her body, even her soul. She would be his to kiss, to take to his bed, to explore and pleasure until they both were too tired to move. It had been too long since he’d allowed himself to have such a creature at his beck and call.

Taking one of his courtiers to bed was never wise. Everyone expected him to take a queen consort, and many of the Fae females vied for his attention. But their naked ambition left him cold and unmoved. He had eyes for none of them. The games and power struggles that went on in his realm were predictable, tiresome, and boring. But Kate, Kate was new. She was interesting. She didn’t do what he expected.

Perhaps that was what fascinated him about her. She defied him at every turn, even when it would make far more sense for her to comply with his wishes. She was always herself. He wasn’t even angry when she continued to defy him. Rather, it heated his blood and made him want to catch hold of her and kiss her senseless.

Confident she would get into no trouble for a time, Roan was about to leave when he saw her crash into a kobold coming from the gemstone mines on the eastern border of the labyrinth. Roan flew down to the top of the wall and observed what Kate would do with the kobold.

To his surprise, she seemed to befriend him, and the two traveled together for a time.

Roan flew along every few minutes and perched on the wall to keep pace with them. The meeting with Hagni and the dwarves could wait. He focused on Kate and the kobold and silently chuckled as Kate questioned the little creature for information about the labyrinth. The kobold was one he recognized as a gem deliverer from the mines. He would know to stay away from the dangerous areas of the labyrinth. If Kate stayed with him, she would be out of danger.

You will find no answers from him, little one. The puzzle cannot be solved by anyone but me.

Content with the knowledge that Kate would be distracted by the kobold, who would keep to the outer edges of the labyrinth, Roan settled down to rest, his feathers warm beneath the soft Fae sunlight. Being near Kate made him feel so calm, so at peace, that his natural restlessness just faded away. He actually dozed off and only woke to the sound of a scream several miles away. With a frantic flutter of wings, Roan took flight, his keen animal eyes seeking the source of the cry.

It was Kate.

She was at the morgen pool. Surely the kobold had warned her not to drink from the pool? Roan bobbed his head, his eyes seeking any sign of the kobold, but he was nowhere to be seen. Had he already been taken by the vicious morgens?

Kate stripped out of her clothes and plunged into the water. For a long few moments, nothing moved beneath the surface. Roan prepared to transform, ready to dive in after her. Then Kate burst out of the water and shoved the kobold onto the stone ledge surrounding the pool. She struck the creature’s back, making him cough violently, and water poured out of his mouth. The kobold lay still, but he was alive.

Roan released a tight breath. She justdovein to save the kobold’s life! Foolish woman, she could have been killed over someone she didn’t even know.

Kate gasped as something jerked her back beneath the surface of the water.

“Kate!” Roan roared, shifting back to his natural form faster than he ever had before. There was no one around to save her, no one—excepthim.

From high on top of the wall, Roan dove, arms stretched over his head. The momentum carried him down farther and faster than the morgans could drag their prize. The shafts of sunlight wavered and dwindled as he descended into the bottomless pool. Strands of the morgens’ song traveled through the water, reaching his ears. He ignored them for as long as he could. Deep in the dark of the cursed waters, he glimpsed a flash of pale skin.Kate.

Roan swam on, his fairy shine intensifying as he let go of some of his glamour. His shine illuminated the morgen that held Kate’s unconscious body, baring her pointed teeth at the intruder. Despite their pleasing appearance, these were little more than beasts. A second morgen slashed at him to protect their prey, but Roan grabbed her wrist with one hand, while grabbing her throat with the other.

The morgen tried to enchant him with song, but he snapped her neck, silencing her. The morgen’s body drifted into the dark, out of sight. He spun toward the other beast, which held Kate in her arms. The creature’s clawed fingers slashed across Kate’s stomach. Blood drifted in a cloud around them.

The creature sang louder, the water around Roan vibrating with the power of her seductive spell, and for a moment, just a moment, he fell into enchantment... into a memory from nearly a thousand years ago.

The bright summer night was awash with the colors of blooming flowers as he and Eudora chased each other across the silky grass of the palace gardens. Eudora toddled on her little feet, giggling and squealing, her rounded little wings shooting sparks of magic. Roan laughed as he waved his wooden sword in the air and pretended to fight Rath, his best friend, in a battle for Eudora.

“Children!” Queen Thalia Moondove’s laughter was clearer and purer than any bell. She waved Rath over to her. “Your mother is waiting for you.” She gave the little child a kiss before she sent him on his way.

“Mother!” Roan dropped his sword and ran to his mother, fisting a hand in her skirts. She bent down to press a kiss to his cheek. Her blonde hair, the color of spun gold, bounced in soft curls against Roan’s face as his mother kissed him. Eudora joined him, giggling as she held out a moon flower to their mother.

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