Page 79 of The Lord of the Labyrinth

“Mistress Kate!” Babbitt cried in delight and hugged Kate’s hips like a small child. “You’re back!”

“She is, and we need to prepare her for battle, Babbitt,” Eudora said as she touched the brownie’s little shoulder.

“Battle, yes.” The brownie studied Kate, and with a snap of her fingers, Kate’s clothes changed before her eyes. She now wore a lightweight chest plate intricately carved with Celtic knotwork over dark-colored trousers and a comfortable white tunic top. Her arms were shielded with adjusting plates like dragon scales.

“And food, you’ll need food!” Babbitt provided her with a bag to sling over her shoulders that had fairy bread wrapped in cheesecloth and a bottle of something blue that had a cork stopper in the top.

“Eat only a bite and drink only a sip as you need it,” Babbitt advised.

“Take this.” Eudora offered her a dagger that she remembered all too well. Roan’s dagger.

“What, no sword?” Kate tried to joke.

“Without training, you are more likely to hurt yourself with a sword,” Eudora said. “For now, this will be your weapon.”

Kate tightened her grip on the dagger’s hilt. It felt familiar, comfortable, as though she’d carried it for decades.

“Good luck, Kate of the Winslows. The sister of my heart,” Eudora said.

Kate held the book out to her. “If something goes wrong... if I don’t make it, can you make sure Caden gets this?” Her brother would treasure one of her mother’s gifts if he knew Kate had sent it to him.

The Fae princess accepted the book, and Kate faced the gates again. The roots and fallen trees seemed to draw closer together, preparing to stop her from entering. Drawing a deep breath, she nodded to herself. She could do this.

Kate burst into a run. She flew across the ground as if she had wings, passing through shadows, leaping over fallen trees. The more she thought of Roan, the stronger her instincts seemed to know which way to go. No hesitation whether to go left or right, just a certainty of the path ahead. She no longer feared the darkened paths. If Roan was the labyrinth, she would trust herself to find the center, his heart, because she loved him.

She could still remember the taste of that last kiss between them and the tears that had flowed down her cheeks as she stopped denying how much she loved him and wanted to be here with him. The walls began to crumble away, revealing straighter, truer paths toward the center of the labyrinth, toward the heart of the man she loved.

ChapterSeventeen

The birds, the rocks, the rain, the pixies... all of Faerie came to the dark woods, singing to the bride of her journey, giving her courage to find and save her king. They helped her remember all that she had conquered and brought back the light that shone within her. The enchanted pool’s curse was broken by her love for her king.

—Anon.,Tales from the Twilight Court

Kate could feel a strange pulsing, like a slow but steady heartbeat deep in her chest, but it was notherheartbeat. It was Roan’s.

“Find him...”

Whispers came from above Kate as she ran. Glancing up, she spotted glittering green and blue pixies swirling like a murmuration of starlings above her head.

“Find him, Kate of the Winslows. Find the king. Wake him.”

Their voices were like the chatter of birds after a storm. Eager and hopeful, despite the gloom of the decaying labyrinth around them.

As she moved through the darkened space of tunneled archways and entered a courtyard, she spotted a tall, silver-haired beast at the far end of the open lawn that was strewn with dead grass. Her heart leapt with joy. It was Magda. She would recognize her friend anywhere.

The troll turned, a holly leaf crown resting on her horns. She wore silver armor and held a deadly axe in one hand. Several other trolls stood around Magda as she gave orders to them. They bowed respectfully and checked their weapons before splitting up in different directions.

“Magda!” Kate cried out once the troll was alone.

The troll’s mouth opened, and she lowered her head to see Kate better as she approached. “Kate?” Magda had changed since Kate had last seen her... but she reminded herself that for Magda it had been a century. Her silver fur was thicker, her body stronger, bulkier. She held her head higher.

“I’m so glad to see you, Magda.” Kate said her friend’s name again, suddenly uncertain if things had changed for Magda in the last hundred years.

“You’ve come back.”

“I didn’t know I would be gone so long. It took me a while to find the way back,” Kate said. “Do you know where Roan is?”

Magda tipped her head up to the moonlight. “No one does. Be careful, Kate. He is lost deep inside this maze of walls. None have seen him since Queen Thalia laid him to rest. She opened a path for Rath to carry the king to his final resting place, and once the path closed behind them, it was lost forever.”

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