Page 68 of Quarter Labyrinth

“You’re making the map?”

“I know the maze resets every four years. This won’t help anyone else. But perhaps if we see the path we came from, we can find a pattern, and know what to expect ahead. Plus, it gives me something to think about so I don’t go mad.”

From the back, it looked to be a page torn from his book he’d purchased at the market. Over the words, he’d started his drawing with a charcoal stick. It stained the edges of his fingers black, but the smile on his face as he looked over his masterpiece was pure joy. I took in the shapes he’d drawn.

The ladder we’d taken to get into the labyrinth. The maze of stairs. The tower where we’d fought the three boys. The temples we’d passed so far.

Clark glanced up. A temple sat nearby, nestled around the gardens we camped near, gleaming golden like a beacon in the night. “I want to catalog that one. Ren, can you go through the book to find whose temple it is, while I draw the path we took today?”

“Happily.” I tugged the old tome from his pack to greedily devour the sight of it. Everything I wanted to know would be in this book.

I dragged a thumb over the deep green cloth cover, feeling the ridges in the black words. Spiraling designs lined the spine like vines climbing high. The first page had the designs too, their leaves reaching for words formed by sticks. There were thirty-six chapters in all, but I noted the ones that interested me most.

How the King of the Labyrinth came to be

The knight who tricked the king

The boy who stole from the king’s temple

I’d be back for those. For now, I flipped through, one by one, searching for mention of a golden temple with a colossal archway, framed by intricately carved pillars adorned with depictions of mythical creatures—dragons entwined with phoenixes, lions with wings of fire, and serpents coiled around trees laden with golden fruit. Above the arch, an enormous sunburst motif spread outward, its rays inlaid with gemstones of every color: rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds that caught the light and scattered it in a dazzling display.

Whichever stone god this was, they weren’t a fan of subtlety.

I found it about halfway through, a temple planted atop a mosaic of lush green hills, cascading waterfalls, and skies painted in hues of amber and sapphire. It looked like the house of a king in this picture. But tonight, as moonlight bathed it, it looked just as likely to house a monster.

The image of a girl had been painted on the adjacent page. She had long, black hair adorned with flowers with a veil over her eyes. I read her pages.

“The Shrouded Sister,” it began. “Delilah dreamed in gilded hues, of riches vast, of treasures strewn. Rivers of gold and basins of gems, gowns stitched from moonlight’s silver hem. It was right of her to want these things. A beauty like hers demanded greatness. She entered the labyrinth on its twentieth appearance. Her sister joined her quest.

“Delva was not like Delilah. She was the quiet beauty of a rippling pond that only a few cared to see. Her value came in her loyalty to her sister and the sharpness of her mind. But those things could not save her from what she found inside.

“Dimitri took a special interest in the sisters for the eldest’s resemblance to his lost love, Alicent. The ghost of his past was still too near. He hatched a plan to bring them down. Delilah’s path to victory was assured—she was clever, determined, and blessed by her sister’s aid. She made it farther than most. But Dimitri, with his honeyed words and promises spun from starlight, ensnared her heart. Few could resist the labyrinth king when he chose to woo, and Delilah was no exception. His talesof unending riches and a world built for her beauty seduced her like no treasure ever could.

“She turned from her goal, abandoning the labyrinth’s prize in favor of the man who swore to give her the world. But Dimitri’s gifts came with a cost. He showered Delilah with riches—golden tiaras, silken gowns, and jeweled necklaces fit for an empress. Yet, he stole from her the one thing he suspected she loved more than these—her sister. Delva was no match for the labyrinth’s merciless traps. She perished in its endless corridors, and Delilah, left behind, was doomed to wander her sister’s graveyard each night. Dimitri abandoned her, but he makes sure her halls are filled with treasure as a reminder of what she once craved.

“No longer does Delilah yearn for gold, or jewels, or gowns spun from moonlight. Her beauty is as radiant as ever, but her heart is heavy, burdened with loss. She dreams now only of her sister—her fallen star, her silent shadow—forever beyond her reach. Through endless halls, her footsteps fall. A queen of sorrow, who has it all.”

My voice drifted off to find silence waiting. Clark’s hand had gone still over his drawing, the temple half made.

“It’s never a jolly story, is it?” Gunnar said.

Harald had scooted nearer to his sister, whose eyes were wide. “No, it never is with this labyrinth. Good thing is, Delilah doesn’t often make deals with competitors, bet on them, nor does she accept the pledge of wolves. We are safe from her.”

I studied Delilah’s temple. It seemed a lonely existence. Trapped for hundreds of years in a labyrinth, surrounded by jewels that bring no joy. She must hate Dimitri.

A plan took form in the back of my mind.

Before I could weave the threads of it together, Clark tapped his charcoal stick against his map. “So where were you these past two days?”

All eyes turned to me.

I traced a finger along Clark’s map. The terrain was the path they’d taken, through a labyrinth of caves it seems, before climbing out to a marshland. “I was here, but higher.”

“Second level, or third?” Clark drew out more maps.

Part of the trick to this labyrinth was how it had levels. We entered at the top. We dropped down, but not to the floor level. It took longer to get there. As we moved, sometimes the hills led upward. Other times they plunged down. We could see levels above, but Harald intentionally kept us in areas where the sky could be seen. If we couldn’t see the sky, we couldn’t follow the star.

Looking up, I saw two more levels now. Stairs leading to castles high in the sky, hedge mazes well above us, tunnels twisting through the air.

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