My heart skipped a beat as I stared at him.
“You need to harness as much mental energy as you can,” he said, gazing down at me intently. His hair had come loose from his ponytail due to the way he was bending, and it grazed the sides of his face. “You need to become like my energy stone.”
I didn’t like the idea of becoming anyone’s energy stone, least of all Tejus’.
“Well… why don’t you just, I don’t know,” I spluttered, “get yourself a sack and sling some of these stones over your shoulder—carry them with you in the labyrinth? Why do you even need me in the first place? Why do you need any of us? Don’t your brothers have this too?”
He frowned in disdain.
Okay, the image of Tejus lugging around all these stones around a maze was kind of ludicrous. But I was still curious to hear his answer.
“Even leaving aside the impracticality of it,” he replied, “these stones cannot remain potent outside of this small, enclosed environment. Away from the wind, the light, from all interfering outside elements. Even if they could, they wouldn’t come close to the energy you could provide me, as a warm, strong-minded human. As for my brothers… I doubt any of them have thought of this.”
And you’re obviously not going to ever inform them of this tactic.
I was filled with a somewhat sick feeling as I thought about what kind of relationship these brothers must have. They could hardly even be called brothers, given the way they were pitted against each other. I’d seen how Tejus had whipped out a sword against one of them, when he had lunged for me at the same time as Tejus back on Murkbeech Island. And now they would do all they could to beat their brothers in the maze and reach the sword first.
I looked around the room again, this time with resignation. “Okay,” I muttered. “So you want me to sleep in this hole tonight.” Somehow I doubted I’d do any sleeping. I had a hard enough time dozing off in strange places as it was—even back in the Murkbeech dorm—not to speak of this weird place.
“I can have Lucifer keep you company, if you like.”
A chill stole down my spine. “Lucifer?” I breathed.
What, is this guy some kind of devil-worshipper now? He kind of looked like the type—long hair, bird skulls on his wall, his creepy…
“My feline,” Tejus clarified.
“O-Oh.” I almost heaved a sigh of relief. “Uh, no. Definitely not.”
Having that creepy yellow-eyed cat staring at me all night would hardly help. Least of all now that I’d been informed his name was Lucifer. Who names a cat Lucifer? Or maybe the name wasn’t associated with the devil in sentry culture. Maybe they didn’t even believe in the devil… I sensed there was enough evil lurking in this place as it was.
I wondered if I’d offended Tejus by my abrupt rejection of his cat. If I had, he didn’t show it.
He retreated out of the cubby hole, back into the sitting room. I followed him and waited by the stone entrance as he crossed the sitting room and disappeared into the corridor. He returned less than a minute later with a handful of bedding: what looked like a thick woolen blanket, a cushion and a feather mattress. I stepped aside so he could move back into the stone room, where he laid down the bedding for me. Then he stepped out again and looked down at me, before gesturing to the room.
“Your bed is made.”
I moved reluctantly inside and approached the bed. I pressed a hand down against the mattress. It was surprisingly soft considering how thin it was.
The door ground behind me, and as I turned again, Tejus was closing the door.
“Wait,” I said, suddenly feeling like a kid afraid of the dark. I placed my palms against the surface of the door and said, “Can’t you leave this door open? Even a bit ajar?”
Tejus shook his head. “I cannot. The door must be kept closed to preserve the stones.”
My throat tightened as he proceeded to push the door until it closed, all light from the outside blocked out, leaving me bathed in green.
Trying not to look around the room, I slipped beneath the blanket and pulled it up over my head before curling up into a fetal position.
I missed my home. My bed. My family.
I missed The Shade.
Hazel
It was difficult to fall asleep, but once I managed it I slept surprisingly soundly. One good thing about the small room was that it was completely quiet; the creepy light might have disturbed me at first, but at least there were no creepy sounds to accompany it.
As morning drew in, I had fallen into a very deep slumber. I woke up only due to a pinching in my bladder. I got a shock when I first opened my eyes, having completely forgotten where I was, but then I remembered. I’d slept in here to “recharge”. As I rose to my feet, I tried to detect whether I felt any different. And I soon realized that I did, once the cobwebs of sleep had lifted from me. My brain felt sharp, clear, quick. Like I’d just taken a bath in ice cold water.
I moved to the door while realizing that I had no idea where the bathroom was in this apartment. Pressing my hands against the heavy stone, I pushed hard, praying that Tejus hadn’t locked it. He hadn’t. It was a lot of effort, but gradually it ground open, allowing me to slide out into the sun-streaked sitting room. After closing the door again—remembering what Tejus had told me about the stones needing enclosure—I moved to one of the tall windows and gazed out over the land that surrounded us, my eyes passing over the sun itself. The same mist hung over the city as last night, and to my surprise, the sun actually wasn’t all that much brighter. It still had a hazy, subdued quality, and was more peachy-orange in color than brilliant yellow like the sun I was used to on Earth.
I moved away from the window and as I crossed the living room, I spotted a steel platter with a domed lid perched on a low table by the seating in the center of the room. Next to it was a jug and a goblet. Approaching it, I raised the platter’s lid—clearly breakfast left for me. A portion of thick, glutinous stew and some kind of grainy, dark brown bread. I was starving, so as dubious as the food looked, I found myself kneeling in front of the table, filling the goblet with water from the jug and taking a bite of the meal. The food was as disgusting as it looked—thick, bland, hard to swallow. It tasted a bit like barley—both the stew and the bread, and worst of all salt seemed to be an ingredient that was completely absent. After finishing the platter, it sat heavily in my stomach. I couldn’t complain that it wasn’t filling.
Then I left the living room in search of a bathroom. Entering the corridor that led directly to the front door, I poked my head through all the doorways I passed—not spotting Tejus anywhere, though his lynx was prowling near the front door—until I came across what I was looking for. Toilet facilities. I shut myself inside the room—disconcerted that there was no lock—and relieved myself quickly, before moving to a metal water basin to splash water on my face and rinse my mouth in an attempt to freshen myself. There was a weird porcelain tub of green goo beside the basin. It smelt strong and spicy; I guessed it was derived from some kind of plant. Toothpaste for sentries, apparently. I dipped a finger in it and brushed my teeth as best as I could. The substance caused a tingling and a burning sensation as it made contact with my gums. At least I felt fresh afterward.
I left the bathroom and stood in the corridor. “Tejus?” I called.
I wondered what time it was. We were supposed to be leaving for the labyrinth—wherever that was—in the morning, weren’t we? I took that as meaning early in the morning.
I continued looking around his quarters—poking my head through doors that were ajar while attempting to push open those that weren’t—all the while calling out his name. But I couldn’t find him anywhere.
Strange.
I dared to move to the front door and attempt to open it. No chance. It was locked.
As I backed away, I almost tripped over Lucifer, who bared his fangs and hissed at me again.
I rolled my eyes at him before returning to the sitting room. I guessed Tejus would re
turn soon enough. Maybe he was downstairs with his brothers having breakfast, or having some kind of final word with his father. Maybe even a briefing.
I ended up sitting on the couch and watching the lynx as I waited. He moved over to me, still looking at me distrustfully, and decided to settle on the couch opposite me. The two of us sat in stiff silence until, finally, the main door pushed open.
Lucifer and I leapt from the couch and hurried down the corridor to find Tejus emerging. He was wearing a kind of suit—it consisted of a long-sleeved black top with a stiff collar and straight black pants. And in one pocket of his shirt was a deep red rose. As he moved in, he discarded the rose on a ledge near the doorway before glancing toward me and his lynx.
“What’s happening?” I asked him, frowning.
His long hair was tied back again, matching his smart appearance. His expression was strangely ashen as he replied, “There was a delay this morning. An unexpected funeral.”
“What? Funeral?”
“My brother, Danto. He… took his life overnight. He was spotted in the early hours of this morning, hanging from a spire in the courtyard beneath his bedroom window.”
I stopped breathing. “Which human was ‘his’?” I asked.
“The blonde girl,” he replied, peeling off his black jacket to reveal a white shirt beneath.
Ruby. “Is she okay?” I asked.
“Yes,” he replied, sweeping past me and toward his bedroom. “She will now be given to Jenus… the brother of mine who failed to find a human of his own, and who returned to Nevertide last night.”
The one who had leapt for me.
“Are you sure it was suicide?” I asked tentatively, not wanting to outright accuse one of his brothers of murder. But come on. The humanless brother returned the night before the labyrinth trial, and by the morning one of his human-equipped brothers was dead?
As Tejus entered his bedroom and pushed the door ajar, I waited outside. I figured he might be changing or something. There was a long pause before he emerged again, wearing a shabbier pair of pants. He had also strapped a thick belt to his waist, attached to which were a line of five sheathed daggers and two long swords.
“My father has accepted it as a suicide,” he said, his voice steady and unfeeling. “And that is all that matters.”
I stared after him as he headed toward the front door. What was that supposed to mean? Perhaps the king favored Jenus over Danto. That was the only logical way to explain this situation. There was no way Danto would commit suicide the night before what must have been one of the most important tests of his life. He had a human. He had probably been raring to start the quest for his chance to compete for the crown.
I wondered how the king would explain it to others who weren’t his sons or directly related to him—like his courtiers, or heck, the public in general. Surely the death of a prince was a major event throughout the kingdom.
Maybe he would weave a story of Danto being unstable, that he had cracked under the pressure and all that was at stake during the next day’s events.
I shuddered to think what kind of monster Tejus’ father must be.
And what did Tejus think of all this? What was going through his mind? Although he was somber, he didn’t appear to be shocked by what happened.
It made me wonder what had happened to his mother, as well as whether he used to have more brothers than I was aware of.
At least Ruby was safe.
I clenched my fists as Tejus beckoned me out of the front door with him and into the hallway outside.
Fear gripped me imagining Ruby now being forced to submit to Jenus.
But more than anything now, I feared for all of our lives.
If Jenus had killed once to get his way—and killed his own brother at that—what would stop him from killing again?
Hazel
Tejus led me down hundreds of steps until we reached far lower than I’d ever gone in the castle—a torchlit basement whose walls were bedecked with shelf upon shelf of weapons. There were swords, spears, bludgeons, clubs… Tejus snatched up a spear before moving over to a bow-and-arrow stand.
“Uh, what do you think you will need all this for?” I murmured.
“There could be anything within the labyrinth,” he replied, not turning around. “And I mean anything… Or it could turn out that I don’t need weapons at all and I will have wasted my time in gathering them. I must be prepared for all circumstances.”
“Will you meet your brothers before we leave?” I asked, though of course what I really wanted to know was whether I would have a moment with my brother, Ruby and Julian again before we departed.
Before Tejus could reply, footsteps sounded outside. They echoed closer until the door to the armory swung open, and in stepped Tejus’ three brothers. The last time I’d seen them had been in the darkness of Murkbeech Island. Though I instantly recognized Jenus. All the brothers looked fairly similar—the same russet-brown hair and dark, almost black eyes—but Jenus’ features struck me as harder, harsher, colder than the others’—even more than Tejus’, now that I saw him in clear light.
Ruby, Julian and Benedict had entered with them and I was relieved to see them again, even if none of us would find the opportunity to talk.
Tejus didn’t appear to intend to talk much—or at all—to his brothers. He barely even turned to acknowledge their entrance in the room as they began milling about the shelves, equipping themselves with arms. I could only guess that we were due to leave very soon.
As my eyes fell on Jenus again, I could hardly blame Tejus for wanting to play as dirty as he could and use his cunning to his full advantage. Jenus clearly had no qualms about anything, and though I could not speak for the others, I suspected that they hadn’t fallen too far from the tree.
You wouldn’t know from any of their expressions that their brother had been discovered gruesomely killed just a few hours ago. None of them were smiling, but they seemed to have returned to business as usual.
I swallowed hard as I returned my focus to what Tejus was doing. He had apparently finished arming himself—he’d started to move faster as soon as his brothers entered the room. He clearly didn’t feel comfortable in their presence.
He caught my eye briefly and nodded toward the door, but we’d barely taken five steps across the armory when his brother Jenus spoke up. “Father wants us to wait down here for him.” His voice was nasally and scratchy—unpleasant in a way that Tejus’ wasn’t.
Tejus’ Adam’s apple bobbed as he stalled. He let out a slight breath before moving backward and leaning against a patch of wall that wasn’t totally covered by weapons—something that was quite a rarity in this room.
The king. I felt nervous at the prospect of seeing him. I joined Tejus in leaning against the wall, while my eyes roamed my brother, Ruby and Julian. I was particularly concerned as I examined Ruby’s expression, trying to understand her state of mind. Jenus had better not do anything nasty to her, or if we ever did manage to get The Shade’s army here, I would personally ensure that he was the first to pay.
Ruby definitely looked more terrified than the last time I’d seen her, but that was only to be expected. She had the vision of a dead body still fresh in her mind. That wasn’t something that could be erased easily.
More footsteps sounded—more than one person was approaching. The door opened again, and this time in the doorway stood a man as tall as Tejus… but their height was about the only similarity I could spot between the two. Atop his bald head was a golden crown and he wore a long sweeping cloak. His eyes were a sharp blue color, rather than black-brown, and around his jaw and mouth was a heavy beard which more than made up for the lack of hair on his head—it trailed down to graze the top of his chest. His expression was serious as he looked about the room, though there was a slight gleam in his eye that shouldn’t have been there as his focus rested on Jenus. Perhaps Jenus was the favorite son. Perhaps the king had even been a part of the conspiracy to end Danto. Maybe
Danto had done something to anger him. Who knew what was going through his head.
He barely paid any attention to us humans, other than a brief glance—which I couldn’t exactly complain about.
“Are you prepared to depart?” he asked, his tone rich and throaty.
The brothers nodded.
“Then let us leave,” he said. “Your obstacles within the labyrinth have already been set in motion in anticipation of today. As much as we mourn the loss of Danto, I’m sure that even he would want us to proceed… We have a kingdom to retain for our lineage and time is drawing to a close.”
I felt sick to my stomach looking at the man. One would have thought that the death of a son should be enough to take at least a week off for mourning. Not in Hellswan Kingdom—where apparently politics and cunning ruled over emotion or, heck, just common decency.
The king swept out of the room. Tejus allowed his brothers to leave next with Ruby, Julian and my brother and then we followed. I realized only now that the king had been accompanied by two stockily built cronies. We wound our way back up the castle, and this time, I did reach out to grab Tejus’ arm. If he was going to drag me on this mission, he might as well drag me up the stairs too.
I let him carry most of my weight as I clung on to him and leaned against him, until we finally left the staircase. We passed along a hallway and took a right turn through a door. We crossed a cavernous hall filled with chairs—some kind of meeting room, or auditorium. And when we reached the end of this, a doorway into the outside world came into view. Hazy sunlight spilled through it, beckoning us out.
The king and his two men still at the lead, they descended a wide flight of steps that led down to a familiar courtyard. It was scattered with small clusters of leafless trees, and in one corner was the cage of vultures I’d spotted from the window of the room I first woke up in.
As we gathered around the cage, it was clear what our mode of transport would be.