The Infernal Crown: Of Roses and Lies

Chapter 33

I took a tentative step forward but again I was free to lift my foot as I pleased, no shackles to hold me down. Bathing in this newfound hope, I ran forward with my bow outstretched in front of me, tapping the ground to make sure it was intact.

It was a slither of mud that ran along the very edge of the path. Underneath the tangle of thorns, leaves and branches, it was nearly undistinguishable next to the quicksand. But now, I realised as I took some effort to focus my gaze at the snaking mud from the other side of the path, I noticed the little differences. There was a sleek, shining sheen coating the compacted mud, probably from condensation in the foggy environment of the maze. Tiny grains of sand seemed to shift in the quicksand too, reminding me too much of the sand in hourglasses I'd spotted in the village square.

Longing punched through me so sharp and sudden that a small gasp escaped my lips. The world went unmoving—stopped for a moment and all I could think about was my family, Aslan and home.

I had been so ignorant—so pampered in the ways that when I dress in finery and stuff myself in delicacies, I didn't know if the Elders had upheld their end of the bargain by providing for my family. And Aslan...

My hand reached up to brush against my cheek where Phoebus had kissed me. A hot blush crept up my neck, adding to the already unbearably burning in my body.

But then betrayal stung like a knife to the heart and I realised how easy it had been to forget about him. As though he had been no more than a fleeting moment of history.

All I had wanted—all I had dared want, was a life that was quiet, easy. Nothing more than that. Nothing extraordinary. But now...now...

I felt the change in the atmosphere without having to look up, and the scuffing of my boots stopped short as I entered a small, circular area. I didn't even realise I had started walking.

Leaning against my bow propped up on the ground, my body burned and burned. Hot—so unbearably hot. It was a struggle to see properly through the fogginess of the maze and my impaired vision as I scanned the clearing for any traps or unusual elements.

All clear.

I stepped into the clearing, careful to avoid slipping on the cold mud. A ring of purple-blue flowers adorned the edges of the clearing, their petals almost translucent-like under the waning moon's silver glow. Golden stigmas flourished between the petals and through the shimmery like powder oozing from its tip, I knew enough to stay clear from those flowers.

For a labyrinth holding the most powerful weapon to destroy faeriekind, letting my guard down at any moment could be disastrous. So I stepped into the clearing, careful to make sure not to touch the flowers. My eyes lingered a little too long on them before painfully lifting to what lay beyond the glade.

I took another step forward and stared at the crossroad beyond my trembling, aching self.

Three paths.

Obscured by the heavy cloak of misty fog and the cold shadows of the enchanted maze, I froze before the looming entrances of the three paths. I told myself my hands were trembling from the cold as I lifted my bow and drew another arrow with some effort.

I glanced around, searching for something, anything that could give me a hint or clue of which path was right. My body swayed, my head drooping with heaviness at the motion and I clenched my fist until it drew blood. I filtered through the entire area, checking under leaves and branches, between every edge and corner, under the soil and mud, and almost missed them as I walked past.

Three numbers engraved in the mud before their assigned paths.

I, II, III.