Page 54 of The Lord of the Labyrinth

When Kate finished the last of the sweet drink in her goblet, she felt refreshed and energized. She was ready to find her brother.

“Can you tell me where the dungeons are?” she asked Babbitt.

The brownie nodded. “You simply close your eyes and imagine the space you wish to jump to, and then you will appear where you want.”

“Babbitt, I can’t jump to wherever I want like you can.”

“Oh, right... you’re human. I forgot.” The brownie wrinkled her nose as if thinking hard. “If you follow the corridor outside to the right, take the last staircase on the right to the dungeons.”

“Thank you.” Kate stood and then on impulse bent over to hug the little brownie. She really had been so helpful and sweet, and Kate appreciated that more than she could say.

Kate went out the door and found herself in a dim hallway that was lit by sconces of fire. No, that wasn’t it. The sconces didn’t have any flames. They just... glowed. She moved closer to one and stared closely at it. The light was spherical and didn’t seem to give off any heat.

“What are you made of?” she murmured as she reached up to the silver sconce. The ball of light suddenly bobbed up out of her reach, wound its way over her head, and flew down the hallway. Fascinated, Kate followed the light as it danced in the air like a glowing firefly. Then it started to drift away from where Kate wanted to go. She stopped in front of the staircase that led down to the dungeons, but that ball of light was so tempting and pretty and it beckoned her to follow it...

Caden’s tearful face flashed before her eyes. Jolted out of the odd, dreamlike feeling that the light gave her, Kate forced herself to go down the winding stone staircase into the dungeons. She braced her hand on the wall as she navigated the narrow steps.

She halted when she got to the cells. All of them were completely empty.

Caden wasn’t here.

“Oh God... Caden.” Kate covered her mouth to hold back from crying. He was here when she’d left. What had Roan done with him?

Kate had dared to trust Roan with her brother’s safety. She’d given herself to him and opened her heart to him, and he hadn’t kept his promise. Her brother was missing in this land of dark and dangerous creatures.

She’d been such a fool. Roan was Fae. Her mother’s stories had always said they weren’t to be trusted. She’d not only trusted Roan, but she had fallen in love with him.

She gripped the iron bars of the nearest cell. Her legs gave out as she was overcome with a numbing sense of despair. Would she ever see Caden again?

ChapterTwelve

The bride took counsel from the trees and learned much of the dark woods around her. The Fae were masters of deception, and it was best to beware of what gifts they offered her. For all Fae possess a trickster’s heart.

—Anon.,Tales from the Twilight Court

Eudora sat on the floor upon a mountain of silver and gold cushions, the human child named Caden beside her. Spread before them were plates of food and goblets of periwinkle punch. The blooming flowers in dozens of vases throughout the room filled the air with a thousand wondrous scents. The lamps and chandeliers glowed from the light of a dozen will-o’-the-wisps. Rath leaned against the wall in the corner of the room, his hand resting on his sword hilt as he guarded them.

The little boy listened with rapt attention as Eudora told him tales of the Flower Fairy.

“And you went to live with her?” Caden asked.

“Yes, I lived with the Flower Fairy for ten short years. There I learned more about my powers and my fairy graces. Before I returned home, she gave me the gift of my wild Fae form.”

It was a tradition for Fae princes and princesses to study magic under the Flower Fairy, whose home was on an island just off the coast, between the Seelie and Unseelie lands. The young Fae royal would receive a gift from her when they departed.

“What about your family? Did you miss them?”

Eudora exchanged a glance with Rath, who moved to a chair and continued watching them. He crossed his arms over his chest, a bemused smile contrasting the intensity of his focus. He did not understand her fascination with human children, but he said nothing as she doted on the little boy. It had been far too long since she’d been around a child.

Long ago, they used to dance with children in fairy circles beneath the full moon. She missed those days. Eudora turned her focus back to the child’s question.

“There were many days where I missed my family desperately and my gardens and my home. There is quite a bit of power in a place where one puts one’s head to sleep, where one finds comfort and rest. But what makes a home a home is one’s family and friends. I had no one but the Flower Fairy for counsel when I lived with her. She is a solitary fairy, you see.”

“What’s a solitary fairy?” Caden asked as he scooted closer to Eudora.

“A fairy who lives alone. I am a trooping fairy—I love being around others. Their energy gives me strength. Solitary fairies find both power and solace in being alone; their minds are allowed to contemplate life’s deeper mysteries. The Flower Fairy knows so much about our world because she spends so much time alone thinking about it. It is what makes her wise.”

Eudora drew in a breath as she realized what it was about this child and Kate that tore at her heart. They were in a world that was not their own, a place that was not home, and they’d been separated. It was cruel of Roan to do such a thing, but her brother often did things that puzzled or frustrated her.

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