Page 24 of Labyrinth of Broken Vows
Nyria, emboldened by my distraction, speaks up, her voice dripping with false bravado. “Maybe you letting a mortal into the maze has shifted the power. Your own maze turns against you. I warned you of this. She’s as good as dead now. Pathetic little thing, she is no queen of mine.”
With a growl, I close the distance and grab her by the throat, lifting her effortlessly off the ground. “You,” I hiss, “always you with that fucking mouth of yours. You are the biggest failure of all.” My grip tightens as I pull her closer, my anger a living thing between us. “You can’t even control your dogs. Just the other day, I received a report of your mutts roaming free from your quadrant.”
Her eyes widen, fear replacing the bravado as she gasps for breath. I relish the power I wield, the authority that courses through my veins. The walls of my maze may be shifting, but Iwill bend them back to my will, starting with the pathetic fools who think they can challenge me.
“I could snap your neck right now,” I growl, my grip on Nyria’s throat tightening for emphasis. Her eyes widen, a flicker of real fear breaking through her usual smug demeanor. “And if I find out it’s you who dares to challenge me in my kingdom…” I pull her closer, her pulse hammering beneath my fingers, “…I will do just that.”
Her legs kick as she claws at my arm, gasping for air, and I relish the panic twisting her expression. “But not before I make you grovel,” I hiss, leaning in, the words sharp as razors. “You’ll beg for your life, Nyria. You think you’re superior? You are only what I allow you to be.”
With a flick of my wrist, I release her, and she crumples to the ground like a ragdoll, choking on desperate breaths as she claws at her throat. Her arrogance bleeds out with every gasp, her fragile facade cracking under my gaze.
I turn to the others, eyes burning into them one by one. “You will leave my castle and get control of your quadrants. I will not tolerate the chaos that has bled into my maze.”
Lord Varak stiffens as my gaze lingers on him, and I step toward him, each word slicing the air. “As for you, Varak, you will return to your quadrant and see to it that Brielle is captured and brought to me immediately. She has wandered into your realm; your mess to clean up now. If one hair on her head is harmed…”
I pause, letting the tension hang heavy. His lips tremble, but he holds my gaze with the bravest front he can muster.
“…I will end you,” I finish, the threat hanging like a death sentence. “Your bones will join the countless others that litter your cursed quadrant.”
Varak’s face drains of color, and the weight of my words settles on him like a noose tightening around his neck. He nods stiffly,though I can see the fear in his eyes. He knows I don’t make empty promises.
The lords shuffle awkwardly, unsure if they should speak, breathe, or even move. Nyria, still on the floor, pulls herself to her knees, face flushed, her once-proud expression reduced to nothing but dread.
“Get out,” I snap, the command sending them scurrying like rats. "Fix your mistakes or be buried beneath them."
As they exit, the heavy door slams behind them, leaving me alone in the throne room. The air still crackles with the remnants of my fury, but it's not enough. Something is wrong in my maze, and until I have Brielle in my hands and this unrest quashed, the storm inside me will only grow.
eleven
Brielle
The bones crunch beneath my boots, brittle and dry like dead leaves in the fall. Except these aren’t leaves; they’re the remains of those who thought they could conquer this quadrant. Skulls, femurs, ribs, all scattered like discarded trash, bleaching under the non-existent sun of this cursed place. Every step I take feels like a violation. The air hangs thick and cold, clinging to my skin. There’s no wind, no sound, just the suffocating stillness, as if even the air itself is dead.
"I shouldn’t be here," my gut twists, "but where the hell else can I go?" I speak to the darkness and thankfully no one answers. This quadrant is nothing like the last. There’s no twisted greenery, no thorn-covered walls to guide my way. Just endless stretches of rock and death. How long have I been walking? Hours? The only thing marking the time arethese bones, human, animal, things I can’t even name; piled in clusters like they were herded here to die.
"Just keep moving," I tell myself, though the pounding in my chest feels like a countdown to something worse. "It can’t go on forever." But what if it does?
Ahead, the terrain shifts again, and I catch sight of something—mist, crawling out from between jagged rocks, thick and unnatural like it’s waiting for me. I slow my pace, uncertainty creeping in, but there’s no turning back now. The mist moves unnervingly, tendrils stretching out toward me like fingers eager to pull me in. My breath hitches.
"What the hell is this?" I take a step forward, then another, the mist swirling higher, wrapping around my ankles and legs. It’s cold, colder than anything I’ve felt here before, and for a second I feel frozen in place.
The mist clings to me, pulling tighter, and then I hear it. A whisper. Faint at first, like a murmur in the back of my mind, but unmistakable. It’s not the wind; there’s no wind here. No life. Just that voice, soft and venomous.
"You don’t belong here."
I freeze, my heart lurching in my chest. That’s Henry’s voice. I turn, half-expecting to see him behind me, but the corridor is empty, just that fog crawling forward, consuming everything. The whisper grows louder, pressing against my skull.
"You’re going to die. You’re so weak."
"You’re nothing without me."
I stop dead, the words ricocheting in my skull. The mist crawls higher, snaking around my waist, pressing in like it wants to suffocate me.
"You never could make it on your own. Pathetic little thing."
My stomach twists painfully, and for a second, I’m not in the Maze anymore. I’m back there, back in that house, trapped in the suffocating grip of Henry’s cruelty. His hands on me, hisvoice cutting through my defenses like a blade, telling me I’m worthless, telling me I can’t survive without him.
"No," I choke out, my voice barely audible. "This isn’t real."
