Page 88 of Skyshade
“Too bad,” he said, without any bite.
It seemed like a perfectly normal time to ask, “Does...this castle have a library?”
He nodded. “It does.” Hope gleamed within her. He sensed that hope and frowned down at her. “If you’re looking for any more of those books, I can assure you this collection isn’t the romance variety.” She swallowed. She had almost forgotten how careful she had to be with her emotions around him, especially when she was hiding something.
She raised a brow at him. “Why not?”
“It’s our most ancient texts. Every piece was curated by my ancestors.”
Good.
MAZE
Gardens stretched behind the palace, overgrown but still beautiful, coated in a layer of ice and snow. Isla watched them from the wall of windows as she sipped from the mug of hot chocolate that Grim had handed her when she had awoken.
He shamelessly stole the mug and took a sip from it. She narrowed her eyes at him, and he lazily smiled before pressing his warmed lips against hers and handing the drink back.
“What’s that?” she asked, spotting the border of a tall hedge. It seemed to turn a sharp corner.
“The maze.”
She frowned. “Maze?”
He nodded. “It’s ancient, older than the castle itself. Do you want to see it?”
Of course, she wanted to see it.
They got dressed in their winter clothes, Isla putting on layer upon layer, like some sort of ornate pastry. Grim led them outside, past the sprawling gardens, around the castle.
They walked until they reached the mouth of the labyrinth. It was enormous, with frost-caked hedges reaching more than triple her height. The tunnel was like a hallway that split ominously.
There was an energy to it like a shield. Power, pulsing, in a mysterious way she had and hadn’t encountered before.
They stepped inside.
“This was my favorite place, as a child,” Grim said. He made a turn, and she followed him. “My guardians were replaced every year, to keep me from forming an attachment to them. They never stayed long enough to learn the maze.” He trailed his hand along the thick shrubs. “I used to hide here. I used to hope they would never find me.” He frowned. “My father learned, and I awoke one day to see the maze on fire. I thought it was gone forever, but the maze is stubborn. It took centuries to grow back, but it did. And its power never wavered.”
Another turn.
“Power?”
He nodded. “The maze is dangerous. No power can be used within it, not even Nightshade. Which is why my father had to use a match to try and destroy it.” She thought about her bracelets. Was there a deposit of the same ancient metal beneath? It reminded her of the Place of Mirrors, but even Wildling ability could be used there.
“So, a ruler could die here,” she said. She had assumed if they got lost, she could use her abilities to cut through the hedges or fly out herself. But now, when she reached for her power, she found only its embers. Grim nodded. “The maze has killed countless of my extended family members, if lore is to be believed.”
Isla swallowed. She wondered at how casually he walked through it, brushing its hedges like an old friend.
“You aren’t...afraid?”
He shook his head. “No. Because I know the way.”
Isla studied his every turn, memorizing it, just in case. Starving to death in a maze was not how she wanted to spend the last moments of her life.
The maze was enormous. Her feet seemed frozen solid when they finally reached the middle of it.
At the center sat a coffin.
“Cronan,” he said, before she could ask.
