prologue

It's perfect... a prison so intricate that not even any of the three divine kings could find their way out of it.

Malik gazed at his mountains of maps, diagrams, and notes that made up the secrets of his endless maze. As the divine one of puzzles, it only made sense that King Zion would entrust him with building a prison that even his brothers would fear being entrapped in. Malik had spent his life perfecting his magic, aiming to please the king and strike fear in the hearts of anyone who dared disobey his rule. A kingdom was only as safe as its dungeons were dangerous, and now Olympia carried the biggest threat in all of Fairmyth.

Just wait until King Zion gets a look at all this...

The prison was Malik's masterpiece, and he was its artist, its keeper, its jailer... Not even King Zion would be permitted to know the secret behind the labyrinth, which would, in some ways, make him just as powerful, if not more so, than the mighty Olympian king. He brushed aside some of the scattered pages, unearthing the plucked rose that had gotten smothered under the papers.

It was a rich blood-red color, with full petals that bloomed wider than a pomegranate. The petals shimmered with the smallest touch of iridescent light, spiraling outward from the center of the bloom like a bursting star. Malik picked up the stem, raising the petals to his eyes as a devious smile spread across his lips like a greedy crocodile.

"And every perfect cage needs a perfect key," he whispered to himself in a gravelly voice. The rose seemed to respond to his grip, pulsing with its soft glow like a speeding heart rate. He set the rose in a vase to keep from losing it under his papers again but didn't bother filling it with water—the magic would preserve it just fine.

A storm was raging outside his modest home. The tin roof rattled from the pelting drops, which would usually drive him mad when he was trying to work, but today it was just a reminder that this life was only temporary. After he presented the labyrinth to the king tomorrow, his family would be living the life they deserved.

"Malik?" His wife, Everleigh, stepped into his study, their nearly one-year-old son swaddled in her arms, balanced over her newly pregnant stomach. "Are you coming to bed soon? It's dreadfully late. "

"Ah, yes, my dear," Malik said as he shifted in front of the rose, keeping it out of his wife's direct line of sight. "Give me just a few minutes to clean up, and I'll be right down."

Everleigh nodded, her eyes dark with shadows as their son started thrashing in her arms. He was always restless on stormy nights like this, which meant Everleigh wasn't getting any sleep, either.

"Do you mind if I leave him with you?" Everleigh asked. "Just until you come to bed. The baby is sapping all my energy, and I could really use a little rest."

Troublesome woman... Doesn't she know the children are her duty?

"Of course, dear," Malik said with a pinched smile. He couldn't have anyone, even his wife, poking around his work. So, if taking his son allowed her to sleep, then at least he could keep her from lingering in his study any longer. "There's a cradle by the door; just leave him there, and I'll tend to him if he gets too fussy."

Everleigh let out a long sigh of relief, her face brightening as she located the old cradle that barely fit the growing boy now. "Thank you, Malik. I'll see you when you're done." She cupped a hand over her small baby bump and made her way back to the bedroom without a second of hesitation .

Malik glanced over at the child and was relieved to find he had snuggled right into the familiar cradle. He must have enjoyed the snug squeeze because he was already fading back to sleep.

Perfect, one less thing for me to worry about.

Malik went back to work, shifting through the papers and moving aside the rose vase, but he didn't get far into his work before a soft knock echoed on the front door.

A visitor? At this hour?

The study was right across from the entryway, so Malik took a moment to flip over any important documents and toss a sheet over the rose before hurrying to the door. He looked back at the child one final time, assuring he was asleep before opening the front door just a crack.

"Hello?" he asked, his voice nearly swallowed by the thundering storm.

"Good evening, sir." An older woman, uglier than a misshapen bat, stood on his stoop, completely drenched in rain. "Forgive me for my brashness, but I was wondering if I could beg you for shelter from the storm? Just for the night, of course."

She smiled at Malik, showcasing a mouth full of missing or yellowed teeth. Malik shifted uncomfortably, wishing his pregnant wife was still nearby so he could use her as an excuse .

"I'm sorry, madam. I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere for shelter," Malik said coldly as he started to close the door.

The woman caught the door with her bony foot, preventing him from shutting it all the way. "Oh please, sir," the woman begged. "I don't have any money, but I am quite gifted with plants. I can offer you my services in return. I can grow you an entire garden overnight or even change that rose on your desk into a full bush."

"R-rose?" Malik spun around, accidentally letting the door fling open as he turned to see the sheet covering the rose had slipped off. Blast it. He should have moved it somewhere out of sight. "I don't need any of your services; now leave before I lose my temper."

The woman's kind smile faded, her eyes wide with fear as she looked back at the stormy road. "Are you certain, sir?" she asked one final time. "I sense that rose of yours could use some tending... I really would be more than happy to offer my services."

Services... Why is she so fascinated by my rose!? Unless...

"You..." Malik narrowed his eyes at the woman, seeing past her hideous features and looking at the slight green glow in her irises. "You've come to spy on me, haven't you!? Looking to guilt your way into my home so you can investigate my work!"

Of course... the other kingdoms must have learned about my work, and now they want it. They think they can take my glory, take everything I've worked so hard to achieve...

"Spy?" The woman staggered back a step. "Sir, I can promise you I—"

"Who do you work for!?" Malik grabbed the woman by the collar of her cloak, shaking her wildly and causing water to fly from her clothes. "Is it King Phineas? King Hayden? Who wants to know about my labyrinth!?"

"No one! I—"

"Leave!" Malik released her shoulders at the same moment he rocked her back, sending the old woman tumbling to the ground and splashing into a puddle. "Get away from my house before I do more than just turn you away!"

The labyrinth is mine... no one shall know the secrets of my inescapable prison. As long as I live, I will protect the legacy I have built. I will never let the labyrinth be weakened. It shall remain the perfect fortress.

Malik started to close the door, his head ringing as his son's cries started to echo from the other room. He must have heard him yelling. He had nearly closed the door when a low, gravelly voice froze him in his tracks.

"You fool," the woman said in a tone that sounded completely different from before. "You dare insult another divine one with your pride?"

A flash of green light blasted in front of Malik, and he had to hide behind the door to keep himself from being blinded. When the light faded, Malik looked back outside to find the old hag replaced by a beautiful woman, graced with long ebony hair, cocoa-colored skin, and piercing green eyes that radiated power. He had seen those eyes before, at the council of divine ones he had been permitted to attend two years ago.

"Y-you..." Malik pointed at the divine one as he blinked the rest of the light from his eyes. "You're Flora, the divine one of gardens."

"And you're Malik," she stated in a tone that could only be compared to the sound a steel blade makes when slicing into a chunk of ice. "The divine one of puzzles. I do not know what part that rose plays in your labyrinth, but my power tells me it is full of darkness that should not be kept in a single man's control. If you know what is good for you and your family, you'll hand the rose over."

So I was right... She wants control over my labyrinth.

"No." Malik stood firm, his expression hard as he tuned out his son's cries. "As the king's official jailer, I shall not compromise the integrity of his prison. Not even a fellow divine one shall be permitted to learn more. The labyrinth needs to be feared by all . If seeing that rose makes you uneasy, then it's doing its job."

No one can know the secrets behind the rose...

Flora's eyes darkened, the rich green color sparking in her gaze. She took a step forward, and stinging nettles sprang up from the ground behind her, twisting and tangling as the raindrops clung to the thorns. She stopped an inch in front of the door, her powerful presence thudding Malik's heart and racing his blood as a crack of lightning flashed behind her.

"I care not about your maze or the pride it gives you," she said in a booming voice. "But if you refuse to let me undo whatever darkness lies inside that flower, then I will have no choice but to ruin all you've created."

Ruin? Surely, she's bluffing.

Malik didn't flinch. His ego was as strong as his maze walls, and he let his eyes flicker in response to hers. "Do your worst, wench," he spat. "The maze and all its pieces are mine."

His son's cries grew louder, and Malik glanced back toward the cradle just before a blast of green light flooded his entire home. Hot energy flooded the room but whipped around his divine skin, circling toward the study. He recognized the strength of this magic—a curse. Placing curses on other divine ones had been forbidden since the three great kings separated, but her magic wasn't directed at Malik...

His son stopped crying.

"It's your choice now. What do you treasure more? Your precious maze or..."

Malik didn't hear her. He ran into the study and tore the blanket off the sleeping child. He gasped, smacking a hand to his throat as he fought back a gag when he laid eyes on the disgusting creature.

It's a beast.

"What have you done to my son!?" Malik bellowed, his eyes flickering with magic that would do him no good against the powerful divine one.

"Nothing you can't undo," she said in an even tone. "The boy shall remain as hideous as your pride until the day you let it go. Only when someone escapes your unbreakable prison will the boy return to normal in the sun's glow. But heed this: Only one who is unafflicted by the curse can wield the key."

She glanced back toward the rose, and the last of Malik's fury came bursting out of his veins. Magic poured through him, and he charged for the door, his palms glowing with golden energy until he forced all his magic into the wood.

"Get out!" he screamed as his magic dove into the wood, transforming it into a series of locks, pins, and springs that required a puzzle master to open it. His magic settled, and the door sealed shut, leaving him alone with the quiet beast in the cradle.

Malik took a long breath, then turned back to the monster, his eyes still glowing with a new disgust toward the child. "I'm sorry, my boy," he said through gritted teeth. "I can't let your curse be broken. You are no longer perfect, but my labyrinth still is. And it must stay that way."

He glared at the beastly creature, his stomach turning from its ugly features.

"And you can't stay here looking like that." He grimaced, then looked over toward the sparkling rose and piles of paperwork. "But don't worry; I know just where to hide you. A place where you might even still be useful to me..."