chapter fourteen

The gate was at least twenty feet tall, made of black iron that looked like it had been once set ablaze and left to rot in the char. Behind the gate was a stone staircase that vanished into endless darkness, like it led straight to the pit of Tarteron instead of a maze.

And in some ways, that's exactly where it led.

There were few onlookers for Thea's descent. She wasn't a divine one or a known nymph, so the people who showed up to watch her punishment be given were mainly those who had too much time on their hands. Rows of people stood to the sides, watching as Thea trudged between them all with her clattering chains.

The gates were wide open, like the jaws of a beast ready to snap her inside and swallow her whole. She'd looked into the labyrinth gates before—most people had. The curiosity of the unknown always compelled eyes to look, but today, she wanted to look anywhere but the dark cavern. She stared up at the sky, trying to take in the last moments of warm sunshine and fresh air before it was confiscated from her forever.

"Thea..." Dora sobbed in the lineup of onlookers, tearing Thea's eyes from the clouds. "We love you, Thea."

All her sisters had worn their best dresses. Their eyes were all red from tears, but only Dora was having trouble keeping it together. They stood united and strong, with Father standing in the center of them with a broken look that could only be described as heart-wrenching.

His eyes were red, too, but he didn't look like he was holding back any more tears. Thea appreciated that—it helped to see him be strong. She knew this would be painful for them, but it was their best chance at a better life. Ceyden would see that they got back on their feet, and the girls would have Father to cling to when things got rough. They were going to be all right, and that was all that mattered now.

Thea met the eyes of each one of her family members, giving them one final brave look that they could remember her by long after she was gone. Thalia sniffled when she met her gaze, but she stayed so strong and swallowed back the tears.

They're going to be all right.

As for Thea, she was going to be gone.

She stopped in front of the open gates. The guards held her chains back, so she had to halt in front of the darkness. The air smelled musty by the labyrinth, like an old tomb that hadn't been opened in a century or so. The judge from the other day stepped in front of the entrance, and not far to his left stood Lord Malik, with Ceyden tucked behind him to watch.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the judge announced. "This young woman, Theabelle Aynna, has confessed guilt to the attempted murder of the divine one with us here today. By Olympian law, such a crime must be met with only the cruelest of punishments. Imprisonment in the labyrinth. Let today serve as a reminder to all who bear witness that our king and our laws are not to be trifled with. May Fairmyth have mercy on her soul."

"May Fairmyth have mercy," the crowd chanted.

The judge stepped aside, leaving the gates wide open for Thea's grand descent. The guards unlocked her shackles, and the heavy metal clattered free from her wrists. She rubbed the raw skin, but only had a second to do so before being prodded by a guard to step forward.

It was time.

She took a deep breath, looking once more at the sun, then back over at Ceyden with a gripping look that held a thousand words behind it. She may have despised him for all he was worth, but she was also entrusting him to keep his word and care for her family. He met her eyes and gave her a strong nod, sealing his silent promise and making Thea's next steps feel so much lighter.

One step after the other, she moved closer to the shadows. Her toes dipped into the darkness, then the hem of her red skirt, then her legs, her torso, and her eyes were slowly swallowed up by the cursed shadows that would become her final home. She stopped at the first step, taking one final breath of the clean surface air before descending into the depths.

She stepped down.

The second her feet left Olympia's soil, the gates swung closed behind her. The crash of metal made her jump, but she didn't dare turn around. She didn't want her last look at the sun to be through iron bars. It was time to accept the darkness.

Down she went until the glow of the sun was nothing more than a memory in her dark vision. She felt for the wall, steadying herself as she felt for each step before committing to putting her weight on it. Everything was so dark. Not like normal darkness when you could still sense movement, but like a pure pitch black that made it difficult to tell which way was up. Still, she continued, holding her breath each time she felt for another step .

She didn't remember shutting her eyes, but it only made sense, considering that it felt more familiar than this absurd darkness. She kept climbing down for what felt like an eternity until she finally began to wonder if this was all the labyrinth truly was, just a downward staircase into a mass grave. She tried not to think about it, telling herself there had to be at least something at the base of the steps. She felt around for the next step with her foot, but this time, the ground was solid.

Her eyes were still closed, but she shifted her foot a little farther forward, her heart pounding as it came across more solid ground. This had to be the bottom. She peeled her eyes open, preparing to be met with the terrifying void of darkness, but to her surprise, she could actually see.

There was no light source that she could locate, yet she could make out the cave walls, ceiling, and floor. The rock was a dark gray, but it seemed to have a natural glow to it, like some sort of silver light was reflecting off the stone, yet she couldn't see where it was coming from.

How odd...

She turned around to look back at the black staircase, but when she looked over her shoulder, it was completely gone. Only another stone wall with the same strange glow stood in its place, like there had never been a set of steps in the first place. She always knew the labyrinth was crafted with magic, but it still shocked her to see how alive the cave already was. The tunnels forked in front of her, and she chose to go left without a second of hesitation. She wasn't sure where she was going or what she was looking for, but standing near the entrance felt like a bad idea when there were rumors of a beast wandering through these tunnels.

Can there really be a beast down here? How would it survive with no plants or sunlight?

She thought the question in her head, yet the labyrinth still seemed to respond to it. She turned a corner and sucked in a sharp breath as she spotted something she would never have anticipated being inside the cursed prison.

Nestled in the stone, like it was Fairmyth's riches garden, was a perfect rosebush.

"What...?" Thea knelt down beside the blooms, checking to ensure they weren't fake or some sort of darkness-induced illusion. "Where did you come from?"

The blooms were full and rich in pigment, with nasty thorns warning away anyone who dared get too close. Thea reached out for one of the flowers, itching to touch one of the velvety petals and see if it felt as real as it looked. She only reached her fingers a few inches out before she felt something warm brush against her sleeve—or in her sleeve.

Ceyden's rose.

She'd nearly forgotten about his strange key that had bought her family's protection. She pulled the bloom out of her sleeve, worried she had crushed it during her long descent into the cave, but it looked just as full and flourished as it did when she first tucked it away. In fact, it looked better...

The petals were brighter, with an odd glow emanating from the center. It was similar to the way the labyrinth walls were illuminated. There was no source of the light, yet light existed, Was this a sign of magic?

The flower felt warm in her grasp, almost like it was alive and buzzing. Had it done this all along? Or was it because she had taken it out of Olympia's sun? Thea didn't know much about magic as a simple mortal, but still... She couldn't help but feel like the rose was trying to communicate something to her...

Can such a prison truly possess a key?

She looked back at the rosebush, wondering if it was somehow connected to the enchanted one in her fingers. She blinked a few times at the bloom, noticing something had changed in the short time she had looked away from the bush.

The roses... were they always wilting?