chapter nineteen

Thea considered sleeping on one of the rosebushes, since the leaves and petals looked far more inviting than the floor. However, there were still the thorns to consider, and she was sure the beast wouldn't take kindly to her coming near his precious roses again. Instead, she cuddled up the best she could in one of the cavern's dead ends, propping up her head on her arm.

She'd had worse nights of sleep before, and at least the tunnels were quiet. The rocky soil shifted underneath her as she tossed, and her growling stomach filled the quiet every few minutes. She dreamt of her sisters, their tear-stained cheeks flashing through her mind and startling her awake after a few attempted hours of rest. She sat upright, her back aching as she did her best to stretch it out. It was strange not waking up surrounded by her sisters—perhaps that's why they were invading her dreams.

She thought back to the tiny cottage they used for shelter and the measly dinners they all had to share. If Ceyden kept his word, they shouldn't have to live like that for much longer. Spending her final days in an enchanted labyrinth was well worth it if it meant they would be provided for.

But how many days would that really be...?

Thea thought back to the moment the beast could have slain her. He'd showed no interest in hearing her out or looking at her as anything more than a pest that needed to be disposed of. She couldn't entirely blame him, considering those who were usually sent into the labyrinth were the worst of the worst. Though she couldn't help but wonder what made him stop when he did.

She looked down at the rose that was resting beside her sleeping spot. It was still as vivid as before, with thick petals, healthy green leaves, and a sweet scent.

"Was it you?" Thea asked the flower, feeling a little silly for speaking to a plant. "Did you somehow stop the beast from killing me?"

The flower seemed to brighten, but Thea couldn't tell if it was another brush of magic or if her sleepy eyes were playing tricks on her. She brushed her finger across one of the petals, feeling the strange warmth that radiated off of the bloom. It almost had a pulse to it, like the enchantment had its own little heartbeat.

"What are you?" Thea asked. "Are you really a key? Or some sort of divine spell that wards off beasts? I'd say that I'm thankful for your help, but you've only delayed the inevitable. There's a good chance the beast will find me again, and even if you really are some sort of shield, there's no food down here. I'll starve to death if he doesn't kill me first."

As if to punctuate her point, her stomach growled, aching all the way up her torso as she recalled the measly scrap of bread she'd been fed for breakfast the day before. Thea looked over at one of the strange rose bushes that dotted the tunnels, noticing that the petals looked even more wilted than they had before she'd fallen asleep.

If they could survive in these conditions, perhaps something edible could, too?

There was no sense in sitting around and doing nothing, so Thea dusted off her skirt and started wandering through the tunnels. She wasn't entirely sure where she was going, but she thought she'd at least attempt to gain some bearings.

With each intersecting path, she only went left to try to follow a bit of a pattern. If the tunnels were stagnant, then only going left would ensure that she would return to where she came from if she went only right on the way back. Or at least... that's what she thought .

The labyrinth seemed to read her movements, cutting her off from turning left by blocking those tunnels with fallen stones, or only veering right so she didn't have a choice. The rose felt warm in her grasp, as if it was mocking her for trying to outsmart the maze's magic.

"Is this your doing?" Thea asked the rose tartly as she came across another blocked path. "I thought you were supposed to be helpful? Look, if I die, then you don't get anyone to talk to anymore. Is that what you want?"

The rose's warmth dimmed.

"That's what I thought. Now, which way is my best chance at finding food?"

She wasn't sure what she was expecting from the rose, but oddly enough, she noticed that the warmth shifted to only the center of the bloom, leaving the left and right sides cold. Curious, she went straight, and the warmth spread across the entire bloom. A few minutes later, she came across another fork, and the rose warmed on only the right side of her hand.

"Go right?" She looked down at the flower, her heart thudding as the flower responded with a warm pulse. "If you say so..."

She followed the rose's instructions without question after that, wondering if it really was guiding her to some sort of freedom or, at the very least, an abandoned sandwich.. .

After a few minutes, she stumbled across a skeleton, her skin crawling as she noticed the dusty red shirt still hanging off the old bones. She wasn't too interested in inspecting the bones, but looked again when she noticed something growing next to the skeleton.

Mushrooms!

She set the rose down, her eyes drawn to the plump fungus as her stomach growled hopefully. She'd foraged quite a few mushrooms since they'd been living in poverty, but these were unfamiliar to her. Were they edible or poisonous? She looked back at the skeleton.

"Any chance you know if they are safe to eat, sir?" Thea inspected the skeleton with a closer eye. "How did you die? Beast axe or mushroom?"

She looked him over up and down, not finding a single splinter in his bones that would indicate he died from any type of injury. He either starved or ate something that ended him quicker...

"Mushrooms, then." Thea sighed as she picked up the rose. "When I asked for something edible, I had meant something that wouldn't kill me."

The rose warmed in her hand, this time guiding her toward the path in front of her. She let out another long breath, then carried onward, deciding that the rose's guidance was still better than going mad in her own thoughts. Though... she was talking to a flower, so perhaps she was already past the point of madness.

Her thoughts broke when a new sound met her ears, a soft trickling noise that made her parched lips pucker.

Is that... water?

She raced forward, allowing the rose to guide her closer to the sound until she came across an underground spring, trickling in from the wall. It was small, pooling only about a medium-sized puddle on the stone floor and draining into the earth, but it looked clear and the mist smelled fresh.

"I'm sorry I doubted you!" Thea laughed as she tucked the rose into her sleeve to scoop the cool liquid into her mouth. The water was sweet and fresh, and she drank far beyond her fill until her stomach sloshed uncomfortably.

Perhaps this was why the roses could live. If there was water beneath the stone's surface, that could keep the plants alive, though the lack of sun still perplexed her. Especially when you considered how bright the tunnels were on their own.

A few feet away from the spring was another rosebush, this one still as sad-looking as the others. They always seemed to look worse each time she looked at them, even since she first saw one of the bushes this morning.

"Are you connected to these somehow?" Thea asked the rose. The flower went cold in her palm as she drew near the wilting blooms. "It's almost as if you keep growing brighter as they grow weaker. I wonder if they wilt the more that I talk to you?"

Just then, a dark shadow engulfed Thea, blocking her view of the roses and turning her blood cold as she heard a growly voice echo behind her.

"Then perhaps you should talk less."