chapter three

Thea cleared the dinner table, slipping the uneaten bread rolls into her pocket with a quick glance over her shoulder. She wanted to swipe some of the leftover ham slices, but there were too many dogs on her walk home that would chase her down with one whiff. Plus, she didn't want her uniform to smell like ham for the rest of the week.

She stacked the dishes and carried them back to the kitchen, waving goodbye to the cook and scullery maids before setting off for home. Lord Malik's property was one of the most stunning on this side of town. The kingdom's capital had even more impressive homes, but the puzzle master's was likely the grandest that wasn't right next to the palace. She imagined that he planned for that when selecting a place to build his home.

The capital was full of divine ones who were constantly comparing their riches, but out here, the only comparison was from the homes of nymphs and a few minor divine ones who couldn't hold a candle to Lord Malik's wealth. He was the king of his own little patch of Olympia. Even those closer to the castle respected him above others due to his control over the labyrinth. When one man held the power of the king's magnificent prison, many aimed to be on his good side.

Thea left the estate grounds and wandered through the cobblestone streets, tearing off a corner of one of the bread rolls to munch. The main roads always looked like a scene from a painting. The flowers were always in full bloom no matter the time of year; the sky was always clear and sunny unless King Zion was in a particularly bad mood, and the air just seemed to always carry a tune as it whistled past your ears. With so much magic in one kingdom, it wasn't shocking that it always felt so... well, magical. However, not every corner of the kingdom was quite so enchanting.

She turned down the concealed path that was starting to get overgrown with blackberry bushes again. Thea made a note to come back and pick the berries before anyone could trim the bush. Perhaps her sisters could bring a basket tomorrow and do it before sunrise.

She cantered down the path as it weaved around the less charming parts of town. Old shops that had been forgotten for larger ones to be built, servant homes that were out of view from the rest of society, and measly farms that were being grown without the aid of magic.

Thea made her way to the shade of the trees, taking in a deep sigh as her eyes landed on the half-rotted cottage nestled in the front of the woods. It used to be a lot nicer when they had the money to keep it maintained, but ever since her father's boats sank two years ago, nothing had been the same.

It wasn't common for mortals to live in Olympia unless they were young, pretty, and caught the eye of a divine one. Theodore Aynna had been one of the exceptions when he took on the task of organizing trade ships between Olympia nobles and Oceanic nobles. He didn't need magic to be good at routing ships or communicating between clients. In fact, his natural skills surpassed the inherited traits most divine ones received.

He moved Thea and her sisters to Olympia to give them a better life and improve his trade, but after only five years, an entire fleet of ships were plundered and sunken by other mortals.

There was no recovery after such a loss. Any power his name had held was snuffed out like a doused flame, and every one of the funds he had saved was stripped away by the divine ones who had lost their goods at sea.

What a beautiful place Olympia was...

"Father, look! Thea is home!" Thalia poked her head out the window, her messy chestnut locks falling in front of her big brown eyes.

Warmth filled Thea as she smiled back at her youngest sister. No matter how dreary Olympia's underbelly could be, she could always count on her family to make her smile.

A second later, Belinda opened the door for Thea, and she could see the whole family waiting inside. The cottage only had one room and a fireplace that probably wasn't safe to burn, but it was the best they had on cold, rainy nights. It was more of a shack than a home, though it had been easy to come across when Father had to sell their house in the city to pay off the debts he owed the Olympian nobility. Thalia and Belinda shared the only bed, which was starting to become too small for them both, and Dora, Clarabell, and Thea all shared the floor. Father usually slept sitting up in the creaky rocking chair in the corner, the same place he always occupied while waiting for his daughters to return home.

"There's my beautiful girl," Father beamed as he rose from his rocking chair to embrace Thea. "This little cottage is always so much brighter when all of my darling roses are together."

Thalia giggled; she always loved it when Father called them pretty, or roses, or anything that made her feel more special than an eight-year-old beggar .

"It's good to be home," Thea said as she made herself comfortable on her patch of the floor. "You don't even want to know what kind of day I had. That Ceyden fellow is going to get me sent to the labyrinth if he doesn't stop making me want to kill him."

Thea rolled her eyes and dug the bread rolls out of her pocket. She set them on the rusty dinner plate that sat in the center of the floor. It looked like her sisters had managed to pull together some decent contributions for tonight's supper. There were some nuts and wild carrots Clarabell likely gathered, and a decent-sized chicken leg that Dora, no doubt, had prepared. It wasn't much, but it felt good for Thea to see her hard work was putting food on the table—or at least, on the plate. In truth, her salary should be able to provide far more food than this, but if they wanted any chance of moving out of Olympia, then they needed to set aside plenty for their savings.

"What did he do this time?" Clarabell asked as she went to work dividing up the bread rolls and making tiny chicken sandwiches to pass around. "He isn't still talking about marrying you, is he?"

"He best not be," Father huffed. "No man gets a hold of my daughters unless they introduce themselves to me first."

"Lord Ceyden doesn't seem like the type to care about permission," Thea said as she helped Clara distribute the meal. "But I can handle him. The job pays well, and I won't let a bonehead like Ceyden ruin the first chance at making real money we've had in months."

"Hey! I made some real money today." Belinda argued with a bit of bread in her teeth. "I got a whole silver coin from a man who saw me on the street today! I've been practicing my sad orphan eyes, and he fell right into my trap."

"But you're not an orphan," Dora scoffed.

"Yes, but the orphans get way more coin while begging." Belinda shrugged. "If I'm not old enough to get a job, then I should be young enough to pass for a starving child."

"Except you're not starving, either," Dora pointed out as she nodded at the carrot in Belinda's grasp.

"And that's only because I have mastered the art of begging," Belinda said proudly. "You'd better feel grateful for this dinner, since it's my cute face that brought it to the table." Thea bit back a laugh. At only ten years old, Belinda was already more business savvy than most divine ones. Thea often feared what the world would do when she was finally old enough to put her devious mind to work.

"Oh, please." Clara laughed. "We all know it's Thea's pretty face that puts food on the table. That Ceyden fellow might be a pain, but at least he has good taste. We would be worse off than starving orphans if he hadn't brought her to his father for a job when he did."

Thea took a bite of her sandwich, trying to avoid any conversations about work now that she was finally home. She knew she should be grateful that she found a job when she did. As the eldest, she was the only one old enough to work other than Father. Her sisters did what they could to help provide, and Father looked for work every day, but his reputation was too well known for him ever to find any leads. Thea hated that her job only came from Ceyden's attraction to her, but it was still a job and one they desperately needed.

"Maybe Clarabell can find a nice divine one to give her a job when she turns eighteen next month!" Thalia bit her lip, unable to suppress her cheeky smile. "She's really pretty, too!"

"Yeah, but not like Thea!" Belinda argued.

"Hey!" Clara shot them both a stern look, and they quieted down. "Being pretty is not the only way to get a job, you know. Thea is also a hard worker."

"Yeah, but being pretty gets more money!" Belinda exclaimed. "Just yesterday, I saw a man offer Dora a gold coin in exchange for a kiss."

Dora's face went red. "Belinda!"

"Dora?" Father arched a brow .

"I didn't do it!" Dora shook her head. "He was a creepy old water nymph. I told him no, then found another street to beg on."

"Awe, I wish you'd said yes," Thalia pouted. "A gold coin would have been awesome!"

"Thalia!" Thea scolded, popping her hands on her hips. "Kisses are not for sale. Don't you ever let someone persuade you otherwise."

"That's not fair. You basically sell your pretty face for a job," Belinda crossed her arms.

"That's—"

"That's entirely different, Belinda," Father cut the girls off, his deep, no-nonsense voice hushing the room. "Thea is working a perfectly respectful job that just happened to come with a disrespectful nuisance. But she knows that no one in this family would ever ask her to continue working there if she was ever uncomfortable. Just like none of you should ever do anything you don't feel safe doing."

Father gave Thea one of the soft smiles that always reassured her and broke her heart all at once. She knew Father wouldn't ask her to keep her job if he knew how much trouble Ceyden really caused her, but she couldn't let any of them know just how serious Ceyden had become about marrying her. While she had no intention of giving up her life to that pompous jerk, she always found herself considering it when she looked around at her family's circumstances.

Just one little yes and my sisters would be taken care of forever.

"Even if Thea quit, Ceyden might still ask her to marry him," Clara said as she dabbed at the crumbs on her dress. "He seems to be pestering you more by the day. What will you do if he actually tries to propose?"

It wouldn't be the first time...

"Thea can do whatever she likes," Father answered for her. "She doesn't owe that man anything, and with any luck, we'll be on our way to Mortalia to start over in just a few short months. None of you should have to entertain a man who drives you mad."

"Thank you, Father," Thea smiled, though her heart tensed behind the fa?ade. "Do you really think we're only a few months away from being able to relocate to Mortalia?"

Father's smile dropped a touch, but he did his best not to let his concern seep too far into his expression. "I'm hopeful," he said. "Unfortunately, I just received word from the capital that we'll be required to pay taxes on our home this year. I was originally led to believe that this land was free to take residence in, but it turns out Lord Malik's property extends to this cottage."

"What!" Dora gasped. "You mean we have to pay Lord Malik for this beat-down home? Why? It's not like he maintains it!"

"I don't make the laws, dear." Father sighed. "And I don't dare offend the keeper of the labyrinth. We'll manage, just like we always do, but I won't know how much the taxes are until I go to the courthouse in a few days."

"What happens if we can't afford the taxes?" Thea asked, her breath snagging in the back of her throat. Father's right; we can't offend the keeper of the labyrinth...

"Then I suppose I'll have to strike some sort of deal with him, but I don't see it coming to that." Father's smile was so easy, Thea almost believed he was right...

Almost...

"This home is barely even a speck on his property, so I can't imagine he would ask for much. Don't you girls worry about it," Father said as he settled back into his rocking chair with a long sigh and a creak from the wood. "This is one thing I can actually handle as your father, so please let me take this burden from your shoulders."

No one argued with him. They all knew how much it pained Father to watch his daughters work and beg while he struggled to provide for his family. Thea could only imagine how difficult it was for him to endure. Even while she was working, she felt like she was never doing enough, and the only other thing she could do was sign her life away to a divine brat.

Thea settled back against the cool stone walls, trying to engage in whatever conversation Belinda had struck up about her favorite new alley cat, while her mind wandered in the background.

They could be so much more... Am I the one being selfish by keeping us like this?

Ceyden may have been an entitled jerk, but he wasn't blowing smoke about being able to provide for her family. She knew her family would never approve of a union where she was unhappy, but would they really deny a chance to finally live securely?

Yes... Without a doubt, they would if it meant my happiness, too.

Thea sighed, her heart teetering between being sunken and lightened when she saw the smiles on her sisters' faces. She would do whatever it took to ensure those smiles never fell. Her sisters were every bit as beautiful as she was, so she couldn't let them put her beauty up for sale.

I'll keep them safe on my own.