chapter forty-five

Zared scraped his claw against the cave wall, adding to the markings he'd been leaving every day since Thea had left. Another week had passed. He knew he'd promised Thea he'd wait for her, but how many months did he have to endure before he finally accepted what he'd feared all along?

She's gone...

He paused his claw after scratching only half of the tally mark into the stone. There was no point in keeping track of the days now. Even if Underworth had morphed her flow of time, there was no guarantee that she managed to escape. He thought back to the last moment he saw her, and the soft pressure of her lips against his forehead.

He'd been a fool to care for her... Not because she was someone who didn't deserve to be cared for, but because he was someone she could never return to. Even if she did make it back to Olympia, she had his handsome younger brother waiting to sweep her off her feet. She said she didn't want to marry him, but Thea wasn't the type to go back on her promises, either...

Just like she promised to come back for me...

Zared sank against the wall that was lined with tally marks, putting his back toward the endless list of days he'd been stuck thinking about the girl he could never have. He'd always hated being a beast, but even more so, he hated being abandoned as a child. He always thought he deserved to be abandoned because of how he looked, but Thea never made him feel that way at all... Perhaps that's why it hurt so much when she abandoned him, too. She left him because she cared for him, which meant it was just him who deserved to be left alone.

That's a curse that cannot be cured.

"Let me out!" Thea kicked at the door while trying to wiggle the narrow end of a broomstick in between the lock and the hinge. "Ceyden! You can't just cage me!"

She kicked harder, causing a few splinters to fly off from the wood. If she had to chip away at the door piece by piece, then she would. She refused to let Ceyden drag her to the altar when she still hadn't saved his brother. Thea backed up against the far wall, preparing to run at the door with all her strength, when all of the sudden, a click sounded in the lock.

Ceyden?

Thea froze mid dash, holding the broom in a defensive position in case she needed to fight her way past the divine brat. The door swung open, and Thea raised the broomstick to smash it over Ceyden's big head, but stopped in her tracks when she saw that it wasn't Ceyden, but one of the older maids who worked for Lord Malik.

"Oh!" the poor woman gasped, clutching the key to her heart as she laid eyes on Thea's halted attack. "My goodness. Theabelle, dear? Is that you?"

"Marlie!" Thea dropped the broom, grabbed the rose, and rushed into the older woman's arms. "Oh, you have no idea how happy I am to see you! But I'm afraid I can't talk now. Thank you!"

Thea raced past the bewildered old woman like a caged dog that had been sprung free. She dashed through the manor's halls, looking for the quickest way out so she could make a run for the labyrinth. Ceyden could still be close by, and there was no telling where he'd lock her up next if he saw her again. She darted down the main staircases, deciding to sneak out through the servants' passage behind the kitchen. Thea's feet hit the bottom of the steps, and she turned for the kitchen just in time for her to stop cold in her tracks.

The blood drained from Thea's face as she met an equally stunned pair of eyes. They were glowing, yet somehow still so dark compared to the gazes of either of his sons. Lord Malik stood directly between Thea and her escape; his focus trained on the beaming rose cradled in her grip.

"You..." Lord Malik's voice dripped with venom, his power simmering in the air as clicking and locking sounds echoed around her. "You're supposed to be dead ."

Thea staggered back a step, her heart pounding as she heard another sound of a lock. She looked at the nearest window, and her stomach plummeted as Lord Malik's magic transformed it into a crystal barred cage.

"I have no business with you," Thea said as bravely as she could, darting her gaze around for another place to escape.

The servants' passage. Lord Malik probably wouldn't think of locking a door he never uses. I can still get out that way if I can get past him.

"That's too bad," Lord Malik said, waving his hand to gather a few of his servants to his side. "Because you, dear, affect all my business. You entered my labyrinth, which means you are no longer permitted to exist." He snapped his fingers, and the sound of a massive lock turning echoed throughout the halls of the mansion. " Get her."

The servants looked about as panicked as Thea felt, but the terrifying aura that Lord Malik was projecting was enough to make anyone obey. Footmen and stewards came at her from all angles, but Thea wasn't about to let herself get caught again. She dashed between the servants, grateful for all her practice escaping being murdered in the tunnels of the labyrinth. She ran straight toward Malik, preparing to push past him and hunt for an escape in the servants' hall.

Lord Malik's eyes went wide as she tried to duck around him. He caught her by the arm, but she was ready to fight back. She stamped down hard on his foot, causing him to yowl as she pulled free. She made a dash for the servants' exit, racing inside the concealed door and sprinting down the hall. Lord Malik must have figured out her plan, because the hall was getting tighter the farther she ran down it. In fact, it was shrinking faster than she could run.

"Come on!" Thea raced the divine one's magic, ducking lower and lower until she was making a mad crawl for the exit. It felt like she was being encased in a coffin, but just before the walls could crush her bones, she burst through the tiny remnants of the door and rolled out onto the manor's grass.

She laid in the soft greenery for a moment to catch her breath, then darted back to her feet. There was no time to waste. She needed to get back into the labyrinth before another Ashoran stopped her.

"Show me the safest route to the labyrinth," Thea begged the ring, her hand warming upon her request. She let the magic guide her around to the back gate, then through the small patch of forest on Lord Malik's property. Even the safest route still risked danger, so she didn't waste any time moving forward.

Thea stayed on the edges of the path, keeping her face out of sight anytime someone passed her by. The red dress she'd been given to wear in the labyrinth caused a few folks to turn their heads, but she didn't wait around for them to ask questions. By the time she made it to the center of town, her lungs were begging for air.

She paused to catch her breath, holding the rose tight as she took in the clean air of her old home before leaving it once again.

"T-Thea?"

That voice...

Thea sat up, sweat running across her brow as she met the misty eyes of her younger sister. "D-Dora..." she gasped.

She almost didn't recognize her. Her usually uncombed hair was freshly washed and combed into a long braid. Her tattered dress had been replaced with a yellow cotton one that actually fit her properly, and in her arms was a basket full of bread and apples that she appeared to be bringing back with her.

"I-is that... A-are you...?" Tears spilled from her big eyes, and she dropped the basket, letting the apples roll across the ground. "Oh Theabelle!" She threw herself into Thea's arms, sobbing like she was still a child as Thea gripped her sister tightly.

"Shh, it's all right, Dora. It's really me," Thea soothed. "But you need to keep your voice down. I'm not supposed to be out of the labyrinth."

Dora pulled back, her eyes still streaming tears as she took a good look at her older sister. "I-I'm sorry, but how? How are you alive? How are you here? The maze... and the beast—"

"I promise to explain it all soon," Thea said softly as she wiped another tear from her sister's cheek. "But for now, there's something I still need to do. Please tell the others that I love them, and even if I don't see them again, I'm really happy where I'm at."

"W-what?" Dora blinked. "What do you mean, if you don't see them again? You're free now, aren't you?"

"I have to go, Dora." Thea pecked a kiss on her sister's forehead, leaving her half-crumpled on the ground as she ran past her. "There's a beast that needs my help. "

"A b-beast?" Dora gaped. "Thea, wait! What are you—"

Her voice vanished behind her as Thea followed the ring's guidance back to the labyrinth gates. It tore her heart in two to leave Dora and her family behind, but there was someone else who was still waiting on her, someone she had promised to return to.

"It's been months since you left..."

She thought back to what Ceyden had told her. Winter was over, and the first song of spring was lilting through the air. Underworth had warped her time more than she realized, and now she could only hope that Zared hadn't given up on her. A tingle swept over her lips as she recalled the moment she kissed him goodbye. Her cheeks flushed at the memory. It hadn't been too much, had it? Or had it not been enough?

When she finally stumbled across the labyrinth gates, a familiar sick feeling twisted in her gut. The last time she had been here, she was essentially preparing for her execution. There was no one around the gate this time, but so much still felt the same. Her blood red dress still marked her as a criminal, and the rose was still by her side. Never in her life did she expect to enter the labyrinth twice, but then again, never had she expected to escape it once.

Second time's the charm, I hope .

She pulled the gate open, her shoulders burning from the strength it took to creak the iron bars apart just enough so she could fit inside. She looked down at the dark tunnel, recalling the terrifying descent into the pitch black she had done once before. With a steadying breath, she held the rose out, allowing its soft glow to light her path.

"Take me to the beast," she said to the ring, her heart glowing with the flower as she imagined seeing him again. The ring obeyed, gladly confirming that was what her heart wanted most in that moment. She prepared to take her first step down, returning to the cursed tunnels to hopefully save not just Zared, but discover how she really felt about him. She knew she cared for him, but was that really all? She'd know when she saw him, but in truth, she felt that she already knew now...

I'm coming, Zared, just hold—

"Get back here!" A strong hand snatched Thea by the shoulder, the nails digging into her skin as they nearly yanked her out of the gates. "Where do you think you're going with that ."

Thea whirled around, jerking her hand out of reach right before Lord Malik snatched the rose from her grasp. He must have known she was coming back here and took a quicker route.

"Let me go!" Thea tried to pull away, but the divine one kept a fierce grip on her arm, piercing his skin with his clawed grip.

"Oh, you can go!" he said with a twisted smile and a crazed look flashing in his eyes. "Just give me the rose first! I can't let you take it inside!"

He pulled Thea closer, smacking her side into the cold iron bars with a clank . He made another grab for the rose, but Thea held it as far back as he could. He didn't seem willing to actually step through the gates himself, so as long as she stayed inside, the rose would be safe.

"Release me!" Thea shouted, trying to gain the attention of anyone she could. "I thought you didn't want anyone to see I had escaped!"

"Shut up!" He pulled her arm again, this time causing her head to smack into the bars with a dizzying echo. "Give me the rose, and you can go run back to that putrid beast for all I care! That flower cannot be taken inside!"

He looked mad. His magic sparked wildly around him as rocks transformed into odd puzzle boxes, or keys, and the ground churned underneath him.

"Why?" Thea asked, meeting him square in the eye as she stopped resisting for a moment. "Because you don't want Daida to be set free?"

He froze. The name Daida rattled him, causing his magic to fizzle as he blinked through the shock. How long had it been since he'd heard his own daughter's name? Thea didn't wait to ask. She took advantage of his stunned state and jerked her arm free, dashing down the black tunnel without a moment of hesitation.

Her heart hammered in her chest, and both the ring and the rose pulsed with energy as she descended deeper into the darkness.

He's lost his mind... He was truly willing to do anything to protect his reputation, even sacrifice two of his children.

She shook the sickening image from her thoughts. It didn't matter now; she was in the tunnel, and he was stuck above ground. He wouldn't bother her anymore... At least, she thought so...

The gates creaked in the distance.