Far off, somewhere deep, deep in the dark maze, there was a rustling of leaves. The wind, maybe.
Maybe not.
I held my breath, listening. It came again, the long, slow sound of something brushing along the hedges. Footsteps quieted, but it couldn’t silence the leaves.
So it was big, then. Big enough that it touched the edges of the paths when it walked. A bit bigger than me.
My stomach twisted. My mind whirled, conjuring up every monster I’d seen in the Realm of Tides. Every monster from the stories and that lurked along the edges of the murals. Sellyes and that wolf-thing that had escaped from the vodianoi village. Vague shapes painted on the walls of the village center, fanged and towering. Serpents and hulking beasts. I forced myself to control every breath. If I let it overwhelm me now, if I panicked, I was dead.
The first thing I needed to do was figure out what was in this maze with me. I couldn’t be sure of anything—not what I needed to do, not how to pass the Trial. There was no use doing anything before I knew. And that meant finding it.
And, with any luck, not letting it find me.
I moved slowly, cautiously, listening to the rise and fall of the rustling leaves in the distance. Trying to pinpoint what direction the sound came from. With the wind and the dark and the impossibly tall walls between us, I couldn’t be sure. So I kept walking, and walking. With every step my heart beat faster. You can do anything, Aven’s voice whispered to me again. And my insistence to Raeth—I’ll do it. I can.
I could survive this. I could win the Trials, and when I did, I’d throw every second of doubt and whispers and sneering back in the Court’s face as they watched Tobin and I walk out beside their would-be King.
My thoughts led me to a corner, and I stopped before I knew why, and then I heard the rustling. The heavy breathing of something big, close. I halted, adrenaline shooting through me.
And then, before I could think of what to do next, it stepped from between the hedges.
It was so dark it blended with the shadows, sleek and looming. It stood as tall as I was, its eyes level with mine. They were jet-black, boring into me. Lips skinned back from a dog-like face, revealing long, curved fangs. Ears flattened to its head. I fell back a step, voice caught in my throat. I snatched at the hedges like they would hand over some weapon to defend myself with. My feet hit roots and then I was on the ground.
I stared at four massive paws—webbed, clawed, and slick with the water soaking its dark coat. A flat, tapered tail struck the ground with a smack and got my attention. I leapt to my feet and ran.
It followed. I felt two bounds rumble through the ground before teeth grasped my arm, yanking me back. I screamed as pain flew up my shoulder. Something in my arm crunched and twisted. My eyes watered.
I hit the ground on my side. The beast dragged me for a few agonizing seconds before I caught hold of its whiskers and yanked. A snarl rang through the air. My arm struck the ground, making me cry out again. I raised my head as it whipped toward me, its teeth chomping in my direction.
Be smart, and fast.
I couldn’t run down the paths again. It was faster and stronger than me. But those hedges, thick and dark and dotted with thorns, would prove a challenge for it. I hoped. I was smaller than it, and that was my only advantage. I shoved into the nearest wall, ignoring the sting of thorns nipping at me. A few drew blood, but most broke off in the leather without touching my skin. The beast roared and swiped after me, reeling as thorns caught in its paws. I kept going.
When I was free on another path, I took off again, moving as quick and as quiet as I could. The rustling of it searching for me kept coming but grew distant. When I’d counted a hundred seconds of silence, I stopped.
The second I did pain ripped through my arm, and I bit down on my cheek to keep quiet as I inspected the damage. It had bitten into my upper arm, piercing through the leather and fabric with ease. Blood soaked the mess of clothing that remained and dripped down my wrist to the ground. I sucked in a sharp breath as I peeled ruined shreds of cloth away to see where it hadn’t just punctured my arm, but torn through the skin. A curse slipped through in a whisper.
How was I supposed to do anything with one intact arm? How could I survive?
My head spun, my breathing picking up, and I closed my eyes again. Think, think, think.
First things first: stop the bleeding. I couldn’t do this if I was unconscious from blood loss. I spun in a circle, searching for something I could use, but I was surrounded by hedges and shadow. The empty sky above. I had to make do with what was on me, which meant the clothes on my back.
They’d work. Not for long, but I hoped I wouldn’t have long in here.
I ripped a strip from the bottom of my shirt, wincing at every pull at my shoulder and arm, and wrapped it as tight as I could around the wound. I doubted Raeth planned on having the clothes returned to him in acceptable shape. When it was tied secure, I took a breath.
A way with animals, Marassa had said. She wanted to see for herself. Was I supposed to tame the thing? And how could I be expected to do that with nothing but fighting leathers and hedges?
The center of the maze? Would something be waiting there to help me?
It wasn’t a strong lead, but it was the one I had, so I started walking. I had no sense of where I’d ended up in the maze, but I walked, and walked, listening for that faint rustling that would mark the monster’s return. Sometimes I heard it, far off, and I veered away from it as much as possible, but it never came closer.
The colorful tips of trees came into sight over the hedges, brighter than the eternal sunrise, and I raised my pace. I didn’t care if my steps would be heard. I didn’t care if the monster met me halfway. I was close. I’d finally done something, even if it turned out to be pointless.
The center was a giant circle, tree-studded grass giving way to dirt and then water, smooth as glass. The pond was dark and beautiful, pale leaves scattered across its surface. My heart tripped at the sight of it and I avoided the water, focusing on the trees.
I wasn’t as tall or as strong as Aven and had one arm in full working order, but…
I braced one foot against a trunk and tested a low branch. Thin enough to wrap my hand around. The cool bark scraped against my hands as I pulled, but a fresh wave of pain lanced through my arm and I dropped it with a gasp.
One little injury wasn’t going to stop me. I had too far to go.
I grabbed it again, gritted my teeth, and threw my weight against the branch. It bent down toward me with a thin creak, and I had to let go to keep the pain from addling my brain.
When I’d caught my breath and the pain had faded, I tried again. And again. She could send a hundred monsters at me. She could strip me of my defenses and rip my limbs off. Marassa wasn’t going to beat me.
She didn’t have a right to Aven, or to Tobin. Not to the sirens or the selkies. Not to Moray.
Not to me.
The branch flew free so suddenly it almost knocked me to the ground. I clung tight to it as I searched the shore for stones, keeping my feet from touching the ever-motionless water, and when I found the sharpest one I could, I sat down in the dusky grass. A few leaves secured it to the tip of the branch, and I spun my makeshift spear with a smile.
It wasn’t elegant, and my skill with a spear was far from impressive, but it was enough. I hoped.
A fraction of the tension in me eased with a weapon in hand, and I leaned against the trunk of a tree to plan.
The beast was nothing friendly. It had taken a look for it to threaten me, and the first movement to make it attack. And it had tried to follow me. Either it was intent on killing me or it wanted to make sure I was out of its territory for good.
The maze was its territory. Was I supposed to get out without being caught by it?
No, too easy.
Tame it?
I couldn’t see how.
Hunt it?
Possibly.
A way with animals. Wher
e had she learned that? Aven wouldn’t have told her. Raeth? All I’d told him was that I’d been raised on a farm, and I knew how to hunt. Not how the animals of our farm were like an extension of our family. Not how I often begged Papa to help me save one more starving stray that had wandered onto our land.
Cunning. The best hunter won.
Always know what you’re hunting, Tobin had said when he’d first begun teaching me. The more you know about it, the easier it is to catch. I closed my eyes and struggled to remember every detail of the animal. Dog-like in build, strong and powerful, but with a longer body. A thick, water-resistant pelt. Webbed paws. A flat and muscular tail, perfect for paddling. And with the pond beside me, no doubt a creature that had wandered from the water for the Trial. I didn’t know what it was, but I could venture a guess as to how it worked, and that was the important thing.
I bolted to the water’s edge and scooped mud in my cupped hands. If I was going to catch it and not let it catch me, I couldn’t smell human. I didn’t know if the mud was strong enough, but the scent of pond water and rotted plants and dirt rolled off, and I smeared it across my arms, my stomach, my chest, my legs. My face, clamping my lips closed as I did. When I was covered head to toe, I looked around the clearing again, thinking.
I could try and seek it out. My smaller size meant I could be quieter. I could hear it coming long before it heard me, and with any luck the mud would mask my scent. But Tobin always said hunters were patient. Tracking was a part of hunting, yes, but the best hunters knew to find the right place and lie in wait.
It was a creature of the water, and this maze was its home. It would return to the pond eventually.
I glanced at my makeshift bandage, soaked through with blood, and hesitated a second before untying it. Hands shaking, I dragged it across the grass, making a bright smear of red lead from the hedges to the base of a tree, and then dropped it.
And I climbed.
My injured arm screamed with every movement but I ignored it, pulling myself up inch by inch, gripping my spear for dear life. The pain was a secondary concern. Something I could deal with later. What mattered now was the trial.
No, not the trial. I wouldn’t think that far. This was just us—hunter and prey, the most ancient and primal relationship in the world.
In the Realm of Tides, I was always the prey. I was tired of it.
I didn’t know how long I waited. I didn’t try to keep track. I watched, perched on the branch I’d chosen, high but not too much of a danger to fall from. I heard the familiar rustling, and moments later the beast poked its head into the clearing.
Sniffed. Licked its chops. Lowered its head to the ground. Shuffled forward.
I held my breath.
Another step, sniffing at the bloody grass. Its dark eyes gleamed.
I prayed it couldn’t hear my heartbeat.
It paused beneath my tree, nipping at my bandage.
I drew in a shaking breath, adjusted my grip on the spear, and pushed off the branch.
For an instant, the wind whipped past me and there was nothing else. I was sure I’d strike the ground and die, or maybe I’d fly away.
Then stone struck flesh, and then bone. There was crunching and cracking. My feet hit thick fur and hard muscle, and both of us tumbled to the ground in a tangle. A roar boomed so close to my ear I thought it might deafen me, and everything afterwards was cut through with ringing. Blood gushed over me, but I couldn’t tell if it was mine or the creature’s.
When my vision righted, I saw the spear driven into its neck, stone head broken off and wedged deep into the wound, slivers of the branch sticking out like needles. Blood poured everywhere, across the grass, across my hands, slick and hot. I staggered to my feet and watched as the creature tried to do the same, but never got far. It snarled and snapped at me, every movement weaker as the life poured out of it in great pulses of red. A sharp whistle pierced the air, like its last attempt to beg me for help, and then it fell lifeless.
I gasped for breath, shaking. I’d done it. It was dead.
I doubted it had deserved to die, especially like that. It had been a pet of the Queen, used and now sacrificed for her entertainment. I didn’t let the guilt settle in me. Maybe tonight, alone in the dark, but not now. Now I’d won. I was alive.
I forced my feet toward the maze, hand clutched over my bleeding arm. Exhaustion seeped through me and every step felt heavier. The maze was silent except for the faint rippling of the water.
I made it one step out of the center before I stopped.
Turned, heart pounding in my throat.
A second beast was hauling itself onto shore, shaking water from its coat. Near identical to the other, its eyes fixed on me and a snarl rising.
My weapon was broken. Blood loss was leaking the strength from me. I couldn’t fight another. Not like this.
I stared as it stalked a few steps toward me, and then adrenaline pushed me back to life. I shoved into the hedge once again, clawing my way through it to the path beyond. I heard the beast growling behind me, racing along the paths. I plunged into the next hedge.
I didn’t let myself stop. I closed my eyes against the thorns and kept going in the direction of the entrance. On and on and on. One way or another I’d come out of the maze.
Behind me paws struck the ground, making it tremble.
The next wall. And the next. Thorns ripped into my hands and face, dug their way into my wounds. I ignored them.
Close. It had to be close.
The air rumbled.
I burst onto another open path and almost cried out in relief. The entrance stood before me, the High Court watching through a warped pane like glass I knew was water. Moray’s trick. I bolted for it on unsteady feet.
My hands hit glass, not water. Hard and unyielding. On the other side Marassa met my eyes, her face stoic.
I wasted a precious moment standing there, mind whirling in confusion, and then another growl, closer than before, pulled me back to where I was. I left the entrance and shoved through the wall beside it. Just one more. One more and I’d be free.
I struck another barrier, making my head spin, the world tilting around me. My heart slammed to the ground.
She’d surrounded the entire maze. Locked me in.
Huffed breaths so close I knew without turning the beast was waiting for me.
No—no, these were the Trials. They were savage, yes, but they were tests. This was the last obstacle of my test. I was cunning enough to escape.
I grabbed at the branches above my head and pulled myself up, swallowing another cry of pain. My feet scrabbled to get a hold, toes breaking branch after branch until they found the strongest ones in the center.
I climbed, shoving past leaves and thorns, ignoring the tiny spikes driving into my fingers and palms. Keep going. Keep going.
My head thrust free into open air. I shook away lingering twigs that threatened to drag me down like claws. The weaker branches trembled under my weight, and I snatched at the edge of the rippling wall of solid glass-water before they could give out on me.
One more push, and then was I rolling through the air.
I landed on my back in the grass, knocking the breath from my lungs, and stared at the spinning sky.
The air returned to me in a rush and I gulped it down as quick as I could. Every ache and pain came flooding around the wall of shock. I couldn’t move. I thought I might scream if I did.
Footsteps whispered across the grass toward me, and Raeth swam into my vision. I took his outstretched hand and he pulled me to my feet, not flinching at the blood and mud. I gripped his arm until my balance returned, and then stepped away.
“What were those?” I demanded.
Moray fluttered closer, then made a circle around me. “Water hounds,” it replied. “You’re alive.”
“Yes, I’m alive.” I spoke with my eyes fixed on Marassa’s. “And only one bite.”
She nodded to the maze, where the hound paced. “Where�
��s her mate?”
“Dead.”
“How did you kill him?”
I lifted my chin and let my gaze flicker to Aven. “I made a spear.” One corner of his lips twitched, but he hid the smile. I fought my own down and dared another step toward her. “Do I pass, or not?”
“She ran from the second,” Namak muttered, giving me a disgusted once-over.
“Ran and survived,” Raeth added. “Few have ever done that.”
Marassa nodded once, watching me like she was considering whether to call for my execution. “You’ve passed the first Trial.” Relief flooded me so potently my knees almost gave out. “This was the easiest of them, I hope you realize, Hania. Take her to be cleaned up. I don’t want the filth on her in my halls.” She moved away, the rest of the High Court following.
The guards wouldn’t touch me as they escorted me to the baths and that was another victory.
Marassa didn’t mind leaving me in the Nest between Trials, and I couldn’t complain. Raeth didn’t call on me—not that I expected him to—and the other girls kept eerily silent whenever I came near. All but Kieras, who shoved a full plate of food closer.
“You need to eat.”
My stomach rolled with nausea. “I’m not hungry.”
“You didn’t eat dinner, either, and they’ll take you to prepare for the next Trial soon. Eat something.”
I stared at the fruit and bread but didn’t touch it. I’d scrubbed and scrubbed the blood off my hands, but I could still see it caked beneath my fingernails, dark and dried now. My hands stung from all the thorns, scraped raw. I rubbed absently at the scratches on my face. My arm seared with every movement, held together by the sloppily-wrapped bandages I’d been given after I’d told my attendants that it’d be much less fun to watch me die of infection than in the Trials.
She was right. I needed to keep my strength up if I was going to survive. But every time I came closer to eating, the tear and crunch of the spear hitting the hound’s neck echoed in my ears and bile rose in my throat.
“Did you know the hounds were there?” I asked Kieras instead of touching the food.
Tide Page 41
