Survive.Alena shook her head. Who knew what they were walking into? Anything gifted by the gods would also be protected by them, and all deities could be downright cruel in their games. Still, there was no choice. That was clear.
Against her better judgment, Alena slipped her hand into Orpheus’s again and allowed him to guide her to the golden doors. Part of her hated relying on him for comfort, but a larger part was too terrified to deny herself the human contact. If she was going to die, she’d like to be holding on to someone when it happened. Even if that person was an unnerving but woefully attractive charlatan.
Did Cleopatra know what was on the other side? What had her previous champions described? Had Alena been braver, she might have asked. But at the moment, her tongue had turned to leather in her mouth, and she was clutching her basket to her stomach as hard as she was clutching Orpheus’s fingers—as if her life depended on it. As if either could protect her from a test of the gods.
Together, they pushed against the doors.
White light flooded over them, and without taking a single step, Alena found she was standing inside a forest. Bleached white branches littered the ground, covered in dirt and leaves. She whirled and found the door closed behind her, its ornate gold panels surrounded by nothing but air as if they’d sprouted directly from the soil.
“That’s a bad sign,” Orpheus said.
“What?”
He pointed at the forest floor.
“The fallen branches?”
He laughed through his nose and arched a brow at her. “Those are bones, Alena, and I’m guessing that whatever picked them clean is close by.”
The back of her neck prickled. Everything here was strange. The sky gave off a metallic glint. She could find no sun or moon, but a bright ambient light with no point of origination lit their way. The air was heavy and close. She scanned their surroundings: trees… bones… fallen leaves.
“There’s a path,” she whispered, pointing to a dirt rut that led deeper into the forest. “Perhaps if we are quiet, we can sneak past whatever it is and move beyond its territory.”
He swallowed and nodded.
What other choice was there than to keep moving forward? With one eye on the strangely silver sky, she led the way, still holding Orpheus’s hand. Her palms were sweaty now, and she was tempted to release him and wipe them on her cloak, but the idea of letting go of the comfort of his touch kept her clinging on.
They’d traveled deep enough into the woods that Alena was beginning to believe they might actually avoid whatever monster lived there when the thump of heavy wings beating the air reached her ears. A beast the likes of which Alena had only read about landed on the path in front of them, daggerlike claws dimpling the dirt. The dreadful creature had the body of a lion, a wingspan twice as long as she was tall, and the head of an extremely ugly man. She gasped and collided with Orpheus’s side. He swept her behind him.
“A sphinx,” he whispered to her. “Let me handle this.”
The sphinx’s bulbous nose wrinkled, and it bared its yellow teeth. “Ah, young lovers. Sweet meat.”
“Oh, we’re not lovers,” Alena reflexively said, popping her head out from behind Orpheus.
Orpheus narrowed his eyes at her. “Truly? Is that important to share right now?”
She lowered her eyes, her cheeks burning.
“Your bones grind just as well.” The sphinx flashed a grotesque grin.
“Allow us to pass,” Orpheus boomed. “By order of Cleopatra.”
The sphinx snorted, and a bit of snot rained onto the ground near its claws. “I care not what the human queen commands. You will solve my riddle, or you will not pass.”
Alena nudged Orpheus’s side. Her mother used to give her riddles to keep her occupied when she was young. “Riddles? I’m gifted at riddles. Always loved them as a child. I can do this.”
“Quiet,” he hissed. “Trust me.”
Alena straightened and stepped out from behind Orpheus. No way was she going to let this… this… louse charmer get them killed. She could do this. She knew she could.
“That’s it?” she said loudly. “All I have to do is solve your riddle? Give it to me then.”
Orpheus tugged on her elbow. “What are you doing? You never ask a sphinx for its riddle!”
“Why not? I told you I’m very good at riddles. There hasn’t been one yet I couldn’t solve.” Alena faced the creature head-on and readied her mind.
The sphinx cleared its beastly throat and began to speak. “My death is never mourned, my work, taken for granted. My legacy is vast. For hundreds of years I’ve toiled beneath the sun, yet I have never done anything at all. I am a provider and a thief. I grow, I change, but I am always in the same place. What am I?”
