“Are you alright?” Alexander asked, his hand on her shoulder to steady her.
“Yes, oh no, sorry, I just, well, I don’t know what’s come over me,” Ashley answered, her hand over her mouth as a wave of nausea swept over her. “I’m just so overwhelmed by the place, I guess.”
The lie tasted bitter on her tongue, but what else could she say? The man who helped to create her had thrown her away. If this wasn’t all a prolonged nightmare, that is.
Of course, the man had been cruel enough to hoard the lands and use all the resources for his own gain. Who was to say he hadn’t sabotaged the relationship with other kingdoms to make life hard Val, as well? If he could throw one child away, he could certainly act spiteful to the other. Was that what made her brother so coldhearted?
And what would her new friend make of all of this? Alexander seemed like a sensible guy, the kind who didn’t suffer fools lightly. But did that mean he could see through her lie?
Ashley stood straight then, trying to get control of herself.
“Breathe in deep through your nose, my friend,” Alexander said gently, tilting her chin up to look into his eyes with a finger. Ashley looked into eyes filled with understanding and followed his direction. “That’s it. You can do this. I promise.”
His soft smile and the gentleness of his words nearly brought tears to her eyes. How could he be so kind to her when everyone around her seemed to be using her as some kind of pawn?
“Thank you,” Ashley said, feeling her heart calm the longer she breathed with him. She knew she’d been on the verge of a panic attack, but he’d helped her through it.
Alexander squeezed her shoulder and let her chin go before he smiled down at her. “Ready for the rest of the tour? I have something special to show you.”
Ashley nodded as an answer and stood up straight. She knew she shouldn’t trust anyone in this place but something deep in her gut told her this man was trustworthy. That made all the difference to her spinning thoughts. “That sounds lovely. Lead on.”
Alexander stood tall and straight beside her as he led her to the opening of a massive hedge with two huge, elaborately carved doors. For a moment, she couldn’t make sense of it, then it dawned on her. This was the opening to a labyrinth. She grinned over at Alexander when she looked up to see him smiling down at her.
“What do you think? Should we try our luck?” He held his right hand towards the labyrinth and Ashley nodded again.
Ashley would have been content just staring at the labyrinth doors. The intricate carvings depicted a hunt of some kind, but then she felt Alexander’s hand nudging at hers, where she traced the deep carvings in the wood. She was struck by how right it felt, by how the pit of her stomach seemed to clench with joy. By the way his fingers slid around hers and seemed to fit perfectly with hers. She didn’t think about how she should pull away, or about who might see them, she just lived in the moment with him.
“I’ve never seen a real one before. I always wondered how easy they were to navigate.” She walked with him into the tall hedges and looked around. Towards the end of this section the path split in two different directions. “I’ve always been good at finding my way around, but these things are tricky, I’ve heard.”
“Some can be,” Alexander agreed, following her at her pace and not forcing her to match his stride. “Many castles have them here. Some are more difficult than others. This one has a reputation as being one of the hardest to find your way out of.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Ashley said with a nervous chuckle.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let you get lost,” Alexander replied, his voice full of promises that she wasn’t sure he understood he was making. For a moment, it seemed he was promising her so much more than guidance through the maze, but he barely knew her. He couldn’t be making that kind of promise, could he?
Ashley wanted to hug him, not just because of his kindness, but because his sturdy shoulders and muscular arms seemed made to hold her.
“You seem to know a lot about this kingdom,” Ashley remarked, squinting at him as she realized that if he knew how to navigate the labyrinth, he might know more about the kingdom than her brother would like. Ashley couldn’t imagine Val, of all people, walking through a labyrinth on his own, trying to figure out the right direction to go either. He was too impatient. He didn’t seem the type. Which meant he probably didn’t care who might know more than him about the labyrinth, but this seemed to be only a fraction of Alexander’s knowledge about the Opal Kingdom. What else might he know?
“Oh, I guess you could say the Opal Kingdom is particularly fascinating to me. From a cultural standpoint,” Alexander said that last part as it was an afterthought. Ashley thought it was more likely a clumsy attempt to allay worries. He failed.
Was he a spy? And did that mean he would help her escape this place and the mate her brother had chosen for her?
“Let’s see what’s around the next bend,” Alexander said, and her heart skipped a beat when it seemed like he was about to reach for her hand.
It probably wasn’t a good thing that her heart sank when he pulled the hand back and shoved it in the pocket of his trousers. But then she twisted her lips to hide the smile. He must have put his hand in his pocket because that’s exactly what he’d been about to do. If only she were really a maid and not some princess.
Or even better, if only they were back in Tennessee and he was a customer at the diner. Both free to choose whatever came next. Ashley shook her head and almost tripped when she realized Alexander had walked ahead of her.
“This is the product of several generations of the Opal house, one of their pride and joys,” Alexander explained to Ashley, his voice dipping low, as if afraid someone might overhear him.
Ashley wasn’t exactly sure why his last sentence had to remain a secret, but she couldn’t turn down the opportunity to stand closer to him. She shuffled a little closer to Alexander as he leaned closer to her.
“Legend says that the Opal royal family keeps their dragon gemstone within the center of this maze, but no one has ever found their way to the center. Only a true member of the Opal Clan can find their way along the pathways,” Alexander said, and Ashley couldn’t help but wonder for a second if she would be able to find her way to the Clan gemstone.
Only one way to find out, she decided and smiled up at Alexander. She moved, as if entranced, her feet moving confidently as Alexander followed. This time, when Alexander moved up beside her, he took her hand in his, wrapping his fingers tightly with hers. She knew then that she could definitely do it. She could find her way to the gemstone without even trying.
Ashley felt a pull around her navel, a pull that seemed to also draw Alexander with her. She felt as if she was on the edge of something momentous, maybe even a way to escape this place,but then her feet came to an abrupt halt as a voice rang out from beyond the maze. She stood there, as if the previous spell she’d been under had broken and now she was under a different spell, a crueler one.
