A brunette kneels and unwraps the sheet, revealing a pretty face similar to the blonde. She puts her fingers to her neck and nods. “She’s alive.”
Oh good, because for a tempo I was starting to believe I’d been an accomplice in two murders this sundown. Now that it’s none, or perhaps one, I feel so much better.
“So we have a deal?” Hart snaps.
The blonde’s scowl deepens. “We do. You’ll have your damsel.”
Damsel? I glance around the three men. That makes them the knights. Two of the females pick up the unconscious woman from the floor and begin retreating into the maze in the opposite direction of our arrival. They make body hauling seem effortless. Is it a specific technique or are these females descended from a giant? The blonde’s eyes settle on me. “Aren’t you one of Charming’s maidens of the diurnal?”
“Technically, I’m the sister of the maiden.”
Her lip curls, disgusted with Charming like the rest of us. “A word of advice from one female to another?”
I shrug. “Sure.”
Her gaze darts around the Stirling brothers. “Don’t trade a snake in your bed for a serpent.” She spins on her foot and trails after her girl gang.
“Did she just suggest you guys are serpents? Because I’m certain you are the knights of King Arthur’s realm,” I question as I follow them into the maze.
“You figured it out. Ignore Letty. She’s swallowed bitter fruit and is salty about our rejection,” Theo says from behind me. They have me inside their little circle as we walk, protecting me from the monster bushes that jump out at unsuspecting maidens.
“You and her were together?”
Theo chuckles. “Not in a million annus would I touch that poisonous witch.”
“She’s a witch? She was free of boils and green skin.”
“No, she’s not a witch,” Hart answers. “It’s just an expression.”
“Well, it’s a silly one. She is not plagued with witch problems nor power.”
I hate it when people don't speak plainly. It’s difficult enough to make sense of the realm without people spouting off misguided remarks. We silently navigate the rest of the maze, which I’m thankful for as it’s hard enough walking with these heels, which are starting to burn my calves.
“Who is the unconscious girl?” I ask.
Malachi opens his mouth and Hart slaps his hand over it. “The less she knows, the better.”
I huff out a breath. “Who am I going to tell? Gwyneth is my one friend, and she already saw you.”
“Whatever you think you saw, you didn’t.”
“I did, otherwise we wouldn’t be sneaking around the gardens, carting bodies about and delivering them to secret meetings.”
Hart stalks forward, overtaking me and Malachi. The entrance to the palace comes into view and I let out a breath. I survived the maze with the Stirling brothers. Serpents, she had said. More like puppies. I’m a strong, independent—bunkum poop. I trip over the step leading inside the glass doors, my hands flailing and catching a lit torch. It smashes into the glass door. The shards dance across the ground, glittering in the moonlight. The torch lands just inside the palace doors, igniting the bottom of a curtain. Strong arms catch me around my waist and my back slams into the mountain of a male behind me.
“Quick, get a bucket from the fountain,” Theo snaps against my ear.
Malachi runs away. I’d run too if I were with me, which I am—from me, I mean. But you can’t run from yourself.
Hart snaps his fingers in front of my face. “Anyone in there?” he asks. “I think we broke her.”
“No one broke me,” I snap. “I was just contemplating how to run from myself.”
He shakes his head, and the thick smoky smell of the blaze fills the surrounding air. I cannot be the maiden who will be remembered for causing the Hallows Palace to be reduced to a pile of charred rubble.
Malachi returns with two giant buckets in his hands. He gives one to Hart and they douse the fire, leaving a steaming mess behind. But nobody died, so I count that as a good diurnal. Unless Charming didn’t recover and he’s dead.
“Come on, pretty mouse, let’s get you to your chambers before you cause any more disasters,” Theo mutters, pushing me into the palace.
