Page 64 of A Fable of Riddles and Redemption

Terror washed over her anew, knowing he was right: Herrick absolutely would kill Caliban in her defense—and do it gladly.

Well, perhaps not gladly, but certainly without hesitation.

Focusing her thoughts back on the matter at hand, she demanded, “Let me out, Caliban.”

“Ah, yes, you wish to see the show? You have no window there, so you’ll have to join me here. It will be like going to the theatre!”

The scrape of a key in a lock sounded moments before the door opened. Caliban stood in the doorway, grinning maniacally. “Shall we, my dear? Your guard has yet to awaken. Thanks to your little trick with the numbers marring my mirrors, I had to increase his sleep until I wiped them away—but it will be oh so delightful to watch when he wakes and discovers where he is.”

Caliban then bowed and motioned toward the mirror just outside the room, the first one she’d seen when she’d walked down the hallway before.

How long ago had it been since then? Hours? Days?

Every drop of blood drained from Zorina’s face the moment she looked into the mirror. Instead of her own reflection, she saw Herrick and Anala lying helplessly on the ground inside a dodecagon-shaped mirror room. They were trapped and unconscious inside the very maze she had barely escaped from.

As much as she wanted to step as far away from Caliban as possible, she could not look away from the sight of Herrick and Anala locked in the labyrinth.

“Shall we wake them?” Caliban asked, his lips against her ear in what felt and sounded like a gleeful grin.

Zorina shuddered. “Let them go. Let all of us go.”

He pressed closer to her as he whispered, “Never. Treason must be punished, yes?”

Steeling herself for what she was going to say next, Zorina stood as straight and tall as she could at her diminutive height. “Then keep me and set them free.”

Caliban laughed. “Oh, you would sacrifice yourself for them? How amusing. But no. The huntsman deserves to die. If he can find his way out, then perhaps I’ll let him live. But only then.”

“That doesn’t sound too hard,” she said brazenly. “After all, I was able to do it…”

“Ah, yes, but the maze was asleep then.”

Zorina blinked, whirling to face him. “What do you mean by that?”

An unhinged grin spread across his face. “Just what I said. You escaped through a sleeping maze, but he will be trapped in a living labyrinth.”

“How?” she asked, swallowing the thick lump in her throat.

“Watch and see,” he said, turning her back to look through the mirror window. “These mirrors are enchanted to follow wherever the subject goes, so I can always enjoy the view. Quite clever, is it not?”

“If by clever you mean evil and depraved, sure,” she muttered as her gaze landed on Herrick and Anala once more. Were they in the room just beyond this wall or somewhere else in this miserable maze?

Caliban laughed again and lifted his flute. “Shall I wake the labyrinth?”

Zorina shook her head, but still he placed the instrument against his lips and began to play. Suddenly, light filled the mirrored chamber, blindingly bouncing off the reflective walls.

The song trailed to an end and Caliban tucked his flute away. “There. The maze is now awake. All of my traps and monsters have been released.”

She swung her head toward him with bulging eyes. “Traps? Monsters? There’s more than just the puzzle of the mirrors themselves?” Panic for Herrick and Anala’s safety overwhelmed her.

“Oh, much, much more! See, my love? This will be fun!”

Fun. He thought tormenting a man and a hapless red panda was fun.

The masked piper, the Maestro, Caliban—whatever name he chose to go by—was deranged.

“Turn it off,” she begged. “Make it dormant again. Let them go. Do what you wish with me, but do not harm them.”

Caliban laughed again. “Oh, I will do what I wish—we will marry once they’re dead. But I need him conveniently out of the way first. Can’t have my wife pining after another man now, can I?”