He held out his free hand to Ariadne.“We don’t want to get separated.”
She eyed his outstretched hand for a moment before she slid her fingers to clasp his.She had a surprisingly strong grip, her fingers calloused.
Why did his heart pound harder at the touch of her hand in his?As if her nearness did something to him inside.
As they strode down the tunnel, their footsteps echoed against the stones.The torch crackled and popped.
It was too silent.Perhaps it would be wiser to remain alert, but Theseus couldn’t help glancing back at Ariadne.“Can you tell me anything about this monster?”
“Not much.”Ariadne shrugged.“Are you worried?”
“Just wondering what I should be looking for.A giant snake.A basilisk.A cockatrice.A bad bowl of porridge.”Theseus peeked around a corner before he passed the tunnel branching to their left.
Ariadne gave a small snort of laughter.“Nothing as terrible as a bad bowl of porridge.I’ve heard the monster has horns.”
Horns.That would make this an interesting fight.Theseus wracked his memory, trying to come up with a list of monsters with horns.There were quite a few, though the fact that the monster had to be small enough to fit inside the labyrinth narrowed the list somewhat.Was it a giant bull?A horned snake?A chimera?
Theseus glanced over his shoulder again.“Tell me.What brought you to the Court of Swordmaidens?”
“I was born to a former swordmaiden, though I grew up in the Court of Sand.”Ariadne’s shrug tugged on his hand.She was looking back as she twisted her hand to let out another loop of the magical yarn from its ball.“I always knew I would come here eventually.”
“A former swordmaiden?”Theseus glanced around as they entered another intersection with seven branching tunnels.He kept going straight through to the center one.
Ariadne’s hand briefly stilled on the yarn before she twisted it to unloop another section of the magical thread.“There is no place on this island for a married swordmaiden since men are forbidden to live here.My mother had to leave when her hand was won by my father.”
Theseus halted so suddenly that Ariadne crashed into his back.He glanced over his shoulder at her, his mind churning.
If a married swordmaiden was forced to leave their Court, what would that mean for Queen Hippolyta if he won her hand?Was this a tradition of their Court that the married women had to leave, or was it merely a result of the tradition that men could not live on their island?
If it was the former, then his plan had been flawed from the beginning.Even if he won Hippolyta’s hand, she would lose her crown and her Court, and he would have a wife without any warriors to save the Great Library, unless the new queen felt enough fealty for her former queen to still aid them.
But if it was the latter, then he still had a chance.Thanks to the Grand Hall of Anywhere Doors, travel between the Court of Knowledge and the Court of Swordmaidens was as simple as stepping through a Door.Surely, if he married Queen Hippolyta, they could both remain rulers of their respective Courts with the Anywhere Door to connect them.It would, after all, be more an arranged marriage than one of love.
Still, the thought niggled, along with the gaps in Ariadne’s story.If she had been born to a former swordmaiden and presumably had trained from the moment she had been big enough to hold a sword, then why was she a servant?
By the way she wore the sword at her hip, she clearly had training.She moved with the confident grace of the warrior.He had always put that down to the fact that even the servants were highly trained here in this Court.Maybe she simply didn’t enjoy her training enough to wish to be a swordmaiden and was content to remain a servant.
Yet that didn’t fit with the fearless way she marched into this labyrinth at his side to face this monster.Nor with the fierce glimmer he caught in her eyes before she could hide it.
He shook himself, forcing the thoughts to the back of his mind.They were traipsing through a dangerous labyrinth searching for a monster to kill, after all.They had more important things to worry about right then.
“What about you?How did you become such a young king?”Ariadne flicked a glance at him before she turned her attention back to the ball of yarn.
In front of them, the passageway shuddered, then turned into three passageways instead of a single opening.
Once again he marched down the center tunnel as he tried to think of a way to answer.“My parents were killed in a monster attack.The monsters have been getting worse each Midsummer, and the Court of Knowledge can no longer handle them on our own.We aren’t a Court of warriors.”
“Thus your desperation to marry Queen Hippolyta.”Ariadne’s voice remained neutral, not giving away her thoughts on the matter.
Theseus was here to win Queen Hippolyta’s hand.Then why did Ariadne’s hand feel so right in his?Why was it so easy to talk with her?
“I need to save my Court from more death and suffering.”Theseus couldn’t help but clasp her hand tighter, even knowing he would soon be forced to let her go.“This Midsummer Night looks to be the worst we’ve seen in a long, long time.My Court and the Great Library won’t survive without help.”
“I am sorry.”Ariadne’s voice was soft, carrying a trace of pain as if she understood the depth of love for a Court that would cause him to sacrifice himself to save it.
He opened his mouth, but a distant sound drifted from the darkness of the tunnel ahead of them.
He halted, and this time Ariadne stopped when he did.She tensed, her stance shifting to that of a warrior prepared to do battle.
