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And what would be the point of having a partner famous for his physical prowess if she didn’t give him a chance to show off? Scooping out the hoarded acorns with a quick shimmy and rearrangement of her bosom, she presented them to Gerard with a cheerful grin and wink, ready to be entertained.

For a long moment, he did nothing but study the offerings on her palm in the growing darkness, his face tightening as if in pain. Finally, he took a deep breath—which did astonishing things to his broad chest, she couldn’t help but note—and took the acorns from her, his rough fingertips brushing lightly against her palm.

Goddess help me. Lorelei bit down hard on her lower lip and stepped out of his way, giving him space to throw.

It wasn’t a retreat.

He tossed the first acorn to the left, into that impermeable blackness. Lorelei held her breath as she listened for its landing.

No sound emerged. After a long moment, they traded a glance and then turned to face the right-hand path. Gerard tossed the second acorn in a smooth, underarm swing …

And a roar of rage sounded from that second darkness, emerging from the beast who’d hidden there.

They moved in tandem, with no need for any signals. Lorelei lunged down the left-hand path with Gerard close behind. This path was broad enough for them to run side by side, but as pitch blackness fell over them, Lorelei took the lead without question, her senses sharper than those of any full human. She could feel the tall hedges growing on each side, knew where to turn and when to stop before she ran into a sudden green, growing barrier that screamed, to her heightened awareness, a warning of poison. She grabbed Gerard’s hand just in time to hold him back, and his fingers closed firmly around hers as he let her lead him away from the waiting danger.

In the distance, through the darkness, Lorelei could hear more noises now—the unmistakable sounds of fumbling movement. Were their competitors lost along with them in this maze? The others must have found their way here from their own separate sections of the shared trial—which meant that whoever found the maze’s center first would win the entire challenge.

Lorelei felt Gerard’s fingers tighten around hers with the same realization—and determination—and she bit back a laugh of intoxicated delight. Did anyone else really imagine they could beat Balravia’s Fae Queen and the Empire’s Golden Beacon, working together at long last?

Keeping his hand safely in hers, she nearly flew down the next path, light and free in the utter darkness. She did still belong here after all! Princess or not, this land was still hers, she could feel it in her bones …

And then bright moonlight splashed, sudden and unwelcome, over them both as they arrived at a final turning with six different branching paths.

Six paths? Really?

Blinking and dazed by moonlight, she turned in place to study their options. All of them were identical to her vision and to every other sense—and above them, that same damnably mismatched jumble of stars embroidered the sky once again, like a taunt meant to puncture all her confidence.

Every other fae competitor would be able to use those stars for orientation. But Lorelei …

Gritting her teeth, she turned her attention to the ground beneath their feet, now visible in the moonlight. It was covered only by soft grass, and there were no acorns left in her bodice to be tossed down any of those paths.

She lifted her gaze to Gerard and found him waiting expectantly for her direction.

Oh, goddess. He finally, actually trusted her, for the first time since they’d met. But she …

Lorelei swallowed a groan as light footsteps sounded behind them, closing in far too quickly. It was an awful, telltale sign of weakness, but she couldn’t help flicking a quick glance at the two fae archers who tumbled into place beside them in the broad mouth of the branching paths. These two had emerged, somehow, from a different direction than Lorelei and Gerard had used, but they both stumbled to a halt just as she had, blinking and dazzled by moonlight, staring out at the stars spread above them …

And she recognized the expression that flickered across their faces:

Confusion. The others didn’t recognize this night sky either!

She could have wept or danced with the intensity of her relief—but no, she hadn’t time for celebration. She was here to win, and in that moment, she knew she could, no matter how badly her own self-doubt had slowed her progress.

If this wasn’t the same sky she’d once known, then she hadn’t forgotten anything after all, no matter what Oberon had made her fear. But if this particular skyscape had been laid out for the trial, then there must be a guiding purpose behind it.

Half-slitting her eyes, she let her searching gaze pass once again over that jumbled mass of stars. If she set aside everything she’d once known about their positions in the sky and focused only on their shapes, then—yes!

She did know those constellations, even now, when they’d been jumbled up into a wildly unfamiliar order. She knew their stories, too. Murmured into her hair as a child, they had never left her—and there, sitting neatly above the fourth branching path, three constellations were lined up like an arrow pointing downwards:

The Older Sister, Sylvana beckoning Her people home.

The Key, unlocking every secret.

And the Crown, ready to reward victory.

She leapt forward without a second thought.

This time, Gerard didn’t follow her onto the path.