The Prince Heir didn't waste any time. "Have you made a decision?" he asked.
As they whirled across the dance floor, Ciardis asked coyly, "Have you, my Prince?"
"Have I what?"
Ciardis sighed; he was such a child. "What exactly are you asking for?" she said.
"I've spent some time researching the Algardis legends with an expert, and—"
"Which expert?" she interrupted.
"An older gentleman with a distinguished service record."
"A mage?" she said.
"Well, no, he works as a building architect," he admitted.
When she raised an eyebrow, he amended his statement, adding, “An architect of the summer palace for the Imperial children. But he knows quite a lot about Imperial history—his mother was the court librarian, and he says that to unlock my tie to the land, we have to convince the Land Wight to reinstate my connection to the land on the night of the winter solstice."
"That's tonight," Ciardis said faintly.
"I know," Sebastian said. For a few moments, his hands tightened on her waist, and his tone grew dark when he spoke again. "But this is my only chance. I can only gain access to the Land Wight in the Aether Realm once a year, otherwise we must take the chance that he will appear at a land ceremony which hasn’t happened in years."
Ciardis looked up at him and saw him as he was: a young man, on the cusp of adulthood, uncertain and determined at the same time. The rumors about him can’t be true. He obviously cares not just for himself but for the Empire as a whole.
Putting aside her doubts she said, "I have already sworn my aid, but we need a plan.”
"I have one. Meet me at the maze’s end three hours before dawn," he said.
She almost objected, but didn't quite know what to object to. He stopped their dance, and to Ciardis's surprise, Lord SaBarnaren cut in.
"My father wanted this conveyed to you personally," he said as dispassionately as possible, the frost in his eyes showing what he truly felt. "He bears you no ill will for your hesitation in the forest."
SaBaranen’s eyes were fascinating to look at—frost swirled around his eyelids and cold emanated from his touch. He wasn’t fighting to control the physical symptoms of his powers – allowing it to leak. It was deliberate slap in the face to Ciardis. Mages were not supposed to leak their gifts in any form without express reason.
He paused for a long moment, then said, "In fact, he considers your courage and tenacity to be ideal qualities for a strong Companion and future wife. He would be pleased to continue his candidacy as a prospective Patron." This last bit he spit out with all the rancor of someone who had eaten spoiled meat.
Ciardis smiled. "The general has my gratitude."
"I'm sure he does."
They drifted apart as the dance ended. Over the course of the evening, Ciardis partnered with a couple more young gentlemen, occasionally catching the eye of Serena or Damias, who would nod and smile to indicate that she was doing well. Just a little more dancing—a few more waltzes, she kept telling herself.
When the time came to enter the Maze of Mordair, she was relieved.
Every companion trainee left the ballroom when the clock struck eleven. As they left the ballroom and entered a hallway servants directed them to rooms set aside for them. In hers Ciardis found breeches, a tunic, a knapsack, a belt, and a hunting knife waiting for her on the bed, with her purple boots sitting on the floor.
She put everything on and shouldered the knapsack. She couldn't take her elaborately coiffed hair down without help, so she decided to leave it as it was.
As soon as she finished dressing, on the far wall a panel swung open. She heard a faint pop as she passed through the dark doorway—the same pop she'd felt when she'd gone through the portal way to the elk hunt. She felt uncertainly in the darkness around her and found sturdy walls to her left and right.
Unsure of where she was going but still pressing forward she strode ahead carefully, wary of steps or sudden dips. After a few minutes, which felt like hours in the dark, claustrophobic tunnel, Ciardis ran into a wall that was rough with the texture of dirt and the scraggly feel of roots. She began to panic, frantically feeling along its surface until she found a raised knob in the center. Hoping against hope, she turned it.
The door opened outward onto a well-lit grassy plain. Though it was quite dark, plenty of light shone down from the moon and the bevy of mage orbs floating overhead. Ah, so this was the Maze of Mordair! Tall, dark-green hedges towered above her on every side, denser than any she had ever seen before and three times the height of a tall man. She knew that she could not climb over or fight her way through the hedge walls. In front of her stood the opening to the maze.
As she moved forward into the open area, she heard what sounded like doors opening on either side of the one she had come out of. The other companion trainees stepped out of their own changing areas. They glanced at each other and began to assess the area. Once they had all come to the same conclusion—that there was nowhere to go and nothing to do—they gathered in the center open area.
Ciardis barely had time to acknowledge Terris with a grin and a nod before the sounds of swift wings beating in the night came close overheard.
A man descended out of the sky. He had a wingspan to rival that of the winged horses and the white hair and pale skin of the angelic Ansari race. He cupped his wings and landed in their midst.
“Please gather around,” he said. The companion trainees came forward to surround him in a half circle.
"Welcome, Kardin, Ciardis, Samantha, Terris, and Brandon, to the first night of your Patron Hunt. You have each been judged for your skills in the ballroom tonight, and it is now time to assess your ability to maneuver and think intelligently during the Hunt."
“Although some of us have already been partially assessed on that front,” he said with a lingering gaze on Ciardis.
Oh no...he can’t mean me! Ciardis thought with dread back on her problems with the blood hunt.
“And done quite well I might add,” he continued before he returned his attention back to the full group.
Well, that’s a relief...if he meant me
"The practicality of your abilities as well as your solutions to problems encountered in the maze will be noticed and weighed," he continued. "I will be flying a dedicated route above the maze along with two other Ansari. We will watch over you from the skies but will not interfere unless summoned. Your progress will also be carefully monitored by a panel of our distinguished patron guests and mentors who accompanied you to the villa."
"An orb awaits each of you at the end of the maze," he said. "Whoever reaches their orb first will receive the highest score. A range of points may be deducted depending on the length of time it takes you to reach the end and the way in which you confront your obstacles. Each orb is spelled to the color of your boots, so you will know which is yours.”
Ciardis quickly took a peek at the feet of the other companion trainees. She saw red, yellow, blue, and green boots – all with the same simple pattern woven into them. But only she wore purple boots.
Which means my orb will be purple.
“The boots also track your location in the maze. If you feel that you are in imminent danger, you may touch the boots with your hand to request an immediate rescue. But if you do so, you forfeit all points in this test." He looked up at them. "Is this understood?"
They nodded.
The Ansari stepped back, spread his wings and took off into the sky. As he hovered, he waved his hand at the maze opening, and a barrier protecting the entrance of the maze dissipated in front of them. "Begin!" he shouted.
They took off at a run and were immediately met with three paths. Dividing up they followed the path their instincts led them to. Ciardis was sure there was one other trainee behind her, but with all the twists and turns and openings in the maze, she soon lost track him.
As she rounded a corner in the maze, she came face to face with a pit viper the size of an elephant. Pale with fear, Ciardis backed away slowly. Only a fool wouldn’t have expected surprises in the maze, but a deadly serpent that could swallow her whole had not been on her list of possibilities.
She gulped and kept her eyes on it, waiting for it to slither forth and strike, but it didn't move a scaly muscle. It just kept its glaring red eyes trained on her. She'd backed up against the maze wall by this time, and began inching backward with the maze wall to her left. As soon as she hit the corner, she took off with her heart in her throat. She had no illusions that she could out distance the serpent, but saw no other choice.
While glancing over her shoulder for a hint of red eyes in the darkness behind her, she ran so fast in fright that she slammed into another person. They both crashed to the ground on opposite sides of the corridor, a glow orb tumbling to the ground beside the stranger. Groaning, they were both back on their feet in seconds. She recognized the gorgeous features of Brandon, one of the two male trainees in the Hunt.
"Run! We have to go back!" said Ciardis. "There's a giant serpent around the corner!"
"We can't," the boy said. “The wall shield at the front of the maze is back up – there’s no way back out – only through the maze."
Ciardis quickly jogged back toward the maze entrance to check for herself. Sure enough, there was no path back. She uttered a choice oath.
When she ran back to Brandon, she found that he'd extended the light of his orb a fair distance in front of them. She set her pack down and began rummaging in it. "What are you doing?" he asked, bringing the orb closer.
"Keep the light trained on the path ahead of us! We need the light there – at least we’ll see it coming. I can see in the pack well enough with the light I have."
He nodded and went back to watching for any sign of the serpent's eyes or scales glinting in the light. Meanwhile, Ciardis stared at the contents of her knapsack, which were now spread out on the ground before her. She had a rope, but no grappling hook; water, but no food; gold dust, but no coins; a sharp blade and what looked like a small, blank notebook. Brandon asked her what she’d found, and she rattled off the list of contents. After a quick check, he acknowledged the same contents in his own knapsack.
Ciardis was faintly irritated with the lack of usable goods, but decided to see if she could fashion a loop out of the rope. Maybe we could use it to get a grip on the top of the hedge and climb over. She tried it once, twice, but no luck. There was a barrier blocking the top of the hedge; it seemed that the organizers of the Patron Hunt didn't want any of the companion trainees climbing over it.
She stood up, pondering their next step. "I haven't seen any monsters, snakes or otherwise," Brandon said.
Ciardis eyed the path back towards the serpent uneasily. "Well, that serpent is there. Just around the bend."
Taking a deep breath, Brandon strode forward. She could see him turn two shades paler as he looked around the corner, and he hastily backed away from the corner where he presumably saw the serpent, and back towards her. "Yeah, it's there," he said.
"What was it doing?"
"Sitting on its coils with its head tucked at the top, ready to strike."
"In order to strike, it has to move at some point. That's the same position it was in when I was there. Hmm."
They looked at each other and then back at the corner. Together they approached the turn again; this time, they were prepared for the glittering red eyes. "It's not moving," he said. "Not at all."
"No, it hasn’t," she agreed. They walked out in full view of the serpent. It remained coiled, staring. Frowning, the boy held his orb higher and increased the burst of light. When the light hit the snake's eyes, they glittered with the brilliance of gemstones. Ciardis gasped in awe, "The eyes look like gemstones! Rubies maybe?"
"It's not real, then?"
"I don't think so," she said uncertainly.
Shouldering their packs, they walked forward, close to the maze's edge, as if that might somehow protect them. As they crept by the serpent statue, where there was about eight feet of space between the wall and its coils, they held their breath, hoping it wasn't a real snake in a stasis spell and especially hoping that it wouldn't suddenly come to life before their eyes.
They hit an invisible barrier of air on the serpent’s left side, and nearly soiled themselves when they couldn't get around. After some exploring on the other side, they determined that the serpent still wasn't moving, but neither could they get around it.
They looked at each other and back at the serpent. Ciardis decided that enough was enough. Too much time had passed trying to get around it. She walked straight up to the still serpent and look at it carefully.
“I don’t think it’s ever going to do anything,” she said over her should to Brandon. He moved forward to touch the green scales glowing in the moonlight. “It looks real but the scales are as hard as stones.”
“So it’s just a statute then?”
“Maybe,” he replied while looking for markings or writings to indicate it was an automaton – a machine imbued with magic which would give it lifelike qualities. It hadn’t moved once so maybe it was made out of stone – like a statue.
The boy squinted at the serpent's head. "Huh. I think there's something up there."
Some kind of slender, short pole was jutting out of the top of the statue's head.
“Yeah,” Ciardis agreed cautiously, “Think we can climb over then?”
“As long as the barrier doesn’t extend over its head,” he said.
"Alright then, I think if we tie both of our ropes together and lasso that pole, we can use it as an anchor point to climb up the statue," she said.
Seeing no other way forward, they went forward with the plan. Brandon turned out to be good with a lasso, catching the pole with the noose on his first try. They struggled up and over, and as they dropped down to the other side, a deadly hiss split the stillness of the night behind them.
They didn't bother collecting their ropes or turning around. Hearts in their throats, they ran.
Twenty steps past the serpent, just before they turned a corner, they hit another glimmering barrier. Ciardis stepped through first. When she turned around Brandon was gone and the barrier had turned opaque – she couldn’t see the path back from where she came.
But she wasn't alone, she soon realized. On this new side of the barrier sat an old crone with wrinkled skin, beady eyes, baggy clothes, and fey fluttering around her. Ciardis wrinkled her nose; she didn't smell very nice.
"Well, my daughter you have passed your first test,” the crone croaked, "You stood up to the serpent and faced your fear."
Ciardis gave her a smile. The ancient one cackled, "I know your thoughts, young one; I've read your fears. It's time to prove to yourself and to me that you're more than just a pretty face. Pretty faces we have plenty of; keen minds are harder to find."
Ciardis approached her cautiously, until she stood five steps from the old woman, just out of reach of her knotted cane. She did not want to get whacked with that stick; the wood looked strong enough to break bones with a single blow.
This woman could give the Old Mothers of the village who stayed in the common space day after day and harassed everyone who walked by, lessons in acidity. She curtsied and asked respectfully, "What would you like to know, then, Old Mother?"
The woman smiled at what she presumed was an honorific, revealing gruesome, decayed gums with five yellowed teeth haphazardly placed. Only Ciardis's training kept her from visibly flinching. "Let's play a game, then, shall we, my dear?"
Seeing no other choice, Ciardis nodded her head in reluctant acceptance.
"One is blue, the other is green, but only for a moment in the lakes unseen, changing colors and tails aglow, they hide in plain sight with the colors below. Tell me, young weathervane, what is it I've seen?" the crone crooned.
A riddle. Two forms, two bodies? No—two forms, same body. Because they have changing colors and tails that glow. But they live in lakes...and hide in plain sight?
She paced before the old crone, the woman's cackling hurting her ears. Ciardis looked up and grimaced; an hour had passed so far, and it was already midnight. Two hours until the contest ends, and three hours until I have to meet Sebastian at the maze's end, she thought glumly, and I can't even decipher this old lizard's riddle.
Something itched in the back of her mind as soon as she thought "lizard." With the colors below, she wondered, mystified. Below what? Below...the surface!
"That's it!" she said with a gleeful clap of her hands, turning back to face the seated woman. "A water salamander! They change colors to blend in and live in lakes."
A frown spread across the crone's face, but she grudgingly nodded, “You’ve solved my riddle and passed this portion of the Mordair maze.”
As Ciardis prepared to race off, the woman halted her.
"One more thing, young woman: you'll face two more challenges ahead. But I believe you have something in your bag that’s mine." she said.
"What would that be?” Ciardis asked.
The woman held out her hand and rubbed the tips of her fingers together in the universal sign for money. Ciardis couldn't believe her gall, but she supposed that that was what the gold dust was for.
As she raced off with her pack two items lighter, she heard the old crone's cackle echoing through the maze behind her.