Beast in Shining Armor (6 page)

We had
kind of a sick joke down at the station that Avenant didn’t have an enemy in
the world.

…At least
not for long.

Testimony
of Morgana Le Fey, Sheriff of the Northlands-
The People of the Northlands
v. Prince Avenant

Belle
gazed around the icy interior of the labyrinth and let out a long breath.  Enough
light filtered through the ice that she could see around her.  It looked like
temple, with massive columns supporting an arched roof.  It was warmer inside
than it had been out, but the scale of the place creeped her out.  She felt
very small in the vast space; every sound she made magnified and judged by
whatever ancient beings still dwelled here.

No
one else was in sight, which didn’t surprise Belle considering she and Avenant
were the last two people to enter the maze.  It was only the first room and
already six hallways went in six different directions, each one as long and
frosty as the next.  They all looked identical, with ominous symbols carved
above each doorway.

Basically,
she had no idea which way to choose, she was tethered to her mortal enemy, and
she was currently tied for last place.  All in all, this contest could be
starting off
a lot
better.

She
looked up at Avenant and decided to be decisive.  “I’m going left.”  She
informed him.  Given his normal spirit of cooperation and the challenge in her
tone, Belle expected him to instantly tell her that he was headed right.

Instead,
he just shrugged.  “Fine.”  He checked his gold watch.  “Let’s just get this
over with, so I can go home.  I have important things to do today.”

“Hitting
puppies with rocks or evicting the elderly?”

“Repopulating
my dungeon.  I’ll probably have to expand it, too, given how many uppity
peasants will need cells there.”

“I
got rid of the dungeon, when I took over the Northlands.  It was an archaic pit
of torture and sadness.  We painted it yellow and now we use it as a daycare
center for the children of the palace staff.  We have a swing set and
everything.”  She shot him a meaningful glare.  “Not all of us get our kicks
out of firing Mother Goose.”

“That
children’s show was annoying.  All they did was sing.  Badly.  I was right to
cancel it.”

“Well,
when I get control of the kingdom again, I’m putting it back on the air.  It
promotes early reading skills.”

“You’re
so fucking soft.”  He muttered.  “It’s a miracle you weren’t killed off long
ago.”

“Well,
I’m sure it’s on your ‘to do’ list.”  Belle started down the left hallway, trying
to act more confident than she felt.  She was silent for a beat, but curiosity
overcame her.  “So what did Scarlett mean when she said she’d gotten help for
you?  Did she send someone else in here to lend a hand?”

“I
have no idea.”  He gave a nonchalant shrug.  “If she did, she shouldn’t have
bothered.  I can do this just fine on my own.”

“You
really think you’re going to just stroll in, find Excalibur, and be done with the
whole contest in a couple of hours, huh?”

“That’s
my plan.”

“That’s
a
terrible
plan.”  She waved a hand around them.  “Look where we are.” 
Already, new corridors were jutting off and twisting into infinity.  They could
literally spend months exploring them all.  “Obviously, this is going to take a
while to figure out.”

He
scoffed at that idea, because he truly was the most arrogant man ever born. 
“There has to be a trick to it.  We just need to discover what it is and we’ll
be fine.”

It
annoyed her whenever she had to agree with him.  “I know.  And I researched
this labyrinth, with that idea in mind.”  Belle nodded.  “You’re right.  It was
built by your grandmother’s great-great-great grandfather, but Prince Adam
wasn’t a drunken lunatic.  He was actually a very impressive man.  Intelligent,
inventive, kind to his people…”  She glanced at Avenant.  “I can only imagine
his genes are recessive.”

“I
hope so, given he was a drunken lunatic.”

“No,
he wasn’t.  I’m telling you.  I found his dairy in the royal library and it was
filled with so many amazing ideas.  Way more interesting than the writings of
your other relatives.”

“No
one’s ever read those ponderous journals.”  Avenant peered off down a random
hall, trying to see the end.  “Dear God.  I can’t imagine anything duller.  They
weren’t even
written
to be read.  They were written to sit on shelves
and look important.”

“
I
read them.  As soon as I took over the Northlands, I studied everything I could
on how to rule a kingdom.  I wanted to do a good job.”

“And
so you turned to
my
relatives for tips?”  He rolled his eyes.  “You poor
girl.”

“Adam
was a brilliant man.”  Belle insisted.

Avenant
grunted.  “I’m feeling far less charitable towards the drunken lunatic.  Especially
since I’m standing in the middle of his ridiculous mousetrap.”  Avenant ran a
finger over the blocks of ice that made up the wall.

Belle
was beginning to rethink the idea that the ice was filtering daylight and
causing the eerie illumination.  The walls themselves seemed to glow.

“You
know, if you really wanted to help the Northlands, you should’ve had this
stupid maze closed down and left my dungeon alone.”  Avenant told her.

“I
never even thought about the labyrinth before our court hearing.”  Belle had
been focused on the parts of the Northlands with the actual people in them. 
She hadn’t paid any attention to some relic tucked away in the farthest corner
of the kingdom.  No one ventured up here unless they were stupid or desperate. 
“I don’t think anyone remembered it existed, at all.  Except you.”  She shot
him a suspicious frown.  “How did you come up with the idea of a contest of
valor right off the top of your head, anyway?”  Even her lawyer needed to look
up what it meant.

“When
you’re an
actual
ruler and not a usurper, you intuitively know things.”

“I
intuitively know you’re lying.”

“You’ve
always been a bitter person.”  He said sadly.  “You should try to let go of the
past and focus on your future.  You have so little of it left.  It only seems
smart to make the most of the scant days that remain before your execution.”

Belle
stopped walking and turned to pin him with a serious look.  “If we’re going to
be stuck with each other for a while, do you think you could stop sniping?  Do
you think you could
attempt
to make this partnership work?”

“Can
you?”

Belle
sighed.  “I’ll try not to kill you if you try not to kill me.  Deal?”

He
considered that.  “Give me a reason.”

“Simple. 
Unlike you, I didn’t just leave Adam’s journal sitting on its dusty shelf.  I
brought it along with me, because it has instructions on how to solve this
maze.”  She dug the journal out of her coat pocket and held it up.  All life’s
answers could be found in books.  Belle believed that completely.  “If you’re
civil, I’ll share what I’ve figured out so far.”

Avenant
stared at her.  “That’s a good reason.”  He allowed.

“I
thought you’d see it my way.”  Belle flipped to the section she’d marked.  “Now,
I read it all over and it seems like it’s in a code.  Like riddles only… not.”

“Coded
not-riddles written by a drunken lunatic.”  Avenant sighed.  “I’m suddenly
remembering why I hated those tedious stories my mother used to tell about my
tedious ancestors.  I should just turn everyone into an ice cube and win the
contest by process of elimination.”

Belle
ignored that.  “The journal talks about how the labyrinth was built as a test
for princes.  Solving it is supposed to prove their worth.”

“Uh-huh.” 
He checked his watch again.

“It
has three different parts to it, all of them needing different skills.  We’re
on the ice level.  It’s designed to test the first quality that every prince
needs.”

“Money?”

“No.” 
She held up the page so he could see.  “It says it ‘A prince must burn through
an icy heart and help those around him.  By focusing beyond his own selfish
desires, he shows he is worthy of victory.’”

He
leaned closer to her.  “Which means what exactly?  Aside from the fact that
Adam had real potential as a fortune cookie author.”

Belle
tried very hard not to notice his perfect profile.  When she was this close to
Avenant, it was hard to breathe.  It just wasn’t fair that he was so
attractive, considering his true nature.  You should be able to look at him and
see
he was a beast.  His handsomeness was false advertising.

She
swallowed hard.  “I think it means I need be helpful if I’m going to find the
sword.”

“Helpful?” 
Avenant repeated skeptically.  “Helpfulness is
not
a princely quality. 
Trust me.  I’ve been one all my life and I’ve never helped anyone.”

“Which
is why I deposed you, remember?”  She snapped the journal closed and arched a
brow.  “Maybe Adam expects better from the Northlands’ true ruler.  Which is
what I plan to give him.”

“
I
am the true ruler of the Northlands.”  He snarled.  “And now is probably not
the best time to discuss how you stole my crown.  We’re trying to not to kill
each other, remember?”

“I
didn’t steal anything. 
You’re
the one who stole.  The royal treasury
was ransacked, Avenant.  It took me months to get enough gold together to pay
the workers.  Did you even think about them?”

He
glowered down at her.  “Even with just the two of here, you still can’t admit…?”

An
agonized scream cut through their bickering.  The horrible sound echoed off the
hard walls, coming from a dozen directions at once.  It was impossible to know
who’d made it, but there was no mistaking the fact that somebody had just died
in a lot of pain.

Belle
glanced up at Avenant, her heart hammering.  “I think it was ahead of us.”  She
whispered.

He
nodded.  The hallway forked off in two new directions about ten yards ahead. 
Both corridors glowed with the same otherworldly blue light.  Avenant chose the
one on the right and crouched down to examine the floor.  His fingers brushed
against the icy surface.  “Someone came this way.  They disrupted the frost.” 
He stood up and brushed his hands together, heading back to her.  “I don’t
think that path leads to anything good.  Shall we try left?”

Belle’s
lips parted as she suddenly realized why he’d taken his time before entering
the maze.  “You let the others go first so they’d trigger any traps.”  She
gasped.  “So they’d warn you which way
not
to go.”

“If
they’re going to be here, they might as well fulfill Grandpa Adam’s wishes and
be helpful.”

“You
are un
believable!
”

“I
know.”  He nodded.  “Wait until you see me naked.”

Belle
made an aggravated sound.  “I can’t believe I tried to work with you.”  She unfastened
the string connecting them and marched down the corridor to the right, towards
the source of the sound.

Avenant
swore.  “Where are going?”

“I’m
going to see if I can help whoever was hurt, you ass.”

“Why?” 
He actually sounded confused.

“
Why?
”

“Why
would you want to help someone who’s out to steal your crown?”

“Because
I’m not a beast!”  She shouted.  “Look, you do whatever you want.  I’m going
this way.”

He
cursed and stalked after her.  “This is a waste of time.  Whoever screamed is already
dead.  You know that, Belle.  You heard it.”

“I
need to be sure.”

“Goddamn
it.”  Avenant caught up with her.  “You drive me insane.  Do
not
take
this off.”  He clipped the cord onto her belt again, reconnecting them.  “I’ll
go first.”  He maneuvered his way ahead of her.  “The last thing I need is for you
to go down here and end up dead.”

“As
if you’d care.”

“You
have that stupid journal with the instructions, remember?  I need you to find
the sword and the sword to get my throne.”

Well,
that didn’t make any sense.  Avenant topped her by a foot and could freeze her
solid with a wave of his hand.  If he wanted the journal, he could just take
it.  Hell, it had been written by his ancestor and she’d tracked it down in the
royal library, so it was sort of his, anyway.  Belle frowned up at him, trying
to figure out his game.  She was used to spotting Avenant’s tricks and angles,
but this time there didn’t seem to be any obvious benefit to his actions.

That
made her nervous, because he was suddenly harder to predict.

“You’ve
been different since you came back from that prison.”  Belle wasn’t sure why
she said it, but the words just sort of came out.  “You seem so… different.”