Page 59 of A Fable of Riddles and Redemption

After taking a deep, steadying breath, she spoke again. “I understand that all too well. I, too, followed the orders of someone I shouldn’t have, but in my case, it was my own mother. She adamantly insisted that I try to catch a prince—a prince who didn’t want me.”

Herrick scoffed. “He’s an idiot. But I’m glad of it.”

Zorina let herself laugh at that. “I agree. I didn’t even want him—not really. But Mother wanted me to claim his crown and become queen. At first, I thought it was ordinary ambition, but as I became further embroiled in her scheme, I began to suspect there was more to it than that. However, the prince was not at all interested in me because he was already in love with a princess who looks astonishingly like me.”

Realization lit his eyes. “Princess Odette. And Prince Lander.” His eyes narrowed as he said the name, his next words nearly a growl. “I’ve met him. And yes, he is an idiot. But I’m relieved he was too stupid to claim you.”

She nodded while releasing a breath. “My real name—my old name—is Odile.”

“Odile,” he whispered.

Zorina shuddered at the sound of her former name on his lips. “Please don’t call me that. I changed it for a reason—multiple reasons, really.”

“I don’t blame you. If I were in your position, I would change my name, too. Yours too closely follows Odellian royalty naming conventions. Besides, Zorina suits you better.”

“Thank you. One of the main reasons I changed it was to hide from my mother. She’s imprisoned somewhere—as she should be—but she was in contact with at least one dark mage. A mage whose face I never saw beneath his black cloak.”

Herrick clenched his jaw. “Caliban?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I wondered, at first, but this mage had a different core magic color. Mine, as you saw, is dark pink. His was an eerie green crackled with the black, stolen magic. Caliban’s is light gray. Plus, their voices sound different—one deep and gravelly, and the other majestic and melodic. And that mage did not wear a mask.”

His eyes bored into hers as he asked, “Does Caliban know who you really are?”

Fear washed over her anew. “Yes…” she whispered, the word barely audible even to herself.

Herrick visibly stiffened. “He was looking for you. All along, you were who he’s been after. And now he’s found you.”

Zorina nodded several times in quick succession as the panic of that realization struck once more. “And I don’t know how to escape him.”

“What does he want with you?”

She shuddered again. “He wants to marry me. And convince me to embrace dark magic. I refused both.”

He scowled. “So he drained your magic.”

Wincing, she corrected him. “In part, but…I think he stole some even before that.”

Herrick held her gaze, his expression far more stark and determined than she had ever seen it. His voice came out with a bit of a growl. “How can I keep him away from you?” The protective glint in his eyes did more to soothe her wearied heart than anything else. In this moment, he was fully a gallant guard, and she his charge. But it was more than that. His eyes said he wanted far more than to protect her physically, but in every other possible way as well.

“I don’t know,” she whispered, her soul reaching out to his. “But I love you too, Herrick.”

He gently tugged her close again and kissed her. Zorina quickly lost herself as she kissed him back. Unlike her time trapped in the maze, this time, she did not mind being lost at all.

Chapter eighteen

Revenge

Caliban

Caliban watched the scene from his hiding spot behind the turret’s upper building with narrowed eyes. Seeing his Zorina in that guard’s arms made his blood boil. How dare another man touch her?

And worse…kiss her.

And she let him.

She even seemed to enjoy it.

When he’d discovered her missing, he’d immediately used his magical connection to her to track her down. A quick and simple portal brought him here—only to discover…this.