Page 52 of Of Monsters and Mazes

“Is… is that a vibrator?” She scrunched her little nose, and I pursed my lips. “And a box cutter?”

Both objects were secured behind enclosed glass that would open when selected via an open palm on the panel. The game was painfully simple, and was about to be simply painful.

A box of pleasure. A box of pain. It’s only a woman’s tears that will clear the way. Completing the task will reveal the way forward. Failure will send you back.

Interesting phrasing. I knew what Theron would pick. I wasn’t sure about her. Though with her rapid healing, the box cutter was less likely to leave a lasting impression, whereas the toy could keep her on her knees for hours. The wiser decision in a place like this was always the instrument of simple and unchallenging pain. Where violence was pure and honest, sex was a tool of power, manipulation, and humiliation. The possibilities were much more endless and drawn out with a vibrator.

“That sounds easy enough.” She said with a feigned laugh. Her big blue eyes darted back and forth between the two choices, and I suspected she was about to pick wrong based on her perception of safety over logic. Which was fine, I suppose. I shouldn’t be so protective. She could learn this all the hard way. That would be more entertaining, so I should prefer that.

“Take a moment to imagine how each tool might be used, then take a moment to think of something worse than that.” I attempted to get her mind moving in the right direction. Sela looked at me, then she looked at the boxes again. “But also consider that you heal very quickly, so if you just need to hurt yourself to the point of tears, the blade may actually be a quicker and less daunting task—” I cut myself off when she, completely oblivious and disinterested in my insight, went straight for the sex toy. She placed her palm on the glass before I could get a word in, and the box cutter’s cubby slammed shut, while the vibrator’s glass disintegrated.

“Are you serious?” I asked with two raised brows.

“Are you? Who the hell would pick a challenge based around a box cutter over a vibrator? There is literally nothing pleasant that can come from a razor blade. I’ve had plenty of good times with one of these though.” She said that with a straight face, and I was genuinely impressed by her shamelessness. Still not a smart choice, since the obviously safer option is never the right one, but at least she was committed to her mistakes.

“Did you forget about the part where ‘a woman’s tears will clear the way’?”

“There are lots of ways to bring a woman to tears, you know.” She whispered quietly through reddened cheeks. I don’t think she’d intended to say that part out loud.

“Do you cry when you come?” I had to ask. I’d never seen such a thing, but now I very much wanted to.

“I-I mean…” The fidgeting answered that question loud and clear. “It’s a release of tension. It’s normal.” Sela avoided all eye contact. “I can’t seem to filter my inside thoughts and my outside thoughts right now.”

I fought the urge to laugh at her confused mix of candid and embarrassed, but I managed to keep myself in check. What an interesting creature this human was.

“Probably a result of the relaxant. That might linger a while.” I shook my head to get back on track. “But that’s not the point. The point is that nothing is as simple as it seems here. You don’t know anything about Rai and Jericho, do you?” I sighed, ready to use this as a teaching moment.

“What does that have to do with the maze’s challenges?” She fiddled with the vibrator, pressing one of two buttons that allowed her to flip around to different modes. One was a steady vibration, low and slow, one was fast and powerful, one was even pulses, another was varied bursts at different tempos. She nodding her head as she located what I assumed were her favorites, settling on something with a deeper hum rather than a high pitched buzz. She held it there for a few moments, looking at it like she was reminiscing fondly, then flipped it off.

“It has to do with the fact that Rai is the maze, and Jericho controls Rai. These challenges will all be based on Jericho’s voyeuristic tendencies mixed with Rai’s sadistic needs, and you don’t want to be in a position to amuse either one of them.”

“And you think a box cutter would have been a safer option?” Her doubtful tone almost made me feel like she had a point.

“Ordinarily no, but you heal from everything in four seconds. So in this singular instance: yes.” I knitted my brows involuntarily.

“It still hurts though.” She frowned, while staring at the toy in her hand, no longer making eye contact. “I don’t know what you’re so afraid of. What’s the worst that could possibly happen with this?”

“Are you comfortable masturbating for an audience?” Seriously, woman.

“Well, no, but…” The redness in her cheeks spread to the rest of her face, and she continued staring at her choice. “This is the kind of toy you hide discreetly in your clothing. So I don’t think I have to do anything like that. I’m sure whatever the challenge is, it’ll be somewhat subtle.”

I couldn’t help the rapid blinking. “You seem curiously familiar with this.”

“W-well, I’ve been single for a long time.” She started, then she covered her mouth with her fist and fake choked on nothing. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”

Because you’re under the influence of a devil’s serum, my dear. I did my best to hide my own amusement. “And being single means you like to use discreet sex toys?”

On fire. Her whole face was on fire, her neck was on fire—every visible inch of her skin was bright red. She was adorably bashful around the subject, in such extreme contrast to her brief former confidence. Though her normal reactions were likely heavily amplified by the drug. “S-sometimes. I mean, I read about it in a book once, and it was something I could play with safely on my own.” She covered her mouth with her hand again, and squeezed the vibrator in her closed fist like she wanted to hide it. She was so distressed by her own mind. “It was better for me to be seen as a sexless prude by the people around me. Anything else just gave people reason to accuse me of sleeping my way to the top.” She muttered more quietly. “I still had needs.” Her continued justifications were curious in their lack of necessity, but they were unexpectedly charming.

I was starting to understand what Theron liked about her. The contrast of tough and vulnerable and trying way too hard to put on a good front was just like him. Those were my favorite qualities in a person. I ran my palm along my jaw to cover my smile. Maybe I was admitting a few too many truths to myself right now, too.

To survive the Labyrinth, a tribute cannot buckle under pain. But to move on, a tribute must buckle under pleasure.

“Oh wow, I’m definitely wishing I picked the box cutter right now, so I could have the opportunity to ‘not buckle under pain.’” She said in a way that was clearly trying to change the subject. She rolled her obnoxious blue eyes in my general direction. Her attempt at appearing cocky was marred by the flushed hue to her skin.

“The timer hasn’t started yet, so try to keep your gloating for after the full instructions have been issued, please.” I rolled my equally obnoxious eyes back at her.

A tribute is but a toy for the gods, and only a god may choose the game. When the king’s doll is put to the test by another, only then will the passage open.