Malice Maze

Chapter 2

Melody’s Crown



“This is my youngest daughter, Melody,” King Mathias told the Enchanter who stood at the mouth of the cave. “I want to make sure that you remember our bargain.”



The Enchanter looked upon young Melody, a haughty girl, a princess that was raised to be superior to all others in every possible way. She was not too tall, not too short, she was round, but not overweight, she was soft, though her cheekbones were hard, she was beautiful and striking, yet innocent and kind, she had silver hair the color of moonlight and eyes the color of the sun, her lips were as red as the rose and her cheeks as pink as a young begonia. She was perfection and raised to win the hearts of men and this game had her losing something very precious that many men had coveted. The Enchanter would remember his bargain, for the bargain meant a great deal to him.



“I will do all I can for the princess,” the Enchanter promised. Melody yawned. “Why did you choose your youngest? She is but sixteen.”



King Mathias cleared his throat, thinking of his other seven daughters, equally beautiful, equally trained, and all deflowered before their sixteenth birthdays. He had been bargaining to keep Melody a virgin longer but it seemed the fates were unkind to him. It was either this or give up his kingdom to King Dralnu. Mathias could not give up his kingdom so easily, his daughter was a small sacrifice to pay.



“She is the only virgin among my daughter,” Mathias admitted.



The Enchanter kept his straight handsome face and looked into the cave, closing midnight blue eyes and waiting for the surface of the vision to come to him. When he finished her turned to Melody and looked at her superior face. “You must go to the left as soon as you walk through the cave. Do not allow the girls to distract you with words of staying together, if they stay with you the maze changes. By yourself, going left is your best option. Just keep turning left. Go through no doors. If you keep turning left you will never come to a dead end.”



“So… it changes with other people?” Melody asked snidely.



“Yes,” the Enchanter said flatly. It was the only way to deal with young women like Melody. Well, there were many ways to deal with young women like Melody, but in this situation a flat answer was best. He could not actually spank her, no matter how much he longed to run his hand up that long flowing skirt and grab a piece of the perfect ass.



“Father, I do not know why you are forcing me to do this.” Melody flipped her hair over her shoulder and glared at her father. She did not understand what was truly happening to her, or what the incriminations were down in the maze. The only thing she truly understood was that she should be frightened; she was not. Nothing really frightened Melody. Even now she was being told the secrets on how to escape the maze that awaited her in the darkness of that cave in the morning. What was there to fear when the reaper was on her side?



“It is you or the kingdom, and I will not lose the kingdom, even for you Melody,” Mathias said with the resolve and backbone of thousands of years of men taking over territory. His ancestors had started with a sliver of land and now he had a large continent. He would not give it all up because of Melody’s precious virginity. Besides, what he loses because of her adventure down there, which would be nothing if she follows the Enchanter’s directions, he could gain plus some as long as he plays his cards right by Dralnu.



Melody pouted out her lower lip and huffed. “Daddy,” she moaned, resolving to use cuter names when needing her own way of things, “I think you should send Melanie instead of me.”



“First of all, your maid is not a virgin by any stretch of the imagination, and if you had paid attention at all you would have realized that the game calls for virgins only,” Mathias sighed. “Secondly, Melanie would never pass as my beautiful daughter; she is plain, at the very least.” He had other things he would love to say about Melanie but he would not harm his daughter’s ears with words she was not fit to know at such a ripe young and vulnerable age.



Melody huffed and glanced over at the Enchanter. “Just turn left?” she asked quietly, almost an inaudible whisper.



“Yes,” the Enchanter promised her.



Melody nodded and joined that nod with her self-righteous and self-loving smile. “This will be so easy Daddy, that you will have to give me a brand new silk dress when I return.”



Mathias smiled at his daughter, his eyes only full of greed. “If you make it through Melody without ever having to open a door I will buy you the entire store that makes those dresses and you will have hundreds instead.”



Melody clapped her hands excitedly and smiled happily while the Enchanter and Mathias plotted their next move.