Malice Maze

Chapter 6
Hope’s Hope

Queen Andais stood before the mouth of the cave with Hope before her, the two of equal height, the queen’s fingernails digging into Hope’s shoulders. If Hope had not known the queen better she would have thought that Andais was using her as a shield from the man who stood at the mouth of the cave, and what a man. She understood so far his name was King Dralnu, and even Andais, a lover of women, someone who refused to ever lay with a man, had given him a glimpse as if he were chocolate and she had not tasted that delicious flavor in over one hundred years. He was dark hair and dark eyes, he was built to perfection, every angle perfect, and even though he seemed casual and not excited to see the many scantily clad women before him, Hope could see the bulge of a promise to be quite… good?

Hope looked at the four other women, all dressed in similar clothing to Hope’s blue shift. Hope’s was the shortest, showing off her skinny thighs and covering her very modest breasts so that not even a bit of the little curve she had showed through. Another girl she had learned to be Melody, Princess of the North-Eastern Region of Char looked as haughty as the rumors said she was. She was dressed in a soft silver chitan that hung to her ankles and remained tight around her bust, which was almost perfect in size. Her silver hair blended with the silk chords of her dress, though her eyes shone a bright gold, the same shade of Hope’s own eyes. It was the only similarity between the two. Melody stood with a man that had only been addressed as The Enchanter, and what little Hope could see of him she knew him to be a handsome man, but he was dressed in a black cloak that covered all but a bit of his face.

Lord Rivalen, a manor lord who lived on the southern most tip of the country of Diciden, as far away from the castle of King Nicholas he could go without leaving the country and entering the freezing mountain terrains beyond, stood with a woman who looked awkward in the black silk, though she seemed to be comfortable in the black boots that clung to her feet. She was lovely, her lips pursed, her head bent down so that long black bangs covered pale brown eyes. Her body was long and athletic, and even her breasts were slightly larger than Hope’s, which Hope loathed about her, but she liked the girl, Roxy. Something about Roxy’s obvious embarrassment to the situation gave Hope some hope for the day.

Ilona and Nanaia could have been carbon copies colored slightly different. Ilona had pale skin, auburn hair, and sapphire eyes, Nanaia was ruby-haired, amethyst eyes, and tanned skin. Ilona was dressed in a very revealing lavender shift while Nanaia was dressed in a more revealing white shift, white the color of purity, for the priestess. Their red lips, however, had the same shape, their short bodies had the same generous perfect curves, and their eyes spoke volumes of knowledge, innocent, and sensuality at the same time. Ilona stood with King Joseph, fighting and arguing, never falling silent for very long. She was angry at being tricked into this charade. Nanaia stood with Queen Andreah, Queen Andais’s sister. The two queens were identical, except Andreah seemed to favor grays over blacks in clothing. Apparently the parents had been unsure who to leave the kingdom to so they had split it in half. Andais had gained the castle, but Andreah had gained the most land, including the shrine to God Zeus.

The Mistress, the Princess, the Assassin, the Gypsy, and The Priestess all stood before the entrance of the cave, and before King Dralnu, and awaited the orders.

“This game is simple,” Dralnu said with a slight laugh in his voice. “Five virgins enter, they go through the maze. The first one out is the winner.

“However, I am going to give you a bit of advice. Don’t travel together.” He looked at each one pointedly, missing the quick glimpse of Melody’s triumphant smile. “When you come to a dead end you can not turn around. The way will be blocked and the only way out is to go through a door. What awaits you through the door depends on you and the place you are in the maze. When you find the other door you will come out somewhere different in the maze, there is no telling exactly where. Only one person may enter through a door, so if two of you reach an equal dead end, you will both be separated. There is no point becoming friends, these women are your opponents. Separate and move.”

Dralnu stepped to the side a bit and gave off a wide smile. “There is a huge risk going in here. All of you will lose something, and it is quite possible that what you lose will be your life. I can assure you all now that one of you will not survive the process.” With that last statement he moved forward with a speed that was incomprehensible to the mortal minds, and grabbed Hope. She was the first to go down the tunnel.

Hope hit rock first, slick rock that poured down like a waterfall, the crashes of wet waves taking her down until she landed into a pool of water below. The pain she felt was little, more like hitting a waterslide too hard. She slipped into the water, the cool waves feeling good on her aching body, an ache that came from somewhere inside, until she surfaced and looked out before her. Seven tunnels waited before them. Seven tunnels would take them far away into a world they were very much unaware of. Despite Dralnu’s quick explanation of what was going to happen to the girls he had barely told them anything but the rules of the game, and it pretty much was a ‘there are no rules’ type of game. Just escape.

Hope heard Melody’s scream just in time to hurriedly swim out of the way as the princess hit the water. Melody went under with a cry and surfaced choking. “Help me!” she cried out obnoxiously to Hope. “I can’t swim!” though she seemed to be doing just fine. Hope let go of all resolve and swam over to Melody and pulled her up out of the water. The two of them crawled onto the small landing of rock and caught their breath as Roxy went over the falls.

Ilona and Nanaia followed shortly after, Nanaia’s body clearly visible through the white drenched shift, along with Ilona and Hope’s. Roxy was blessed with the black and with her dark skin she would have been too visible as it was in a pastel. The silver of Melody’s shift seemed to be made of thicker material for it did not cling or become diaphanous when drenched.

“This is not what I planned of my weekend,” Roxy admitted, twisting her shift in her hands and allowing the water to run to the rocks below her feet.

“I do not believe this is what any of us had planned,” Ilona pointed out in an irritated voice. “Tonight was supposed to be something a little more important than being the pawn in a game for me.”

“Do not act all high and mighty,” Roxy snapped at the young gypsy. “You think just because you were going to have sex with your boyfriend for the first time that it makes you more important than the rest of us?”

Ilona’s blush said that was exactly what her plans were for that night; though she went on to thoroughly deny the accusation.

“Enough!” Nanaia finally butt in, her delicate hands going to each woman and pushing them further away. “I do not believe we should be fighting like this. Despite what Dralnu said we should not make ourselves into enemies. The maze can not possibly be as dreaded as they would make it appear.”

“Why not?” Roxy asked with a laugh. “The princess has already run in fear from it.”

All eyes went to the retreating silver figure going to the farthest left tunnel, moving around the corner with a speed born of fear. Hope blinked her eyes and realized that no matter what they were playing this game. She just hoped she would not be the one to die.