Page 105 of This Prince Is Not Charming

“Don’t try anything stupid,” she said, stomping forward and grabbing the axe from me.

Lor stared at me with pleading eyes, but I just looked away and met Ceri’s gaze. “Are you ready for this?”

She nodded, stepping forward with the key already in her hand. She put it into the lock, and it clicked open.

“Wow,” Marsten said. “This really is all connected. I wasn’t sure I believed it until now.”

The door swung open, revealing nothing but darkness.

Meera sighed heavily and trotted forward with the lantern hanging from her mouth. My heart pounded, my mouth dry as I wondered what could be on the other side of that door. Morton had claimed these trials wouldn’t be dangerous, but an ominous feeling settled over me, sinking its claws into my skin.

Meera walked into the room and set the lantern down.

Liadan gestured with the axe, and the brotherhood members lurched forward, filing in, then the rest of us followed.

The smell of must, bones, and dead plants filled the space. Roots hung from the ceiling and dirt, leaves, and bones covered the ground.

“Whose bones are those?” Marsten pointed to the ground.

“It’s better we don’t ask,” Siobhan said.

Meera jumped from the ground up onto a table in the middle of the room. It was rock, and it was carved with a statue of a figure lying on top of it.

“What is this?” She pointed a paw at it.

“Maybe that’s what our trial is about?” Lila suggested, eyes shifting back and forth.

“Of course that’s what our trial has to do with.” Siobhan rolled her eyes. “It’s the only thing in this room.”

I looked back at Ceri, my gaze landing on the heart dangling over her chest, the arrow pointing straight at the statue.

“So what now?” I asked. “The heart led us here, the lantern lit our way, and the key let us into this room.”

Siobhan looked down at the wooden board she held. “What? Do we have to play a game again?”

The board glowed at her words, tiles forming and flipping over in rapid succession. All of us watched as the tiles spelled out a name.

Aoife the Warrior Maiden.

“That was one of the answers during that challenge,” Lila said.

“And why do I have this book?” Marsten held it up.

Ceri had walked forward and was studying the statue, bending down and taking in all the details. “Why does she look familiar?”

I hadn’t even properly looked at it.

“Stay back,” Liadan growled at Lor, pressing the edge of the axe to his chest. “You’re outnumbered and you heard the prince. One small movement, and I won’t hesitate to attack.”

Lor looked at me, once again with that pleading in his eyes as he said a string of words I didn’t understand, all of them garbled with the gag in his mouth.

I turned my attention back to the statue.

“That’s her,” Clio said, voice full of awe. “That’s Aoife the Warrior Maiden,” Clio said. “May she rest in eternal peace.”

“May she rest in eternal peace,” both Meera and Siobhan echoed, looks of sorrow filling their eyes.

Ceri met my gaze. “Doesn’t she look identical with the slave that had been holding this pendant?” She held up the heart, the arrow spinning slightly and once again stopping on the statue.