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“What!” Torrick roared, jumping to his feet. “How dare you accuse my wife of doing anything that despicable.”
Tor released his grip of Cirren’s clothing and he collapsed onto the ground, his legs unable to support his body. “She is not your wife,” he said dejectedly as Tor tackled Torrick to the ground, preventing him from attacking Cirren. Tor was still trying to get Torrick under control when they were distracted by a friendly voice.
“Did I come at a bad time?” Ban asked, looking down at the struggling men.
“Actually,” Tor managed to say, though the effort of holding Torrick in place made speaking difficult, “your timing is perfect. Help me restrain Torrick while my brother explains why he has just accused his wife of treason.”
“Treason,” Cirren said in a panic. “Who said anything about treason?”
As Tor released his grip, Ban helped Torrick to his feet then held him in a bear hug. “Relax,” he whispered to the struggling man. “Let Cirren speak and if we do not like what he says, I will help you defend Liselle’s honour.” Torrick stopped trying to free himself, but Ban did not loosen his grip.
Tor looked towards Liselle, who had gone pale. “Is there something you wish to tell us before I extract the truth from my brother?” he asked her, trying to keep the anger he felt out of his voice. He did not succeed. She shook her head nervously so he turned his attention back to Cirren. “Well?”
“Please do not do this,” Liselle said in a strained voice as Cirren opened his mouth to speak.
“Sorry,” Cirren replied insincerely. “You have had your uses, but I have a feeling that if I do not tell the complete truth my safety will be in jeopardy. Besides, your cover is already blown so I might as well tell them everything. It is not as if you had any long term plans with these people.”
“Actually I did.” She spoke so quietly only those closest to her heard. Cirren continued as if she had remained silent. He faced Torrick, flinching when the larger man met his gaze. Without looking away, he told Torrick his story in full detail, as though they were the only two people present.
Other than her name and the location of events, Liselle’s story was mostly true. She had, indeed, been a pleasure slave, much abused by her various owners. Cirren had met her when doing a business deal with the latest Lord to class her as his property and had purchased her. He offered her her freedom in exchange for being his spy for a while. She agreed and they were still discussing how she could infiltrate Tor’s team, whom Cirren thought the most likely to solve the clues quickly, when they happened upon Torrick. He had just rescued his own pleasure slave, who was pregnant with his child, and they were close to the border when her owner’s guards caught up with them. Torrick slaughtered them all, but not before his lady and their unborn child were murdered. He was too overcome with grief to be suspicious of Cirren and Liselle and did not protest when they took him to a local witch who Cirren had had dealings with in the past. For a large amount of gold, she agreed to cast a spell over Torrick, altering his memory so he believed Liselle was his beloved and that they had escaped to his mother’s farm, where they lived happily together and had a few children. Liselle somehow persuaded him to hunt out Tor and volunteer his services. Cirren gave her one of a pair of magic boxes so they could keep in contact and she kept him informed of all developments in Tor’s team. Whenever Tor, or a member of his party, discovered the location of the next clue, Liselle passed on the information to Cirren at the first opportunity. Cirren then pretended to have solved the clue himself and headed off to the next destination.
By the time he had finished, Torrick was slumped on the ground, all the fight completely knocked out of him. He turned his pain filled face to Liselle. “Tell me it is not true.”
She shook her head, tears flowing down her face. “It is all true.”
“So that explains how you seemed to figure out the answers so often, without anyone else’s help,” Brin said in awe. “That is really clever.”
“And it also explains why Liselle insisted on a delay before heading off to find the maze. She wanted to give you a head start.” Tor noticed the look of pity Sam threw at Liselle. “Do not feel sorry for her,” he snarled. “She has betrayed us all. You think you were used by us? That is nothing compared to what she has done.”
Ignoring him, Sam moved closer to Liselle, whose gaze never fell from her husband. “Please give me the chance to explain,” Liselle pleaded.
“Why? I do not even know who you are,” he replied in a completely emotionless voice. He stood up and walked away, heading in the direction Ban had appeared from.
“I will go with him,” Ban said as Liselle collapsed to the ground, weeping.
Tor looked at his brother in disgust. “I really do not know what to say to you.” He turned his back on Cirren and strode purposefully after Ban and Torrick.
“Is what I did really that bad?” Cirren asked. Nobody answered him. In silence, they gathered their belongings ready to continue their journey, Cirren opting to walk rather than be dragged along in the litter. Liselle wanted to be left where she was, but Sam persuaded her to stay with them, at least until they got out of the maze. They talked together quietly as they walked.
“So what is your real name?” Sam asked.
“Liselle,” came the defiant reply. “I may not be the woman who Torrick fell in love with, but I have been his devoted wife ever since we met, so I think I have earned the right to keep the name.”
Sam looked at her appraisingly. “You really love him, don’t you?”
Liselle nodded. “At first it was all pretence, but he is such a wonderful person it was impossible not to fall for him.”
Sam sighed. “Then I hope for both your sakes that he gives you the opportunity to tell him.”
The rest of the journey was made in silence. Nobody was in the mood for communicating. Eventually they turned a corner and were confronted by an extremely angry looking group of people. Tor had filled everyone in on Liselle and Cirren’s betrayal and their displeasure was evident, not only on their faces but in the way they held themselves, as though ready for a fight.
“You have a vexen in your team?” Cirren asked in wonder, as he glanced around the assembled people, ignoring their hostile glances. “How did you persuade a vexen to join you? They are usually such solitary creatures.”
“Cirren, this is Modo,” Tor reluctantly introduced his friend. Modo nodded, unwilling to speak to someone he now classed as an enemy.
Tor completed the introductions while those being introduced looked on with stern faces. Only Patrick spoke. “We should have left you to the dreamweaver,” he said viciously.
Cirren paled slightly and gulped. He had been hoping that Patrick of all people would have been more understanding. Looking around him once again, he frowned. “Where are all of my friends?”
Tor grimaced, then braced himself for what he knew he had to say. His anger instantly abated. He loved his brother a great deal and knew he was about to cause him immense pain. “We arrived too late. They were all dead by the time we found you.”
Cirren stared at his brother, unable to accept the words he had just heard. “All of them?” he asked in disbelief.
Tor nodded. “I am so sorry.”
“Even Emma?” Tears flowed down Cirren’s face as he spoke. A lump formed in Tor’s throat, preventing him from answering. His silence told Cirren the answer he did not want to hear. “I asked her to marry me,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. Tor grabbed his brother in a rough hug and held him as he cried, releasing his hold only when he felt Cirren’s body stop trembling.
“Where did you bury them?” Cirren asked. Tor turned his head away, wincing at the question.
“We could not bury them,” he said, the pain he was feeling at his brother’s loss evident in his voice. “We tried, but there was no way to dig a hole. The ground was just too hard and magic had no effect.”
“You just left them there to rot?” he asked in horror.
“What else could we do?”
“That is enough,” Ellen intervened. “Cirren, drink this.” She offered him a cup, which he eyed warily. “It is a sleeping potion,” she said. “You have a long way to go before you are fully recovered and the bad news you have just received has probably had adverse affects on you. You need to sleep.”
Knowing that sleep would be a welcome relief from having to face his sorrow, Cirren swallowed the contents down in one gulp, pulling a face as the revolting taste hit him. “Why does nobody ever make these things taste good?”
“Because people would want to drink them if we did. Now get back into the litter.” He did as instructed and was soon asleep. Attentions turned towards the barrier behind them. It looked like an exact duplicate of the previous one.
“Do we go through now or later?” Seth asked.
“Now,” Tor replied. “I have had enough of this place. The sooner we are through that thing the sooner we can get out of here.” Cirren’s duplicity and Liselle’s betrayal was far from forgotten and would have to be addressed again soon, but for now he wanted to put it to the back of his mind and concentrate on escaping from the maze alive.
There were murmurs of agreement so Seth walked up to the roadblock and asked to be allowed past. Everyone crowded closer to read the message that immediately appeared.
If it takes ten men ten days to dig ten holes, how long does it take one man to dig one hole?
“That is easy,” Dal yelled out. “O...”. He was cut off mid word as Ria clamped her hand over his mouth.
“Think before speaking,” she whispered harshly. “If you are wrong, you, and probably Seth as well, are dead.” Dal, looking at Seth nervously out of the corner of his eye, gulped and went pale. “Is it safe for me to remove my hand now?” Ria continued. Dal nodded, not trusting himself to try to speak. He breathed an audible sigh of relief when Seth moved away from the barrier. “Do not do that again,” Ria said, slapping Dal round the head.
“But it is the right answer,” he protested.
“Actually no it is not.” Dal stared at her. He was not the only one. She sighed resignedly. “If you reduce both the number of holes and the number of men by the same amount, the number of days does not change.”
There was a moment of silence before Dal exclaimed, “Oh yes. She is right.” Ria smiled indulgently while Sam and Ellen did their best not to laugh.
“I think we had better send you through first young man,” Tor informed him. “You will be less of a danger to us all if you are on the other side.” Sam gave him a questioning look, which he answered by nodding his head. She spoke quietly to some of the horses, who moved to stand in front of the barrier which was blocking their path. Dal received the question again and spoke the answer then, accompanied by Seth and Modo, led the laden mounts through.
“There is a plaque beside it that says we can take three at a time,” Patrick explained when Tor asked why all of them had been allowed through together.
“Someone is being generous,” Sam said sarcastically.
The next question was soon obtained, but this time the answer was not so easily come by.
A family gathering contained 1 grandfather, 1 grandmother, 2 fathers 2 mothers, 6 children, 4 grandchildren, 2 brothers, 2 sisters, 3 sons, 3 daughters, 1 father in law, 1 mother in law, one son in law and 1 daughter in law. What is the least number of people present?
Each person did a mental calculation and five different answers were suggested. It was Liselle that came up with the best suggestion. She said that various people should play the parts and write down all of the different roles each person could be. Tor was loathed to listen to her, but it was a good suggestion.
“You are not seriously going to listen to that whore are you?” Patrick asked in astonishment.
“Patrick,” Sam exclaimed. “You are out of order.”
“Do not worry about it,” Liselle said, placing her hand on Sam’s arm. “Let it drop.”
“No, I won’t. He has no right to treat you like that.” She rounded on Patrick. “Talk to her. Hear the horrors she has been through. Then tell me you would not jump at the chance of freedom if it was offered. You would have done exactly the same as Liselle and you know it.”
“There is no point in speaking with her,” Patrick snarled. “I will not believe a single word her lying mouth utters.”
“Stop it,” Tor snapped at them both. “This can be discussed after we have escaped from this maze. For now, I am willing to listen to her if her ideas make sense.”
Everyone turned their attention back to the problem in hand. Each of the requirements were noted on a sheet of paper then they commenced their role playing, starting with the obvious. Sam, Brin, River and Ria volunteered to be the four grandchildren, Patrick and Liselle the mother and father, Tor took the part of the grandfather and Ellen that of the grandmother. All were then crossed off the list. Most of them were not happy involving Liselle, but everyone realised that they all needed to work together to solve the puzzles. As Tor had stated, all disagreements would have to be put on hold until they were safely out of the maze.
Ria pointed out that she and River could be sisters, thus meeting that requirement. It took a while for someone to notice that if Sam swapped places with Oak, every requirement they had already met would be true, but they would also be able to cross the two brothers off the list. The six children requirement would be covered by the three sons and three daughters in the list, two thirds of which were fulfilled by the grandchildren. If the mother and father were the son and daughter of the grandfather and grandmother, that also covered the need for another mother and father, leaving only the in-laws.
Patrick said that if Tor and Ellen were his parents, then they must be in-laws to Liselle, thus meeting three out of the four prerequisites. They now only needed to find the son-in-law. Ban took on the role, bringing the total to nine. Happy with this answer, Ellen and Tor approached the barrier, taking the horse dragging Cirren’s litter with them. They obtained the question once more and Tor was just about to answer when Sam yelled out.
“Wait.” He turned to look at her. “I’ve just had a thought. I think we can reduce the number down to eight.”
“How?”
“If you and Ellen are not married, you can be Patrick’s father and Ellen can be Liselle’s mother, making Patrick Ellen’s son-in-law.”
“Do we still meet all of the other criteria?” Ellen asked. Everyone playing a role, except for Ban, went through the various relationships they were supposed to be covering and found that they did, indeed, still cover everything. The answer was eight and not nine.
“Thank you,” Tor said to Sam. “You have just saved my life.” This time, when he approached the barrier, he gave the answer without interruption and the barrier opened. “We will keep going till we find the next resting place,” he called back just before he walked forward. “You will have to catch up with us. Good luck.”
As soon as the barrier was back in the down position, the next question was obtained.
You are at a crossroads, but the signpost, naming a city in each direction, has fallen down. How do you know which road to take?
“This one is easy,” Patrick said. “I know where I have come from so all I have to do is set the signpost so it points to that city and all other directions will be correct.”
“You worked that out suspiciously quickly,” Ria observed.
“Personal experience,” he replied.
His answer was, of course, correct, so he was permitted to go past the barrier, along with Torrick, Ria and some of the horses.
Puzzle number four caused more of a problem.
A man is trapped inside a room which has only two possible exits. The first door leads to a room constructed from magnifying glass. The blazing hot sun instantly fries anything or anyone that enters. Through the second door there is a pride of man-eating lions. How does the man escape?
“Anyone any ideas?” Sam asked. Bellak could think of a few magic spells that could get him past the lions, but everyone agreed that magic would not be the answer the maze was looking for. It was at this moment that Sam realised she had started to think of the maze as a living thing. She had always known it was living; it was made from a hedge after all; but she now considered it a living consciousness, able to make rational decisions. She knew she was being stupid, but brought it up anyway, and was amazed to find she was not the only one. Deep down, they all knew that it was just a powerful spell that made the questions appear and assess the answers, but that didn’t stop them feeling as though it was the maze itself controlling everything.
“In a way, it is,” Bellak said. “I believe the maze was made by magic, thus making it part of one immense spell. Therefore, you could say that the maze is in fact the manifestation of the spell, the physical way the magic has chosen to interact with the players.”
“Players,” River exclaimed. “You make it sound like a game. I would have used the word victims instead.”
“Come now, you can hardly call us victims. It is not as if any harm has come to us.”
“Try telling Cirren’s friends that,” Brin said quietly.
An uncomfortable silence surrounded them. It was Sam who finally broke it. “Let’s get back to thinking about this problem shall we.”
“Maybe if we heard it again, something may come to light,” Oak suggested. This time, as Oak read it out, River noted it down so they could all reread it to their hearts content. It did not help. Time dragged by.
“The sun will be setting soon,” Grimmel commented and was taken by surprise when Ban suddenly yelled out.
“Yes. I think you have it my vertically challenged friend.” Grimmel growled, but was too intrigued by what Ban had to say to complain about the comment that, although said in a friendly manner, was still an insult.
“The man goes through the first door,” Ban continued. “It is the sun that makes the room lethal so all he has to do is wait until there is no sun. He simply goes through at night.”
“I always thought that what you lacked in brains, you made up for in height,” Grimmel said, grinning broadly. “It seems I have underestimated you.” Ban accepted this as a compliment and preparations were made for the next group to depart. The maze accepted the answer and allowed Ban, Bellak and Samson to continue onwards.
“I hope the next two do not take long to solve,” River said as she watched her friends departing backs. “I am getting tired and I would rather not spend the night on this side of the barrier.” There were murmurs of agreement, so the next puzzle was requested.
I like kittens but not cats. I like books but not reading. I like villages but not towns. I like swimming but not water. Do I like weeds or flowers?
Only six now remained and they all stared at the paper on which River had written the question in complete bewilderment.
“That makes absolutely no sense,” Liselle complained.
“Yes it does,’ Sam disagreed. “All of the things it likes have to have something in common. We just need to figure out what.”
“What could they possibly have in common? One of them is even a verb.” Sam reluctantly admitted that she had absolutely no idea, but she was confident that they would be able to figure it out between them.
An hour later, they had made no progress. “I give up,” Oak announced. “I have been concentrating on just the three nouns and have drawn a complete blank.”
“Maybe we are going about this the wrong way,” River suggested. “Maybe we should be looking at the words themselves instead of what they represent.”
Within minutes they had the answer. “Weeds,” River and Grimmel said together. Grimmel nodded his head, allowing River to offer the explanation. “All of the ‘likes’ have double letters.” The others perused the question one more time, gave their agreement and Oak, River and Grimmel departed, leaving Sam and Brin alone with Liselle, who looked a little uncomfortable. Sam laughed at her when she made a comment along the lines of two being company but three a crowd and Brin joined in when Sam assured her that she understood why Liselle had done what she had and was not holding it against her. Other than the lies she had told, she had treated them both well and her past was really none of their business, so as far as they were concerned, nothing had changed. Brin even agreed to speak to Torrick on her behalf, though he did not think it would do any good.
With only three of them left, they hoped the last puzzle would be easy and were deeply disappointed when they received it. Not only was it difficult, but it was also the longest they had received.
“It is going to be a long night,” Sam sighed.