Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 120029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
“Let’s get lost in it, away from prying eyes,” I say and pull him by the hand. “There are ‘love games’ hidden in the labyrinth, whatever that means, but even if they’re not fun, I’m sure we can come up with our own.”
“That depends on how many guests get the same idea,” Nate says, and while I can’t know whether this was meant as an innuendo, I can’t keep my mind from straying to how beautiful he looked on my bed. How he arched, flushed, moaned…
My hand gets a bit sweaty as we leave the bright tents, heading off down an alley decorated with sculptures of ice.
“You know they’re made with sweet ice?” I say and suck on an ice sculpture’s finger. “Mmm, delicious.”
“Noo! What?” Nate leans in and licks a pink ice flower, then makes a face. “Liar.”
I laugh out loud and kiss him. “Sorry, sweetheart.”
He scowls. “You made me lick random ice. I can’t believe it! I bet you just wanted to see my tongue in action.” It’s a playful accusation, and when Nate walks ahead, I jog to catch up with him.
Beyond the reach of swamplight lanterns, snow covers every bush and flower bed within sight, but the alley is pristine, as if someone’s removed ice by hand, so I don’t worry about my lover slipping.
“I always want to see your tongue ‘in action’.” I laugh and pull him in for another kiss. It seems impossible to keep my hands off him, but someone clears their throat, and I refrain from picking him up for more heated kisses. After all, it’s bad form to sleep with one’s promised before the vows are made. I estimate that at least half of the couples don’t adhere to this rule, but I don’t want to be seen as a cad, so we’ll have to wait until we’re someplace more discreet.
Once we reach the maze, I’m very content to not see or hear a single soul from within. Usually, the guests only drift into its weaving alleys once they’re thoroughly soaked with cherin, so for now we seem to have its stark walls of black and green leaves to ourselves.
I make sure Nate’s hood is on to protect him from the cold as we meander into the labyrinth. I know this place all too well, even though it feels so different in winter, so I play along and let him choose where to turn. I feel like a lovesick pup every time he smiles at me.
By this time tomorrow, he might be my Dark Companion.
I can’t wait for him to sleep in my bed, to see what human decor ideas he will bring to my apartments. I might actually need more rooms so he has everything he needs.
But for now we enjoy the maze, with walls of branches traced in delicate white lace. The snow is powdery, and when Nate brushes his shoulder against a stray leaf, it sheds tiny crystals into the air.
We can still hear the distant music, but it’s merely background noise to the crunch of snow and frozen gravel under our feet. Somehow, this place appears larger in winter, without the distraction of blooming flowers and songs of birds nesting within the hedges, but its geometry is just as confusing, and I laugh when Nate huffs out a cloud of vapor when we stumble upon another dead end.
“We should be using threads to mark our path,” Nate says, then proceeds to tell me a human legend about someone called Perseus, who got locked up in an underground labyrinth with a bloodthirsty bull-headed monster. Perseus’s lover gave him a bundle of thread, which he then used to exit the trap and survived.
“For creatures with such soft hearts, you humans have very violent stories.”
Nate’s hand twitches around mine as we backtrack and take a different path.
“Yes. Especially the very old ones,” Nate tells me. “I think it’s to remind us what happens when the normal order collapses.”
“What would this ‘normal order’ be? Attempting to court cows? I’ve heard of some people trying their luck with kelpies, but they’re kind of sentient.”
He laughs so sweetly I end up pressing a kiss to those smiling lips, but confessions of love will have to wait for a more romantic moment. I want it to be as perfect as he is.
“Noo, nothing like that,” he says and starts climbing me like a tree. This time, we’re alone, with only the statue of a horse to judge us, so I pick him up, and he wraps his legs around my hips. We soon find out his train is long enough to get under my feet, but once he pulls it up, I continue through the winding path while he speaks. “Order is… when people follow laws. When you understand the rules and can reasonably protect yourself through that.”