The Lost Prince (26 page)

“I’m sorry, but my decision is final,” Dean stated.

“This is most unwise,” said Lord Kray. “I allowed these trials to go forward on the condition that you would have seconds to assist you. Thus far, you’ve exceeded our greatest expectations, but the tunnels beneath the palace are perilous. I cannot allow you to risk your life in this fashion.”

“You think Jarret can make the maze less perilous?” Ronan asked.

“The trial is only given when the aqueducts are empty,” the
regent replied. “Jarret navigated the labyrinth in record time, just this month. Right now, no one knows these tunnels better than he does.”

“Lord Kray speaks the truth,” said Verrick. “You can’t go in there alone.”

Dean patted Ronan’s shoulder. “I’m not going in alone. I’m taking Ronan.”

“Him?” Arjent Ralian was incredulous. “A
commoner
?”

Ronan puffed up his chest. “Is that a problem?”

The trial judge cleared his throat. “These trials are intended for those of noble birth only. I mean you no offense, my son, but I doubt you are equal to the task that stands before you.”

Ronan grinned a crooked grin. “My blood might not be as pure as that of the lost prince here, but I know a thing or two about a thing or two. What exactly are you testing for here?”

“Intelligence for one, judgment another … the ability to keep a clear head under pressure comes into play as well. This trial is a journey through the subterranean labyrinth of the Aqualine Palace. The tunnels that channel ocean water through the castle are mostly empty during the great storm’s hiatus. You must find their center, directly below the throne room.” The judge turned to address Dean directly. “Do that, and you will earn your place on the golden seat within.”

“What do you mean the tunnels are
mostly
empty?” Dean asked. “They flood? No one said anything about that.”

“Didn’t they?” Jarret Ralian said, speaking up for the first time. “These tunnels channel seawater through the Aqualine Palace. Obviously, at high tide, the ocean floods them. Look around you. All this water has to go somewhere.”

Dean watched the ocean crash against the cavern walls, with no small amount of angst. The thought of drowning in a dark maze beneath the palace did not sit well with him.

“Water levels down here tend to rise as the great storm approaches,” Verrick explained, picking up on Dean’s trepidation. “This test is typically given at the beginning of harvest season to give the runners ample time to navigate the labyrinth. People have been known to get stuck in there for weeks. Some never come out.”

“Jarret did it in less than an hour,” Arjent Ralian proudly proclaimed. “But if you insist on doing things your way, so be it. I see now that I was too hasty with you. Such resolve is an admirable quality. It will serve you well as king … if you survive.”

“Don’t worry, not all the tunnels flood,” Jarret assured Dean. “Just make sure you’re not in the wrong place when the ocean comes in. That’s all.”

The trial judge rested a concerned hand on Dean’s shoulder. “You’ll have nothing but a lamp to light your way and a stick of chalk to mark your passage. Jarret is very bright. Are you sure you won’t lean on his experience to guide you?”

“I’m sure,” Dean answered. “And we’re wasting time. Especially if I’m going to break his record.”

Jarret laughed out loud. His father gave out a disgruntled “humph.”

Waverly, who had been quiet up to this point, stepped forward to offer Dean a canvas bag, tied up tight at the top. “If your mind’s truly made up, you’d better take this. Just in case.”

“What is it?”

“Food and water. Verrick did not exaggerate. People have been lost in there for days or more. You’ll be glad you took it with you.”

Dean held up his lantern and a piece of chalk. “I have everything I need right here. Don’t worry. I’ll be standing in the throne room by lunchtime.”

Waverly thrust the bag on him. “
I insist you take it.
I brought it here for you.”

Dean was taken aback by Waverly’s forcefulness. He looked at her with puzzled eyes. Ronan leaned into Dean and nudged him. “Just take the blasted food, Seaborne. Time’s wasting.”

Waverly gave Dean a look that said
Listen to your friend
, and he realized there was no reason not to. “Forgive me, my lady,” he said, taking the bag from her hands. “Thank you for thinking of me. I’m in your debt.”

Waverly smiled. “That’s more like it. Make sure you have a drink before you get started.”

“Can we go now, Your Grace?” Ronan asked, placing added emphasis on Dean’s false title.

Dean nodded. “Aye, let’s get moving. Where is the entrance to the tunnels?” The trial judge pointed the way, and Dean started up the incline. Ronan followed after him, but when he passed Jarret Ralian, he tripped and tumbled down a ravine. Ronan came up soaking wet and writhing in pain.

“Ronan!” Dean slid down to him. Verrick and the Ralians followed.

“He tripped me!” Ronan shouted, his finger pointed squarely at Jarret.

The Ralian boy put his hands up. “An accident, I assure you! Here, let me help you.”

“Don’t touch me!” Ronan said, pushing him off.

Verrick and Dean stepped in to help Ronan up. “Talk to me, Ronan,” said Dean. “Are you all right?”

Ronan nodded. “I twisted my ankle, that’s all. I’ll be fine.” When Dean let Ronan go, it was plain to see the opposite was true. He shuffled forward, limping badly and wincing with every step. He could barely walk.

Verrick shook his head. “That ankle needs to be wrapped and bound tight.”

“What’s this?” asked Jarret. “Could it be that I am needed after all?”

“No,” Dean said. He looked at Ronan, but they both knew he couldn’t go. Traipsing through underground tunnels was out of the question in his condition.

“I’m afraid there’s no one else,” said Jarret.

“I’ll go alone, then,” Dean said. “You did.”

“You’re not me. You’ll drown in there.”

“With or without you?”

“How dare you!” Arjent Ralian shouted.

“I’ll go,” said Waverly.

“What?” the entire party exclaimed, Dean included. All eyes turned to her as Dean’s insult to Jarret was upstaged by something even more scandalous—a woman facing the trials of manhood.

“I’ll go,” Waverly said again. “Why not?” she asked, the question directed at her father more than anyone. “If I’m to rule beside him one day, shouldn’t I have to earn my place as well?”

“Absolutely not,” said the regent. “I forbid it!”

“It’s not your decision, Father.”

“I am the lord regent of this island, young lady!”

“But you don’t get to choose who he takes as his second.” Waverly turned to the trial judge. “Isn’t that right, sir?”

Everyone looked at the judge. The regent’s eyes burned with such fury that Dean thought the old man would melt under his gaze. The judge withstood Lord Kray’s glowering as he contemplated the matter in silence. After a long moment, he sighed with resignation. “I’m afraid Lady Kray is correct. The
decision belongs to the boy who would be king. The first second has been declined, his replacement incapacitated.… If he were to bestow the honor on a third person and that person were to accept?” The judge shook his head. “None of us can force him to choose otherwise.”

“Waverly, please. This is no place for you,” her father pleaded. “You know as well as I, you don’t like places like this.”

“It’s not up to me, Father. It’s up to him.”

The eyes of the group turned once more, this time to Dean. It fell to him to decide the matter. The regent glared at Dean, simmering but silent. He shook his head slowly, warning him not to put his daughter in harm’s way. Dean looked right past him to Waverly. “You’re sure you don’t mind being my third choice?”

Waverly folded her arms. “As long as you don’t refuse me.”

Dean smiled. He looked over at Jarret, who was visibly frustrated and foiled. He looked at Ronan, who gave him a go-ahead nod. Dean could practically read his thoughts. Anything was better than a partner who was trying to kill you—even a girl. But Ronan didn’t know Waverly as he did. Dean reached out a hand to her. “My lady. How could anyone refuse you?”

CHAPTER
26

A
re you okay?” Dean asked.

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.”

“I’m fine.”

Dean put his hands up and backed off a step. He wouldn’t push things any further, but Waverly did not look fine, no matter what she said. She looked upset. Her trademark bravado and vigorous spirit had faded shortly after they entered the caves. The fearless young woman he had come to know had vanished, to be replaced by a timid girl who jumped at shadows as she inched forward cautiously with her lantern. Dean couldn’t figure it out. The tunnels were by no means hospitable, but they were not as
bad as he had expected. They were narrow, winding, and dark, to be sure, but the lanterns he and Waverly carried lit their path well enough. The caves were damp and smelled of mildew, but the seawater that charged through them all year long had smoothed out the stone passageways and flushed out the rats and other vermin. The two of them could proceed without fear of running into the kind of critters most people were scared of. Or so Dean thought. A crab skittered across the path, causing Waverly to scream and jump back.

“It’s just a crab,” Dean said, steadying her. “Are you okay?”

Waverly shuddered and let out a deep breath. “I will be. It’s nothing. I just don’t like it in here, that’s all.”

“Right,” Dean said, wondering if he had made a mistake in choosing her as his second.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

“I’m just surprised. You’re like a cat on hot bricks. I’ve seen you surf giant waves and jump off cliffs, but in here—”

“In here it’s different. Those are things you do outside. I like to be outside. I don’t like tight places.” Waverly looked around, loathing her environment. “Underground. In the dark.”

Dean nodded. “So your father said. But if that’s the case, why did you volunteer to come in with me?”

“I didn’t want to, but you were so insistent on not using Jarret as your second. Why were you so dead set against him, anyway?”

Dean couldn’t give Waverly an honest answer. If he told her
the Ralians had been trying to kill him, he’d have to answer the next logical question: Why hadn’t he told anyone about it?

“I don’t trust him,” Dean said. “Call it a hunch.”

Waverly shrugged. “Can’t say I blame you. I’ve never liked him either.” Dean grinned. They even disliked the same people. Waverly was the best. She led the way forward as the mouth of the cave opened up to a wide underground chamber. Inside, she took a deep satisfied breath and stretched her body from head to toe. “There. Much better.”

Dean waved his lantern around the cavernous hollow. “That depends on how you look at it.” Six different tunnels split off from the chamber they were in. The labyrinth had begun in earnest. “I don’t suppose you have any idea which way to go?”

“None whatsoever.”

Dean grimaced. “I didn’t think so.” He took out the piece of chalk that the trial judge had given him. “Might as well try our luck. We’ll mark the tunnels we take at each fork in the road, noting the order we take them. That way, if the trail leads us back in a loop, we’ll be able to tell.” Dean picked a tunnel at random and wrote a large number 1 on the wall.

Waverly shook her head. “I’m not trusting my life to luck. Open the bag I gave you. Take out the water bottle.”

“We’d be wise to save the water.”

“If there was water in the bottle, I’d agree with you. But there isn’t.”

“What?”

“See for yourself.”

Puzzled, Dean dug into the bag Waverly had insisted he take. Inside he found two loaves of bread, two apples, and one glass water bottle without any water in it. Dean uncorked the bottle and took out the scroll she had tucked inside. A message in a bottle. “Is this what I think it is?” He smoothed the parchment out against a stone and examined it in the light of the lantern.

“If you think it’s a map of the labyrinth, then yes. It is.”

Dean felt as though his entire body had been filled with sunshine. “Waverly, I could kiss you right now. Where did you get this?”

Waverly smiled. “The first lords of Aquos mapped these tunnels before they built the palace. Their bravery inspired this trial.”

“But how did you come to hold a copy?”

“I have a knack for getting into places I shouldn’t,” Waverly said with a wink. “In truth, I got the idea from Jarret Ralian. You don’t really think he beat the maze in less than an hour on his own, do you?”

“I should have known he had some kind of hornswoggle up his sleeve.”

“And now, so do we. I hope you’re not above cheating to win.”

Dean laughed. “Not today. When did you get this?”

“This morning. Right after I heard you refused Jarret’s help.
Someone had to make sure the tides didn’t beat you to the throne room.”

Dean was shocked at Waverly’s boldness. “I can’t believe you gave this to me in front of everyone. You know, if I got stuck down here, you would get your wish. You wouldn’t have to marry the prince.”