Part 3 (1/2)

Four minutes.

Some of the k.n.o.bs could only be locked in place by a single one of the others, but the movement of any other k.n.o.b would unlock them again.

Two minutes.

Almost there. Adesina was fairly certain she knew the sequence needed to lock all of the k.n.o.bs in place.

One minute.

The last k.n.o.b locked into place and the door swung open. Adesina took a deep breath to slow her heart rate. That had been much closer than she liked. A s.h.i.+ was usually given more time for a puzzle of that complexity, which was probably why Kendan had given her less.

It took Adesina's eyes a moment to adjust to the light before she stepped out to the last section of the obstacle course. The door from which she emerged was obscured from the rest of the open area. In the center of that arena stood a pedestal, on which rested a small wooden chest. Patrolling around the chest were four guards.

Adesina ducked out of sight and mulled over the problem. She only had two unused darts in her belt. That left two more to be neutralized without being harmed. Adesina muttered darkly under her breath as she peered around the corner to check the guards' positions. After marking the two on which she felt it would be the most advantageous to use her darts, she took a steadying breath and moved into action. The darts flashed out of her hand, flying straight and true. Adesina launched herself from her hiding spot, sprinting across the uneven ground to the two remaining guards.

She misjudged her footing as she ran and stumbled slightly. It wasn't enough to throw off her attack, but the pain in her ankle hindered her agility. She did her best to push her discomfort to the back of her mind as she came to her human targets.

The first one received a sharp blow to the side of his head, rendering him unconscious before he had finished drawing his weapon. The second guard proved to be harder.

Adesina had to move quickly to evade the sword wielded by the remaining guard, clenching her teeth against the pain of her twisted ankle. They circled each other slowly, each a.s.sessing their opponent. Almost as if by luck or fate, the guard's footing on the gravel gave ever so slightly. Adesina was moving before he could blink. She took advantage of this momentary loss of balance to sweep the guard from his feet entirely. Another sharp blow rendered him unconscious as well.

Once again, Adesina had to repress her smile. The triumph she felt didn't last very long, as her throbbing ankle brought her back to reality. She retrieved her darts, limped over to the chest and picked it up. It was quite a bit heavier than she expected. Curious as to what it held, Adesina undid the latch and looked inside.

There were two crystal-like stones, each about the size of her fist. When the light fell upon them, they slowly turned from a soft pink to a deep red. Adesina furrowed her brow thoughtfully as she closed the lid to the chest.

She turned and walked back to the puzzle room, expecting the door to close behind her again. This time, however, it did not. On the opposite door there was a small plaque with four words engraved on it next to a set of four dials. Each of the dials was numbered to one hundred.

Adesina's eyes quickly scanned the words in front of her. They were written in one of the more obscure dialects of the far south. Her knowledge of those dialects was limited, but she did recognize the words: moon, child, anagallis, b.u.t.terfly.

The moon has a twenty-eight day cycle. She spun the first dial, and stopped on the number twenty-eight. There was a faint click as it settled into place. Adesina felt a bit disappointed at how easy this door would be.

It took nine months for a child to be born. She turned the second dial to nine, but nothing happened. She thought about what she had learned in her anatomy cla.s.ses. Technically a woman was pregnant for approximately forty weeks. She tried again, this time stopping on the number forty. There was another faint click.

Anagallis was a flower with five petals. Adesina turned the third dial and heard it click on the number five.

A b.u.t.terfly's life span was six weeks. Adesina tried the number six on the fourth dial, but to no avail. Six weeks was forty-two days. She tried again with the number forty-two.

The door swung open. Adesina walked through and continued onward. The way back through the rest of the obstacle course was more difficult with the chest in hand and with her injury. She had a couple of close calls with the arrows as she crossed the first area. Clutching the chest between her legs, she swung carefully from rope to rope, all the while trying to keep her motion random enough to avoid getting shot.

The closely set poles were easy to get across, as was the tight rope strung between the two platforms. The individual poles and the draping fabric, however, were very difficult to manage. Adesina had to do them one-handed, using the other to hold tightly to the chest.

The last area seemed empty, but Adesina had the feeling that something was amiss. The three unconscious guards lay where they had fallen, but the small servant girl was nowhere to be seen. As soon as Adesina stepped into the open, three guards sprung from their hiding places with their weapons drawn.

Without a moment's hesitation, Adesina hurled the chest at the head of the nearest guard. It struck him with a sickening thud and he dropped to the ground. Undaunted by this, the first guard tried to come up behind Adesina while the other slashed with his sword from the front.

Adesina dodged the stroke, and the sword cut into the first guard instead. While the guard was distracted by this unexpected wound, Adesina roundhouse-kicked her, sending her cras.h.i.+ng into the wall. The agony in Adesina's ankle resulting from this attack, however, was enough to mar her focus momentarily.

The final guard lunged again, bringing a heavy fist across her face. Lights exploded in Adesina's eyes, disorienting her with pain and dizziness. She staggered for several steps before she was able to catch herself and reel back with a counterattack.

He was bringing his sword around, and didn't expect her to recover so quickly. She grabbed his hands and spun, disarming him and bringing his own sword to his throat.

He spoke in a deep, rumbling voice. ”I yield.”

Adesina nodded and returned his sword to him. She limped over to where the chest lay and picked it up. It seemed to be undamaged, so Adesina tucked it under her arm and walked out of the maze. Due to the pain and fatigue she felt, Adesina decided to go under the fence instead of over it. After nonchalantly dusting herself off, she handed the chest to Kendan, who was waiting for her on the other side.

Adesina recognized the expression in his eyes and braced herself for the verbal fencing that was sure to come.

”You were told not to harm the guards.”

”Nor did I, Shar.”

Kendan raised an eyebrow. ”Oh?”

She hated when he did that. She took a breath and reminded herself to stay calm and unemotional. ”No lasting damage was inflicted.”

”Blood was drawn.”

Adesina raised her chin defiantly and said in a cold voice, ”I am not responsible for the carelessness of other s.h.i.+mat.”

He smiled, and there was a brief pause as he looked at her admiringly. ”Very well, then.”

Her breath caught in her throat when he smiled like that. She quickly lowered her eyes to compose herself. Kendan had a knack for reading her thoughts through the subtle expressions in her eyes.

He held up the chest. ”Did you open this?”

Adesina frowned slightly. ”Were you not watching?”

Kendan didn't answer, but looked at her expectantly.

”Yes, I did open it.”

”And what did you find?”

She was confused by this line of questioning. ”Two stones, Shar.”

Kendan seemed satisfied by this answer. He nodded and set the chest down. ”Come. Your weaponry could use some work.”

Adesina stifled her feelings of indignation at this slight on her skill. Sometimes it felt like he was incapable of letting her have a single moment of triumph. It was not enough that she had overcome the obstacle course he devised; it was not enough that she was pus.h.i.+ng herself to exhaustion. None of it was enough.

She swallowed back the tears she suddenly felt forming and lifted her chin in a gesture of confidence she didn't feel. ”Yes, Shar Kendan.”

They practiced first with the spetum, then daggers, then axes. None of which were really favored by Adesina, but were still wielded with great amounts of skill. After he was satisfied, Kendan made Adesina run at full speed until she was gasping for breath and her eyes were filled with tears from the pain in her ankle.

When all of this was done, Kendan surveyed Adesina with a pa.s.sive look on his face. ”You may go to your room now. Finish preparing for your journey and get what rest you can. You will be summoned when it is time.”