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“You’ve said some stars have names. Does this one?”

It took a moment to stop looking for cracks in the picture and simply see the star, but when I did, shame washed over me.I’ve studied stars since I was little. Father navigated by them, so I wanted to know how to do the same when he revealed me as his heir. I ought to have recognized this star instantly.

“Polanova,” I replied. “Guardian of the east. She watches over the desperate souls.”

“Desperate sounds like us.” Clark leaned back on his knees to glance around. “We can’t go further east. The labyrinth edge runs off the cliff.”

I rose, feeling hopeful at last. “Perhaps.” As casually as I could muster so as not to alert the other competitors, I meandered toward the east edge of the circle, where the side of the Quarter Labyrinth ended and the cliff dropped into the sea.

The hedges left no room to wiggle past. They clung to the cliffside so thoroughly, that the only possible way past would be to fall.

“There’s nothing.” I stepped away from the side. “Just a deadly drop.”

Clark’s bony fingers found purchase on the gnarled vines of the labyrinth as he leaned his weight over the side to look. I grabbed hold of his jacket.

He glanced back. “If I fall, that’s not going to stop me.”

“I’m not trying to save you. This is a very nice jacket.”

Clark grinned, then leaned his weight further. I held on with both hands.

His voice caught on the wind to drift back to me. “There’s something up there.” He brought his weight back. “A stone handle. I think it’s a ladder.”

I looked where he pointed. Sure enough, a slim handlebar jutted out of the labyrinth’s side. Now noted, I was able to make out other handles leading up the labyrinth’s edge.

“We have to climb it. That’s how we get in,” I realized.

In time, we both peeked down. It’d be a fatal fall from here. But if we climbed halfway up the labyrinth first? There wouldn’t be much left to bury after that.

Clark undid the top buttons of his brown jacket, and tugged at the collar of his white shirt underneath. “Let’s be on our way then.” He spoke like a man who was hating every minute of this, but who wouldn’t stop until he’d seen it through.

He shouldn’t risk himself for me. We didn’t know if these handles could hold our weight. “I should go first. If I fall, you’ll know not to follow.”

But Clark was already grabbing hold, and threw himself over the edge.

I sent out a prayer to all the stars, tied my bag around my waist, then followed.

TWELVE

It was like taking a sharp turn and hoping the ground would still be on the other side. In this case, there was no ground. Only a labyrinth wall against the cliffs, and an impossibly long fall below. I clung to the first handle, feeling my arms ache as I dragged myself high enough to reach the second.

Above, Clark waited for me to find my footing.

I dug my feet into the labyrinth, crawling high enough to reach the third grip. My feet could rest on the first handle now, and my arms didn’t have to support my entire weight.

Now it was just amatter of climbing.

We scaled the wall in silence. The stone slabs weren’t more than the width of my hand, which didn’t leave much room for error, and I wasn’t accustomed to climbing with an axe strapped to my back. I tried to keep my thoughts on each handle, the way my foot would come up to find a place before my hand would move. Repeat. Repeat.

Higher and higher we went. Wind snagged against our tired bodies, threatening to throw us into the rocks below. I didn’t dare look down. I knew what I’d find. Sharp rocks like teeth, ready to snap against our necks. Best to keep climbing.

“The handles are getting smaller,” Clark shouted. It was the first noise in minutes, and I flinched at the sound.

With my next few steps, I discovered it for myself. The handles had shrunk by a few inches. I had to dig my fingers into each one to get enough strength to haul myself higher.

The Quarter Labyrinth stretched as high as a volcano, and climbing it felt just as exhausting. Like it would never end. Each step took all my strength to hold tight, and every time I moved I held my breath to see if I would slip and fall.

Almost halfway up, we heard a scream.