The Goblin Princess

Chapter 12

Little Veena stood next to the old stone throne. Her brothers were chasing after each other within the hedge maze not too far off. She hadn't wanted to come this far into the Labyrinth, but her brothers had lead her here.

She wanted to go home. Veena climbed into the stone chair. Why had they wanted to come here? There wasn't anything here. At least, in the gardens, there was flowers and the fountain. The little princess started crying. Suddenly, a golden white barn owl landed on the sundial. The little princess wiped her eyes. She climbed out of the throne and walked over to the owl.

"They brought me here. I just want to go home, Daddy."

The owl looked at her before flapping its wings. Soon the owl was gone, and in its place standing next to the sundial was her father.

He knealt down and gently wiped a tear off her cheek, "I know, Precious." He gave her a slight smile, "want to help me punish your brothers?"

Little Veena nodded, "okay."

Nodding, her father stood up. He then picked her up and placed her against his hip, "now let's go deal with those brothers of yours."

He walked off, carrying little Veena, towards the sound of boys playing, somewhere they shouldn't be.

Chapter 12

Veena looked right and then left as she slowly entered the Labyrinth. Once everyone had entered, the gate closed behind them.

"this doesn't look much like a labyrinth to me. I don't see any turns," Adam moved closer to her side, while Cringer hugged his side, looking at him with fear in his eyes.

Veena glanced at him, "it's a test, Adam. The Labyrinth's a test. I remember that much."

"I don't think it's trying to test you, Your Highness," Hoggle walked to the one side of the entrance.

Veena gave him a slight nod. True, it may not be testing her, but that didn't mean it would just allow her through, or would it?

She walked towards the wall in front of her, the one opposite the gate. Something had caught her eye. Slowly, Veena placed her hand on the wall.

"What is it, Ve?"

She glanced over her shoulder at Adam, "I noticed something."

Veena began to run her hand along the wall, slowly. It didn't take her long to discover one of the Labyrinth's secrets.

"There's a path here."

Adam frowned, "there's only wall, Veena."

Veena turned slightly towards him, "watch." She then took a step forward and appeared to pass through the wall. Once through the pathway, she turned to face the trio behind her. "See it's an illusion. It's not what it seems."

Adam glanced at Cringer, "is this place safe?"

"I highly doubt the Labyrinth would attack the princess, young man," Hoggle followed after her.

"Adam, relax. We should be fine, but we'll have to be careful."

Hoggle nodded, "true, Princess."

Veena turned back towards the path beyond the wall, "which way, Hoggle?"

The dwarf looked around them, "i can't be sure. It feels like the Labyrinth is shifting too fast for me to get my bearings."

"Too fast? What does that mean?"

"It's moving faster than normal. It's never done this before."

Adam looked between them, "wait it's moving?"

Hoggle nodded, "of course, it's moving. It's always moving. It just normal only moves one section at a time. This feels like the entire thing is shifting around."

Veena tilted her head slightly. A faint melody drifted from the Labyrinth it seemed. Could the Labyrinth be trying to talk to her? She glanced back at the others once more. More than likely they couldn't hear what she was hearing.

Slowly she lifted her hand and placed it against the wall to her right, "we're going to take it nice and slow."

"I highly doubt you have the normal time limit, Your Highness."

Sighing, Veena lowered her hand, "well, let's get moving. I have a feeling we have a long way to go."

Veena slowly started walking forward, listening to the melody that seemed to call to her. The other three soon fell into line behind her. Her through the Labyrinth had officially begun.

XOXOXOX

Adam had no idea how long they had been walking. Thunder crashed not too far in the distance. The walls were seriously starting to look the same, even with the creepy eye tipped plant life. It had grown quiet, well except for the occasional thunder.

Adam looked up at the darkened clouds rolling in, "I have a feeling we're about to get soaked." As another crash of thunder came, he glanced at Veena, who jumped slightly at the sound.

Hoggle glanced up, "that's not good. We better hurry. Hopefully, she hasn't learned of your arrival."

Stopping, Veena frowned at Hoggle, "who are you talking about?" She was taking deep breaths. Adam assumed that she was doing it to try and keep calm.

Adam stopped as well, causing Cringer to run into him. He really didn't want to get caught in the rain, but he was more worried about how Veena was dealing with the coming storm?

Hoggle stopped and turned to face her, "you seriously don't remember what happened do you?"

Veena turned to look at him, "what are you talking about?" She jumped slightly at the sound of another crash of thunder.

The dwarf sighed, "I had no idea the rumors were true."

Adam frowned, "rumors?"

Suddenly, a disembodied voice filled the air, "keep quiet, dwarf."

Adam looked at Hoggle "who, what was that?"

Hoggle sighed, "the Goblin King."

"The Goblin King?"

Hoggle gestured towards Veena, "her father."

Adam frowned, "what's a goblin? I've never even heard of them."

Hoggle furrowed his brow, "seriously?"

Veena frowned, "they're a mischievous race. That's all I remember about them."

Hoggle nodded, "true enough."

Veena glanced towards the sky, as she started walking again, "we better hurry or we'll get soaked." She looked down at Hoggle, "is there somewhere we can go to stay dry?"

Hoggle shook his head as he began to move forward again, "not that I know."

Adam followed after them, with Cringe staying to his side. If the Labyrinth was shifting like Hoggle said, then how did they know if they were going the right way?

Stopping at a wall, Veena glanced over her shoulder, "get ready. I have no idea what's behind this wall."

Adam frowned as he caught up, "Ve?"

"The Labyrinth's just been giving us a path. I only had to follow the music."

Hoggle frowned, "music? What music?"

Veena put her hand on the wall, "it's a soft melody that I've been following since we entered. It's gotten louder as we've been moving."

"Nothing is what it seems here. You can't trust much here, Your Highness."

Veena put her other hand on the wall, "relax, Hoggle. It's not something to fear."

Hoggle looked at Adam, as suddenly the wall spilt in half, revealing a courtyard with a sun dial and a stone chair.