“Where did the devilish whore go!”

“I saw them go through the hedge! There has to be a gap in it somewhere!”

“Find it!”

We heard our pursuers clearly, even after we’d moved quite a distance. We stopped in a tiny clearing, one of the many in the labyrinth. It wasn’t big enough to accommodate three people, but we managed to squeeze in.

Curiously enough, Mun-Hee made the most out of it, shoving her face in between the queen’s tits under the excuse of her short stature and limited space. That didn’t bother the queen one bit. After all, we were in the middle of an emergency.

I must say, I was impressed with how she managed to take the opportunity in such a dangerous situation. Maybe she just didn’t want to die with any regrets?

“All subtlety is gone, huh?” The queen said in a low voice.

“It looks like it. That’s bound to get the attention of the guards.”

“Is this some kind of maze?”

“Yes. It does lead somewhere, but I don’t know where. I’ve only ever used small parts of it to hide from the public eye.”

“I see.”

“Still, they should have a hard time finding us. This hedge is full of hidden entrances, and our pursuers are bound to take the wrong ones.”

“Does anyone have any weapon?”

“I don’t have any,” Mun-Hee responded in a muffled voice.

“Me neither,” I said.

“I do have a small gan on my thigh, but I can’t reach it in this position. Mun-Hee, can you find it for me? You’re shorter, so you should have an easier time finding it.”

Mun-Hee’s eyes beamed with enthusiasm: “Are you sure?”

“Now is not the time to be bashful. Just feel up my right thigh and you’ll find it. There’s a convenient cut in my dress. Start from there.”

I must’ve gawked a lot, since the queen found it necessary to give me an explanation.

“I’m not into females, but I’m not disgusted either. I understand that … you don’t have the word homosekshualiti … how do you call it when gay people engage in gay behavior?”

“Faggotry.”

“Urgh … I understand that faggotry is frowned upon in timkik society, but it’s very useful in this case, is it not? I can’t reach my weapon in this position, but luckily, there’s someone who doesn’t mind getting it for me.”

“Here it is,” Mun-Hee said while handing something over to the queen. It looked like a triangle-shaped decoration that had its middle missing. I couldn’t see any sharp, blade-like edges on it. All of its edges looked dull.

“Thank you very much,” the queen then looked at me again, “See? Even faggotry can be useful sometimes. Had I asked you to do it, you’d have a much harder time, and it would take longer.”

“I … I guess …”

“So, now what?” Mun-Hee asked.

“Now, we wait for the help to show up. And if the bad guys show up instead, I’m going to shoot them.”

“Do you think Anna will be ok?”

“… she’s a survivor. If anyone can live through it, it’s her. She survived much worse.”

“Do you know her from before?”

“No, but I’ve read her fajl.”

“Where is Jens?” I asked.

“He finally went to dance with a timkik girl,” the queen responded, “I forced him into it.”

“He’s your hero, is he not?”

The queen stared at me for a short while.

“Uhh, yes.”

“They waited for you and your hero to be separated.”

“He may be a hero, but he’s not my guard. Anna was with me all along.”

“I bet the assassins didn’t feel threatened by her since she’s a female. Females aren’t seen as fighters in timkik society.”

“And that will cost them.”

“But wait, weren’t we attacked by a group of females?” Mun-Hee pointed out.

“With all due respect, stabbing someone in the back is not the same as fighting.”

“You don’t think females can be fighters?” The queen asked me.

“It’s not about what I think. It’s about what your want-to-be assassins think. They were far more concerned with Jens than with Anna. After all, everyone knows that he had killed a dragon.”

“Speaking of him, he has rallied the guards and they are on their way. We’ll have to hold on just a little bit longer.”

“How do you know?”

The queen and Mun-Hee looked at each other for a brief moment before turning back to smile at me: “We can’t explain it now, but don’t worry. We’ll explain it once everything is over. The point is, help is finally on the way.”

And indeed, it wasn’t long before yelling and screaming resumed.

“Drop your weapons, traitors!”

“Traitors? Your Emperor is the one selling us out to the demons!”

“Die, criminal scum!”

The fight raged only for a few moments before moving away from us, calm voices replacing the commotion from before.

“You say your queen is in the hedge, sir?” A deep voice asked.

“Yes.”

“That’s the smartest decision she could’ve made, but it will be a real pain to find her in there. The labyrinth is big, and some assailants certainly went after her. And I hate the damn thing, it’s too tight! But, a duty has to be fulfilled.

“It’s ok, I’ll go.”

“Things are already bad as they are. I can’t have you getting hurt too, sir. Not after this mess.”

“You don’t know where to search for her, so we’ll lose valuable time. I can feel her, so I’ll know exactly where she is.”

“Are you a mage or something?”

“No, but I share a special connection with my queen. I’ll find her with ease. And don’t worry about me, I know how to handle myself. If you hear some loud noises in there, that’s just me getting rid of assassins I found along the way.”

“Hmm … in that case, I agree with you. Recovering your queen is the highest priority right now.”

“Let’s not waste any time then.”

Finally, I realized.

“Is that, mfmf …”

The queen covered my mouth as soon as I started talking.

“Just keep quiet,” she said in a whisper, “we don’t want to let some of the wandering assassins know where we are. Jens will find us with ease.”

And that’s exactly what happened. It wasn’t long before we heard Jens’ voice again, very close to us.

“Are you there, my queen?” He asked in a low voice.

“Yes, we’re here. Mun-Hee is closest to you. Find her hand and lead us out of here.”

Soon, we started moving, with me being the last in line. We navigated the labyrinth while holding our hands together.

Once out, we were greeted with a bloody mess. Two male nobles lay in the pool of their own blood. One was too far gone while a mage struggled to heal the other one.

“Make sure that one lives,” a well-rounded, perhaps even too rounded guard stood above the mage and her patient. His armor was especially shiny and decorated, indicating he held a much higher rank than the other guards. He held a sword in hand, but I didn’t notice any blood on it.

“I don’t get to choose who lives and who dies!” The mage protested in frustration, “It would help if you’d be more careful with the wounds you’re giving! Once the blood …”

“We need some of them to live so we can question them.”

“I’m trying! But your …”

“Oh, you found your queen. Good,” He turned towards us as soon as he had noticed us, ignoring the mage completely. He tried bowing, but his round constitution stopped him from doing it properly.

“I’m terribly sorry for this, your grace. As a guards-commander, I take full responsibility for this failure.”

“You did your best, considering we’ve ignored your warnings,” The queen responded.

The guard didn’t respond, but his big mustaches twitched a little bit.

“You told us we shouldn’t go to secluded areas alone, but we chose to trust your nobles.”

“I believe your hero has told you there are misconceptions about your people. Even among the nobles.”

“Yes, he did. I take most of the blame for what has happened. That being said, I’m disappointed that your Emperor’s agents didn’t manage to discern friends from foes on time.”

“We’ll have a lot to talk about later,” Jens inserted himself, “Now we should focus on finding Anna, our queen’s female guard.”

“Can you feel where she is? Just like you felt your queen?” The guard asked, “That would be extremely useful.”

“Yes, I can. She’s in the palace. I’ll lead you to the exact place.”

“Great!”

“I also know that she’s still alive, even though she’s being tortured at the moment. We must hurry immediately!”

“Absolutely! Guards, form up! Let’s not waste any time! You lead mister Jens, and we’ll follow!