Mirabelle stared for several seconds.
Then a smile slowly spread across her face.
"Oh, we're definitely going that way."
Silas sighed.
Somehow he already knew that tone.
And somehow it always meant she was up to something.
The panther adjusted her slightly higher on his back and followed her directions without complaint.
"Left."
A few steps later: "Right."
Then another turn.
And another.
The passageway grew narrower the deeper they went.
The walls on either side rose higher and higher until they blocked most of the evening sky. The sounds of the arena became muffled here. The cheers of spectators reached them only as distant echoes.
Occasionally Mirabelle heard voices from other competitors somewhere beyond the maze walls.
A curse.
A startled scream.
The splash of water.
Somewhere a female was laughing.
Apparently someone else had just fallen into a pool.
Silas commented on the sounds around them:
