Skylar decided to move. If she stayed in one place, Lucian would surely find her. He always did.
She'd keep moving, winding her way through, changing paths and doorways, hiding long enough for her mother to give up on the dress, or until she missed her meeting with Lord Caspian entirely.
She didn't have time. Lucian was on his way because she was certain her mother had sent for him the moment she had vanished. He was the only one who could ever find her. The only one who knew all of Skylar's hiding places.
Well, most of them.
Skylar stopped revealing everything after a while. In the past, whenever she decided to escape, he'd appear like magic, with the calmest look on his face. He'd been chosen as her father's Ward shortly after they met, and he took his role very seriously. She'd quickly realised that Lucian could no longer be swayed. She couldn't bring him to her side like she used to when they were children.
She had thought about bribing him, but he was a noble like her; there was nothing she could give him that he would want.
So Skylar stopped trying. She no longer hoped that Lucian might one day choose her over duty, and she cherished the short moments she had with him. Lucian accompanied her on journeys every now and then, but he had changed too much. Her father trusted him to protect her, and so there was no time to reminisce, to have enjoy their time together like they used to. Lucian was her father's Ward, and answered to her parents. And he was her best friend, since the moment they met in the maze all those years ago. Those two things existed together, and somehow, she had learned to live with it.
***
When they met in the maze and became allies, Skylar was nine, Lucian, ten. Their friendship strengthened with every secret, every joke, and every moment they snuck away into their own little world. They memorised the loops of the maze, created their own bird call and even a secret rhyme, just in case an enemy tried to impersonate them (that had seemed very important to them at the time).
When they weren't in the maze, Skylar took Lucian under her wing and showed him everything. All the secret nooks she'd found around the castle. Where the Headcook kept her treats. They went riding, too, and visited the markets where Uncle Lloyd sold books and toys from faraway lands.
Skylar enjoyed having a friend like Lucian. He never discouraged her, and he liked going on adventures just as much as she did. So, when Lucian left after only a few days, Skylar bawled like a baby. She wouldn't let go. She made Lucian swear that he'd return, and he did. They said their rhyme, each word said like its own promise, then the carriage swallowed Lucian up and the gates closed.
Her father reassured her that Lucian would return, and her mother tried to keep her busy, but Skylar missed him so much. She'd ask to go visit Lucian in Sylfore. She wrote him letters and waited eagerly for his reply. She'd buy books and toys that she thought he might enjoy. And she'd go exploring so she'd have something to show him when he came to visit.
That day finally came six months later.
Her father announced that he had called upon House Sunborne, and they would be arriving within the week. Skylar was ecstatic, and impatient. She waited eagerly at the castle gates until she had to be forced inside. She asked her father, interrogated any guard she passed by for any news or sightings of House Sunborne.
She was restless and that made her reckless.
She decided that she would enter the maze again. She'd learn more of it, so she could impress Lucian. Skylarwanted to show him she'd grown up, and that she was more capable now.
It was easy at first. The castle was busy with the preparations for their guests, so no one noticed Skylar slip by into the maze. She walked the familiar paths she'd already memorised with Lucian. When she came upon a path she did not recognise, she used the method they'd invented together: walk a new path twice, retrace to the start, then try it all again in one go.
Everything was going well, but Skylar grew careless. She was rushing because she wanted to learn quickly. And then the high hedge walls closed in around her. They tricked her into heading in the wrong direction, trapping Skylar in a leafy limbo of winding paths and loops, and there was no exit in sight.
It was not long before colours began to shift in the sky. Light blues turned to deep purples and soft pinks. Skylar was not sure how long she'd been in the maze, but she believed she had some time. All her lessons were finished for the day and there was nothing scheduled until dinner. But if she didn't find the exit soon, her parents would find out she was in the maze all by herself. And her father would tear it all down to keep her from ever getting lost within its arms again.
Panic surged through her. Skylar kept trying and trying, her focus on the path before her and the dying light of the sky above. She ran until the soles of her feet began to burn, and her breath left her in heavy gasps. But the maze did not let her go. Her eyes stung with unwanted tears. Skylar thought of Lucian; she would have felt braver if he was by her side.
Skylar brought her hands to her lips and made the bird call. The sound rippled out into the air. There was silence, but Skylar wasn't expecting to hear it back, of course. So, she was greatly surprised when she did. The same bird call returned to her from somewhere in the maze.
Skylar thought she was hearing things. She thought it must be a hallucination; the exhaustion and thirst after all the running and searching had caught up to her. So, she made the call again. For a second, she heard nothing. And then the answer came.
Skylar dashed towards it. She made the bird call again and again, and each time, it was returned. She changed paths, heading to wherever it sounded the closest.
There was only one other person who knew about the bird call.
Skylar turned a corner and there he was. Lucian. He looked taller and his hair was cut shorter. He was wearing red and silver robes, a deep maroon cape, and the sigil of the sun by his throat. Skylar noticed a real dagger sheathed to his belt.
When he took a step forward, Skylar held out her hand.
"Are you really Lucian? Or are you an imposter?"
The questioned seemed to delight the boy. He laugh, bright and cheery. To Skylar's ears, it sounded like a new morning. The boy put his hands behind his back and bowed dramatically.
"A Sun shines bright..."
Her smile broke through. "But the Owl goes to sleep." The fear had left her. She felt much stronger now.
"Then I'll be here at dusk..."
"So we can meet!"
Lucian stepped forward and Skylar ran towards him, unable to wait. She leapt into his arms and squeezed him tight. "It really is you! What are you doing here?"
"I'll tell you everything later. Lord Astros is looking for you. If he finds out you're in the maze, it will be both our heads."
Lucian took her by the hand and they burst out of the maze just as the last of the sunlight disappeared from the sky. Later, she learned what had happened: her father had wanted to surprise her with Lucian's early arrival, but no one could find her. Lucian arrived, guessed where she was, and spun a tale. He said she must have figured out he was coming, and must have hidden to surprise him back. The tale worked and they both returned with beaming faces, their secret and their maze safe.
But Lucian's early arrival wasn't the only surprise of the day. The reason her father had sent for House Sunborne was because he had decided to make Lucian his Ward. He would stay in Astros, train under Alfred's supervision, and he would return to Sylfore to learn what it meant to be an heir. He would come and go, but he would always return. That night, they danced, ate and played to their heart's content, overjoyed at all the time they now had together. As best friends and allies.
***
Skylar was fond of that memory. She turned a corner, into another section of the maze, and her smile faded.
Things had changed since then. As they grew up, duties and responsibilities followed like a shadow. It wasn't noticeable at first, and then it struck all at once, and it was persistent. It barged between them, filling the space where adventure lived. And it took their time, hardly any left to share secrets or make their own. They both eventually made alliances with other people because that was what nobles did. But to Skylar, Lucian would always be her first friend. Her best friend.
He knew her best, and she knew him, too. She knew that he respected her father. Lucian was thankful that Alfred had chosen him as his Ward.
She knew that Lucian did not like disappointing her mother because Saira had never wanted Lucian as Ward in the first place. She knew that when her mother sent for him, and ordered him to find her, he would have left immediately. She was certain that he must be in the maze by—
"Ah, there you are."