Secret Novel Chapter 18: Sulking Around (Patreon)

The next week was a blur of doing nothing but sulking around her Garden, wondering why the Fates had to toy with her so. In the entire week she never once left the Garden. The mages were probably out there now looking for her because she stole those books. Books that helped her in absolutely no way. She should have thrown them into the pond, but no, she had left them out for a day, before angrily shoving them back in the pack and ignored them entirely. She wondered what the mages thought about someone being in the Maze and stealing from them. Did they know it was her? Would Flora be out there looking for her? Now that they knew someone was out there, would they find her here in her Garden?

Those were thoughts that bounced around inside her head endlessly as Madeline lazed under the willow tree at the top of the small hill. Sometimes those questions would be so all consuming that she would forget to eat meals or drink water. Sometimes she would just stare at the pond and think of nothing for hours on end.

There was a time or two that she managed to bring herself to read more of that novel she found in the second pack. Though she was rather close to finishing it at this point. Sometimes she could bring herself to write a little in the journal. She didn’t write the most pleasant things, but it was an outlet that wasn’t just screaming. And screaming was something that could potentially lead to mages finding her if they were out looking for her.

She could try and leave. Follow the highway and try to get home. The Maze would turn her around though. It helped her at times, and she knew that the Maze wanted her here. There was some hope that there was a reason it wanted her here, but she was still alone and stuck here. Besides the worry of being alone and the mages hunting her down, living in the Garden was rather idyllic. She had all the food she needed. All the water. She had things to do like weeding and watering the plants with an old waterbucket she found hidden under weeds, and she never had to worry about money. But it could get really boring here. She missed her friends. She missed having tea with Sophie. She missed Neila asking her never ending questions. She missed the sound of people chattering as they went about the market. She missed people…

Thinking back, Madeline suddenly realized that she has been in the Maze for almost two months now. Two whole months of being trapped here. Nearly two months without someone to talk to. Two months of surviving. Six more weeks than the mages said she would last here. She wasn’t even meant to survive a day alone in the Maze, but look at her. Food, water, shelter, a fire to keep her warm, and a routine to keep her days busy and keep her active.

Madeline chuckled to herself for the first time in a long time. The mages had really screwed over her life, but yet here she was. Still alive in the most dangerous place in the world. Surviving. The mages were wrong. She had proved the mages wrong. She, a twenty-five year old woman with no survival experience and no magic, had proved them wrong. Every day that she survived was another day of proving the mages wrong.

“Take that, you fucks,” Madeline gently said, raising her head from staring at the pond, to looking at the sky.

Though she may be surviving here, she wasn’t exactly thriving. Yes, she has food and water and a roof to sleep under. But the pile of wood was going to be getting lower and lower with the cooler weather, and with winter just around the corner it would run out eventually. She would need to get more wood, but she had no ax, and even walking out into the forest at the back of the Garden could be dangerous if mages were hunting her. The clothes she had would hopefully keep her warm. The magic pack had winter clothes in it, and they might fit her even if they would be rather snug. The past week she hadn’t replanted any food, though she should really be doing that so she wouldn’t run out. Not that that would be easy with this Garden, but replanting was still good and is part of her routine.

A sudden thwack and a high pitched squeal brought Madeline back to the world. Her heart thudded a little as she tried to figure out what the hell that sound was. Then it dawned on her. One of her traps had just worked. One of her traps worked for the first time!

Scrambling to her feet at the possibility of fresh meat, Madeline jogged around her traps set up in the garden till she finally came across the one that worked. It was a dead-fall trap, or at least that was what she thought it was called. She didn’t really know how to make one, she just had the basic understanding of what it did, thanks to one of her friends back in lexford being a hunter. None of her other ones had worked. In fact, most of them broke, but this one worked. There under the large stone was a rabbit. The first creature Madeline had caught in the Maze. The first fresh meat she would have in two months.

Resolved washed over her as she looked down at her dinner. Madeline wasn’t just going to survive here in the Maze. She was going to thrive. She was going to keep proving those mages wrong and she was never going to take that for granted.

[I know these last two chapters were pretty short but I still hope that you liked them. I would love to know what you guys think of the story so far. I'm also really excited for you guys to read next week's chapters when they come out.]