First rays of the sun shot castle walls like lasers. Hal looked at his watch.

  “Time to launch. Guards will be back in twenty seconds.”

  Vex felt cold sweat running over him and his gut decided to act out at the worst time possible. A mix of hype and uncertainty made him anxious. He wiped his sweaty hands on his cloak.

  “This is not gonna work. I need my lucky charm. Amelie, come over.”

  Amelie hopped off her launch plate like an excited puppy and skipped across the dirt, avoiding dragging her robes through the mud. Hal still counted.

  "We only have 15 seconds and you're doing "spirit reading" ?"

  "I'm anxious. What do you want me to do ?"

  "Eh. Whatever, probability says it will work out for you anyway."

  Vex bent down, a small ball fell out of his pocket and rolled away unnoticed.

  “Time for a quick divination.”

  Vex reached out without ceremony. His hand crushing layers of fabric, searching for anything worth grabbing. A familiar disappointment hit him the second his fingers met a flat surface with zero resistance. He closed his eyes for a second, letting the flat reality sink in.

  “A little disappointment is just what I needed.”

  Amelie looked confused.

  "Disappointment ? Do they spirits bring unfavored news ?"

  "No, they said to lower my expectations."

  "Wise energies."

  No longer overhyped, Vex was ready to tackle this quest with a calmer mind. He sent Amelie back to her platform.

  Alixa watched the whole exchange with the expression of someone who’d just stepped in something warm and wet and was now trying very hard not to scream.

  “When we launch, don’t you dare touch me that way.”

  "We'll see who's touching who, princess."

  Hal started the countdown with frustration.

  “Five… four… three… two… one…”

  Alixa lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Vex in a death grip. No affection, pure cold calculation.

  "If I’m stuck to this idiot, his freakish luck might prevent me from splatting like a tomato."

  The platforms hissed, a cloud of vapor came out from under the platform as high-pitched sound sliced the air. Both pairs flew into the air simultaneously, leaving only a cloud behind them.

  The world tilted violently as Vex and Alixa hit the top of the arc. Slowing down allowed them to prepare for landing. Vex twisted his head, squinting against the rushing wind. Hal and Amelie were nowhere to be seen. He would've seen this as a concern if he didn't have other problems. As they started falling, Alixa screamed a raw undignified sound, gripping his arm against ribs so hard he felt numb.

  “Let go, stupid princess! I need to throw the ball!”

  Embarrassingly, but expectedly she was stronger than him. Vex’s free hand flailed as he reached towards his pocket, fingers scraping empty cloth. He thought of ways to make Alixa loosen her grip.

  “Not in this one ? Well at least I’ll die next to a hottie.”

  The comment snapped her out of panic faster than any slap could. Disgust flooded back stronger than fear, the thought of them dying together and people assuming they were a couple hurt worse than splatting on cobblestone would. She released him.

  Vex dug into his other pocket. Nothing.

  "What the hell!? Not in this one-"

  CRASH.

  Hal kept his fall-breaker clutched the whole time. As they descended he tossed it down without precision, knowing its effect was wide enough for miscalculations. As they descended, their fall began to slow gradually and they touched ground without so much as a twisted ankle.

  An early merchant in a hurry to his spot stared as the duo descended. He blinked once, twice, then decided this was above his pay grade and walked away as if nothing happened.

  Hal looked around, his calculations were perfect, he found himself near the market- just where he expected to land, but Vex and Alixa were nowhere in sight. He pushed up his glasses.

  “Where the hell is the royal pair?”

  He heard a crash far away.

  "First thing in the morning..."

  Amelie asked.

  "Should we help them ?"

  "No, I'm sure they survived. If we follow them we're bound to get arrested as well. Worst case scenario we'll somehow help them escape."

  ?????

  Vex and Alixa smashed straight through the canvas roof of an unattended buggy. The impact jolted the horses still hitched to it. They reared, shrieked, and bolted.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  A patrolling guard noticed the commotion and went to investigate.

  The buggy launched forward. Canvas flapped around them like torn sails in a storm. Vex’s head rang from the crash, Alixa’s braid had come half undone.

  The guard blasted his horn, signaling for reinforcements. He talked even though he was alone in the street, his words came out robotic.

  "Subjects fleeing, requesting reinforcements"

  They woke up in the back of the runaway vehicle, laying in straw, ripped tarp and splintered wood. Horses still ran at top speed. Vex staggered to his feet first, swaying.

  “Hold on, I’ve got this.”

  He grabbed the reins and yanked hard. The horses shrieked louder, reared straight up and the buggy tipped violently sideways.

  They rolled out, heads dizzy, tumbling across the street. Dust and straw stuck to their clothes.

  Guards poured around the corner. No questions asked they prepared their spears.

  Vex helped Alixa to stand. Furious how they managed to screw up in their first steps.

  “C’mon, just give me some alone time with the princess. I’ve finally managed to lose two of my biggest cock-blocks.”

  They sprinted through, waking up the capital's streets. A small stall was just opening, merchant froze mid-yawn as the pair ran past, Vex knocked over a barrel of fish.

  One guard slipped on the spilled fish, falling face-first into the gutter.

  A flower pot, nudged by some unseen breeze, tipped from a second-story balcony and cracked right on on another guard’s helmet. Clang. The guard dropped.

  A third guard tripped over his own spear, bowled over two more like dominoes, their armor clattering in pile.

  Deep underground, in a dimly lit bunker lined with faintly glowing crystals, Wizard Anto leaned in his chair, skeletal and pale fingers making fast movements. In his mind he was seeing the guards’ point of view, first-person concern as the buggy bolted away, then the humiliating cascade of failures. Anto stroked his beard to calm himself.

  “Rats...”

  Vex glanced back over his shoulder. Fewer white shapes followed them now.

  “See? Everything works out for a perfect guy like me!”

  Alixa ran beside him, barely breaking a sweat. Her braid finally failed, making her hair flow in all directions, including her face.

  “Less gloating, more running! You’re already falling behind, puny emperor.”

  "How's the hair taste ? At least you look more like a princess now."

  A few sharp corners later they ducked through ornate double doors. Gold lettering above shining brightly "Great Library of Wavel".

  The place was stupidly grand- towering shelves of expensive books, golden crystal chandeliers, marble floors cleaner than most plates in the city. The library looked old but taken well-care of, leaving the pair stumped why it was unlocked and empty.

  Alixa leaned against a marble pillar, catching her breath, one hand on her hip.

  “I bet this is your first time in a library.”

  Vex also panting shrugged, already wandering toward the nearest shelf.

  “You prefer a jail cell?. Ya know, you and I have a history in jail cells.”

  He winked. She rolled her eyes so hard it looked painful.

  “What an awesome plan.”

  She snapped.

  “Catapult ourselves blind into a walled city, then hide in a library.”

  “First: it worked. Second: we didn’t die. Third: we have some alone time.”

  He stepped closer, voice dropping into that sleazy tone he thought was charming.

  “How about a private "fortune reading" to pass the time? Fate’s been kind today.”

  His hand started drifting suggestively toward her waist.

  Alixa’s dagger flashed out in an instant, tip hovering an inch from his throat.

  “Yeah right, when it starts raining diamonds.”

  Vex raised both hands, laughing low.

  “Ok ok, message received. Fiancee’s in a bad mood. If you're not in a mood to explore each other we can try the library instead, we need to hide deeper anyway.”

  They wandered the aisles. Vex yanked books at random, mostly to look busy, flipping them open and closed. Alixa actually scanned titles, half-hoping for something useful, half-wondering if there was a guide on “How to murder an idiot you're bound to without breaking the curse”.

  Vex reached up for a black volume on a high shelf. Red-glowing title pulsed under his fingers like a slow heartbeat. The whole shelf squeaked and slid aside with a low rumble, revealing narrow stone stairs descending into blue-tinted darkness.

  Vex grinned wide enough to show teeth.

  “Jackpot.”

  The stairs led down into what looked more like a natural cave than a man made dungeon. Blue crystals grew from the walls in uneven clusters, casting cold light that made their skin look corpse-like.

  Alixa’s steps slowed. Memories of her last dungeon flashed, boulders swinging, people falling into an endless darkness, her clutching to a beam after nearly dying. Her hand tightened on her dagger hilt.

  “This place is bound to be trapped.”

  Vex smirked over his shoulder.

  “Bound? Awww, just like us. I love it when you make cute jokes, fiancee.”

  Her face twisted in pure annoyance. She shoved him hard in the back.

  Vex stumbled and fell forward right onto a pressure plate.

  Arrows hissed from hidden slits in the walls. If she hadn’t pushed him, arrows would’ve punched straight through his skull.

  Alixa stared at the quivering shafts embedded in the mossy stone. Vex dusted himself off like nothing happened. Alixa's breathing became more frequent.

  “Why are we even going there?”

  “We need to hide, don’t we? Also imagine if we stumbled on a cool treasure.”

  “Treasure?”

  Her eyes narrowed. A lost artifact. Something powerful enough to break the binding. The thought lit a greedy spark outshining her worry.

  They pressed on encountering many more traps.

  A collapsing ceiling. Vex tripped backward on a loose stone, pulling them both to safety as rubble thundered down. A swinging blade. Alixa yanked him down by the collar just as it whistled overhead, close enough to give a well needed shave. A false floor. Vex’s foot went through, but he caught the edge. He hung until Alixa was satisfied seeing how pathetic he is and helped him up.

  By the time they reached the bottom chamber, both were dirty, bruised, sweating, and breathing hard. A single pedestal stood in the center under a shaft of blue crystal light. On it was an ancient book- black cover, red runes pulsing like a slow heartbeat.

  “That idiot was right, there is a treasure. And that pedestal… It looks just like the one that held the scroll of binding. This is definitely a lost artifact.”

  “A lost artifact?”

  She realized she’d spoke out loud too late.

  Vex stared at the book, imagining immense aura coming from it.

  “I'm not into reading but this thing’s screaming power.”

  “Yeah, and I hope I can use that power to make you scream.”

  “Kinkyyy…”

  “Ew.”

  Alixa shoved him aside and reached for the book first. She glanced at the ancient script on the cover and carefully read “Shadow Library”.

  Vex, still on the ground, hooked her ankle and yanked. She fell face-first with a yelp that echoed off the cave walls. He snatched the book before she could recover.

  “Bitch! It’s mine.”

  A flat, artificial voice came out.

  “Pure Maiden Required. Activation Denied.”

  Vex held on. The voice repeated, louder, vibrating through his palms.

  “Pure Maiden Required. Activation Denied.”

  He blinked. Turned to Alixa. His polite smile twisted into something evil and delighted.

  “Pure maiden, huh? Give it a go.”

  Alixa was still dusting herself off. Her face reading "no more games".

  “Are you crazy? I only pushed you!”

  “Yada yada, just take the book.”

  She snatched it from him with a sharp glare.

  “Pure Maiden Required. Activation Denied.”

  Alixa froze. Color drained from her face, then rushed back like a broken dam.

  “Pure Maiden Required. Activation Denied.”

  Vex’s smirk reached maximum. Realization dawned slow and satisfying.

  “Wait… you’re telling me THE royal princess of Aldrich is not a virgin?”

  She stood frozen, unable to speak. Her hand went to her dagger, her scarred knuckles white. Suddenly she snapped.

  “Shut your mouth or I’m slicing off your tongue.”

  Vex laughed so hard he doubled over, clutching his stomach.

  “Imagine this, princess of Aldrich is a who-”

  A dagger whistled past his ear and embedded in the wall.

  “That’s it. I’m not cutting it off, I’m ripping your tongue out.”

  She lunged. He bolted. Around the chamber they went, her chasing with murder in her eyes, him cackling like a madman, the Shadow Library clutched in Alixa's hand glowing bright with every furious step.