Two paws and a head landed on her thigh. Distracted from the notebook in her hand, Sevana looked down to see what Baby wanted. The cat looked up at her dolefully, ears almost flat, and let out a soft mewl. She recognized the look all too well.
“Baby,” she asked with false mildness, “What did you do?”
The cat, if possible, drew his head even further backward so that he looked hunched over.
Oh yes, he’d done something alright. The last time she’d seen that look on his face, he’d broken into the cooling cabinet and eaten all of the meats. He normally didn’t report his misdeeds afterwards, though. In fact, he only came to her like this when something had seriously gone wrong, something he’d had a paw in, and he needed her help to set it right again.
Normally she would have him show her what was wrong, but since he and a certain prince were inseparable these days, she could likely just ask Bel and save herself some trouble. She looked up, toward the workroom’s door, and paused when she realized Bel hadn’t followed the cat in.
“Baby, where’s Bel?”
The cat, if possible, looked even more guilty, ears flattening straight to his head.
She gave him an incredulous look. “You lost him?!”
Giving up on trying to appeal to her sympathy, the cat changed tactics and instead tried to bury his head under her knees.
“Baby!” she spluttered, trying to push him away with both hands so she could properly see his face. “Stop that and answer me properly. Where did you lose him? Please, for the love of all that’s merciful, don’t tell me in Noppers Woods.”
Unable to hide under her legs, he switched tactics entirely and instead flopped onto his back, showing his belly and trying to look cute.
“You idiot!” she thundered, getting to her feet so quickly that it sent her chair rocking wildly behind her, nearly crashing to the floor. She ignored it and leaned menacingly over the cat. “After all my warnings?! You know better than I how dangerous those woods are! You promised you’d be careful with him!”
If Baby thought hiding under the nearby table would do any good, he’d have likely tried for it at that point. As it was, he simply rolled back over and tried to avoid her eyes.
Letting out a breath, she promised herself she’d kill him later. Right now, she needed to go on a rescue. “Alright, so who took him? The Curupira? Muma Padurii?” Either one would be bad. The first would kill him just because Bel hunted in those woods, the second would either enslave him or cook him and eat him.
Baby looked even more hangdog.
“Baby,” she growled, “Tell me it wasn’t the Fae that took him.”
The cat heaved a great sigh, his tail flopping once.
Sevana dropped her head, rubbing at her forehead in a vain attempt to prevent a headache from building. “I’d prefer for him to be eaten over dealing with that lot!”
From overhead, Big sighed, Sevana….
“Oh stop that, both of you! Especially you, Baby, I don’t want to get those puppy eyes from someone that lost the kid to begin with.” Irritated with the world in general (and Baby in particular), she spun on a boot heel and headed for the door. “I’ll go rescue him. And Baby, you’re showing me the way.”
With a resigned growl, the mountain lion slouched after her.
~ ~ ~
It took a three hours hike to reach the right area. The woods always held a particular ambiance to it, as if the filtered sunlight and heavy air cast its own magic on the forest. But now she had ventured in further than she’d ever dared to before, and the woods didn’t just feel enchanted, but had obviously become so. Flowers and fauna she had never seen before grew up around the trees, some of them hanging from the branches, giving off their own magical light in dim whites and greens. The trees were ancient, gnarled with age and large enough that ten grown men could not wrap their arms around a trunk. Baby hadn’t dared to climb even one trunk and take his more lofty highway, which said something all by itself. He meekly stayed on the ground, following the very winding dirt trail that snaked its way between the trees.
Sevana breathed in deeply as she moved, feeling the slight ache in her calves from the continuous hike. She could smell water from up ahead, which didn’t particularly surprise her, as the Fae preferred to build their homes around bodies of water. (Humans did the same thing.) She hadn’t thought a river or pond existed in these woods, but then, no human had dared to come and explore the area well enough to draw a map. Even she wouldn’t have come this deep without a life on the line.
She didn’t think that she could just waltz in and out of Fae territory, not without either a fight or a very interesting discussion. So before she’d left Big, she’d armed herself with four different wands, a focusing crystal around her neck, two daggers strapped to her thighs, a sword at her back, and a pouch at her waist with various potions and ready-made spells. Sevana didn’t believe for one second that she could hold off all of the Fae with just what she had on her. But she didn’t think this would become an all-out war, either.
Many eyes followed her as she walked along the path, but she didn’t look up, and didn’t do anything that they would mistake as threatening. If they were letting her come in, she would. It would likely be hard enough leaving, she didn’t want to make it twice as difficult by fighting her way in as well.
The path led her around one of the more ancient trees, its branches so long that they dipped down to touch the earth before rising up again. She ducked her away around it, careful not to touch any part of it—Fae were funny about their trees—and at last came into view of the Fae…village? Town? It didn’t look like any of those, not by human eyes. The buildings were round and flowing, made of a material she couldn’t begin to guess at, which wrapped its way naturally from one tree to another. Stones had been moved to create natural walkways that led up to the different levels, as the…village…wrapped its way gradually upwards, using the massive branches as platforms. Even standing here, looking at it directly, she knew that there were parts of this place she couldn’t see. The builders had done that remarkable a job in blending in their homes with the woods.
The pond stretched out in front of her, stepping stones leading across the water, but she stopped right there at the water’s edge. The Fae kept interesting pets, some of them water-bound, and she had no intention of tempting fate by crossing that water until she was invited to do so. Instead she called out in a strong voice, “I have come unto your home and I offer apologies. My name is Sevana Warran. I have come in search of a boy named Bellomi.”
The cat behind her started to slink back toward the relative safety of the woods.
“And Baby, if you move one more step, I’ll castrate you,” she promised from the side of her mouth.
The cat stopped dead, giving off a pitiful whine.
“Oh no, you don’t,” she retorted, still speaking softly and from the side of her mouth, never taking her eyes from the area in front of her. “You’re the one that took the kid too deep into the woods. You’re the one that gets to apologize.”
Baby let out a disgusted snort.
“He says that it’s not his fault.” The speaker stepped out into view from thin air, as far as Sevana could tell. He stood taller than she, taller than even Kip who was unusually tall. Slender, fair of skin, with platinum blond hair that floated around his shoulders and the clearest blue eyes she’d ever seen, he was the epitome of beauty. But then, all Fae were. He took two gliding steps toward her, the ankle-length coat of deep green he wore flaring about as he walked, revealing bare feet. “He said that he was nowhere near our territory and so cannot be blamed.”
Sevana took in a deep breath to control her rapidly beating heart. She normally wasn’t a woman that turned her head over a good looking man, but a woman would have to be dead to not react to him. “It’s still his fault,” she responded levelly. “The child you took is his student. His safety is Baby’s responsibility.”
“A mountain lion as a teacher?” Instead of mocki
ng, the Fae appeared intrigued, even faintly approving. “Have humans grown so that they recognize the wisdom of other creatures?”
“I cannot speak for all humanity, but the child that you have certainly recognized it. That is, in part, what caught your interest. Isn’t it?” she challenged with an arched eyebrow.
“Indeed it is.” He stopped directly in front of her, almost looming, eyes staring down directly into hers.
She met his eyes unflinchingly, although she found it hard to do so. His eyes were uncomfortably penetrating, making her feel as if he could see right through her. It also gave her quite the crick in her neck to maintain that position.
“Artifactor Sevana Warran,” he said in a mild tone, smiling slightly at her surprise. “Oh yes, even here, we know exactly who you are. But who is that child to you?”
She took in a deep breath. Here went nothing. “He is my client. I am sure that you are aware of the spell he is under?”
“We sensed human magic upon him, yes.” His eyes narrowed, face now shadowed with suspicion.
Sevana had to walk a very tricky line. The Fae took the children they did for one reason: they wanted them to raise and create the next generation of Fae with. Because they could not have children among themselves the traditional way, adoption was the only other method available to them. But because of that, they were very careful of which children they took. They did not want a child that had serious problems—health or magically speaking. If she could convince them that Bel’s problem was serious enough, they’d hand him back over without a fight. But she absolutely could not lie or mislead them. The Fae in front of her would be able to sense it instantly if she tried.
“You did not sense anything malignant about the magic on him, correct?” The Fae didn’t understand how ‘human magic’ worked—their magic was entirely different—but any magic user could sense the different types of magic. They would be able to see whether the magic was harmful or not. When he nodded in slow confirmation, she lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug. “That’s because the spell is made of benign components. To be precise, he’s actually under two spells. The first spell casted upon him was intended to revert his age, slowly taking away his years of growth.”
He listened intently. “He is very young to have such a spell cast upon him.”
“The spell was cast ten years ago,” she corrected neutrally. “The makeup of the spell is benign, but the intentions of the caster were anything but. The spell was intended to kill him.”
A shadow crossed over the Fae’s face. “And the second spell?”
“Is a stasis spell. It prevents the first spell from being active. But because of both spells, he is forever in a limbo, unable to age. You look upon him and see an eight-year-old child, do you not?” She didn’t need his confirming nod. “But that is not his age in mind and soul. He has been upon this world twenty-one years.”
He searched her eyes intently, no doubt looking for a lie, but he saw nothing but truth. He let out a low breath, almost a sigh, and retreated a half step from her. “You speak truth, Artifactor. We have wondered, these past hours, if something were amiss. He did not act as a child. He has been very curious, and asked many questions, but refused any drink or treat we offered him. This behavior is not…typically seen in such a young child.”
She’d bet not. She mentally congratulated Bel for figuring out that eating or drinking anything the Fae offered him would be dangerous. That was how they started to change a human child into one of them. Adding yet more magic to his condition would have made things hairier.
The Fae glanced back over his shoulder—at what, she couldn’t tell—before turning back to her. “For him to be bespelled in such a manner, he must have some importance in the human world.”
“He does,” she confirmed. So, they had no idea who they kidnapped, eh? “His name is Bellomi Dragonmanovich. He is the first and only Prince of Windamere.”
He let out a soft “Ahhh” of understanding, nodding as if unsurprised. “Yes, much is now explained.”
She spread her palms out in a slight shrug. “You no doubt are disappointed after taking such pains to bring him into your home. You had hopes for him as well that will be painful to let go of. But I think you also see that this man-child cannot become one of you.”
“It is true.” The Fae grimaced. “It is very disappointing. We rarely see such a beautiful child. His kind nature and intelligence were also very rare. If only…” he trailed off. “But a child that cannot grow should not join the Fae.”
In other words, a child that couldn’t grow would be useless to them. “In that light, will you return him to me?”
The Fae let out another disappointed sigh. “We will. But you should take more precautions,” this last statement he directed to Baby. “We are not the only ones in these woods who are interested in him.”
Baby’s ears went flat and he ducked his head as if ashamed at the scolding.
The Fae caught Sevana’s eyes again. “And when you have broken these spells binding him, if he wishes to return to us and become of the Fae, you shall bring him here.”
She didn’t know what consequences would come of not heeding that order, but she didn’t take it lightly. “I will, if that is his wish. I only promised to break the spell. What he does after that is up to him.”
He gave a slight smile, satisfied, and turned away from her, retreating toward the village. “Wait here. He shall come to you.”
Sevana stood stock still, waiting as he disappeared, once again into a place that she couldn’t properly see. For a moment, it looked as if the green behind one of the trees was distorted, and then she blinked and it looked right again. Just what kind of magic were they using, anyway, to make their own homes blend that perfectly with the woods?
It took a few minutes before Bel appeared out of a completely different area, this time from a door that she could actually see. He skipped right over the stones that spanned the pond, looking a little flushed but otherwise the same as always. “Sevana!” he called in greeting, waving a hand as he ran toward her. “Thank heavens. I saw Baby head back for Big, so I reckoned he’d go to you for help, but I wasn’t sure if you could find this place.” He glanced around as he reached the bank. “In fact, I’m not even sure where I am.”
Sevana let out a growl and grabbed his ear, twisting it. “You, princeling, are in the very heart of Noppers Woods, a place that no human has entered and lived to tell the tale.”
“Ow, ow, owowowowow!” He twisted free, rubbing at his abused ear. “Not my fault. Baby and I were very careful to steer clear of anyone’s territory. They just appeared out of nowhere and invited me to go with them. They were, ah, very insistent about it. Actually, I was afraid of what might happen if I didn’t go with them.”
Which had, actually, been a rather smart call. No one angered the Fae on purpose. But that was neither here nor there. “We have a three hour hike back to Big.”
Bel looked at her with a resigned expression. “You’re going to use all three hours to lecture me on what I did wrong, aren’t you?”
“Would you rather be kidnapped again?” she retorted sweetly. “The Fae would take you in as their own child and treat you very well. All of the other races in these woods would either enslave or eat you.”
“Ahhh…” he looked around the woods with new eyes. “Hmm. Lecture away.”
~ ~ ~
After the fiasco the day before, Bellomi decided it safer to not venture into Noppers Woods for a while. He didn’t want the Fae crossing paths with him again and changing their minds, for whatever reason. No, better to focus on something else. Something that would keep him safely indoors and away from anything mystical or magical.
Bellomi, during the course of the past ten years, had read everything and anything that came to hand, so of course he had done a great deal of reading on Windamere’s history. But reading history did not mean that he retained it, and in order to come up with a plan to deal with the current situation, he th
ought it best to go back and refresh his memory. Perhaps, just perhaps, some ancestor of his had been in a similar situation and he could apply their solution to his problems.
Even though Sevana had a plethora of books on hand in her research room, he didn’t even consider staying holed up inside of Big and reading there. Instead, he went to Milby’s Library, with every intention to take up a certain pretty blonde on her offer.
The interior of the library felt cool, lit by semi-dim light, and only a few patrons scattered at the tables to his left. He scanned the bookshelves and tables, looking for a certain head of blonde hair. Ah, there! Weaving his way through the tables and around the long counter at the side, he headed straight for her.
The smell of paper and leather and cool air swirled about his head as he moved. The smell felt oddly nostalgic, harkening back to the days when he’d had stacks of books all around him. The memories the scent stirred up were not entirely pleasant and he shook his head to clear his mind of them.
In the very far back corner, Hana stood in front of a shelf with a clipboard in one hand and a pencil in the other. Her concentration on the books in front of her blocked everything else out until someone gasped particularly loudly. Then she looked up and around and finally spotted him. Her eyes lit up and widened, mouth parting in a welcoming smile. “Bellomi.”
“Miss Hana,” he greeted with a short bow and offering a smile in return. “I wondered if I could have your help.”
“Oh, of course.” She tucked the clipboard under one arm and the pencil into the bun on her head. “What are you researching today?”
Bel had been here three times previously, the first two on concocted pretense, the third on an errand for Sevana. If he wanted to, he could probably find what he wanted himself, as he’d gained an understanding of how this library organized things. But he played up to his supposed age and said innocently, “Artifactor Sevana wanted me to learn more history. She said start with Windamere.”
The Child Prince (The Artifactor) Page 13