The Child Prince (The Artifactor)

by Honor Raconteur

  He rubbed at the back of his head and gave her a sheepish smile. “Big showed me where they were.”

  She cast a dark look at the mountain overhead. “Did he.”

  “Would you prefer that I suffer in silence?” he asked her dryly, obviously not worried about her irritable mood.

  At the moment, she’d prefer to strangle him. Closing the book, she stopped looming over him and straightened so that she could look him in the eye. “You’re not going to stop behaving like this no matter what I say.”

  “I won’t,” he agreed candidly with a half-shrug. “Now that I have the option to finally grow, nothing will stop me. Not even pain.”

  Stubborn, obstinate, mule-headed git. She blew out a breath in resignation. “Five hours a day. No more than that. You need to train and gain life-experience otherwise what I’m doing here will be wasted later on. Promise me that and I won’t hide the pain-away potions.”

  Happy to more or less get his way, he perked right up and beamed at her. “Deal.”

  “Good. Your five hours are up for the day. Go train.”

  Good-naturedly, he hopped off the bed, scooping up the swords from the bed as he moved and slinging them onto his back. Sevana watched in silent approval as she realized that this motion looked almost second-nature now. At first, Bel had been clumsy and unsure when he donned his swords. Now, it looked as if he didn’t really think about it, it had become so habitual.

  She heard him call for Baby as he left the room, which took another worry off her mind. Baby, as with any cat, couldn’t resist a newly made bed even if it did add years to his life. She’d caught him napping on it more than once. With him safely occupied outside with Bel hunting things, she could focus on her work.

  Satisfied, she tossed the book onto the bed and returned to her workroom, only pausing long enough to put another log on the fire before she regained her seat at the table. Sevana had been working on Bel’s curse steadily for over two months now, methodically going through each option as she thought of it, and investigating other options in the hopes that she had somehow missed a solution. She hadn’t.

  Two main problems prevented her from reaching a good, cheap, solution. First problem: it would take a mystical being of some sort to gain enough power to break the curse. But most mystical beings by themselves just didn’t harness enough power to do this, not without either borrowing the power of an element or working in tandem with another mystical being. Most of the magical races in the world wouldn’t cooperate with another race, which drastically cut down on her options. For that matter, only a handful of mythical races could call upon the aid of an element with enough power to do what she needed it to, which narrowed her options even further.

  It did, in fact, leave only three possibilities: water dragons, melusine or naiads.

  She’d originally guessed as much (years of experience having honed her instincts in such matters) but she’d really hoped this time to be wrong. Melusine were little better than freshwater mermaids, really, and they were tricky to deal with when a young man became involved. They were just as likely to seduce and eat him as to help him. Hardly beneficial. Naiads were much more benevolent and helpful, but weaker than the other two races, so it would take weeks of their dedicated efforts to break the curse. In that time, they could either lose interest or be interrupted by other things. (Naiads weren’t exactly well known for their concentration powers.)

  Water dragons, of course, could borrow the element of flowing water with ease and so could break Bel’s curse with nothing more than a few seconds of effort on their part. It was the ideal solution…or would be if she had a handy treasure trove lying about. Never mind being able to pay them, just approaching them would be dangerous. Water dragons didn’t particularly like humans encroaching upon their territory and were just as likely to eat you for lunch before you could get a word out of why you’d come and what you were offering. Even for an Artifactor, the trip there would be hazardous.

  With a naïve prince in tow it would be suicidal.

  She let her head thunk against the desk. Maybe if I strap a bag of gold on top of Bel’s head, we’d stand a chance of talking to them, at least….

  From the top of Big came a crashing noise, followed by a rumble as everything vibrated. Sevana looked up in alarm, having never heard or felt the like before. “Big? What’s going on?”

  Dragon, Big groaned in a pained way.

  Dragon? DRAGON? “There’s a dragon on top?” she demanded incredulously as she launched herself out of the chair, snatching up the sword propped next to the door and a shielding wand from the table.

  Yessss, the mountain sighed, sounding almost worried. Bel and Baby too.

  Stone the crows, what were those two doing topside?! Sevana had been running for the back door that led to the top of Big, but at this news, she increased her pace so that she fairly flew, her feet making a rushed staccato noise against the hard rock floor.

  Even as she ran, her mind went through a list of possibilities. There were several dragon tribes in the world, but none of them lived in Windamere. Two different species did migrate through here during certain seasons, however, when they wanted to have offspring in different locations. Her scaly visitor could either be from the stupid, hard-to-deal-with Fire Dragon tribe of Haixi or the slightly more intelligent and temperamental Water Dragon tribe from the Dragon Sea. Frankly, either one would be bad news.

  She burst through the door and skidded to a stop, taking in the sight with a sinking heart. A Fire Dragon.

  An upset Fire Dragon, at that.

  Sevana took her in from horned head to forked tail, scanning her with a professional eye. Not as large as a matron would be, so this one had to be a young adult—that still made her out to be about twenty tons of scaled muscle. Her underbelly didn’t have the off-white hue of an unmated female, though, but the deep gold of a mother. Her eyes were a dark red, too, matching the deep crimson of her hide, indicating just how upset she truly was.

  Swearing under her breath, she frantically looked around for Bel and Baby. She found them both pinned against a rock side, on their guard and looking absolutely terrified. Couldn’t blame them. Baby’s fur stuck straight up along his back, his body language a contradiction in itself as he stood in front of Bel, clearly protective of his student, but his tail wound in between his legs in a clear sign of fear. Bel hadn’t yet drawn his swords (thank all the gods) but he was braced against the rock, knees shaking, and if he could have melted into Big he would have already done it.

  No one had done anything to provoke the dragon outright yet. Good. That upped their chances of survival a little. Better yet, the dragon hadn’t yet paid her entrance any attention.

  Sevana took in a breath and said in a calm tone that would carry without being too loud, “Bel. You need to return it to her.”

  His eyes darted toward her but couldn’t look away from the hovering dragon for long. “Return what?” he protested, free hand reaching for the sword hilt over his shoulder. “I didn’t take anything from her!”

  “Don’t draw that sword. That big red crystal in your left arm is not a rock, young prince,” she explained with a patience she didn’t feel. “It’s a dragon’s egg.”

  His mouth opened, paused, and then closed. “Oh.”

  Sevana pointed the wand in his and Baby’s direction. “I have a shield ready to protect you. Put the egg down and slowly back away, keeping your arms out to prove you’ve no intention to fight. And for the love of all that is holy do not unsheathe that sword.”

  His hand flinched from the hilt and away, tongue darting out to moisten his lips in a nervous gesture. “She won’t attack that way?”

  “I never said that,” Sevana answered curtly, upset with this situation. How had those two managed to find this much trouble in such a ridiculously short amount of time, anyway? They’d only been outside for an hour or so! I’m rethinking about taking him anywhere near a dragon’s nest. He’ll surely get us both killed.

 
Bel, fortunately for all, knew how to follow instructions. He carefully set the egg down with both hands, not looking away from the hovering mother, and then stepped back and away, arms out to the sides as he moved. Baby just ran for freedom, diving behind Sevana and trying to look as innocent as possible.

  She’d scold the cat for this later, but right now she had to make sure that Bel survived this intact. Her shield wouldn’t hold up for long against a dragon. But it would ward off one attack, and that might be all the time she needed to snag Bel and throw him into Big. The mountain could protect them against anything else this Fire Dragon chose to do. Or so she hoped, anyway. She’d never fully tested her shields against an enraged dragon before.

  As soon as Bel had stepped safely away from the egg, the mother dragon dove forward, clamping a protective tail around it. She snarled and snapped at Bel, who scrambled backward frantically to avoid being caught in her jaws.

  Sevana threw up the shield with a sharply spoken command, which enveloped the prince in a thick blue haze. She had one arm out, ready to grab him by the back of his neck and throw him inside when the dragon abruptly paused.

  Everyone froze with her, not sure what she intended to do next. If she chose to let out a burst of flame, absolutely nothing Sevana could do would save them. With Bel still ten feet from the door, she didn’t have the time to grab him either.

  But the dragon drew in a breath of air through her nostrils, lowering her snout as if testing the wind. She sniffed several times, eyes clearing to their normal golden color as her rage faded.

  “DRAGON TOUCHED,” she said in a tone that sounded like a rumbling storm.

  Bel started, clearly surprised that a dragon could speak human words. Fire Dragons were the stupidest of all the tribes, but even they were capable of rational thought and speech.

  Sevana felt just as surprised, but for a different reason. The other dragon could smell the Dragon’s Breath used in Bel’s curse? Now that was interesting information.

  Giving a slight bow, Bel showed the dragon deference but did so in a way that made sure he kept eye contact with her. “Yes, dragoness, I am. I am very sorry I took your egg. I didn’t know it was an egg. It looked like a very beautiful crystal to me.” He darted a pleading look at Sevana, clearly wanting help.

  Sevana cocked an eyebrow at him and shrugged, silently saying, You got yourself into this fix, you can get yourself back out of it.

  The dragon slammed a front paw against the ground, still upset with him for taking off with her child, but her ears lifted in a way that said she appreciated his compliment.

  “IS BEAUTIFUL, MY EGG.”

  “Very much so,” Bel assured her with a nervous smile. “But I do not wish to separate you from your child. In fact, I wish you a safe hatching and good health.”

  The young mother glared at him and didn’t budge.

  Sevana knew good and well that if the dragoness hadn’t attacked by this point, that she wouldn’t. Bel was safe enough. She lifted the shield from him and watched in amusement, waiting to see what he would do next to soothe the dragon’s non-existent feathers.

  Clearly realizing that he had to somehow make amends, Bel hastily added, “We caught a buck earlier. It lies at the foot of the mountain. Please, take it and use it to nourish yourself as you travel.”

  Her head reared back so that she looked at him from the corner of her eye, the tilt of her head condescending. But she grudgingly nodded before taking off with a massive heave of her back legs and several flaps of her wings. Both Bel and Sevana were knocked down to their knees from the force of the air.

  With a cry, the dragon veered off to the side before looping back around and heading for a clearing near Big’s base.

  Bel lost no time in diving for the open doorway, skin white from the fright. Sevana quickly followed after him, nearly knocked over by Baby as the cat rushed past her for the safety of stone walls. Sevana closed and locked the door behind them—not that a locked door would deter a dragon—and followed them down as they all sought the innermost sanctuary of Big’s interior.

  When they reached the hallway on the main level, Sevana’s heart settled into a more relaxed rhythm. Well, that had been interesting. Clearing her throat, she offered, “For future reference, dragon eggs don’t look like eggs at all but darkly colored crystals. It’s a camouflage to prevent predators from taking off with them.”

  Bel stopped dead in his tracks and gave her an aggravated look. “You don’t say.”

  Sevana bit back a smile. “Let me guess. You found the egg in a rocky crevice of some sort that was near water.”

  “Bing-bong,” he said sarcastically. “You could have warned me we have dragons in Windamere!”

  “We don’t,” she negated as she moved past him. “She was just passing through, on her way to the outer islands off Kindin’s shores so that she could hatch her egg. Both Fire Dragons and Water Dragons do this once a year.” He opened his mouth to protest but she held up a hand to stop him. “I also didn’t think I needed to warn you of this. I said train, not go play with dragons.”

  “I was training,” Bel responded in frustration, giving Baby a nasty look. “We were working on my climbing skills. Why didn’t Baby warn me that it was a dragon’s egg?”

  “Now why would he know such a thing? He doesn’t haul rocks home, you know. He wouldn’t be interested in eggs, either. Although it does violate Rule Number One.” Sevana gave the cat an arch look. “Do we need to review? ‘Thou shalt not bring home anything bigger than you are.’ I think dragons qualify.”

  Baby’s ears went flat against his head and he looked ashamed of himself.

  Sevana reached out a hand and patted a nearby wall. “You alright, Big?” He was sensitive up top to people and she didn’t imagine that having a mad dragon doing a war dance on him had felt good.

  Itchy, Big complained.

  Pointing a finger toward the roof, Bel asked curiously, “He feels things?”

  “Oh yes. And he’s ticklish on the top.” Sevana added ruefully, “Don’t ask me why or how. I’ve never been able to figure it out. Okay, big man, I’ll come up and wash you down so you’re not itchy.”

  Big gave a deep sigh of pleasure that made all of the stones shift a little.

  “Is the dragon gone?” she checked just to make sure.

  Gone, Big confirmed.

  “Good.” She headed for her workroom to fetch one of her water fountain wands.

  “If it’s all the same to you, I’m going to go study for a while,” Bel announced to the world in general as he started for his alcove.

  “You mean hide in your bed for a while,” Sevana corrected in amusement.

  Bel didn’t miss a beat, “Yes, that too.”

  Sevana chuckled to herself. Still rattled, huh? Well, not that she blamed him. But she’d get plenty of mileage out of this later. Baby followed after Bel with a distinct slouch, no doubt planning on hiding under the bed for a while. She laughed as they walked away from her, not bothering to muffle the sound. They resolutely ignored her.

  One thing’s for sure, she thought to herself as she fetched the wand she wanted, those two are definitely going to be more cautious about what game they hunt from now on.

  Bellomi rapped his knuckles on the table. “I hereby declare this strategy session to order.”

  “Oh? Is that what this is?” Sevana asked. Her mouth had a slight quirk to it that suggested she found this situation amusing in some way. But the way she sat straddling the chair with her arms casually crossed along the back also said she didn’t intend to take anything said very seriously.

  The prince gave her a steady look. “Yes, that’s exactly what this is.” He’d come to the conclusion yesterday that they needed to hold one. He’d been sleeping on his grow-for-true-love bed for over a month now without any real progress being made. Sevana hadn’t come to him to discuss options on breaking his curse, either, which made him think that she’d hit a wall and was too stubborn to admit it. So early this
morning he’d gone into Milby and caught Morgan, dragging the man back to Big. Then he’d snagged Sevana before she could hole herself up in her research room or workroom.

  Now they sat around the kitchen table, each sitting on a different side with Bellomi taking the head chair. Morgan had capitalized on the close proximity to food to make himself a quick sandwich which he happily munched on. Bellomi felt a little frustrated that neither of them took this seriously.

  Alright. If they weren’t in the mood to be serious, he’d make them be serious. “We have two problems at the moment and I don’t have a clear solution to either of them. Sevana, I’m assuming that since you haven’t said anything to me, you don’t have a way to break the curse.”

  “No, I have one,” she disagreed with a very discontent frown. “The problem is accessing the cure. The only feasible way to do this, really do this, is to borrow the aid of a water dragon. If a water dragon will spit water at you, the curse will break instantly.”

  Morgan paused in mid-bite. “Spit?”

  “Yes, Kip, spit.” Sevana rolled her eyes in a clear bid for patience. “You know that action when someone puts water in their mouth and then hacks it back out again? That’s what I’m talking about. We need the power of a mystical being who can manipulate flowing water. Hence, water dragon spitting at you.”

  “Still, spit?” Morgan objected. “Can’t you think of a better way to put it?”

  “Why should I?” Sevana responded impatiently. “He knows what I mean, right? So, moving on. I have other options but they’ll take longer or run just as much risk. The problem we have is paying the dragon.”

  Frustrated at their casual banter, he slammed both hands against the table and demanded, “Will you both be serious! Please!”

  Morgan froze with his sandwich half to his mouth and looked at Bellomi with raised eyebrows. “Whoa, there. What’s gotten into you?”