Oh. True. He hadn’t thought of that. Reluctantly, he put the glass in his hands back on the table.
“If you’re done turning him into a stuffed goose, bring him along to the workshop,” Sevana directed, pushing off from the doorjamb. “I want to examine him.”
“Alright, King Aren Hilmar braun Dragonmanovich, be a good little king and stand still,” Sevana ordered, pointing to a patch of floor in her workroom.
She hadn’t lifted her sleepwalking spell yet, so the king obediently shuffled to the spot she pointed him to and stood stock still.
Bellomi hovered inside the doorway, not wanting to be in Sevana’s way or interfere, but too worried to stay outside until she had a result for him.
Sevana more or less ignored him, taking out her diagnostic wand and a new leather-bound notebook. She started scanning his father from crown to toe on every side, as she had with him when he’d first come here. Then she stepped back and read what her wand had recorded in the book.
“Ohh, this is clever,” Sevana said with a low whistle of admiration.
Bellomi gave her a cutting glare. “You mean evil, cruel and underhanded, right?”
She flapped a hand at him in acknowledgement without looking up from her book. “Yes, yes, that too. But it’s also highly clever.”
He reminded himself, again, that he couldn’t strangle her. Sevana had knowledge and abilities he needed. (Aside from the fact that if he tried, he’d likely find himself getting up from the floor with a ringing head.) “So what kind of curse is it?”
She straightened and pointed an illustrative finger at the book. “The Magnifying Glass Curse. Although it’s been modified to only have pure elements. The base is fairy’s kiss. But it’s mixed in with captured moonlight and ice crystals from Belen’s seas.”
He waited for a moment, but when she didn’t continue, he requested with false mildness, “Can you say that again in a language I speak? Belenese, Kindish or Windamese will do.”
Sevana gave him an exasperated look. “In other words, this spell has a similar design to yours. It’s made of completely pure elements so that it would slip past all of the king’s magical protection.”
Interesting, but didn’t answer his initial question. “So what was it designed to do?”
“It narrows his focus so that he can only pay attention to one thing.”
Bellomi went very, very still as years of emotions and questions surged through his mind. “So the reason why he stayed holed up in his lab for the past decade…”
Sevana shrugged. “His work was the one thing. He literally couldn’t think of or focus on anything else.”
His knees lost all strength and he sat abruptly on the ground, legs brought up close to his chest. His heart trembled.
Not purposefully ignored.
His father had not chosen to ignore his own son, his kingdom.
Sevana crouched in front of him, arms casually crossed on her knees, head canted a little. “Bel?”
“A—” he had to clear his throat and try again before he could force words out, “All this time I thought he hated me. I thought he didn’t care that I was cursed or that the kingdom was slowly being stolen from us. And now I discover that if anything, I was at fault for not realizing that there was a reason for his abrupt change in behavior.”
She snorted. “You were eleven. I don’t blame a kid for being oblivious. I blame Pierpoint for not catching this.” She shook her head in disbelief. “Really. Just because his alarms didn’t go off, he thinks everything is fine. I’m going to have a long talk with that man.”
Pierpoint could be dealt with later. Bellomi had a more urgent question. “Can you break my father’s curse?”
“Certainly. What reward are you offering?” she countered.
Of course she wouldn’t do it for free. He felt like kicking himself for thinking she would. His thoughts spun madly. Sevana wasn’t motivated by altruistic ideals or the usual rewards of money, power or fame. What would she want…?
In a flash, it came to him. “Name any magical element you want and I’ll get it for you.”
She gave him a nod of approval. “Your bargaining skills have improved. Alright. I want a flash of fairy’s kiss.”
He blinked several times in surprise. Hadn’t that been one of the elements of his father’s curse? Well, she had said that all of the elements were pure. “Alright. Um, how do I get this?”
“Fairies abound in Noppers Wood, if you go deep enough in. But do not go alone,” she warned. “Take Baby with you and no one else. They’ll only approach young men.”
Ahhh. Hence why she couldn’t collect it herself. The price now made more sense. “Do I need a special tool to collect it?”
“No, just let them kiss you. I can lift the kiss from your skin.”
It seemed simple enough. Perhaps too simple. “Will they really just come up to me if I walk into the woods alone?”
“Oh, I never said that.” A suspicious glint in her eyes, she stood back up. “I’ll set up a workroom for your father and settle him into it. And for mercy’s sake, stay away from the Fae.”
He pushed himself to his feet, absently brushing the dust off the back of his pants. He still felt rattled, still unbalanced after having everything that he thought he knew turned on his head. But aside from that, happiness and hope and a keen expectation filled his chest. If Sevana could break this curse, he could have his father back. If…no, when, she did that, he wouldn’t be alone in regaining his home.
He wouldn’t be alone, period.
Taking a deep breath, he tried to settle the emotions whirling rapidly within him. It didn’t noticeably help to calm him any, but he felt he could fake it better. As calmly as he could, he said, “And I have fairies to research.”
~ ~ ~
After two days of digging in Sevana’s library, he finally found a book on woodland fairies that answered his question. Actually, the book had a lot of information that he needed to know, including how to politely approach a fairy—which defied all common sense in some ways—and where they tended to make their nests. Which, really, was probably the reason why Sevana sent him searching for the answer in the first place. She never chose to rattle off information for people. She knew that finding the answer yourself often gave you answers to questions you didn’t know to ask.
Of course, his search had been slowed slightly because he stopped three times a day to feed his father and check up on him. After six solid meals, the king had improved slightly. Instead of moving in that jerky, lethargic way as if a puppet master manipulated his limbs, he now moved with more energy, a half smile on his face. His complexion had also improved slightly, changing from a sickly grey to a more healthy alabaster.
But two days of taking care of his father made him realize something.
After feeding the king a late lunch, he went to Sevana’s workroom and timidly rapped on the door. Big, sensing his desire to enter, just opened the door, which swung open with a slight creak.
Fortunately for all, Sevana didn’t have her hands wrapped up in some delicate experiment. In fact, she had pulled apart one of her bookshelves looking for something, or so he gathered from her irate mutters.
“Um…Sevana?”
She paused with a book in both hands and shot him a look over her shoulder. “This had better be important.”
“It is,” he assured her hastily. “I realized this morning that we’re going to have to do quite a bit of traveling at certain points to get everything done. But my father requires pretty constant care. Is there any way that we can get Kip to come in and help when we’re gone?”
“Oh, that?” she answered in an absent fashion. “Kip realized the same thing two days ago. He’s gone into the village to hire someone to help out. I don’t want you taking care of the king on a regular basis anyway. For one thing, it’s a miracle the man hasn’t died yet from your atrocious cooking.”
He let out a wordless noise of protest, but had to laugh in rueful acknowledgem
ent. Not that he wasn’t improving, with all of the practice, but he did tend to burn things more often than not.
“But for another, you’re losing valuable study and training time constantly cooking and cleaning up the kitchen,” she added. She shoved all of the books aside and started rummaging through another stack. “Where did I put that thing?”
Alright, she made a good point. Two, in fact. He leaned against the doorjamb, thoughtfully rubbing at his chin. “I didn’t know you’d let people in here.”
“There’s a select few.” She lifted off another stack, shuffling the books from side to side with more haste than care.
Finally, his curiosity got the better of him. “What are you looking for, anyway?”
“I have a mirror that shows me the location of things. I use it to find lost items.” She blew out a breath, which made the wispy hair falling in her face fly briefly. “Or I would, if I could keep track of the thrice-cursed mirror! The thing grows legs and walks off, I swear it does.”
More like Sevana carted it around so much that she constantly misplaced it. “Maybe you should mount it to a wall?”
“I don’t put anything on the walls, or hadn’t you noticed? It would make Big feel uncomfortable.”
Actually…now that she’d said that…he couldn’t think of a single thing that was attached to the walls. Even the cabinets were held up by metal braces.
The front door opened at that moment. He couldn’t quite see it from here, but Bel could hear Morgan’s voice call out a cheery hello to Big as he walked inside. The prince turned to greet him, making way for Morgan to enter the workroom at the same time. “Morgan,” he acknowledged.
“Bel,” the other man responded with a smile. “How fares the king?”
“Slowly improving,” Bellomi assured him. “Fortunately, Sevana’s mirage trick worked. He’s happily tinkering with some doohickey even as we speak.”
“Good, good.” Morgan walked into the workroom but like Bel, stopped just inside the doorway. But then, only an insane man chose to fully walk into this room when it had a grumpy Artifactor. After years of being around Sevana, Morgan had clearly picked up several survival instincts which included instantly picking up on her moods. Silently, he pointed at her back and gave Bellomi a questioning look.
Looking for mirror, Bellomi mouthed the answer carefully.
Morgan gave a silent ahhh of understanding. Clearing his throat, he said aloud, “Sev, I hired Eva to help out. She said she’d come up this afternoon so you can show her the ropes.”
Sevana paused in mid-motion and turned in creaking degrees so that she could give Morgan a dark look. “You hired Eva?”
Unfazed by her reaction, he shrugged and said, “She’s the only one with time right now to help. It’s planting season, remember? Besides, Eva’s a reliable worker, especially with work like this.”
Not convinced by this rationale, Sevana let out a groan and slumped.
Bellomi didn’t know what to think of these polar opposite opinions of this woman named Eva. Sevana didn’t like most people on just general principle, but it seemed to be more than that. To Morgan he asked, “What is this woman like?”
“An older matron,” he said reassuringly. “Even-tempered, capable and very sweet natured.”
“Kip, she’s only sweet-natured because she doesn’t have the intelligence to be mean!” Sevana shot in exasperation.
Morgan couldn’t quite choke back a guffaw. “Ouch. She’s not that bad, Sev.”
“She is too! The last time you brought her up here I had to explain three times that I didn’t want her organizing my storerooms. And even then she didn’t get it.”
“She was trying to be helpful,” Morgan insisted with a strange twinkle in his eye. “Besides, you need somebody to organize you.”
“I do not! I know where everything is.” Sevana crossed her arms over her chest in a stubborn way.
“Right, which is why you have a mirror that locates lost objects for you.” Somehow, Morgan managed to keep a straight face saying this.
Sevana gave him a look that could kill. “You’re just looking to be hexed, aren’t you?”
Proving to be a smart man, Morgan raised his hands in surrender, not pursuing that argument any further. Turning to Bellomi, he assured him, “She’s raised five children and come up here on various occasions to help here, too. She’ll take good care of your father.”
“But you didn’t tell her who he is, did you?” Bel didn’t think he would, but had to check.
“No, your identity and his are a strict secret,” Morgan responded. “Sev, have you figured out a way to break the king’s curse yet?”
“Hmmm?” She threw her hands up in the air and turned away from her shelves. “Oh, I give up. I’ll find the thing later. What did you ask?”
Patiently, Morgan repeated the question, “Have you figured out a way to break the king’s curse yet?”
“Oh, yes. Fortunately, it wasn’t a strong spell, not like Bel’s. Well, strong enough initially—a level ten spell. But of course, over the years it’s worn itself down. It’s now hovering somewhere around an eight.”
After so many lectures and explanations of magic, Bellomi understood that the lower power level made it much easier to combat. “So what do we need to do to break it?”
“Well, the opposite power of a fairy’s kiss is something non-mystical. Any strong element would do it: water, fire, or wind. Since I’m fairly sure Bel doesn’t want me to set his father on fire—”
“Sweet mercy, no!” Bellomi spluttered in indignation. “Are you crazy?!”
“—then it’s either wind or water,” Sevana finished with a shrug and a mischievous smile.
Morgan jerked a thumb in her direction. “Bel, you should know by now that she’s joking when she says things like that.”
“Maybe you can tell when she’s joking, but I certainly can’t,” Bellomi retorted. “And this woman chortles like an evil witch when she’s contemplating mayhem. I can totally see her setting someone on fire and enjoying every second of it.”
Far from being insulted by this exchange, Sevana threw her head back and laughed. “I would, at that! But if we want to break the curse, I think going to the waterfalls at the Desolate Mountains is the best bet. They’re fed from an underground lake, so the source is very pure, and they flow into the Daelyn River, so they also have a great deal of power. If we stand him under a waterfall for a few minutes, the spell will shatter like glass.”
Bellomi let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Unlike his curse, his father’s could be easily broken. Thank all the gods and guardians of this world. “So when do we go?”
“It’s a long trip.” Sevana frowned, her head tilting back so that she stared absently at the ceiling as she thought. “The Desolate Mountains are at the very northern edge of Kindin, and the particular waterfall I’m thinking of is past Cavin.”
“So somewhere very close to the coast?” Bellomi asked, trying to pinpoint the location.
Morgan looked at him with mild surprise, eyebrows arching. “You know your geography.”
“Kid’s got the world memorized,” Sevana assured him absently. “But yes, thereabouts. Frankly, I don’t think we can drag your father up there yet. He’s too weak. The trip will be very physically hard for him, even by using the cloud skimmer.”
Bellomi blinked. He had no idea what that was. “Cloud skimmer?”
“Another vehicle of Sev’s,” Morgan answered. “It carries multiple people. It’s a bit dicey to use, though, in bad weather. It’s faster than walking or horseback, though.”
So, like every other method of travel that Sevana had devised, it had its drawbacks. Color him surprised. But if there were hazards, then… “Then we wait until he’s stronger.”
“I want to feed him some nourishment and health potions, but I can’t find them in the storeroom.” Sevana gave an aggravated look to the world in general. “It would speed up his recovery tenfold.”
; A light went off in his head. “Is that why you were looking for the mirror?”
“Of course.”
Well, if they could speed up his father’s recovery, then…“Why don’t I help you look for it?” Bellomi offered with a charming smile.
~ ~ ~
Morgan came and fetched him early the next morning, ostensibly to help deal with several products that needed to be delivered in the nearby city of Klose. Well, with Sevana’s clock system, it seemed nearby at any rate. In order to use the clock in the city of Klose, they needed to be through before business hours. Sevana kept the secret of her clocks very close to her chest and didn’t reveal it unless absolutely necessary.
Considering where half her clocks were located (nobleman’s houses, palaces, mayor’s offices), Bellomi could well understand why.
Of course, going through like this mean that they couldn’t return the same way until late that evening, after the office had closed for the day. He and Morgan, carrying two heavy sacks full of odds and ends, went for an early breakfast at the nearest inn. They waited there until most of the businesses had opened their doors before leaving.
Bellomi stepped out into the open street by the man’s side and took in the street around him. It had certainly picked up while they were inside. Now people of every profession and age were going around, some walking, others riding or guiding along carts. For a street that seemed eerily ghost-like not an hour ago, the place was lively now, almost boisterously loud with conversations overlapping each other and a strange concoction of scents invading his nose made from the most pleasant of smells to the most awful of ones. He had to squint, too, to avoid being hit by the strong rays of the morning sun coming in over the rooftops. Even with this only being the morning sun, they were in the beginning stages of summer, and the warm air promised that it would become scorching hot soon.
“This way,” Morgan encouraged him, heading northward along the street, dodging people and carts alike with an easy stride. “We’ve several places that take our wares with no questions asked, and those are the ones we’ll visit first. Then we’ll take what’s left and hit the open market.”
The Child Prince (The Artifactor) Page 18