The Captive King

by Susan Copperfield

  An exasperated sigh burst out of Landen, and I flinched again. “Why are you wearing shorts when it’s below freezing? Didn’t anyone teach you a single speck of common sense, or were you so busy selling cursed artifacts you couldn’t spare the time to think?”

  No matter how right he was, no matter how accurate his jab, his words hurt far more than I’d thought possible. I was used to people criticizing me.

  Why had I let him get under my skin? The only thing that happened when anyone got close was pain without reward, and like some stupid, needy child, I’d clung to the first source of positive attention.

  I had no choice but to roll with the punches. An apology would never be enough. I hadn’t known the jade necklace would cause so many problems. If I had, I would’ve changed everything. I never would’ve supported its sale.

  I never would’ve met Landen.

  I was beginning to think the asshole who’d first claimed it was better to have loved and lost needed to be popped in the mouth, too. I hadn’t even gotten a chance to discover if I actually loved him before it’d all fallen apart.

  No, it was best if I never found out. Swallowing several times, I gathered the shattered ruins of my pride and choked out, “I’m sorry.”

  “You did bring me here, then.”

  The grim reality of my situation sank in. I had no idea where I was, I was in shorts in below freezing temperatures, and the only other person with me had zero reason to trust or help me. The anger in his voice promised retribution of some form.

  I could deal with surviving on my own.

  I could deal with his anger.

  I could deal with mercury poisoning, assuming I found my way back to civilization and found a doctor capable of detecting and removing the cinnabar polluting my system. I could feel still feel it despite being unable to tell where it lurked, waiting to kill me.

  I couldn’t deal with trying to survive in the wilderness with mercury poisoning while dealing with Landen’s wrath. Combined, it was too much. I wanted to dig a hole, bury myself in it, and wait for the spring, except unlike a bear, I couldn’t just hibernate through the winter.

  I was so tired.

  Something changed in Landen’s expression, and he took a step closer. I should’ve done something, even retreat, but the cold seeped into my bones, cramped my muscles, and drained away my will to do anything other than stare, waiting for him to act.

  He moved as though he didn’t notice the cold, closing the distance between us. When we were close enough I could watch the snow melt when it landed on his suit, he halted, shaking his head. “Let’s try this again. Why did you bring me here?”

  While my pride would inevitably shatter, I’d force myself to answer his questions no matter how much I hated myself for the answers. “I didn’t. Not intentionally.”

  The words came out easier than I expected.

  “Explain.”

  “I don’t know where here is.”

  Landen’s eyes widened. “How is that even possible?”

  My temper flared at the disbelief in his tone. “I’m not fucking stupid, you ass! Do you really think I’d come out here to Bumfuck Snowville in a pair of shorts intentionally? Yeah, it’s probably my fucking fault you’re here, but if you care to think back, I didn’t want to sell the necklace. I did it because I had to, and right now, I regret I ever went to Texas at all.”

  I gasped for breath as though I’d run a race, my heartbeat pounding in my throat and ears.

  “That’s a fair point. You seemed genuine enough in Texas.”

  The ‘seemed’ hurt, and I clacked my teeth together so I wouldn’t say something else I’d regret later.

  “For the record, we’re not in Bumfuck Snowville. We’re in Alaska.”

  My legs lost interest in supporting my weight, and I sank to the ground. The warmth from the path had already faded, and unlike with Landen, the snow didn’t melt when it fell on me. I stared up at Landen, shaking. “Alaska?”

  “Alaska,” he confirmed, and he furrowed his brows. “You really have no clue where we are?”

  “You can call Dr. Clemmondale in Nevada if you want proof.”

  I remembered my doctor giving me his phone number in case I had any problems, and I’d gone through the hassle of memorizing it.

  There was one reason I could think of for my forgetfulness: mercury poisoning.

  Not only was I up a shit creek without a paddle or a boat, I was stuck with a man who had good reason to hate me and zero reason to deal with my problems. I wouldn’t ask him, either.

  That bridge had been thoroughly burned.

  “Nevada? What were you doing in Nevada, and why were you with one of the royal physicians?”

  I blinked. “He’s a what?”

  “Royal physician. A private doctor on staff for a royal family. While they often have associations with certain hospitals, they only treat patients on the order of the royal family.”

  I had no idea how Landen knew who Dr. Clemmondale was, but I wouldn’t doubt him. “I didn’t know that.”

  “Obviously. Why has Dr. Clemmondale been treating you? What were you doing in Nevada? You were supposed to be in Mexico.”

  My mouth dropped open. He’d gone from accusations to scolding me because I wasn’t in Mexico? Worse, he sounded like me not being in Mexico was an affront.

  I didn’t understand why. “Sebastian proved there’s magic at Los Horcones, a sister site to where the necklace was found. He—”

  “Sebastian? Who is that?”

  I scowled at Landen’s interest in Sebastian. “Dr. Sebastian Hoover, the dig team lead for Los Horcones’s site.”

  “I see. And what were you doing at Los Horcones instead of Joya de Ballesteros?”

  Landen was giving me a headache, although I suspected the mercury poisoning kicking in—and my lack of medications—had something to do with the pain drumming in my skull. “To reach Site C, it’s necessary to go to Los Horcones. It’s the waypoint to the camp. The weather soured, so I was stuck until it cleared, so I was making Sebastian do me favors and give me credits for helping him at his site. That backfired. I translated his damned discs and got punted to Nevada.”

  He didn’t need to know about the cinnabar. He didn’t need to know about anything else.

  If he wanted to know more, he could call Dr. Clemmondale and try his luck prying information from the doctor.

  “Define punted for me, please.”

  I lifted my wrists and showed the glowing bracelets. “These things did it. Poof! Dumped me in a death trap.”

  “Death trap?” he snapped.

  “I dug my way out.” I shrugged. “I don’t see why you care.”

  He sighed. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I’m sorry. After the plane crash—”

  “Plane crash?” I shrieked, then I clapped my hands over my mouth at the shrill tone of my voice.

  “I wouldn’t be out in the middle of the bush in this weather without reason.”

  “Yet you thought I’d come out here in shorts.”

  He had the decency to grimace. “I was wrong to have gotten angry with you. I jumped to conclusions.”

  I had nothing to say to that, so I shrugged. We both had things to be sorry for, and I was too cold and tired to care if I damaged his delicate sensibilities. I lurched to my feet and brushed the snow off, clenching my teeth to keep them from chattering.

  It didn’t help.

  “Hypothermia. Move around. It’ll help. It’s cold here even for this time of year.”

  I did need to move, somewhere private so I could dig a hole and hide in it until spring. “You seem fine.”

  “I have a minor flameweaving talent.”

  “Earthweavers like me call flameweavers like you cheaters.” To show him my opinion of his minor talent, which was far more useful than my mid-range talent, I flipped my middle fingers at him. “Fine. You just keep yourself warm. I’m going to go dig a hole and hide in it, then I’ll rub two sticks together to make fire.�
��

  He dared to laugh at me. “I’d like to see you try to rub two sticks together to make a fire. When you give up, if you ask me nicely, I can start one for you.”

  “I didn’t invite you to watch.”

  “I’m inviting myself. Anyway, it isn’t safe for you to be out here alone in this weather. I know how to survive here. You don’t.”

  “Like hell I can’t survive here. You can just stay over there and watch if you don’t believe me.”

  “That would be the hypothermia talking,” he replied, his tone amused.

  “You don’t have to gloat over it.”

  “I’m not. I’m just curious to see how long it takes for you to ask for my help. I’m worried I’ll be waiting for a while. I meant what I said earlier. I shouldn’t have gotten upset with you. There’s no way you’re responsible for what happened.”

  “I’m pretty sure I conned you into buying a cursed necklace.”

  “You’re stuck in the Alaskan wilderness with me. Alone. I’m not sure which one of us is cursed more. I also don’t have glowing shackles around my wrists and ankles. I’m ahead of you in this game. I’m upset about the crash, yes. Two of my friends were killed.”

  Two of his friends had been killed in the crash? No wonder he’d been so upset with me. In his shoes, I would’ve done a lot worse than sound angry. My eyes widened, and I shook from more than the cold. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Did you crash my plane?”

  “No, I would never—”

  “Then you have nothing to be sorry about. I was wrong to blame you. I couldn’t think of any other reason why you’d be here. That’s my fault. I should have asked without being a dick about it.”

  “I didn’t know the necklace was cursed.”

  “We don’t know it’s cursed for certain. It could be really bad luck. Bad luck capable of bringing you to Alaska. Honestly, I’m not sure I can call that bad luck. Maybe bad luck for you, but I’m rather pleased.”

  “I think you’re the one suffering from hypothermia. Did you hit your head during the crash?”

  “I have a headache like you wouldn’t believe,” he confessed.

  “Oh, I believe it. I have one, too. Except mine isn’t from a plane crash.”

  “What’s yours from?”

  I considered if I wanted to tell him about Nevada’s death temple. “I had an unpleasant experience in Nevada.”

  “We should compare notes after we get to civilization. It’s best to stay put until morning. We’ll just walk in circles and get lost. I don’t think the crash site is far from here, and someone will locate the plane, that much I can promise you.”

  “Staying put means freezing to death. I don’t feel like freezing to death today.”

  Maybe tomorrow. It was starting to seem like a probable end unless I learned how to hibernate—or I swallowed my pride and asked Landen for help.

  My pride really would get me killed at the rate I was going.

  “Minor flameweaver,” he reminded me. “I can keep us alive overnight. That’s my one flameweaving trick, but it’s damned useful out here.”

  “I refuse to be outclassed by a minor flameweaver.”

  “Make my day, Your Majesty,” he taunted. “Can you do better?”

  My mouth dropped open. “My what?”

  “You seemed so confident you can conquer Alaska’s weather with the pride of a queen, so I thought I’d address you appropriately, Your Majesty.”

  Landen’s challenge annoyed me so much I planted my hands on my hips and glared. “Were you always so insufferably sarcastic?”

  “No. You bring out the best in me.” He paused, then he shrugged with an unrepentant grin. “I guess you bring out the worst in me, too. I really want to know how you can best me in my home kingdom.”

  “If you’re trying to piss me off, you’re doing a good job of it.”

  “Keeps the blood pumping. Go ahead. Get mad at me. It’ll keep you warm while you try to best me in my domain. I really want to see what you think constitutes as survival skills here. It’ll be great fun for one of us.”

  I eliminated murder and burying him neck deep as appropriate methods of retaliation. No, only proving him wrong would do. “What do I get when I rub it in I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself out here without your help?”

  “What do you want?”

  “Does this kingdom even have a university capable of issuing advanced degrees?”

  Tossing his head back, he laughed. “Shockingly, yes, although Alaska has agreements with other kingdoms for students interested in expanding their knowledge abroad. I’m sure I could make arrangements for you to face a fair dissertation defense—if you can prove me wrong.”

  Since I wasn’t above a little payback, I waved my hand to dismiss his offer. “Nevada’s already offering me that—plus a free year of university education to meet their minimum requirements for a PhD. And a co-lead position in a dig team for a Nahua temple. One with confirmed magic.”

  His smile warmed me and curled my toes in my shoes. “I like a challenge. Is that what you want, then? If you best me, you want me to beat their offer?”

  I arched a brow and lifted my chin. “You really think you can beat their offer?”

  “Prove me wrong. That’s the only way you’ll find out.”

  “Hmph. Fine. And what do you get if I lose?” I scowled so he knew I meant business. “Which I won’t.”

  He pointed at the ruins of the temple altar I’d blown to stone powder. “Before I answer, can you tell me how large this site is?”

  As I saw no reason to deny his request, I crouched and touched the ground, concentrating so I could reach with my talent and search for evidence of worked stone beneath us. Despite being cold, tired, hungry, and in pain, my talent seemed eager to learn the site’s secrets, and the site was larger than I’d expected, consisting of at least one primary temple and four auxiliary buildings. “Five buildings that I can tell. There might be more.”

  “The cold’s getting to you?”

  “I’m sick,” I confessed.

  “If you’re sick, then there’s no need to have a battle of prides. It can wait.”

  “You just don’t want to lose.”

  “If I win, you’ll stay in Alaska with me, and you will excavate this site by hand. That means no magic. Not a single bit of it. You’ll use a shovel and a bucket to move your dirt around. If you’re really lucky, I’ll give you a wheelbarrow.”

  I pointed at the main temple and hissed, “Do you have any idea how long it would take to excavate a temple of that size by hand?”

  “I figure at least a few years.”

  “A few years?” My voice rose an octave. “That temple’s at least fifty feet tall!”

  “What a shame. It’s a big temple, then. That’s good. I don’t mind. Please tell me the rest of the buildings are just as big. If you complain too much, I won’t give you a shovel. I’ll give you a spoon.”

  “A spoon.”

  “They’re like miniature shovels. It’ll take you a lifetime to dig out that temple if I make you use a spoon.”

  I stared at where the altar had once been. “I’d die of old age before I reached the second level if I used a spoon.”

  “You’d be stuck in Alaska for life, and I’d be able to watch you dig whenever I wanted. I can see it now.” He pointed at a nearby spot in the clearing. “I could sit there with a cold beer, watching you while you work. I’ll listen to you tell me all about the temple you were slowly uncovering with your spoon.”

  “I’d need a lot of spoons.”

  “I’ll provide you with a lifetime supply. How many spoons do you think you’d go through in a day?”

  “A lot.”

  “I might have to get some miniature shovels made for you so you don’t ruin the spoon market. There’s not much of a spoon import business in Alaska, I’m afraid.”

  “I think you need to see a shrink.”

  “Admit it, you love the idea of having you
r very own temple ruin to explore.”

  “You can’t just give me the temple, Landen. I’m sure someone owns it.”

  “Yes. Me. This is my land. Of course, had I known I had ruins on my land, I would’ve suggested you quit and come home with me instead of returning to Mexico. Owning your dig site is tempting, isn’t it?”

  “Do you really own this land?”

  Landen smiled. “Lose and find out.”

  I opened my mouth but closed it as I realized he was toying with me. If I lost, and he told the truth, I won.

  A doctorate wouldn’t be necessary if I had an entire dig site to myself, and if he made me excavate it with a spoon, I’d have a lifetime to learn the site’s secrets. The only problem would be paying for my upkeep while I worked, and after years of surviving in Mexican jungle when the going got tough, I could make Alaska work for me.

  “Are there snakes in Alaska?”

  “There are some garter snakes here. That’s it.”

  I wasn’t afraid of garter snakes. I actually liked them, as long as they stayed at least fifteen feet away from me and kept their teeth to themselves. “No boa constrictors?”

  “No, there are no boa constrictors in Alaska.”

  “Pythons?”

  Landen laughed. “Well, I’m sure some people have them as pets, but you will not find a boa constrictor or a python in the wild.”

  “Rattlesnakes?”

  “No rattlesnakes.”

  “Coral snakes?”

  “Are you going to list every species of snake native to Mexico?”

  “Yes.”

  “One species of garter snake lives here. That’s it. The only other snakes you’ll find are pets or in the zoo.”

  “Alaska has a zoo?”

  “Several. The largest one is in Anchorage, but there’s a zoo in every major city.”

  Alaska had major cities? I considered that, giving myself a failing grade for my Alaskan geography. “What classifies as a major city?”

  “More than a hundred thousand people.”

  “Huh. More than a hundred thousand people live in Alaska?”

  Landen scowled. “Yes.”

  “And you have more than one major city?”

  “Shockingly, yes. There are seven major cities in Alaska.”