The Child Prince (The Artifactor) (13 page)

Time passed pleasantly as the swimming lessons progressed. She taught him how to float (or tried to, he sank like a rock every time), how to swim, how to dive, and how to swim while on his back. Once he understood the mechanics of it, it proved ridiculously simple and he soon swam rings around her like a sea otter. Hana watched him and clapped in approval. “That’s it, that’s it!” she called in encouragement. “You see? You can’t drown now.”

He swam back to her before cautiously standing again, putting his feet under him. Here, the water lapped around his shoulders. Taking advantage of his appearance, he put both arms around her waist and stole a hug.

“My thanks.”

She hugged him back, slicking his wet hair back from his forehead. “You’re welcome, Bellomi. How is it? Is it fun now?”

Without releasing her, he looked up into her face. “It is,” he answered, surprised to find that he meant the answer. “Now that I know how, will you swim with me?”

“Eh? Oh, can we?” Hana darted a look at Sevana, who was patiently waiting on shore, an open book in her lap. “I thought we couldn’t venture far.”

Sevana lifted her head long enough to say, “You can swim anywhere you want to. Just don’t let him drown.”

“Oh.” Hana looked perplexed, as if she didn’t understand why Sevana chose to stay nearby if that were the case, but she shrugged it off. Everyone in the village had likely gotten used to Sevana’s cryptic answers long ago. “In that case, let’s swim to the opposite shore and back.”

That actually wasn’t a very far distance. “Race you?” he challenged.

Hana ruffled his hair, laughing. “Already thinking you can surpass your teacher?”

“Only one way to know.” He waggled his eyebrows at her, pleased when that made her laugh even harder. He liked it when she laughed.

“Alright, then.” Hana stepped back and assumed a lower stance. “On three. One, two, three!”

~ ~ ~

Sevana watched the two frolic in the water, both of them acting a decade younger than they actually were. (Not that Hana knew this.) Actually, Hana’s insistence on teaching Bel how to swim had been a lifesaver. If Sevana had done it, it probably would have ended disastrously. Besides, Bel had already spent a full two hours in that river without seeming to realize just how much time had passed. If it had been just the two of them, he’d likely have started asking her endless questions just to pass the time. But with Hana, he’d be content to stay in there until the river froze over. Maybe even after it froze over.

He certainly picked up swimming quickly, despite her advice. He’d been advancing quickly with his sword training as well, come to think of it. Perhaps he was a natural athlete. He couldn’t quite beat his swimming teacher, though. Hana reached the shoreline a good body length ahead of him. Then again, she had a longer reach than he did. For his size, he was quite fast.

They stopped at the shore and sat down near the bank, catching their breath and laughing. With him this close, and their backs to her, she could pull out her wand and do a quick examination of the curse. Opening the book in her lap to a blank page, she gave Bel a quick scan.

Hmmm? Interesting results. She had thought that because of the addition of ice from the Endless Sea in the spell’s composition that water wouldn’t have much of an effect. But it actually did. Flowing water did, at least. Being in the lake yesterday hadn’t done much of anything. She had tested him again in the river on the off chance that flowing water might be different. Still water, after all, didn’t have as much power to it.

Lo and behold, being in moving water made a marked difference on the curse. Not significant enough that Bel himself would notice, but she could see the difference in the numbers. Used in the right way, this might be the power that she needed. Or at least part of it. She still wanted to try a combination of elements before making up her mind one way or another.

Well, either way she had her answer. She opened her mouth to call Bel and then paused as a thought occurred. Bel’s social skills still had a long way to go.  Sevana didn’t personally care what people thought about her or if she offended people, but a king should have very good social skills. And Hana would be a very good person for him to learn those skills from.

So she sat back and turned her attention to the numbers in front of her, working out calculations and guesstimates and let the two of them play to their hearts’ content.

A scream echoed through the tunnels. On instinct, Sevana threw herself out of her bed, snatching up a sword from her bedside as she moved, smacking her bedroom door aside. “Big, which way?!” With the echoing effect of the tunnels, she couldn’t tell where the sound originated from.

The floor sloped abruptly to her right. Bel’s room? She spun and sprinted down the tunnel as fast as she dared, bare feet slapping against the hard stone, nightgown flapping around her ankles. The scream had died out by the time she got there, and she didn’t hear anything except inarticulate gibbering as she slammed the door fully open.

“What?” she demanded as she skidded to a stop inside, sword at the ready. “What’s—”

Bel had scrunched himself into a ball next to his headboard, one of his swords out and in his hand, a look of sheer panic on his face. At the footboard, a mountain lion lurked, with his head and front paws on top of the mattress, back end twitching as if preparing to pounce at any moment.

Disgusted, Sevana slammed the sword back into its sheath. “Baby,
really
.”

The prince froze, eyes slowly moving to her. “That’s Baby?”

“Yes, that’s Baby,” she answered in resignation. Not to mention irritation. What gods’ forsaken time was it, anyway? She doubted the birds were even up yet. “I’m glad that you finally stopped stalking the kid,” she told the cat, “but did you have to wake him up
this
early?”

The cat blinked at her innocently, tail still twitching.

Relaxing his guard, Bel also sheathed his sword. “What I want to know is, why did he have to surprise me like that? Couldn’t he just come up and introduce himself normally?”

“No, he couldn’t,” Sevana assured him dryly. The cat’s manners were worse than hers. He also took great delight in terrorizing everything within reach. Well, they were all awake now, regardless. Might as well start the day. She stepped closer and gave Baby’s head a good scratch, especially behind the ears. The cat rubbed up against her hand and purred loudly. “Come along, you pest. Bel, get dressed. We’re testing wood today.”

“Right.” With a cautious eye on Baby, he jumped off his bed and headed for his chest.

It took them a good hour to get dressed, eat breakfast, and get ready to depart. Fortunately, they had a virgin forest right behind Big. Technically, Noppers Woods lay within the bordering country of Haixi, but Sevana paid little attention to borders. If she needed to borrow the natural power of a landmark, then she did. It didn’t matter if it were in Windamere’s borders or not.

Since this would likely take most of the day—not the test itself, but getting there—she packed a picnic lunch as well.

She slung everything she needed into a pack, strapped her sword onto her hip, grabbed up the picnic basket and headed for the main tunnel with both prince and cat in tow. Well, actually, she didn’t call for Baby. He just followed along out of curiosity. Or possibly because he hoped to snatch the ham she’d packed.

Bel followed along in silence for several minutes before curiosity got the better of him. “Where are we going?”

“Noppers Woods.”

“Ah. But if we’re going behind the mountain, then shouldn’t we be heading that way?” he pointed over his shoulder in the opposite direction, where the front door lay.

“Back door,” she succinctly explained.

“That’s true, I suppose it would be a more direct route.” Bel’s tone suggested he didn’t really need a confirmation to that statement, he was just expressing interest. He did that a lot, actually, talking when there wasn’t any real need to. But she knew the root cause. After years of having only his own voice for company, he was in the habit of talking to himself.

She should know. She had the same bad habit.

They took a right branch in the tunnel that inclined steeply. Sevana used this path often, as she travelled about, and so she navigated it without a problem. Bel huffed and puffed behind her, not used to climbing anything. By the time they reached the top, he sounded like a blacksmith’s bellows.

She paused just outside the door and looked back at him. Bel had his hands on his knees, mouth wide open as he sucked in air, sweat pouring from his temples. “You have
no
stamina.”

“Wor-king on it,” he panted out.

Well, from here it was all downhill and then a short hike into Noppers Woods to a particular tree that she had in mind. So he should be able to get his wind back. Coming back, though…he probably wouldn’t be able to climb his way back up. She had a bad feeling that she’d end up carrying him at some point.

While she waited for him to catch his breath, she took the time to issue a few warnings. “There are several species that live in these woods that like children. You especially will look like a prime target to them because of your supposed youth. The Fae are the ones that I’m the most worried about, as they’re the boldest about kidnapping children. Now, I’ve lived here long enough that they know me well and know better than to cross me. As long as you’re with me, they likely won’t try anything. But don’t wander out of my sight. I can’t guarantee your safety if you do.”

He nodded in understanding, still pulling in breath harshly through his mouth. When he’d recovered a little, he took a long look around him. “Is there a trail that leads into the woods from here?”

“Of course.”

Bel’s breathing slowed back to normal. Sevana waved him forward and led the way down. She’d gone this way often enough that a natural trail had formed over the years, winding its way in and out of the trees. The branches overhead shaded the trail they were on, protecting them against the heat of the day, and so the hike down was pleasant.

By the time they made it down to the base of the mountain, Sevana judged it prudent to stop there and have an early lunch. Baby, of course, thought this a marvelous plan and volunteered to clean up any leftover ham.

Sevana, used to his antics, pushed him aside and finished her sandwich to the last crumb. Bel, still nervous around him, ended up losing half of his before he had the nerve to fight Baby off.

Packing everything back into the basket, she herded them back into motion. Fortunately for Bel, they didn’t need to go much further and reached the tree she wanted within a quarter hour.

No matter how many times she saw it, this tree always impressed her. It was an ancient oak, probably older than most of the countries that existed. It stood higher than any other tree in this forest, limbs spreading in every possible direction, some of them twisting about so that they actually touched the ground in spots.

“Incredible,” Bel breathed, looking at it. “I’ve never
seen
a tree this large. What is it?”

“An oak tree, actually. I estimate that it’s about eight hundred years old.”

“It would have to be, to be that big,” he agreed with wide-eyed wonder.

Adult he might be, but he reacted to the world with child-like innocence. She didn’t dislike that about him, though. But enough ogling for the day. “Go hug the tree,” Sevana commanded.

Bel’s eyes almost crossed. “What?!”

“You heard me.”

“Can’t I just climb up on it instead?”

“Yes, that too.”

Bel looked up at the sky, clearing praying for patience from any god that might be listening, and then heaved a resigned sigh. He headed for the roots, using them as a step ladder as he climbed upwards. Baby, ever a fan of high places, bounded ahead of him and quickly climbed up several branches until he found one with the perfect perch. He settled down, tail hanging off to one side and twitching in contentment as he looked down on the rest of the world.

Sevana found a nice, steady log to sit down on as Bel made his way up to one of the lower branches. Since he’d never climbed a tree before, it took him a while and even once he was up, he didn’t look very comfortable up there. In fact, he almost looked glad that he had to hug the trunk of the tree.

“How long should I stay up here?” Bel called down to her.

“About an hour or so,” she answered absently, already pulling out her notes and setting up the diagnostic wand to give her readings. “The tree you’re sitting on is very ancient and has a lot of power to it. I should be able to see the effects against your curse in a short amount of time.”

Bel looked relieved to hear this. “Might I ask what yesterday’s test revealed?”

“Flowing water is effective. I’ll probably end up using it, or some form of it. But I need to test different combinations before I make any decisions.”

Heartening news for him. He abruptly became more comfortable with sitting up there. “So that means earth still needs to be tested?”

“Hmmm? Oh, no need.” She looked up briefly from the book and the numbers writing themselves on the page. “I know that from you staying inside Big. Earth is effective, but not at much as flowing water.” Not surprising, as earth didn’t have as much inherent power as water.