The Child Prince (The Artifactor) (18 page)

“A mountain lion as a teacher?” Instead of mocking, 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 thought 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.”

“We can certainly accommodate that request,” Hana responded, eyes crinkling up in amusement. “History is this way.” She waved him to follow her, which he did, around the corner and to the back wall of the building.

The back wall stretched a good thirty feet, standing ten feet tall, the dark shelves filling every inch of that space. Books were tidily organized along the shelves with absolutely no hint of dust anywhere. He craned his neck in every direction, looking over the selection, and felt his heart sink. “Um, are these all history books?”

“That’s right.” She grinned at him, no doubt seeing the dismay on his face. “It’ll take you a long time to read all of them. Did Sevana tell you that she wanted you to learn a general history, or was there a specific thing she wanted you to study? I can help you narrow it down to a handful of books that way.”

He gave her a grateful look, absolutely sure she glowed with saint-like benevolence in that moment. “I’m specifically looking for the history of kings or princes that had to win back their thrones.”

“Ahhh.” Pursing her lips thoughtfully, she turned to face the shelves square on. “I can think of a few volumes off-hand that go into depth on that subject. But they’re all pretty complicated. I’m not sure how much of them you’ll understand.”

Probably all of it, not that she would know that. “Let me see them anyway,” he requested, trying to look naïve. “If I don’t know the word, I’ll look it up.”

“That’s a good attitude for a future Artifactor to have,” she approved. “They’re very well-read people, after all. Or at least, I assume that they all must be, because Sevana’s certainly that way. In that case, let’s see…you’d best look through this one, this one, this one, and this one. Oh, and this. Although this book,” she handed him a particularly thick tome that made his arms ache with the additional weight, “is terribly dry and dull, I warn you. It has good information, though.”

Straining under the weight of books (the heavy books with covers hard enough to dig into the skin of his arms), he managed a smile over the top cover and said, “I’ll start with these, then.”

He staggered over to the nearest table, where he put the books down with a thump on the surface, grateful that he hadn’t disgraced himself by dropping any of them. He climbed up into one of the wooden chairs that sat near the table, and judging by the hardness of the seat, he would sorely regret his decision to read here in about an hour, when his bum went numb. For now, he ignored it, and the faint coolness of the wood against his back, and dragged the first book closer to him. Cracking open the cover, he turned to the first page and started scanning through it quickly.

After ten years of doing nothing but reading, Bellomi could read very fast. Especially now, when he didn’t read every single word, but instead scanned the text in front of him for key words, he went through the pages with commendable speed. He lost track of time as he became absorbed in his task, only shifting about in his chair occasionally as parts of his body went numb.

The first three books did indeed cover past rebellions in Windamere, but none of his ancestors had acted in a way that he could. They’d gathered up armies to re-take the throne, which he could not possibly hope to emulate. Stumped, he pushed those aside and went to the fourth, going through it with the same speed as the others.

It took a moment for him to notice that someone else had joined him at the table. He absently looked up, only semi-curious on who it might be, only to start and almost drop the book when he realized Hana sat there. She watched him with a serious expression, arm propped up on the table’s surface, hand idly caressing the cover of the thickest book.

“Ah, hello,” he offered tentatively, and in a quiet enough voice for the library’s still atmosphere.

She didn’t return the greeting. “Bellomi, you don’t need a dictionary at all, do you?”

“Ahhhh…” Now how did he answer that?