The Child Prince (The Artifactor) (32 page)

“And I
do
want to meet her,” Aren added firmly.

“I wish to court her a little more, cement our relationship, before I introduce you to her.” For several very important reasons, not the least of which would involve explaining who his father truly was. “But if I feel that I truly can win her, then yes, I will properly introduce the two of you.”

“Well enough.” Unable to let go of this point, Aren couldn’t help but say, “But don’t stay out late like this. I’m told that we’re right next to enchanted woods, and that is a very dangerous place to be.”

“A fact I know all too well.” Bellomi hefted both swords and waggled them a little from side to side in silent demonstration. “Good night, Father.”

As his son stepped past him, heading for the alcove, Aren said to his back, “Swords won’t combat everything in those woods.”

“Also a fact that I know very well,” Bellomi answered without turning around. “But I’m experienced with navigating the dangers in Noppers Woods. Don’t worry about me, alright? Good night.”

“You shouldn’t be risking your safety at all!” Aren retorted. “Bellomi? Are you even listening to me?”

At the alcove’s door, Bellomi paused and looked his father straight in the eye and repeated firmly, “Good
night
, Father.”

Seeing that he wasn’t making any headway, Aren rubbed at his forehead and said wearily, “Alright, yes, good night. I can see that we’ll have to discuss this tomorrow.”

Not if he could help it. Bellomi refused to rise to the bait and simply stepped into the alcove, more than ready for bed.

During their short absence, Big had taken the time to change the interior, shifting furniture about so that every room contained more chairs and places to sit than before. Where he got the furniture, Sevana had no idea, as she certainly hadn’t bought or constructed that much. But a sneaking suspicion told her that Big had drafted Kip’s help. Unlike her, the mountain had a strong sense of hospitality and liked for people to be comfortable.

Big’s wish went largely in vain when it came to the Dragonmanovichs. They spent a great deal of time planning, the debates between father and son echoing through Big as wills and opinions clashed. Sevana tried to stay out of it, holding zero desire to get embroiled in politics.

Willing or not, they dragged her into it anyway.

The king gave a perfunctory rap on the door before bulling his way inside, a vein throbbing at his temple. Bel followed close on his heels, voice panicky. “—told you, it’s dangerous to just carelessly enter her workroom!”

“It’s fine,” Aren snapped at him, eyes focused on Sevana.

She glowered at him. Actually, it wasn’t. She’d just mixed the paint and only had the base coat on the clock. If she didn’t get this done tonight, she’d be forced to work until morning as Kip would be here at noon tomorrow to pick it up. Didn’t this man understand what it meant to
work
for a living? Maybe spending a few hours as a frog might help change his perspective on life….

But one look at Aren’s face told her he wouldn’t be put off. Even if he did spend a few hours croaking and hopping about. So she grabbed the wand from her belt holster, put the paint under a stasis spell, and waved him to the bench nearby. “You’ve got five minutes.”

Aren looked nonplussed at that, but he likely wasn’t used to being handed time limits. “My son insists on going and seeing the water dragon soon. Something about migrations and mating seasons.”

She leaned back in her chair and responded with forced patience, “The water dragons normally stay in the chain of islands south of Sa Koa. However, at the beginning of fall, they travel toward the north of Kindin, to the Endless Sea. Talking to them during mating seasons is an epically bad idea. If we don’t catch them in the next two weeks, we’ll have to wait four months.” And they might want to leave sooner rather than later. The fire dragons had left earlier than usual, after all.

“I am
not
waiting,” Bel stated vehemently.

Aren gave him a frustrated look. “But I need an Artifactor’s help if I am to infiltrate the palace.”

Oh, that was the issue? “Then if I call in another Artifactor to help you, there’s no problem?” Now why did they both have that blank look on their face? Dryly, she added, “There
are
other Artifactors, y’know.”

Bel, after a suspicious look at his father, asked her, “As good as you?”

“Close enough.” As she had
no
desire to get embroiled in politics, she put some effort into convincing Aren. “I know one Artifactor that I would trust to guard your back. We trained under the same master.”

“His name?”

“Sarsen Vashti.”

Bel blinked in recognition. “I’ve heard of him. His skills are formidable.”

That made this easier. “He is that,” she agreed. “Shall I call him in?”

“You’ll go with Bellomi to bargain with the dragon?” Aren checked, the wheels turning as he thought everything through.

“Yes,” she answered, toe tapping under the table.

“Then call him in.”

“Will do. Now, shoo.” She waved them out and turned back to her work. She’d call Master tomorrow and figure out where Sarsen was. Right now, she had a clock to paint.

~ ~ ~

Keeping up with other people’s lives rated very low on her priority list. In fact, it rated even lower than organizing her upper storage rooms. But her master kept tabs on her, and she knew that he did so with all of his former students, so she called him first before trying to hunt down Sarsen on her own.

She did so by pulling out a Caller and settling herself into a comfortable chair. Callers had actually been her master’s invention, decades ago when he just became a licensed Artifactor. It looked like a plain alabaster statue that stood only a foot tall, with a humanoid shape but without any particular gender to it. When activated, the statue took on the appearance of the person called, and could even make the same movements and motions that the other person did. Of course, it took two magical people on either end to make it work, so it never caught on among the general populace.

Tapping the Caller’s base, she called out, “Master!” Knowing that it would take him a minute to respond, she settled more comfortably into her chair and waited.

It did take a moment, but eventually the form of Tashjian Joles molded itself into the statue. It raised its small head, the alabaster shifting to include a short beard, hair clasped in a high ponytail, and a beak of a nose. She must have caught him just as he awoke, as he wore that infernal, ratty robe that hung off one shoulder.

“
Why, Sevana,”
he greeted in his gravelly voice, tone warm. “
It’s been several months since I heard from you. How are you doing, sweetling?”

One of these days, she’d break him of the habit of calling her that. “I’m doing fine, as always. I’ve actually taken on a rather troublesome pair of clients.”

“Oh? Do tell me.”

It didn’t occur to her to do anything but that, so she told him the full tale. He chuckled at the end, sounding richly amused. “
How unexpected. It’s rare you get this involved in people’s lives.”

“It’s Bel’s doing,” she grumbled. “The boy can charm gold off a leprechaun. But the thing is, I think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. For these plans to work, I need to be in about two places at once, maybe three. I thought I’d borrow Sarsen, if I could. Do you know where he is?”

“Ahhh, that’s why you called. Actually, I do. He called me last week for a bit of advice. He was called in to deal with a nest of zikkels that somehow made their home in a bell tower.”

Zikkels? That poor man. Sevana had caught one, once. She didn’t care to repeat the experience. They were small, light, and could glide about freely. Worse, they possessed the intelligence of a seven-year-old child and so could outwit almost anyone trying to catch them. “Did he manage it?”

“
I believe so, yes. He has a Caller on hand if you wish to contact him directly.”

“I’ll do so.”

“I’ll let you go so you can reach him, but before I do, a word of advice. When you go to bargain with that water dragon, do two things: one, don’t just bring gold coin. Wear several bracelets and necklaces in an obvious show. Dragons actually prefer jewelry over plain gold.”

A fact she had not known. “I certainly will. What’s the other thing?”

“Don’t wear any weapons and for the love of the gods, do not go with a party of people. You said it was the prince that was cursed?”

“Now, yes.”

“Then just take him and no one else. They frown on large groups of people intruding upon their territory. Any group larger than three will be chased out or eaten automatically, even if you’re dripping with gold.
”

Sevana blessed her decision to call Master. She’d not known any of that, and it was very vital for her continued existence that she did. “Thank you, Master. I’ll be sure to follow your advice.”

“
Good. I love you, sweetling. Play nice with the boys and give me some grandchildren to spoil soon, alright?”

“Old goat,” she growled and slammed the connection shut. Her face felt hot, and even her ears burned. “You’d think he was my father the way he carried on some days, I swear.” He’d actually been like that from the beginning, when her parents had given her to him at the tender age of six for training. With a breath, she shook off her embarrassment and touched the Caller again. “Sarsen.”

This time, it took a bare moment before the Caller raised its head, Sarsen’s sleepy-looking features carving themselves into place. He sat casually with one leg crossed, in shirtsleeves and without his boots on, so he must have been home. “
Well, hello Sev. What do I owe this great honor?”

“I’ve got a client for you.”

~ ~ ~

Kip sauntered into her research room sometime after lunch, looking pleased with himself and the world in general. He sank into the only other chair in the room without invitation and made himself comfortable before saying, “They liked the clock. In fact, they liked it so much they want another one for the mayor’s office.”

Oh good. It meant another portal for her in a place she hadn’t had one. “I’ll make another, then.”

He jerked his head toward the entrance. “Bel caught me just inside the door and gave me a quick summary. Are you really going to break into the palace and start stirring things up?”

“We have to get enough gold to at least walk into dragon territory without being a mid-morning snack,” she pointed out reasonably. “While we’re there, we might as well take advantage of it. I understand the king is devising several schemes to get the Council over there stirred up and suspicious of each other.” It would all lead up to some sort of political coup, which was enough information for her, so she hadn’t asked for any details. “Besides, I’m only going in once, to get the gold. The rest is up to Aren and Sarsen.”

Kip blinked. “Sarsen is coming?”

“He’ll be here later tonight,” she confirmed. “Which reminds me. Big?”

The mountain gave a low rumble.

“Open up Sarsen’s room again, will you?”

Big rumbled again, this time at a higher pitch as he agreed.

She yawned and stretched in her chair. “Why are people so exhausting?”

Kip just laughed. “Only you think of them like that, Sev. Come on, it hasn’t been that bad having people here.”

She gave him a dark look. “People pestering me every other minute, making messes and asking for me to cook for them, not to mention bringing dragons home…now why would I find that troublesome?”

“I have no idea,” he agreed mock-seriously. “So this daring-do is supposed to start when?”

“Well, there’s a few people that are supposed to arrive first.” Sevana started ticking people off on her fingers. “Pierpoint is due in about two days, and then there’s this old retired captain of the guard…forget his name…” she trailed off, thinking. “Axelrad?”

He snapped his fingers in recognition. “Captain Axelrad? The man’s famous. The palace couldn’t be so easily broken into during
his
day, I promise you. But he has to be nearly seventy. He’s been retired for nearly twelve years.”

“Yes, I’m supposed to douse him with anti-aging potions as soon as he gets here,” she responded, unconcerned.

“But just those two?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “Apparently those two are the only ones that Aren trusts enough to call in at this point. I don’t blame him for playing this close to the chest. A lot changes in ten years.”

“So it does.” Kip leaned back in his chair, eyes absently staring at the ceiling. “Sev. What do you think the odds are that we’ll succeed?”

Sevana threw her head back and laughed out loud. “There’s no chance that we’ll lose!” In fact, just thinking about taking those idiot councilmen down made her hum a ditty.

For some reason, though, hearing her hum unnerved Kip.