The Child Prince (The Artifactor) (5 page)

He perked up a little at that. “So, what now?”

“Hmmm, now I do a lot of research. We might need to go visit some people and test a few theories. But that’s my job.
Your
job is to train, study, and not get yourself killed while I work.” She put the results down a moment and looked at him steadily. No, she really couldn’t leave him up to his own devices for even one night. He was too antsy. Leaving Big in charge of him likely wouldn’t work out well either. The mountain wasn’t the most reliable of babysitters. (As she knew from painful and personal experience.) Making a snap decision, she ordered, “Stay right here. I have something to give you.”

~ ~ ~

Bellomi climbed down from the bench, but didn’t venture any further than that as Artifactor Sevana left the room. He hadn’t entirely believed her warnings earlier about her workroom—his father had often said the things about disturbing him—but after seeing the room he now
did
believe her. He didn’t even want to know what kind of fire could cause this much damage.

Sevana Warran was a strange woman. Something about her looked foreign. She had the blond hair typical of Windamere, but her eyes were brown instead of blue or green. For a woman, she was strangely tall, too. She looked to be in her late teens, with a pretty face, but that sharp tongue of hers and impatient attitude when dealing with people likely didn’t win her any friends. She obviously didn’t think like most people either.

Her “reward” for breaking the curse alone told Bellomi a lot about her. This woman didn’t want money or fame. She wanted peace. That she would go out of her way to help him just to avoid yearly paperwork…he shook his head in bafflement. It still didn’t make sense to him.

But whatever her reasons, he was grateful for it. To spend another day locked in that room with no visitors except the maid that delivered his meals…either his sanity or his heart would have broken if he’d been forced to live like that much longer. Whether Sevana could break the curse or not, she’d already done him a huge favor by taking him out of that place.

Wherever she’d went must’ve been nearby, as Sevana re-entered the room bare minutes later. “Here.”

Bellomi caught the twin short swords that she tossed him, almost dropping one, but catching it at an awkward angle against his chest at the last moment. “W-what are these?”

“Training swords,” she explained simply. “You’re a prince by birth, but you don’t have the skills that you need to be a true king. While I’m working on your little problem, you might as well put the time to use and learn what you need to. Those,” she inclined her head to indicate the swords, “will help.”

He shifted them in his hands until he had a firm grip on the handles of both. “Most people, you know, start with wooden swords first,” he said dryly.

“Hmm?” her attention was already gravitating toward her work bench. “Well, sure, if I was teaching you.”

He blinked at her stupidly. “You’re not?”

“Heavens no. I’m a lousy teacher.”

“Just swinging these around all day aren’t going to teach me any skills!” he protested, half-panicked.

She nodded in absent agreement. “True, if they were normal swords.”

If
they were normal? He jerked one up so that he could look at it carefully. Engraved in the hilt was a magical emblem that he had only read about in books and heard vague rumors about. His eyes went so wide that they almost fell out of his head. “Are these
training swords
?!”

That caught her attention again and she turned to give him a smirk over her shoulder. “That’s right. So you do recognize what they are, eh? Once they’re unsheathed and in your hands, they will naturally direct your movements and teach you. If you do the movement correctly, then the swords will feel weightless. Do it wrong, it’ll feel like a fifty pound sack of sand. I guarantee you that if you spend three hours a day with them, that by the end of two years, you’ll be a master dual swordsman.”

He looked up at her serious expression and swallowed loudly around the nervous knot in his throat. “Are you sure? These are…priceless, even for a prince.”

“I’m sure. I made them, so it’s not like it cost me anything except a little time and some magic. To me, putting them in your hands is well worth it because I feel that you will be a good king in the future, if someone just invests some time to train you.”

He in
no
way wanted to think about the consequences if he disappointed her. She’d have his head. No amount of guards in the known world would be able to stop her, either. His eyes fell to the swords in his hands and considered them for a long moment. “Why dual wielding?”

Her eyes were on her work, hands already reaching for things as she answered him. “It’s a mental exercise as well as physical. If you have a shield, you think of defense. Your mind considers retreat instead of attack. But you must not think like this. You must learn to attack, and attack, until your enemy can only admit defeat. This kingdom will fall otherwise.”

She might very well be right.

“Besides,” she added in an off-hand manner that chilled his blood, “I’ve seen fights that could have been won if the swordsman had been able to dual wield. If you ever are injured on one side, you can still fight with the other. It’s a matter of life and death.”

Bellomi swore to himself right then and there that he was going to spend five hours a day with his new swords. Definitely five. “What else do I need to learn?”

“Big will show you the way.”

In other words, she was tired of talking and wanted to work now. He knew better than to push for any other answers. He’d wait until she stopped before asking anything else. So he gave her a short bow and quietly left the room. As soon as the workroom door closed behind him, he stopped and really
looked
at the mountain for the first time.

Having never been out of the palace before, to him, it looked like how he imagined a mountain to look with rounded stone walls and a dirt floor. The tunnels seemed large to him, but things usually did. Still, a giant could walk through here with plenty of clearance on all sides. He could hear the softest sound of wind blowing through, even though he couldn’t feel it. The air felt slightly chill and humid, though, and he could smell running water. Were there waterfalls inside somewhere?

He gave a befuddled look around him, but he didn’t really know where to focus to talk to Big. Sevana had put her hand against the wall when she spoke, though. Maybe he should do the same? Juggling the swords again, he put them in one hand and reached out with the other to put his palm flat against the rough wall.

“Big, your master said that you would show me where to go next?” he trailed off uncertainly.

The ground under his feet changed slightly, sloping downwards at a slight degree. Three doors down, one of the doors opened with a slight creak, which was just
spooky
. If Bellomi hadn’t known better, he’d swear the place was haunted. “Uh, you have my thanks?”

A gust of wind appeared from nowhere and whipped past his ear. It almost sounded like
Welcome
, except…. Bellomi swallowed hard. Sevana had said the mountain spoke with the wind, right? Right. So that wasn’t a ghost whispering in his ear. Right. Nothing to be worried about. This was all…well, normal would be pushing it.

He walked uncertainly to the open door and peeked inside. The room beyond was not, as he half-expected, a training room but a kitchen. Relieved, he broke out into a smile.

“My thanks, Big. Um, do you by chance know how to cook?”

Two long counters ran the width and length of the room, with cupboards attached to them. One cabinet opened to display several different loaves of bread. Another cabinet, not attached to the others, opened to show a wheel of cheese and several cured meats. When Bellomi approached, he could feel cool air coming from the inside. A cold storage? As expected from an Artifactor.

Happy, he put his swords down on the table and started foraging.

~ ~ ~

He wasn’t in his bed
again?!

Sevana resisted to do the first thing that came to mind—lift her face to the heavens and start screaming—and instead took in a deep breath before asking Big calmly, “Where’s the princeling?”

Up top
, the mountain answered, sounding a little cautious.

At least he hadn’t gone far this time. In the past two days, Sevana had caught the prince outside on numerous occasions. The first time, he had ventured around the top of the mountain and to the edge of the woods. Granted, he’d brought two books along with him, so he’d been studying as he was supposed to be doing. But she didn’t want him outside of Big at all!

Growling, cursing, and grumbling, she stomped her way to the stairs and climbed past the second level and through the small door that let out on the top of Big. Big, no doubt sensing her mood, opened the door for her. The night hit her in a rush of insect song, cool air, and a smattering of different scents. She took in a breath of it as she stepped outside, a shiver dancing along her skin. Spring it might be, but the nights here were chilly and she really wished she’d paused to grab a jacket before prince-hunting.

“Bel!”

“Here,” he responded calmly.

She turned her head to look for him, following the sound of his voice, and found him sitting on a boulder to her far left. He’d grabbed a cloak from somewhere, which wrapped around his shoulders and swallowed him from the neck down. His swords lay beside him, within easy reach, although with only two days of training under his belt that didn’t mean much. If something attacked him, he wouldn’t really be able to defend himself.

“You barmy twit, why are you out here in the middle of the night?”

His eyebrows slammed together in a dark frown. “There is no reason for that tone of voice, Sevana. I have followed your directions, haven’t I? You said not to leave Big. I’m sitting directly on him.”

“Oh, that’s a fine loophole you’ve found for yourself,” she snapped back.

“What do you expect me to do?” he retorted, his own temper flaring up. “Simply sit inside of the mountain day in, day out, waiting upon your every direction? I am not a prisoner here, Sevana! You said so yourself.”

“I at least expect you to use some common sense when you leave!” she growled in vexation. “What numbskull goes outside at
midnight
? Have you not heard of the witching hour?!”

“Of course I read about it! That’s why I came out armed!”

“Armed, he says.” She flung up her hands in exasperation. “For your information,
Your Highness
, the reason why I said that is because that patch of woods,” she flung a finger to point at it, “is
enchanted
woods! And most of the mystical creatures that live in it would love to get their grubby little paws on you!”

“Enchanted?” he repeated, blinking. He turned his head to regard the dark woods behind the mountain, head canted slightly as he studied them. “Truly?”

“Yes, truly.” Sevana resisted the urge to grab him around the neck and start squeezing. He didn’t have enough common sense to begin with. Choking off the air supply to his brain would be rather counterproductive. “Bel, let me make this crystal clear. The mystical races are not benign, not for the most part. Half the ones that live in Noppers Woods like children especially. They would either eat you, or carry you off for reasons of their own.”

At the word ‘eat’ his skin went paler, making him look like a waif under the strong moonlight. His eyes darted to the swords at his side and he wet his lips nervously. “And, ah, how effective is steel against these creatures?”

“At your current skill level, you wouldn’t be able to lay a hand on the hilt before they got you,” she informed him bluntly.

He looked at her directly for a long moment, studying her expression, before he dropped his gaze and ran a hand roughly over his face. “My apologies. I…I did not think I would be in any danger simply sitting here.”

Sevana let out a long breath, trying to regain her temper. The prince had little common sense, which made her want to beat it into him, but he did have one saving grace. If you told him not to do something, and explained why, he would see the logic and take your advice. If not for that, she probably would have murdered him by now.

But this whole incident, only one day after she’d scolded him for being out of Big, said something to her. It said trouble. It spoke of an issue that lay deep within the prince’s mind, and it did not seem to be something that she could simply ignore and allow it to fix itself.

She had limited patience with people to begin with, so likely she would not be the best person for this, but something had to be done. Resigned, she took a wand from her belt holder and cast a warming charm on herself before sinking onto the ground in front of Bel. Crossing her legs, she got comfortable, leaving the wand ready in her lap in case trouble truly did descend on them.

“Bel, you’ve spent ten years locked up in a single room. I can understand that you want to see more of the world.”

He raised his eyebrows at her a little, a little bemused. “That’s quite…reasonable of you, Sevana.”

“But you constantly escaping outside is going to invite trouble,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “You know that.”

His eyes went blind, head turning to face the east, as if he looked toward Lockbright palace. “I can’t stay within the mountain for long. I feel too confined when I do.”

Claustrophobia? After ten years of being in a single room, she could well understand why he would develop that psychological weakness. His condition would be labeled mild, as he could stay indoors for several hours at a stretch without problem, but still strong enough that he couldn’t do so for a full day before he felt driven to go outside. She propped her chin on the palm of her hand, leaning against her own knee, eyes locked onto him.

“Bel. Describe to me what the past ten years were like.”

He didn’t turn back to look at her as he answered in a soft, clear voice. “I don’t need to describe ten years. Only one day. My days were an endless repeat of the same routine. Stay in my room and never being allowed to leave it. A maid came in to clean and bring me my meals. I could request anything of the kitchens and they would make it for me. I could request any book from the palace library and they would send it to me. They gave me any diversion I wanted, as long as it didn’t involve weapons, in order to keep me quietly out of the way. I was not allowed visitors unless a Councilman served as an escort.” He laughed bitterly. “And they only brought sham magicians to me. No one else. For the past ten years, I ate and slept and read and tried not to lose my sanity.”