The Child Prince (The Artifactor) (49 page)

Sarsen shifted in his seat, tucking one leg up under another, leaning so that he had a better line of sight of Sevana. “Alright, so what do you know about the caster?”

“He’s very, very skilled.” Sevana ticked off points on her fingers as she spoke. “He crafted two different spells that were made of benign elements that would go past Pierpoint’s magical shield—and believe me, that was a well-crafted shield. It took considerable effort and planning on my part to figure out how to circumvent it. This man is not a fly by night magician. He’s one of the elite.”

“So it would be very pricey to hire him,” Sarsen concluded. “What else do you know?”

“I had the funniest suspicion that he was a Kindin magician,” she admitted slowly, rubbing both palms together in a steady, circular motion. “Just by the way the spells were crafted. They had that sort of flair, y’know? In fact, the way the spell was crafted, I would almost swear that an Artifactor did the work. I’ve never seen such clean, economical spells such as those coming from a magician.”

“A Kindin spell caster, perhaps an Artifactor, being hired by a Windamere aristocrat?” Sarsen let out a low whistle. “This isn’t just a matter of money, but connections. You can’t just hire a magician from another country by requesting it. You have to know who to ask and how to ask ‘em.”

“I know.” The more said, the more she thought it really would have to be a councilman or someone directly connected to a councilman, just because of the price tag involved. “Let’s come up with a round figure that we think it would cost to manage this. Then we’ll ask Hana for a list of who could afford it ten years ago. That should narrow our list of suspects.”

“I think we should also ask Axelrad how a magician would be able to sneak in, not once, but twice in order to cast these spells. And who would know of the security holes,” Sarsen added.

“It’s a good thought, and a place to start,” Sevana agreed. “You know the interior layout of the palace better than I do at this point. Go talk to Axelrad. I’ll talk to Hana. We can compare notes after. But don’t expect me to do it tomorrow.”

“Oh?”

“I got a note earlier from Vash Village warning me that we’re about to be invaded. Our dragon is due to arrive tomorrow.” Sometime. Dragons were notoriously bad at keeping track of human time. They couldn’t be bothered to specify even a particular day most of the time. If not for her message from Vashti, she’d have no idea when the dragon would actually come.

“Ah. True, that does take precedence. Then, we’ll take about this a few days from now.” With a casual salute to her, he hefted himself free of the bench with a soft grunt and headed for the door.

“Sarsen,” she called after him in exasperation, lifting his shell from where it still sat on the table. “Don’t forget this!”

“Hmmm? Oh.” He caught it as she tossed it to him. “Thanks.”

As he disappeared out the door, Sevana said aloud to the empty room, “The man needs a familiar. Or a keeper. Something. I swear he’d misplace his head if it wasn’t attached. Big? Keep an eye on him for me, would you?”

Will
, the mountain promised.

~ ~ ~

The Curse Breaking Day dawned clear and a little cold as fall started to encroach on the land. Bellomi had been so nervous, so excited, that he didn’t sleep at all the night before. Hana had stayed up with him most of the night, but by dawn, she’d fallen fast asleep. Not willing to wake her (especially after a night of keeping her up), he covered her with a lap quilt and stole quietly out of the room.

Sevana predicted the dragon would arrive sometime after breakfast, so he made himself take the time to wash, dress, and eat something before going up top. He met Sevana in the kitchen as she finished scrambling eggs in a large skillet.

For the first time in a long time, he stopped in the doorway and really looked her over from head to toe. She wore the white shirt, simple vest, tan trousers and knee-high boots that she normally preferred, blond hair braided tight around her head. She didn’t look nervous, or anxious, or strained at all as she went about cooking breakfast. But she didn’t look particularly happy, either. He didn’t find that surprising. Sevana had proclaimed herself as a non-morning person and she detested being awake this early in the morning on general principle. She wouldn’t be fit for any kind of decent conversation for at least another hour or so.

From his vast repertoire of experience, he knew better than to say anything, and wisely stayed silent as they ate and cleaned up. No one else joined them at the table, it still being far too early for anyone else to be awake, so Sevana covered the food and placed warming spells on most of it before heading out the door. Bellomi tagged at her heels, double checking that the package he had in his coat pocket was still there.

Sevana went straight up the path to the second level, her hand brushing the walls as she did so. “Big? Move the crate to the outside, please.”

A wordless sigh of acknowledgement ruffled his hair as the mountain responded.

Pausing at the door to the top, Sevana turned and told him dryly, “And you, lose the swords.”

Huh? Oh! Bellomi glanced over his shoulder at the sword hilt, belatedly realizing that he had put them on this morning from sheer force of habit. A little sheepish, he slung first one scabbard and then the other off and propped the swords up near the doorway.

Nodding in satisfaction, Sevana unlocked the door and pushed it open, stepping into the morning sunlight.

After the dimness inside, Bellomi needed to blink several times for his eyes to adjust to the morning’s rays. Remembering the last time, Bellomi asked the mountain, “Big, are you alright with this? The dragon will likely land here, and last time that a dragon did that, you were itchy.”

Big grumbled and grumped, but didn’t say a word of protest.

“He’ll be fine,” Sevana snorted. “I’ll wash him down afterwards.”

Right. Clearly no sympathy could be found here.

“Now, don’t distract me,” she ordered them both. “I have to get this exactly right, or you’re going to be crushed by water for no good reason.”

Holding up both hands in surrender, Bellomi found a comfortable place to sit that gave him an excellent view of the southeastern horizon so that he could keep a watch out for the dragon. As he sat, he scooted about and brushed some of the loose pebbles away, leaving only grass as a cushion. He took in a deep breath as he settled. Nothing seemed out of place here. The air carried the rich scents of earth, trees, water, and various wildlife. The sun started to warm up the air, dissipating the coolness of the night, and the chill on his skin slowly faded.

Even with grass cushioning him, the ground still remained too hard for him to sit on for long without shifting positions. He did that several times, going from a cross-legged posture, to flat on his back, to kneeling, and sometimes he just got up and paced. The sun rose in the sky at a steady rate, climbing so that it nearly shone directly ahead. Bellomi didn’t attempt to say anything to Sevana as the hours passed, not daring to interrupt her as she held the incantation in front of her, glowing in magical lines with a brilliantly white shine.

The incantation looked rather like the one that she had used to break his father’s curse. It consisted of three circles, and in between the circles were letters that he’d never seen before, all connected to each other. It looked larger than the other one, though. This one would have enough distance in the center for him to step in and out of easily.

No, he shouldn’t be distracted by that. He should be looking for the dragon’s approach. He stopped pacing and turned his eyes back toward the southeastern sky.

“Here he comes.” Bellomi stood to face the dragon, even though he still had some distance to go. Right now, the dragon looked like a bird shaped speck on the horizon.

“Finally,” Sevana muttered, also standing.

Bellomi cast her a glance. Her expression looked strained, understandably so after holding the incantation in place for nearly five hours. Sarsen had told him, quietly, that doing this would be very challenging. Magic casted was easily done. Magic held in stasis, steadily, right on the verge of casting was another matter entirely. Sarsen hadn’t been sure if Sevana could carry the incantation for more than half a day. Bellomi felt just as glad that they didn’t have to test that theory.

The dragon came in at a quick pace, perhaps a tad faster than prudent. It made Bellomi nervous. Big didn’t exactly have the largest of clearings up here on top, and while a dragon had plenty of room to land in, that didn’t mean it had enough space to
skid
into a landing. He backed up three good paces, getting closer to the door that led topside, ready to dive inside if he needed to. The water dragon didn’t slow much as he came in, and the sound of the wind streaming past his wings and body sounded almost eerie in pitch. Then he flapped backwards, hard, in quick succession so that his pace abruptly slowed as he almost hovered right above the ground. He touched down to earth with back legs first, almost gracefully, wings fully extended and above him before he deigned to fold them back in against his body.

Bellomi let out a breath he didn’t know he held. Whew. The dragon didn’t try to speak, but his mouth still held the seawater he’d promised to bring with him, so Bellomi didn’t try to ask any questions. He simply stepped forward, following Sevana’s silent cues in where she wanted him to stand.

Sevana pointed with her free hand to the wooden crate sitting nearby. “Your payment is there in full. Do you wish to check it now?”

The dragon gave a slow, deliberate shake of his head. No. But he probably didn’t need to. Dragons had a very keen sense of smell, according to the books, and they could detect gold miles away.

“Very well. I will raise the incantation to be above Bel’s head. When I give you the signal, spray the water directly into the center of the circle, if you would.” Sevana’s tone had a brisk, no-nonsense tone to it even though she phrased it politely.

The dragon arranged himself ever so slightly, turning his head to where he could easily spray the top of Bellomi’s head, showing his readiness. Sevana lifted the glowing circle to where it rested directly above Bellomi’s head, wreathing it in glowing lines of power. When she had it perfectly centered, she gave him a look that said,
Brace yourself.

Bellomi nodded back, feeling beyond nervous. Aside from the fact that his curse would
finally
be broken after ten long, arduous years, he was about to be under the direct water stream of a dragon. How much force would be heading at him, that he would have to stand underneath, he didn’t even want to know. But he had to endure it, and he could not falter, or all of this would be for nothing. So he spread his feet to shoulder width and planted them firmly, bracing himself as well as he could.

Sevana took in a breath, let it out, then looked up at the dragon. “Ready? Begin.”

The dragon didn’t open its jaws, as Bellomi half-feared, but instead formed its mouth into an oval shape. Within a split second, water started gushing out of his mouth at high speed, hitting Bellomi squarely on the head. He gasped in shock, partially from the brutal force of it. It
stung
where it hit, like a thousand needles that grazed his skin. Gritting his teeth, he set himself to endure it. As he did, other sensations flooded in: the strong smell of seawater and salt, the feel of dissipating warmth from the water, the way it fell hard against the ground around him and flowed along his skin.

It felt like an eternity. It felt like mere seconds. Bellomi closed his eyes to avoid the stinging quality of the water, legs shaking under the force that pounded against him, hands clenched in determination.
I. will. Not. FALL.

Under the water rushing past his ears and the clatter as it hit the ground, another sound emerged. It sounded oddly like glass cracking under tremendous force. He wanted to open his eyes, but didn’t dare for fear of being blinded by salt water. But his ears tracked the sound. It came harder now, with more speed, and then it sounded as if something shattered in a hundred different directions.

Sevana gave a victorious laugh. “It’s broken!”

It worked. It worked?!

“Very good, my lord dragon,” she called up. “You can stop now!”

The dragon raised his head, but didn’t stop spewing water. Apparently he had taken more than enough for this. He spewed the rest of it out to the side as Bellomi used both hands to wipe the water from his face so he could look up. Even as he did the automatic gesture, a part of him reeled. After ten years, ten very long years, he was finally free. The reality of it failed to sink in. He looked at Sevana, eyes searching hers for a confirmation of her own words.

She grinned at him, eyes alight, looking more satisfied and happier than he’d ever seen her. “It’s broken,” she repeated with imminent satisfaction. “You’re free, Bel. Well, not quite. We’ll need to go back down and have Pierpoint remove that stasis spell before you’re fully free.”

Bellomi did something he never thought he would do. He reached out and grabbed her in a fierce embrace, lifting her off her feet, head buried in her shoulder. “Thank you,” he whispered, voice husky. “Thank you.”

She reached up with one arm and ruffled his hair. “Put me down, you brat. I can’t breathe.”

He laughed because he knew from her tone she didn’t mean a word of what she just said. But Sevana simply couldn’t say anything sentimental without tripping over her own tongue. So he let her off the hook and set her back on his feet, smiling all the while from ear to ear. When he did step away, she flatly refused to look at him, and her cheeks looked suspiciously pink.

It took a second to gather himself and remember the other part that he had planned out. Taking a deep breath to smother his emotions, he faced the dragon that patiently stood nearby and gave him a deep bow. “You have done all that I asked and done so well,” Bellomi said formally. “I wish to give you a token of my thanks.” He pulled out the large package he’d stowed away in his pocket, flipping back the flaps of the cloth he’d wrapped it in. With it uncovered, he lifted it up with both hands at a good angle for the dragon to see it.