My Royal Pain Quest (The Lakeland Knight series, #2) (15 page)

“Do I have your full cooperation?” I asked, to make sure.

“Yes.”

“All right then. I’ll talk to Morgard tomorrow, see where he stands. We run either that very evening or on the next day, depending on circumstances.”

I returned to my room and went through the plan again. Did I miss anything? It did not seem so. Morgard was probably expecting me to try something when he announced he was keeping the prince, but he certainly couldn’t expect what I had up my sleeve. He would have no clue what happened and how we disappeared. If he complained to the League and they started investigation, I’d have a strong case. We had an agreement, he gave me his word; I waited the week out. He broke his promise, so I left. I didn’t think we would hurt any of his men in the process, that was also going to be a plus. The League would see I had done my best to deal with this civilly. As to the means of my escape, I was under no obligation to disclose them. The Swirgs’ secret would be safe.

I rose, wondering how to kill the rest of the day, when Cassandra burst in.

“My berries are gone!”

“What?...”

She was holding her traveling bag.

“I never took them out. The pouches were here, under my spare clothes. They’re gone. All I have left is the handful I had in my pockets.”

I rushed to my own bag in the corner. I hadn’t paid much attention to it lately, having taken out all the items I needed; I saw right away the bag had been messed with, it was not in the position I’d left it in—and it looked smaller.

I opened the bag. The berry pouches were not there.

“Mine are stolen as well.”

“Who would have done it?”

Kellemar’s uneasy expression surfaced before my eyes.

“I have an idea. Wait here.”

I went back to his room.

“Has he ever entered my chamber when I wasn’t there?” I asked the guards in the corridor.

“The prince? Yes, about three days ago. Archie’s, too.”

I stormed in and slammed the door shut.

“What have you done with the berries?”

Kellemar must have seen murder in my eyes, for he backed away.

“Arkus, I’m sorry…”

“What have you done with them?!”

He stepped behind the table. “I—I threw them away.”

“You
what?!
”

“I’m sorry! I don’t know what came over me… I panicked…”

“Why, you pathetic idiot?! WHY?”

“I feared you’d escape without me.”

I threw up my hands. “Morgard is not holding
me
captive, you imbecile! I’m here voluntarily, and for your stupid sake!”

“Yes, I realize that now! I didn’t then. I thought Morgard held us all, and I saw he wouldn’t release me. With the beast prowling around… if you left… You’ve got to understand!”

I don’t know how I kept back from strangling him.

“And didn’t I say I would
not
betray you? Have I not been true to my word all this time?”

He looked miserable, shrinking under my glare.

“Yes, but… You must understand!”

I turned on my heels and marched out.

“Where are you going?”

“To find the beast and tell him that I’m done and he’s welcome to have you!”

“Arkus, no!! You promised!!”

The sheer horror in his shriek told me he fully believed it. It was a harsh joke; perhaps he deserved it, but, having been in his shoes, I knew better.

I stopped, half-turning, not looking at him.

“Just kidding, relax. I’m off to think of another plan.”

***

Without the berries, there was no sneaking away. We’d have to duplicate what Cassandra and I had in our pockets, and at the rate the mirror was working, it would take a long time before we had a sufficient supply. The earlier we started, the better, so I sent Cassandra to the prince right away. I didn’t trust myself around the idiot, so I didn’t go in, distracting the guards while she was in his room and watching out for Morgard.

Cassandra returned with just slightly more berries, not even double the little amount we had.

“This is all that went through today,” she said. “I think the mirror knows these berries have special powers and treats them as valuable items. Like gold.”

“So it only reproduces, what? One of each?”

“Yes, except for the whites. The white one duplicated twice. Kellemar tried to do them all together, the mirror wouldn’t let him. So he had to pull out one purple, one red, one pink, one white, separately.”

“And we need three times more of the white ones.”

“Yes. But the mirror doesn’t care, it allows only two.”

“That’s not good. It will take days to get enough whites for all three of us, and I don’t know how long Morgard will let me stay here.”

I was strolling in the yard, mulling it over, when I was summoned to Morgard. He sent a servant this time instead of finding me himself, as he usually did, making it somewhat official.

Well, let’s see what he has to say.

The chieftain received me in the main hall, he must have considered it impressive.

“Thank you for coming so quickly, Arkus. Have a seat. We have a bit of business to discuss.”

I followed the invitation.

“Tomorrow the week we have agreed on ends,” Morgard began. “Having seen how valuable Prince Kellemar is to me, I am sure you will understand my reluctance to release him.”

Here goes.

“I certainly do,” I nodded. “However, you gave me your word. And you know where the League stands on that.”

“Precisely. That’s why I had contacted the League and filed a conflict of interest report.”

He looked very pleased. I didn’t like that.

“And?”

“I’ve just received their reply. I am sorry, Arkus, but they want you to back off.”

“Can I see it?”

“Of course.”

He handed me a parchment.

The Villains League has looked into the matter of conflict of interest between Lord Arkus of
Blackriver
Castle
and Morgard, Chieftain of Pergalacks. It is the League’s opinion that Lord Arkus is in violation of its policies. Lord Arkus is therefore required, under the penalty of being expelled from the Villains League, to relinquish his claim on Prince Kellemar of Dalvanna and leave Morgard’s castle upon request.

Lovely. And I thought things couldn’t get worse.

“Well.” I rolled the parchment and gave it back to him. “There’s not much I can say about it. I wonder what they consider a violation, but I guess I’ll have to contact them myself to find out.”

“The messenger is still here, waiting to have a word with you. He will probably explain.”

“When do you want me to leave?”

“I will not rush you. You were working on a scheme, now that it fell apart you’d need to rethink your further steps. I understand completely. Let’s say, tomorrow, just as you had planned.”

He wouldn’t rush me to leave
sooner
, but he definitely wanted me out of here.

“Thanks, Morgard. Where is the messenger?”

The chieftain rose. “I’ll send him in. He has asked to speak with you in private.”

I stood up as well, preferring to face the League’s representative on my feet. Morgard walked out.

This was a hard blow. I couldn’t begin to think how to deal with it, but one thing was clear. If I left, it would be only a matter of time before the beast broke into the castle and got Kellemar. So much for the Second Deed.

The messenger entered. I did not recognize him at first, so I wondered why he was grinning. A disinterested courier wasn’t supposed to do that. Then I noticed that the lean features looked familiar.

“Ragnar.” I had never seen him in a human form before. “So this is your doing. Well, that explains things. I wouldn’t be surprised if the League’s notice is fake.”

He shook his head. “It is not. I am sure you have examined the seal and signatures. And really, once again I can’t take all the credit. All I did was inform the League exactly
what
scheme you were working. When they learned you were actually trying to do a
heroic deed
, the rest easily fell into place.”

“And you volunteered your services as a courier.”

“Couldn’t resist.”

“Hoping to compensate for your failed bluff at the island?”

“I think I have, wouldn’t you say? You’ve lost.”

“So you said the last time.”

He gave me a condescending smile. “Your optimism is most amazing. Care to tell me how you plan to work around this one? You’re not thinking to defy the League, are you?”

“Whatever I’m thinking or planning is none of your business. Now, is there anything of substance you have to say to me? Besides gloating?”

“Uh, no, actually. I just wanted—”

“Then get lost.”

Ragnar’s eyes narrowed, but he knew better than to keep testing my patience.

“I will inform the League that their notice has been received and read.”

He turned around and left the hall.

I went to my room. Cassandra was in hers, with the door ajar. I knocked, entered, and told her the news. She looked at me in silence for a few moments, taking it in.

“What are we going to do?” she asked at last.

“No idea.”

She thought some more. “I remember you said the League is not to be trifled with. What happens if you disobey?”

“I’ll lose my membership, that’s for sure; it was stated in the letter clearly enough. There was no mention of other sanctions, but that doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be any.”

She kept looking at me. I saw a question in her eyes, but she wouldn’t put it into words.

“I think I know what you want to ask. Will I do it? Am I prepared to part with the League? Am I afraid of them?”

“I know the answer to the last one. You are not afraid.”

I forced a smile. “Well, thanks for that. As to the rest… I’d do it, for Jarvi’s sake. And to show them I won’t be ordered around, too. But the question is, how? We don’t have enough berries, and now there’s no time to make more. Kellemar will only be able to try again in twenty four hours, right?”

“At least.”

“Morgard will not let me stay that long. So we’ll get no more berries, and what we have is not nearly enough. The escape is too risky.”

“Let’s see what we’ve got.”

Cassandra took out the little pouch and poured the berries out on the table. We counted them. Five purples, seven reds, ten pinks, and thirteen whites.

I shook my head. “Five purples, that’s not even twenty minutes of invisibility for each of us. Someone will have to have only ten.”

“I can be the one,” she volunteered.

“No. I have the sparkling’s sword, I can handle more danger. I’ll do it.” I looked at the berries again. “Seven reds—twenty minutes of flying for each. Combined with invisibility, that could get us out of the castle, but then the white ones will be nearly gone. And if they have that smoke on…”

“We’ll be back in no time with our memories wiped.”

“Exactly. Unless we find out what the other remedy is. The one Morgard’s patrollers use.”

Cassandra’s face brightened. “Hey, I think I know! I’ve seen them prepare to go out, they all have this little box, like a snuffbox, that they fill up with salt. I wondered why they would carry salt with them.”

“Regular salt?”

She thought about it. “Now that you’ve asked, I’m not sure. It’s in the large barrel that stands in the kitchen. It looks like regular salt, and tastes like it, but who knows.”

“Tastes like it?” I couldn’t help grinning. “Did Archie’s curiosity take him so far as to actually try some?”

She grinned in return. “Of course it did. I saw them put some in their mouth, so I knew it was safe.”

“We’ll need to make sure we get some out of that barrel. Well, this is a big relief. At least we know we’ll get past the smoke.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“How dangerous is it? Is the barrel guarded or watched?”

“No, it doesn’t look like it. No one was around when I’d tasted the salt.”

“Thanks, Archie.”

Despite having one problem solved, I still wasn’t comfortable with our insufficient resources. Experience had taught me that things rarely worked out exactly as planned, and if you took just enough supplies, you would most likely run out. And here we didn’t have “just enough,” we were lacking, severely. If one little thing went wrong…

Cassandra noticed my unease.

“Is something else bothering you?”

I sighed. “I don’t know. After everything you and I have been through together, this escape does not seem the hardest, and yet… I have a bad feeling. I wish we could reduce the risk.”