My Royal Pain Quest (The Lakeland Knight series, #2) (17 page)

I sat down on a flat mossy rock. After all the trouble Morgard had gone through to lure Kellemar in and keep him, he’d just discarded his gold-bearing goose as if there was nothing to it. True, he had learned that the goose came in a package with a dangerous monster, and learned it the hard way. Still, the stakes were too high and the prize too great. I could see Morgard try to barricade Kellemar inside, pull in all his forces to guard him or even hold me captive in order to keep the prince safe. But giving up on the whole idea and throwing the prince out? No. That was unexplainable.

Kellemar’s nervous pacing was distracting and getting on my nerves.

“What are you all jumpy about?”

“The beast is out here,” he answered.

“Big deal, he can’t touch you. Sit down.”

“He can’t touch
you
,” the prince pointed out. He did, however, comply, lowering himself onto the ground.

“Well, I’m not going anywhere, am I?” I grumbled. I knew what he meant though. The fear the monster instilled was beyond rationality. All safety seemed relative, and just knowing he was nearby would mess you up, no matter how well you knew he wouldn’t attack at this particular moment.

“For what it’s worth, Arkus…” Kellemar paused, hesitant. “I can’t imagine how you’d lived with that creature after you for years.”

I gave him a narrow look. We had to be thinking of the same thing now—the fateful day he had tried to achieve his hero dream by setting me up to be trapped by the beast.

“Is this an apology?”

“It is… If you’ll take it.”

This was quite a bit out of character.

“Did you breathe some of that smoke again, by any chance?”

He gave a weak smirk. “No.”

An arrow whooshed through the air and hit the ground near us—a hint from Morgard that he didn’t want us here.

“All right, Morgard, we get the message.” I rose. “Let’s go find some spot where he can’t see us.”

We walked away, heading back to the valley. The prince followed me in silence, staying close and asking no immaterial questions like what we were going to do. For now, all I knew was that we weren’t leaving. I had grabbed some “salt” from the barrel that morning, so we did not have to worry about the smoke. Morgard’s patrols would be easy enough to avoid if we kept an eye out for them; besides, after the beast’s impressive performance today, something told me they wouldn’t be so eager to roam about any time soon.

I stopped in my tracks as the only logical explanation dawned on me. Morgard had thrown out his gold-bearing goose because he now had another one.

“What?” Kellemar asked, instantly alarmed.

“Nothing.”

I resumed walking, barely seeing or hearing anything around me as pieces of the puzzle were falling neatly in place. Cassandra did not go in there to have Kellemar bring out more berries—she planned to use the mirror herself. She knew she could do it. Kellemar’s limit was reached for that day; she probably didn’t even bother waking him. Morgard walked in and saw her using the mirror. That’s why he seized her and kept her.

 
“If only her father knew.”
— Triar’s voice.

“You know her father?”

“I do. But she’ll bite my head off if I say anything about it.”

Who was she? A princess? Of what land? What was she doing traveling all alone, dressed as a highwaywoman? And, most importantly, why would she want to stick around helping a villain lord in a ridiculous quest, being treated like a commoner?

I halted again as the name hit me.
Litinia.

“Arkus, is something wrong?” Kellemar’s worried eyes searched my face. “You’re walking in a strange pattern.”

I bet he’d be walking in a stranger pattern if he knew. Princess Litinia of Ulkaria. Osmund’s daughter. Prince Philip’s sister. And Kellemar’s former bride. No wonder she worried he’d recognize her.

It seemed impossible; the manner, the looks, the proficiency with the sword—everything was so genuine, and so different from the princess. And yet, now that I’d put the two faces together in my mind, I knew it was her. Princess Litinia’s face was a bit blurry in my memory, I’d never gotten to know her that well—which had to be exactly what she counted on. That and the perfect disguise. Her transformation into Archie only proved yet again how good she was at acting.

Arkus, you’re one blind fool
, the whole world seemed to say. The mountains, the river, the mist. And they were quite right.

“Just remembered something,” I told Kellemar who kept staring at me. “Never mind. Let’s go in there,” I pointed, noticing a small cave.

It was relatively dry inside. We sat in silence for a while. The prince must have sensed I was not in the mood to talk and left me alone.

“Arkus, if I may ask…” he began some time later. His manners definitely improved. I supposed the proximity of the beast might have something to do with it.

“Go ahead.”

“You are still friends with sparklings, are you not?”

“In a way.”

“Can’t you summon them to help Archibald?”

“No. They can’t be ordered around.”

“I was under the impression that the one who was with you in Ulkaria did your bidding.”

“The one who was with me in Ulkaria is… no longer able to do much.”

Because of you, Kellemar.

He knew it, too. The prince looked away and said nothing.

“Trust me, if there was a way to call on a sparkling, I wouldn’t be sitting here now doing nothing.”

There was something about what he’d just said though that got me thinking in a new direction. Summoning a sparkling was not possible, but how about…

“What river is this? Do you know?” I asked.

“Ferriman. Why?”

Ferriman flowed to the Scorpian sea. It would be a long shot, but worth a try.

“Come with me to the shore.”

Once again, the prince followed without a word. He was becoming quite good at not getting on my nerves. We passed through the reeds and reached the murky water. I took off the tartina bracelet.

“Swim fast,” I said, throwing it into the river.

The golden fish came alive and hurried back to its master. I gave a sigh of relief. At least it worked; I was a little worried that the fish only swam in sea water.

“What was it that you just did?” Kellemar asked, looking at me as if I was some sort of a wizard.

“Called on a friend for help. It won’t be instant; he is far away.”

***

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I had no idea how long it would take the tartina to reach the Scorpian sea and find Lord Leomaris there, whether he would be able to send the promised help outside of the sea limits, what sort of help it would be, or when it would arrive. At any rate, I figured it would be at least several days—plenty of time to escort Kellemar back to his white tower and return. The prince, however, surprised me yet again when I suggested it.

“Do you think I could be of any assistance in rescuing Archibald?” he asked.

“Well, I could certainly use another practiced sword,” I replied, eyeing him with a degree of suspicion. “But there is one problem: we might get separated in battle. And the beast will be watching.”

Kellemar looked away. I had considered his unexpected offer of help withdrawn when he suddenly said, “I’ll take the risk.”

I couldn’t believe it.

“Are you serious?”

He nodded.

“Well.” I did not know what to say. “Let’s get to work, then. We’d better make our shelter a bit more comfortable and find us something to eat.”

We had nothing to hunt or start a fire with, so it would have to be whatever edible plants or fruit we came across. The valley didn’t offer much. After hours of searching, we only found one scrawny wild apple tree with four small green apples.

“Looks like we’ll have to go on a diet, Your Highness,” I commented.

We cut some reeds and cattails for bedding and spent the night in the cave, shivering—this was no tropical island. In the morning we went in search for breakfast, ending up with just a handful of blackberries.

“I heard young cattail stems are edible,” I said. “Are you up to try?”

Kellemar looked doubtful, but agreed. We went to the river. I picked a small cattail, pared off the green outer layer, revealing the white inside, and took a cautious bite. It was crunchy and sweet. Not bad at all, especially after a whole day without food. The prince followed my example and seemed to like it as well. He was reaching for his second plant when the water stirred before us and Orman’s head popped up.

“Yikes!!” Kellemar jumped back, nearly falling in the water.

“Greetings.” The merman smiled. “I apologize if my appearance was startling.”

I hoped he didn’t see me chewing on the cattail.

“Orman! How did you get here so fast?”

“You were lucky, Lord Leomaris happened to be near the river mouth when the tartina arrived.” He spat. “The river water is yuck, by the way. So what’s the problem? How can we be of help?”

I did not know exactly what mermen warriors could do on land or how many of them Lord Leomaris would give me, but I hoped they would know how to breach the castle from the river.

“Archibald has been captured,” I said, “he is being held in that castle. I only have two swords, and the place is well protected—except for the northern side. They use the river as natural defense, as you see. I thought you guys might have some ideas.”

Orman turned in the direction I pointed. Morgard’s castle was clearly visible from here. I watched the merman’s face as he gave the structure an evaluating look.

“Well.” He turned back to me, grinning. “I believe I’ve brought just the right tool.”

He lifted his right hand and made two quick splashing movements. A few seconds later Merwyn’s head surfaced next to him, making Kellemar gasp.

“Merwyn!” I was ready to kiss the ugly thing right in the nose.
Now
we could get some serious work done.

“Welcome aboard,” Orman said as the serpent’s back surfaced, tail curling to the shore so that we could walk on it.

“Are we going to… ride this?” Kellemar asked.

“My apologies, I forgot to make proper introductions,” I said. “His Highness Prince Kellemar of Dalvanna. Orman, a personal attendant of Lord Leomaris of the Scorpian sea. And Merwyn, the finest sea serpent I’ve ever had the honor of meeting. To answer Your Highness’s question, yes, we will ride him. Please follow me.”

I stepped on the serpent’s tail.

“Is he safe?” Kellemar asked, still unconvinced.

Safer than the other beast,
I wanted to say, but I held my tongue.

“As any weapon of war, Merwyn is dangerous yet safe in trained hands,” Orman answered. “Do not worry, I am a licensed serpenteer.”

I proceeded to “board,” Kellemar had no other choice but to follow. There were no chairs this time, we had to sit on the wet scaly neck with our legs in the water. I didn’t mind. Making Morgard remember this day for the rest of his life was well worth getting soaked.

I saw Orman whisper something to the serpent, pointing at the castle.

“Ready?” he asked us. “Hold on tight!”

The merman jumped onto the serpent’s neck as well, and Merwyn took off like an arrow. We reached the castle in no time. Making a sharp turn at the wall, the serpent lashed at it with his powerful tail. Stone and woodwork came crushing down, but we were already out of the way; Merwyn swirled back in the river, getting ready for another attack. The river was wide enough to allow him all the maneuvering he wanted, and he used it well, amazing me with his speed and efficiency. Another smashing blow of the tail, more falling debris; this one left a gaping hole wide enough to lead an army through. Morgard’s stunned men were running around, pointing and shouting. It did not look like they had any plan of defense in mind.

“Go in after this round!” Orman said. “We’ll distract them from here.”

“Watch out for archers,” I told him, noticing a group of them taking positions on top of what remained of the northern wall. Merwyn probably wouldn’t care, protected with thick scales, but the rest of us were excellent targets.

Orman brought the archers to the serpent’s attention. Merwyn dashed to the right and made a big splash, spoiling their aim, then placed his next hit right under the spot they were standing on. The rest of the wall collapsed, taking the archers with it into the river. They began scrambling out in panic, clearly disliking the prospect of swimming with Merwyn.

The serpent slowed down a little, bringing us to the pile of debris.

“Go!” Orman shouted.

Kellemar and I jumped off and climbed into the castle, snatching our swords. I held both blades ready. Taking a moment to figure out where we were and where Cassandra (I continued to call her so) was locked, I headed that way, the prince following close. We did not encounter much resistance at first, everyone and everything was thrown into a chaos by the serpent’s attack; but as we advanced farther inside, Morgard’s men began popping up, making disorganized attempts to defend the place.

We had to act fast. It wouldn’t take long for them to gather their wits and realize that there were only two of us, and the serpent, formidable as he was, could not make his way inside.

I fought off two large brutes, Kellemar handled two more. He was a good swordsman, I had to give him that, although his skill appeared a little rusty. That’s what happens when you rely on bodyguards a bit too much.

“Careful,” I told him, pausing to catch my breath. “You just had your left side unprotected, good thing the fellow was too slow to take advantage of it.”

The prince looked embarrassed; he knew I was right.

We proceeded to fight our way in. I wondered where Morgard was; I had no glimpse of him so far, and I didn’t like it. I reached the stairs. The lower floor seemed abandoned. My heart dropped as I saw Cassandra’s chipped door opened wide. Where did he move her?!

I rushed inside and halted at the sight of Morgard sprawled on the floor, hands tied behind his back; his sword laid a couple of steps away. He was conscious… or at least partly so. Judging by a large bump on his head, he was hit pretty hard. The mirror stood on a small table in the corner, with a few valuable items piled before it, confirming everything. Morgard had Cassandra do Kellemar’s job now, duplicating things for him.

“Where is my servant?” I demanded, grabbing the chieftain by the shoulder.

“Whoever he is, he’s no servant of yours, you liar,” Morgard replied.

“I’m here,” said Cassandra’s voice, startling us all. She was invisible; she must have been able to keep a few berries—and probably make a few more. How unlucky for Morgard.

“Give me your hand, let’s get out of here.”

Cassandra’s invisible hand took mine.

“You will answer for this to the League, Arkus,” Morgard growled, sitting up.

“And so will you.”

“Don’t you dare take the mirror!”

I had no such intention, but the prince was obviously tempted.

“Leave it,” I told him. “We won’t be able to fight our way out with it.”

“Perhaps if we break it again into shards?” he suggested.

“There’s no time for that, let’s—”

“Don’t you dare!!” Morgard leapt to his feet. His hands were somehow untied.

He grabbed the sword and struck. Kellemar was holding his blade rather awkwardly, his attention focused on the mirror he was trying to lift. Unable to parry, he held the mirror out as a shield. Morgard’s blade shattered it, slowing only a little; it proceeded on its deadly course and cut across the prince’s side. I knocked Morgard out in the next second, but the damage was already done. Kellemar staggered, bleeding profusely.

Why, oh why did he have to be such a fool?!

I rushed to him. “How bad is it? Can you walk?”

“I—I don’t think it’s deep,” he answered, wincing in pain.

He could walk, yes, but he was in no fighting condition.

Cassandra showed up standing next to me, her invisibility gone.

“Here, use these.” She was handing me two flying berries and two white ones to activate them.

“What about yourself?”

“That’s all I have.” She took the sword from Morgard’s hand. “You fly, I’ll cover your backs.”

“No. We will both fly and carry the prince. We only need to make it to the river, I’ve got Merwyn and Orman waiting there.”

Cassandra didn’t argue. The mention of Merwyn brought a grin to her face.

“So that’s what they meant by ‘dragon attack.’ That makes things a little easier.”

We made it on foot as far as we could, which was up the stairs. As we headed towards the broken northern wall, Pergalacks swarmed all over us. I swung both of my blades, hitting, parrying, and hitting again all over the place. Cassandra fought hard as well, whirling her sword with blinding speed. Kellemar still held his blade; he attempted a few strikes, too, but only one of them was successful. Having earned ourselves a few seconds to pop in the berries, we grabbed Kellemar and flew up, much to the astonishment of both Pergalacks and the prince.

As we flew over our attackers’ heads, I looked through the gaping hole and saw Merwyn still circling outside, splashing, diving and surfacing. He did a great job, looking very threatening and keeping most of the attention on himself. There was still a good distance separating us from him, but ten minutes would be enough to cover it.

I did not see the archer hiding in the ruins. Neither did Cassandra. We were rather annoyed at Kellemar when he suddenly lurched to the left, nearly making us drop him; then we heard the arrow whoosh through the air, barely missing us. The archer was quick to fit another arrow. The prince lurched again, this time hurling his sword. I saw the man drop his bow and collapse.

“Hey, good throw,” I said.

Kellemar didn’t respond, biting his lip in pain. The exertion must have made it worse.

We flew out of the castle. Merwyn saw us and headed our way. He was nearly all underwater, but he surfaced when we were right above him, Orman still clinging onto his neck. We landed on the serpent’s wide back, trying to handle Kellemar as carefully as we could. Once again making a sharp turn, Merwyn sped away.

“Up the stream?” Orman asked.

“Yes. There will be a white tower, take us to it. Please hurry, the prince is wounded.”

Kellemar was growing weak from the loss of blood, but he was still conscious.

“Yes, just take me there,” he said. “My men might not be the best or most loyal bodyguards, but they know how to treat a wound.”

I checked his side. He got lucky, the gash was not deep.

“The wound isn’t bad,” I told him. “Hang on. Merwyn’s fast, we’ll be there in no time.”

“Serves me right for trying to take that stupid mirror.”

Cassandra gave me a surprised look. Yeah, she was not yet aware of the disturbing transformation Kellemar had been obviously having. Offering me an apology, then offering help.

Her former fiancé.

I chased the thought away.

“I can certainly understand the temptation,” I said, “but I have to agree, it wasn’t the wisest choice.”

The prince smirked. “Thanks for putting it so nicely. Here I was, trying to be of help… only to mess things up yet again.”

He still had some of that smoke left in his head. Definitely.