Questing Sucks! Book II (5 page)

The Archmage pushed his men aside and stepped up to him so that the two stood dangerously close to one another. He was far taller than Kellar was—he was taller than most men were. His eyes radiated fury down at Shina’s savior.

“Do you have any idea of what you have just done, child?”

“Do you have any idea of how little I care?”

Shina’s heart pounded in her chest. What was Kellar doing? He was going to get himself killed. Already, she could overhear the whispers as nearby mages chanted binding spells intent on holding Kellar in place. Not only would he be arrested, but because he’d assaulted an Archmage, he could even lose his life.

No
!
Shina thought.
I can’t let that happen
.

She placed her right hand over her left, intent on removing the rubber gloves, which nullified her power. Kellar shot her a look of warning then shook his head. “Don’t, Shina.”

“But Kellar!”

“I said, don’t.”

The Archmage scowled with such hatred that he looked to be on the verge of foaming at the mouth. “Take this boy to the dungeons. I’ll deal with him later. He is to be placed in front of the ruling council and tried for treason. And as for the rest of you—one way or the other, I will have my answers. You are all to be taken to the disciplinary chambers for interrogation, then you will join this boy in the dungeons. In fact, you will
all
be tried for treason. May the Gods cast one last favor upon you, because I certainly
won’t.
”

“Why the fuck did it bite me?” Sehn cried, grabbing his thumb with his other hand and blowing on it. “How dare it betray me? It shall die at once!”

Sehn couldn’t believe this was happening to him. He hopped around on the sand while he blew on his finger. And
no
.
Not
because he was in pain or anything, but because he was training Nero on how to be a world-class actor, and he was trying to teach the boy how normal, non-Godly people reacted when an animal took a bite out of their thumb.

“This is your own fault,” Cah’lia insisted, reaching into her bag and pulling out a bandage. She pointed to the Champion, where Rina rode on his shoulders as they toured Hahl’s zoo. “Ever since you got your first ‘minion’, you’ve been trying to claim everything else as your servant. Tell me, Sehn, did you really expect a snapping turtle to obey your commands?”

“Of course I did! Everything obeys the Great Sehn. Even flowers.”

“I know a swing-plant that’d disagree,” Patrick mumbled under his breath. But Sehn heard him. Oh, he’d heard him all right. Oh well, sucked to be him, since Sehn had just decided to add another eight Sehn-tillion years onto his eternal sentence. But first, he wanted to get another look at the foolish creature that had bitten its master.

He frowned at it. It almost seemed to grin at Sehn as it roamed around its large pen. What a disgusting creature, this…this “snapping” turtle.

Sehn didn’t want to be in this smelly zoo in the first place, but Rina and Nero had begged him and Cah’lia to bring them. Patrick insisted it would be a good idea after all the nastiness of the previous few days, and Sehn had reluctantly agreed. Hahl was one of the few cities where animals from around the world were collected and put on display. Much like the two children, it was also Sehn’s first time in one of these “zoo” places. It was also unimpressive.

“I wanna see the monkeys next,” Nero said. “Umm, Patrick, you said there were monkeys here, right? I hope you weren’t teasing me. We don’t have those in Elvar, and I’ve always wanted to see one.”

Patrick laughed. “We have them, don’t worry. First, you need to see some of our rare Rezza-spiders in action. We’re just entering the season when they begin to spin their coveted silk, a major export for Hahl and the Kingdom.”

At Patrick’s words, Sehn jumped in front of Nero and covered his ears before the idiot Prince could speak any more. “Don’t listen, Nero!”

“W-Why?” Nero asked. “What’s wrong?”

Sehn, with his hands still secured over Nero’s ears, gave Patrick a deadly glare. “You will pay for this, Patrick.”

“Pay for what?” Cah’lia asked. “What are you on about this time?”

“What do you think?” Sehn snapped. “Patrick is telling Nero things that are…educational! He’s actually fucking educating your little brother. How can you stand for this? I should draw my sword and pierce his heart!”

Cah’lia rubbed her eyes, groaning somewhat. “Huh? So?”

“So?” Sehn whispered. “So!” He removed his hands from Nero’s ears and scowled at Patrick. “You have some nerve trying to make my disciple learn things. Nero, I command you to forget all animal facts at once!”

“But Sehn, I can’t just—”

“I said at once! There will be a fine for each thing you have learned.”

“Okay, I’ll try,” Nero said. “But please don’t get mad at me if I remember something.”

Sehn turned away from Nero. His mood was now spoiled, thanks to Patrick’s terrible behavior. The nerve of some people.

Patrick led Sehn’s party—not Cah’lia’s—through an area with fake trees. The Champion put Rina down, and together she and Nero hopped around, ran in circles, and spoke loudly to one another while they pointed at the large, furry spiders that spun the shiny silk worth so much back at home. Wolly had chosen to stay in his quarters and eat rather than accompany Patrick, and Rillith was busy attending to the captured soldiers, which left Sehn, Cah’lia, Patrick, the Champion, and the two children to roam the smelly zoo. Them, and one other.

“Enjoy the day, because we will be very busy tomorrow,” Saerina said. Even in the zoo, she still felt the need to wear her ridiculously expensive outfits. It looked to Sehn like she’d bathed in diamonds with all the jewelry decorating her slim body. Her brother had departed earlier in the day, and he hadn’t said where he was going, only that soon she would catch up with him.

Saerina showed no emotion. Her eyes were blank—empty. It seemed the only person capable of getting a rise out of the princess was Alan Marshall, who was still overseeing some business or another with Rillith and the prisoners. Afterwards, they too, according to Saerina, would catch up with her brother, Saerith. Sehn didn’t know what they were up to, but he didn’t care, either.

“That boy, Kellar,” Saerina said. “Do you remember him, Sehn?”

Patrick smiled at Rina while she pointed at the large spiders, and then he held up a finger and said he’d be right back. He approached Saerina and listened in. Sehn searched his mind for any memory of a boy named Kellar. When he came up blank, he said, “I don’t know him. Why? Who is this boy? Does he challenge the Great Sehn? Because if so, I shall destroy him.”

“It’s nothing like that,” Saerina said. She waited for Nero and Rina to move on to the next exhibit before continuing. “He was the one fighting with the Champion before you showed up.”

Sehn barked out a laugh. “Hah! I do remember him. I wonder if he’s killed himself out of shame. I know I would if I had failed to defeat a foe and was forced to resort to letting the Great Sehn save me.”

It was true that the boy had been defeated, but Sehn had to admit he’d put up a pretty good fight. At least that was how it’d appeared. Either way, Sehn had stormed onto the battlefield and demolished everything in his path. That was all that mattered.

Saerina nodded. “It looks like you may need to save this boy yet again.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve received a report from a land far above. If my calculations are correct, he will be imprisoned shortly, and from what Patrick has told me, we’re going to need him very soon.”

“First of all,” Sehn began, “your calculations are most certainly incorrect, because you are a woman and thus incapable of calculating things. Secondly, I’ve no time to be playing the role of hero and saving people. The Great Sehn does not ‘save.’ Such an act is meaningless.”

The quick but powerful bout of emotion that lit up in Saerina’s eyes was the same as if Commander Alan Marshall had been present. Her face tightened. “What was that about me being a woman?” she whispered.

“Yes,” Cah’lia said, her gaze turning cold as well. “Care to repeat that one more time? I think I misheard you.”

A shiver rolled down Sehn’s back. He took a step away, and at the same time, the two women took one towards him. Cah’lia rolled up her sleeve, and Saerina began chanting something under her breath.

“I said…ah, I said, ‘Your calculations are incorrect, because you…you forgot to carry the one.’”

Cah’lia grinned. “That’s what I thought.” Sehn wasn’t sure if he was mishearing, but he thought he heard a grunt resembling laughter from the Champion.

Foolish women
,
Sehn thought.
I’ll have Nero add their names to the list along with Patrick’s
.
The Champion’s
,
too
!
Everyone’s going on my list
.
They’ll all pay
.

Sehn crossed his arms. “Why should I save this boy, anyway?”

“Because if you don’t,” Patrick said, “you cannot force him to thank you for the first time you saved him. That, and you won’t be able to collect on
your
…” He paused for a moment. “Nero,” he called, “does Sehn charge for saving people’s lives?”

Nero, who was busy observing a snake from the other end of the world, answered immediately and without looking at Patrick. “Yah!” he called back. “I have the paperwork back at the, umm, the room you gave me.”

“So there you have it,” Patrick continued. “Unless you save the boy once again, you won’t be able to get paid for the first time you saved him.”

Sehn rubbed his chin while he thought over Patrick’s words. The Prince spoke the truth. Sehn had no idea who this boy was or why he needed saving, but the boy definitely owed Sehn some money. Also, it would be an opportunity for Sehn to look like a hero. That would make Cah’lia want to kiss him aga—whoa, what the hell was he thinking about? Where’d
that
come from?

Sehn retreated from that line of thought in a hurry, choosing to stick to the topic and not deviate. Seriously, he didn’t want that popping up in his head again.

“Where is the boy?” he asked. “And who has captured him?”

Patrick attempted to explain but instead stumbled over his own words, so Saerina answered in his stead.

“More than likely he’s been taken by his Order, locked away in the sky-city of Magia.”

“So let me get this straight,” Sehn said. “You want me to go into some Gods-cursed flying city, rescue some brat, and all so I can rob him of whatever coins he happens to have on him at the time?”

“Essentially,” Patrick agreed. “Then you need to
immediately
proceed onwards to the capital and retrieve the Item, which was our original goal. At first, I was against the idea of you deviating from this course, but after thinking it over, I believe if you rescue the boy, you’ll have an easier time with all that comes next.”

Sehn shrugged. “Fine, but I demand to be named king after we take over the city and overthrow whoever’s in charge.”

“That’s preposterous!” Patrick shouted. “First of all, we’re not bringing any soldiers with us to even—”

Saerina covered Patrick’s mouth and his words turned to mumbles. “That is fine with us,”
she
said. “Now, I must prepare for our departure. There is much to do before first light tomorrow. Namely, we’ll be working on a method of traveling without the use of gryphons, of which we have none.”

“But wait,” Cah’lia said. “What about the children? We can’t bring them with us.”

Sehn’s eyes widened. He’d forgotten all about them. He obviously couldn’t bring them wherever it was Saerina and Patrick wanted him to go. They’d only slow him down and bask in his heroic glory. Sehn snapped his fingers, and the Champion turned.

“Yes, Master?”

“I’m going on a trip. Watch after Rina and Nero for me. If anyone bothers them, put them through a wall.”

“I will do as you have commanded,” the Champion whispered.

With the matter settled, Sehn rejoined Nero as he pointed to various animals neither of them had ever seen. In the pit of his stomach, a pinch told him that it might not be wise to leave Nero unattended. He wasn’t sure why, though, so he ignored it.