My Royal Pain Quest (The Lakeland Knight series, #2) (10 page)

Some time later we figured that one of us could get down and splash some water on their face while the other stayed up high and watched the surroundings. We began taking turns doing that; it seemed to help. It brought some diversion and something to look forward to.

It was Cassandra’s turn when I saw a large shape rise from the deep, not very far from her. Then another one.

“Go up!” I yelled. “There it comes again! Two of them!”

She did her best to retreat from the water as quickly as possible, clenching her teeth with the effort. Together, we watched the two silhouettes continue to swim up, becoming clearer as they neared the surface. We stared in disbelief. These were not sharks, nor any other kind of fish. Fish didn’t have arms.

In a few moments a head emerged from the water—a man’s head, with a few streaks of gray in his dark hair and beard. The strong-featured face could have been described as regal if it wasn’t for the expression of open-mouthed astonishment.

Another head popped up, also a man’s, much younger. He eyed us with a rather smug smile on his face.

The first one just gaped at us. We gaped back.

“I have seen many wonders,” he spoke at last, “but you surpass them all.”

“I believe you,” I answered, considering what a sight we must have been. “And I can say the same about you.”

“Um, berry time,” Reggie said from my back. He chose not to shriek this time.

The water man’s eyes flicked to him. “And the talking wooden toy is real as well.”

He watched our every move, fascinated, as Cassandra and I reached into our pouches, fished out the berries, and shoved them into our mouths.

“Do I get that promotion, my lord?” the younger one asked.

“…Yes, Orman, it’s yours,” his master replied in a distracted manner, not turning to him, eyes fixed on us. “Who or what are you?” he asked.

“Two eccentric humans fond of unconventional traveling,” I replied. “And you?”

“We are the seafolk. Your legends call us mermen and mermaids. I am Lord Leomaris, and this here is Orman, one of my attendants. I thought I’d have to look for a new one today when he told me he saw two men flying over the sea, screaming worse than seagulls and trying to catch fish with a talking wooden toy.”

I gave a distracted smile, my mind scheming. So he was curious and inclined to talk; he was also a lord, which meant wealth and resources. Let’s see whether I can use it to our advantage, before we both collapse under our load. Even hovering like this, without moving ahead, was hard.

“What a pleasure to meet someone of my own station,” I said with a polite nod. “I am Lord Arkus, my manservant is called Archie. And my little friend here you have referred to as a wooden toy is Reginald. I’m sure he has taken no offence, he is a rarity even in the human world; but it would not be polite to call him so again.”

The merman took the bait. “I beg his pardon, and yours. What kind of a being is he?”

“Quite a fascinating one, I’m sure he would keep you entertained for hours with his stories. Ah, this makes me wish I was traveling by ship. I would have invited you onboard to share a glass of wine and indulge in a mutually enlightening conversation. I’ve always loved sea legends. We’d have a marvelous time. However, the way things are, I must apologize and continue my journey. We have to reach the nearest island before dark.”

The sea lord looked like a boy whose candy was about to be taken away.

“I would have offered the hospitality of my castle,” he said, “but from what I understand, humans can’t breathe under water.”

“That is unfortunately correct.”

He spent a moment thinking, then exchanged looks with his attendant.

“You said you are fond of unconventional traveling?”

“Very much so, why?”

“Well, if you don’t mind riding a sea serpent, it would be my pleasure to take you to your destination.”

A sea serpent. Right.

I glanced at Cassandra, already knowing what I was going to see. Yep, her eyes shone with excited anticipation. Reggie was no better, jumping up and down in my hood. Well, I couldn’t blame them. They did not have my history with monsters.

I looked at the merman and shrugged. “As long as our supplies don’t get wet…”

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll tell him not to dive.” Lord Leomaris turned to his servant. “Get Merwyn up here.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“And send for Lady Marielle. She would enjoy spending time in such unusual company.”

Orman hesitated. “Her ladyship might not be up to traveling yet, after yesterday’s flare-up.”

The lord’s face darkened. “True. Well, let her be the judge of that. Send word to her anyway.”

The servant bowed and disappeared under the surface.

The beast must have been waiting nearby, hiding in the deep; we saw an enormous long form come into view almost immediately, swimming up in smooth, circular motions. He was the size of a ship, if not bigger.

The sea serpent surfaced, the pointed dragonlike head next to his master, shrewd gray eyes focused on us, studying, evaluating.

“These are friends, Merwyn,” Lord Leomaris said. “Why don’t you greet them with a smile.”

He did, displaying a stockade of teeth. I noticed a playful glint in his eyes, as if he knew exactly what impression the “smile” produced.

Most of the sea serpent’s body was still under water, he seemed to be waiting for something. I noticed Orman swimming around, working on some kind of a contraption that was secured to the beast’s back. Several minutes later he stuck his head out.

“Everything is ready for surface travel, my lord.”

“Good,” his master nodded. “We’ll be up in a moment,” he said to me.

They all submerged, including the beast. When Merwyn surfaced again, Lord Leomaris was sitting in a large coralline armchair under an elegant canopy, with three more empty chairs positioned in a half-circle. He was very impressive now that we could see all of him: broad shouldered and barrel-chested, dressed in a fine dark blue outfit of some unknown shiny material with a ferocious sea creature embroidered on the chest. The color of his clothes nearly blended with that of the massive fish tail gracefully curved in front of him. Something told me staring at the tail would not be appropriate, so I tried not to.

“Welcome aboard,” he smiled, making an inviting gesture. “Isn’t that what your sailors say?”

“It is. I am amazed how much you know about human culture, Lord Leomaris.”

He smiled again, very pleased. “With all the human artifacts that come down our way, it’s hardly a big surprise. Well, and of course we do some spying, too.”

I moved closer and carefully stepped under the canopy, trying not to focus too hard on what I was stepping on. Cassandra did the same. It was such immense relief to be able to relax at last and let go of the sacks; we both nearly collapsed on the chairs. It was not lost on our host.

“You look tired,” he remarked. “Is that because the flying ability comes at such cost or because of the heavy load you carry?”

“Mostly the latter,” I admitted. “This is actually the first time I have tried crossing the sea this way. Having to shoulder all the provisions is a big disadvantage.”

Orman grabbed the sea serpent’s neck, heaved himself up and sat on it, tail dangling in the water.

“Where to?” he asked. “The
Crown
Island
? That would be the nearest one.”

“I don’t know what it’s called, but we’ve got a map. Archie?”

Cassandra pulled it out. I took the map from her and handed it to Lord Leomaris.

“Yes, the
Crown
Island
,” he confirmed after taking a look. His eyebrows drew together as he further examined the map. “I see you are traveling from this little unnamed speck over here?” He pointed his finger at the witches’ island. “Straight south from the Crown?”

My instincts told me he didn’t ask out of plain curiosity, there was something behind it, and I’d better be careful with the answer. There was no use trying to deny it though, the red line drawn by Triar clearly showed where we’d started out.

“Yes, we are,” I said in a casual tone. “A tiny spot, to be sure, but not a bad choice for a picnic.”

He looked me in the eye. “Did you… happen to see anyone there, by any chance?”

Saying ‘no’ would be the safest, but it would also close the subject, and I wanted to know what this was about. Had he encountered the witches? Was he their friend or enemy? The way he’d frowned, it didn’t seem like he held any warm feelings toward them.

“We did, in fact,” I nodded, looking slightly surprised. “Three rather disagreeable old ladies.”

The sea lord’s eyes flashed, his hand grabbed the armrest. He definitely
wasn’t
their friend.

“Merwyn, turn around!” he ordered. “Orman, send forth our men! I apologize,” he said, turning to me, “I’ll take you to your destination, but I must try to get them first.”

Orman slid off the serpent’s neck; the beast, already moving steadily north, began making a sharp turn.

Ah no, we didn’t need that at all.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Lord Leomaris, but this would be a wasted effort. They are no longer there.”

His shoulders sank.

“I knew it.” He slumped in the chair and rested his forehead on his hand. “It’s no use. Keep going to the Crown, Merwyn.”

The serpent changed direction yet again. Orman’s head popped up, a silent question in his eyes. Seeing his master’s defeated posture, he sighed and swam next to the beast, one hand touching the scaly side.

“May I ask what distresses you so, Lord Leomaris?” I ventured. “Perhaps we could be of help?”

The merman shook his head. “Those three are witches. They’d put a spell on my wife. Lured her close to the island, tempted with human food. We’ve been trying to catch them ever since, but it’s no use. They don’t live there. Once in a while I get word that they were seen on the island again, but by the time we get there, they’re gone. There’s never a ship or a boat;
that
I could have easily dealt with. But they show up and disappear in some magical way.”

Hmm. Good thing I kept my mouth shut about killing them.

I stole a glance at Cassandra. She must have thought the same thing.

“Well, whatever spell it was, it will no longer work because my friend Arkus has killed them all!” Reggie announced, jumping off my shoulder.

A talking wooden toy indeed.

The merman slowly lifted his head. “What?”

“Yes! All three of them, and they also had three huge scary beasts, so it was six against one! It was such a battle…” the Swirg caught my glare. “What’s wrong? What did I say?”

“Is this true?” Lord Leomaris demanded.

I held his flaming gaze and braced myself, preparing for the worst. All he had to do was to tell Merwyn dive.

“It is. They attacked, I fought back. I am sorry.”

“What are you sorry about?” Reggie cut in again. “You’ve
helped
him!”

I gave him another meaningful look. “Killing a witch does not necessarily destroy all her spells, Reggie.”

The little Swirg looked crestfallen. “Oh. I didn’t know.”

Lord Leomaris appeared to be thinking, his face hard.

“If they’re dead, at least they can no longer torment her,” he muttered. “As for the rest…”

“Lady Marielle!” Orman announced, surfacing.

The merman’s eyes flicked to me. “Don’t say a word to her. She doesn’t need to know that there’s no one to remove the spell now.”

***

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The serpent slowed to a stop. Four dolphins emerged, pulling a carriage made of sea shells and corals. The front of the carriage was open. I rose to greet the mermaid inside.

Good thing I was holding onto the back of the chair. Otherwise it was quite possible I would have lost my footing as I saw… Rosmarina. That is, Rosmarina in her beautiful form, before Cassandra had forced her to drop the rose. And with a mermaid’s tail.

As I stared, forgetting all propriety, I observed that this Rosmarina was paler, thinner, with slightly sunken cheeks and noticeable shadows under the otherwise stunning emerald eyes. She looked like she was recovering from a long illness, or perhaps just beginning to recover.

Lord Leomaris stood up (an ability I didn’t expect), reached over and helped the lady onto the serpent’s back, easily lifting her from the carriage. She noticed my stare and noticed that I missed the introductions her husband had given. Her expression changed from embarrassed to puzzled to suddenly hopeful.

“You are looking at me as if you’ve recognized me, Lord Arkus,” she said. “Pray tell me, have you seen my likeness walk among humans? Perhaps yesterday? Around
noon
?”

I nodded, even more amazed. “Indeed I have.”

She shot at excited glance at Lord Leomaris. “He’s seen her!! What incredible luck! Where?” she proceeded, turning back to me. “How did it happen? Please tell me everything about it, you have no idea how important it is!”

The merman’s stare urged me to keep quiet.

“That’s exactly right, my dear, our guest has no idea,” he said, placing a gentle hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Our questions will sound very strange to him. Perhaps we should tell him what happened first.”

“Yes, of course,” she agreed. “I am sorry for my impatience, but when you hear my tale, you will easily understand it.”

We all sat down. Reggie, who had wisely retreated back into my hood, stayed there. Orman and another merman servant showed up with platters of tropical fruit. Having quickly and expertly cut it into bite size pieces, they passed the platters on to us. With that done, Orman hopped on his spot on the serpent’s neck again and nudged Merwyn to move.

“I was taking a surface ride on a dolphin,” Lady Marielle began, “all by myself, around what we had always considered one of the safest areas. I smelled this sweet aroma coming from a small island. I couldn’t resist. When I made it to the shore, I saw three human old ladies. They told me the aroma was from the pies they’d just baked, and offered me one to try.”

She paused and lowered her eyes.

“Human food can be very alluring to us,” the sea lord explained, “especially baked sweets. We can’t make them, for obvious reasons.”

“I know I should have been alarmed,” the lady continued. “There was no ship or boat, and as far as we knew, the island was uninhabited. But I asked them, and they said they were dropped off, waiting for another ship to pick them up in a few days. They looked harmless and kind. Besides, I think they might have added something to the bit of pie I ate.

“The pie was delicious. I asked whether I could purchase the rest of it. I had a gilded dagger with me, so I offered it as payment. They agreed. Then they asked whether I wanted to buy other pies as well, they had three more, different kinds. I did, but I had nothing else to pay for them.” She sighed, shaking her head. “I probably should have mentioned that all this time they’d been flattering me, praising my beauty, lamenting the fact that theirs was long gone, and even when they did have it, it was nothing compared to mine. Now one of them asked whether I would be willing to ‘share my beauty’ with them for payment.

“It sounded like witchcraft, and if I had all my wits about me, I would have fled right then. But, as I said, I think they’d added something into the food to dull my perception. Still, I was hesitant. They had assured me it was perfectly safe, I would not have to give my beauty away, just let them use it for short periods of time. I foolishly agreed. One of them uttered a spell, making me hold the dagger in my hand. Then she took the dagger from me, spoke another spell, and suddenly turned into my complete likeness. Except that she was still human, with legs instead of a tail. Immediately, I felt ill—weak, shaky, my head started to ache. I was frightened, I wanted to cancel the deal, but they only laughed.”

She paused again, looking tired. Lord Leomaris offered her slice of a peach, but she shook her head.

“When I returned home, I saw that they did take away some of my beauty. Since you’ve seen her, you will agree that she looks healthy while I don’t. And each time they use the dagger, taking on my form, the same illness assaults me. The last time I felt it was yesterday.”

“The witches were gone when my men had reached the island,” Lord Leomaris took over, his eyes once again warning me to keep silent. “No ship ever came near it, so we still do not know how they’d left.”

“So the spell is tied to the dagger?” Cassandra asked, speaking up for the first time.

My thought exactly.

As all eyes turned to her, she caught herself. “I apologize. It is not a servant’s place to ask questions.”

“No need for apology,” said the sea lord. “You are a guest here, just like your master. And to answer your question, yes. Our wisemen say the only way to revert the spell is to get the dagger back.”

Lady Marielle turned to me. “Now that you know everything, please tell us all you can. Where did you see this woman? Under what circumstances? Is there a chance you will see her again? Do you think you could buy the dagger back from her? We would spare no treasure, both to pay for it and to reward your efforts if you succeed, isn’t that right, Leomaris?”

“Of course. We would spare no treasure,” the merman echoed, his face dark and pained.

I don’t normally like cheap dramatic effects, but here I couldn’t help it.

“I will take no reward. It is my pleasure to end your plight, my lady.” I took the dagger out of my pocket and handed it to her.

I wish there was a device that could capture a scene and produce a picture of it. This particular picture would have been worth framing. Lord Leomaris sat with his mouth open, Lady Marielle froze in a mixture of astonishment, disbelief and joy, staring at her returned possession, not daring to take it. Even Merwyn slowed down and craned his neck to see, throwing Orman off into the sea.

“How in the world?...” the lady muttered, raising her eyes towards me.

“A happy coincidence, I suppose,” I answered. “That and the vigilance of my manservant. Archie saw through the deception and forced the witch to give up the dagger. I kept it as a souvenir.”

She slowly reached out her hand, as if afraid the dagger would disappear. The moment she touched it, a cloud seemed to lift off her, taking all signs of the illness with it. The tiredness, gauntness, the shadows were gone. I was looking at a beauty even more radiant than the maiden I’d seen at the marshes.

“Hurray!!” Reggie screamed, hopping out of the hood.

We all jumped. Including the serpent. Good thing the chairs and the canopy were fastened securely onto his back.

“What is
this?
” Lady Marielle asked, gaping at the Swirg.

“
This
is called Reginald,” I explained. “It screams occasionally without warning. Other than that, it’s harmless.”

He grinned up at her. “I admit I’ve grown to like scaring humans. You are very pretty, my lady.”

Lady Marielle’s golden brow arched in surprised amusement.

“Would you look at this little charmer! May I pick him up?”

“By all means. But I think he’s getting the taste of scaring the seafolk as well, so be warned.”

We spent the next couple hours in a friendly conversation that mostly consisted of Cassandra and me answering our hosts’ questions. Their face to face encounters with humans had been very limited, and they’d never seen a Swirg before, so the questions were many. I tried not to reveal too much, especially about the Swirgs and their secrets. Our ability to fly was of course the primary point of Lord Leomaris’s interest; I had to sidestep it, telling him it was something I could not freely discuss. I saw no reason, however, not to share our adventures with the witches and their magical passage. Reggie obliged by performing yet another reenactment of my battle with them, embellishing it with some new details this time. I shook my head as I imagined what it was going to be like when he’d tell the story back home.

I noticed that Lady Marielle did most of the talking while Lord Leomaris became somewhat withdrawn, despite his obvious gratefulness for his wife’s deliverance. I couldn’t quite read the expression he now had. Was it embarrassment? Some sort of regret? Maybe even guilt?

“We must do all we can for these people, Leo,” the lady said, placing her hand on his arm. “Do you think you could spare Merwyn to take them all the way to their shores?”

He appeared caught off guard. “Well, uh… Yes, I suppose so. You and I cannot go, I need to be at the council, as you know, but I can send Orman. If Merwyn swims his fastest, it’s going to take, what? A couple of days, no more than that. What do you say, Lord Arkus?”

It would shorten the journey considerably. We probably still wouldn’t be able to reach Prince Kellemar on time (not that I was too upset about that), but I wanted Jarvi’s sword safely back in my hands as soon as possible.

“Why, this would be most convenient,” I said, “and much appreciated.”

“Let me take a look at the map again.”

I gave it to him.

“Yes,” he nodded, examining it, “we will part at the
Crown
Island
. My lady and I will return in her dolphin carriage. Orman will take you the rest of the way… Well, probably not to the very shore, there are too many ships in those waters, and we try to avoid human eyes. How about he drops you off here, on the last island you had marked?”

“That would work perfectly. We can fly from there.”

“Good.”

We reached the
Crown
Island
in less than half an hour. It was much larger than the first one we’d been to, with tall palm trees, a multitude of colorful birds, and, according to Lord Leomaris, a freshwater stream.

Merwyn swam up to the island and turned, stretching his long tail to the sandy shore, offering it as a means for us to descend rather than having to jump in the water. I couldn’t help marveling at that.

“Has he transported humans before?”

Lord Leomaris smiled. “No. But he knows what they’re like, and he is smart.”

“He certainly is.”

The sea lord rose to stand on his tail, the lady did the same, holding onto his arm.

“This has been a most fascinating encounter,” he said, “not to mention the invaluable service you did to us. I am indebted to you.” He took a golden bracelet off his arm and offered it to me. “Take this. If you are ever in trouble at sea, throw it in the water. I will send help.”

I accepted the bracelet. It was shaped as a fish, with sapphire eyes, its head touching the tail.

“Wouldn’t it just drown?” I asked, trying not to sound too doubtful. “The sea is huge, how would you ever find it?”

He smiled again. “Try it now.”

I reached my hand with the bracelet out to the water and paused, hesitant.

“Go ahead,” the merman prodded.

I threw it in the sea. At first the bracelet seemed to go down like a rock, but in the next moment I saw the golden fish glistening in the waves, swimming, heading back to us. Having reached Merwyn’s side, the fish jumped out of the water and landed right into Lord Leomaris’s hands, instantly curling up and turning back into a bracelet.

“It will find me wherever I am,” he said.

“Amazing. How is this possible?”

The merman handed the bracelet back to me. “I’m not asking you how you fly.”

“Fair enough,” I nodded. “Thank you, Lord Leomaris.”

“It’s Leo for you. Farewell. Good luck with the rest of your journey, and…” He looked away for a moment. “Don’t be so trusting in the future.”

Trusting? Me?

“What do you mean?”

“The way you’d stepped onto my serpent…” He shook his head. “You were completely at my mercy, do you realize that?”

“That’s not quite right. We could fly away if anything went wrong.”

“Losing your supplies. How long would you last without them?”

Not long. And he didn’t even know about the ten minutes limit on flying.

I looked him squarely in the eye. “So why didn’t you kill us?”

“Why did you offer the dagger?”

“To impress your beautiful wife.”

“Well. You’ve impressed more than just her.”

After her husband’s sobering words, Lady Marielle seemed at a loss what to say.

“I want to thank you again,” she spoke at last. “Don’t mind Leo, I don’t think he meant you any harm, but he is right, you need to be more careful. The seafolk is not always friendly.”