My Royal Pain Quest (The Lakeland Knight series, #2) (7 page)

How she managed not to laugh was beyond me.

The thugs gave up at last. They huddled together at the burnt down fire and stared at Cassandra.

“W-what do you want from us?” asked Degren.

She lowered herself almost all the way to the ground.

“You should have started with this question, it would’ve saved time. I come to ask you, how dare you plot against Lord Arkus the Fearsome? Do you not know that powerful spirits are helping him?”

Degren blinked. “We—we know that, and we never thought of plotting anything! I wouldn’t come near Lord Arkus!”

“That’s what you get for lying.”

She snapped her fingers; I picked up the empty pot and slammed it on Degren’s head.

This time Cassandra bit her lip to stay composed.

“First you tried to fight Lord Arkus at the tavern,” she went on, “and now you plan to go after him with this silly potion.”

“That man was Lord Arkus?! We didn’t know, I swear!”

He appeared to be telling the truth. Cassandra saw it as well.

“Now you do know. Give me that bottle.”

Degren hurried to find his bag and pulled the bottle out.

“Here, take it! I want nothing to do with it!”

“Good.” She accepted the potion. “Do I understand correctly that you are ready to convey your apologies to Lord Arkus and promise to never bother him again?”

“Yes! I promise, upon my life!”

“In that case you may go. And you may take the pot off.”

The ruffians scurried away. The Swirgs and I could at last let out our long-suppressed laughter. Cassandra joined us, getting down on the ground just in time: her ten minutes of flying were over. Our invisibility ended as well, so she could see us.

“That was quite a show!” I said, applauding. “Have you ever thought about performing at a theater?”

“Imagine that, I have, but it doesn’t pay much.” She lifted the bottle. “What shall we do with this?”

“Let’s take it with us, it might come in handy.”

“She made them think you’re
Lord
Arkus, the villain!” Baltazar laughed. “That was smart! Only…” his grin faded. “Aren’t you afraid that he might find out and come after you?”

“Honestly?” I glanced at Cassandra. “Not a bit.”

“I had no idea that humans are so much fun!” little Reggie declared, still snickering. “Why can’t we be friends with them?”

That brought a deep frown from
Frederick
. “Now, Reggie. Have you forgotten everything you’ve been taught? Humans are dangerous to us. Mr. Arkus here and his friend are a rare exception because they have proved their trustworthiness beyond any doubt. As to the rest, the less they know about us, the better. All right.” He looked his friends over. “Is everyone ready? We need to get going, the queen is expecting our report. Farewell, Mr. Arkus.” The Swirg bowed, turning to me.

“Farewell,” I nodded. “Archie and I need to get going as well, we are actually pressed for time. Give my regards to the queen.”

Cassandra and I made our way back to the horses. We had tethered them rather carelessly out in the open, unaware that there was a group of thugs nearby. Fortunately, neither Degren’s bunch nor anyone else had come this way.

“I was right about you,” I said.

Cassandra regarded me, looking a little suspicious. “What do you mean?”

“When I was deciding whether to take you with me or not, I thought you’d make a fun companion.”

“Oh.” She seemed not to know what to say, which was unusual for her. “Well… thanks. I’m doing my best.”

We were riding out of the valley when we heard
Frederick
’s terrified cry.

“Mr. Arkus! Mr. Arkus!”

He was flying at us like a strange wingless bird, eyes wide—and desperate.

“The catchers got Reggie!!”

I grabbed him as he landed in my arms.

“Who?”

“The catchers! Well, that’s what we call them; nobody knows for sure what they are.”
Frederick
paused for breath. “They’re always prowling about the valley, trying to snatch one of us. Reggie was too excited, he forgot to watch the time. He thought he was still invisible… It happened so fast!”

“But what do these catchers want with the Swirgs?”

“We don’t know. They serve swampland witches, so it must be the witches’ orders.”
Frederick
’s small hands clutched my sleeve. “Please, Mr. Arkus, you’ve got to save him!”

***

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I glanced at Cassandra. She was looking at
Frederick
, her face troubled, anxious. Then her eyes turned to me. She said nothing, waiting for my decision.

I didn’t mind helping out, but we had little time.

“How far are the swamplands?” I asked.

“A couple of miles from here,” the Swirg replied, “I’ll show you the way. Please, hurry! If we ride fast, we might intercept them; then we won’t have to go to the swamplands and deal with the witches.”

“All right, let’s try to do that. Hang on.”

We galloped through the valley.
Frederick
closed his eyes for a few moments, holding onto me with all his might; I guessed it had to be his very first horse ride.

“What do these ‘catchers’ look like?”

“Like wolves, but… different.”

“So they are beasts?”

Frederick
shook his head. “No. At least not ordinary beasts. Swirgs are friends with all animals of the forest, none of them ever give us reason to worry. But these… If they are animals, they must have been bewitched.”

I sighed. “Monsters, then. Did I mention I hate monsters?”

Whatever these creatures were, they were fast, for we did not intercept them. As we neared the marshes, we saw paw prints on the soft, soggy soil, indeed very wolf-like. I couldn’t tell the difference. I slowed down and pointed them out to Frederick, who confirmed that the prints belonged to the catchers.

“Alas, they’ve made it home,” he said, his big yellow eyes apologetic and pleading.

“Well,
Frederick
…”

I took a moment to think, avoiding those eyes. We had to leave. Kellemar had already spent over two months out of the three he was given; we didn’t know exactly how much time he had left. Reaching him would take a few days. We’d probably barely make it even if we headed out right now.

On the other hand, I’d rather help Reggie than the idiot prince.

“This isn’t a good place for horses,” I said. “You two stay here with them, and I’ll go see what these witches are made of. How many of them are there, by the way?”

I noticed Cassandra’s surprised look. She obviously wondered at my choice, but I also saw that she approved it.

“Three,” Frederick answered.

That didn’t sound too bad. There were also those ‘catchers,’ but with Jarvi’s sword I should be able to deal with them.

I dismounted.

“I’ll go with you.” Cassandra slid off the horse as well. “It sounds like you’re a bit outnumbered.”

“No, Archie, I’d rather have you stay here. If anything happens to our horses and supplies, we’ll be in deep trouble.”

“Please, let him come—I mean, her,”
Frederick
interfered. “Don’t go alone. I’ll watch the horses. If you’re worried about them untying themselves and wandering off, I’ll take care of that. As to someone stealing them, there’s little chance. Not many venture near the swampland.”

“Well… All right. Two blades are better than one, I suppose.”

“Take a pink berry to protect yourselves from their magic,” the Swirg said.

Cassandra and I popped in a pink and a white berry as we headed along a barely visible trail leading deeper into the marshes. The area was stark contrast to the flourishing valley now far behind. Nothing flourished here; dead trees stood like ugly sentinels, reaching their gnarled branches, plants looked bleak and sickly, struggling to survive despite the abundance of water. In some ways, it was like Arkusville; I felt quite at home.

“Why are we doing this?” Cassandra asked.

“Don’t tell me you have no sympathy for Reggie.”

“I do, but what about the Second Deed?”

“The book said that the deeds would come to me when the time is right. This little adventure has just popped up on its own, hasn’t it? So who knows. Perhaps this is it. Triar’s speculations could be wrong, after all.”

“You don’t want to help Kellemar.”

“Nope. Unless I absolutely have to.”

We continued to follow the catchers’ prints until they suddenly disappeared.

“What sort of a trick is this?” I muttered, looking around. “Do these things fly?”

“If you mean the dogs, good sir,” said a soft, melodic voice, “no, they don’t.”

I turned and beheld a beautiful maiden as she stepped out from behind large gray rocks. Golden haired, with deep green eyes that reminded me of the emerald apple. She wore a silk silver frock and held a single white rose in her slender fingers.

It was the rose that made me suspicious. The strong, healthy flower was even more out of place in this landscape than the young woman herself.

“The witches have worked on the soil here so that any tracks and traces immediately disappear,” she continued, lowering her magnificent eyes under my gaze.

“And you are?”

She gave a slight bow. “Forgive me for speaking without first properly introducing myself. Alas, I am forbidden to share my tale. I can only reveal my name: Rosmarina.”

I studied her, not sure what to think.

“That’s a pity. I was just going to ask what such a beauty is doing in a place like this.”

Cassandra snorted behind me. I couldn’t quite understand her reaction, but I noticed how the mysterious young woman cast a worried glance at her.

“That part I can tell,” Rosmarina replied. “I am a servant here, it is my duty to meet and greet important visitors. Would you please tell me your names?”

“A servant to the witches?” I asked, ignoring her question.

“Yes.”

“And what makes you think us important?”

“No ordinary human would have made it this far into the witches’ domain. They have set many barriers, unnoticeable to the eyes of those who are not familiar with magic. You have passed them all.”

She smiled and took a tentative step toward us. In the next instant Cassandra snatched her blade.

“Back off!” she ordered, stepping forward. “Drop that dagger.”

Rosmarina staggered back, her eyes wide with fear. Slowly, she held out her hand with the rose and released it. The moment the flower hit the ground it turned into an elegant dagger with a gilded hilt. At the same time, the maiden also began to change. The shiny locks withered into gray strands, the perfect youthful face transformed into that of an older woman, not exactly a hag, but, well, let’s just say distinctly different.

I tried not to appear surprised, but I don’t think I succeeded. Good thing Rosmarina was no longer looking at me: her gaze was fixed on Cassandra.

“Please accept my most humble apology, oh mighty wizard,” she said, her voice different as well, with no trace of the former melodic ring. “May I ask how you saw through the spell?”

Yeah, that’s what I wanted to know, too. That and the reason why
I
couldn’t see through it. Had the effect of the pink berry worn off? But Cassandra and I had taken the berries together, at the same time; why would it still work for her but not for me?

I knew Cassandra pretty well by now, and as I turned to her I saw that, although she did a good job of looking confident, she was confused. She probably had no idea that I had seen a beauty with the rose instead of the unpleasant old woman with a dagger.

“Shall I chop her head off, Archibald?” I offered. “Or do you want to find out all the details first? I don’t mean the trick, disguising herself as a young beauty and her weapon as a rose is nothing original. Will you be able to determine who sent her?”

“I’d rather not waste my power on that,” Cassandra played along, much to the witch’s relief. “I hope she is sensible enough to tell me, to earn her pardon.”

“No one sent me, I swear! We knew our defenses were breached, so I went to see whether I could stop you, or at least discover your intentions. It was foolish of me, I should have guessed that you are much stronger than us. But this spell has never failed before, I was certain no man, wizard or not, could repel it.”

Ah. ‘No man,’ that had to be it. Archie’s disguise was proving to be more useful than we ever thought.

“I suppose I will take this explanation, for now,” Cassandra said, still frowning. “However, by ‘stopping us’ you most certainly did not mean politely asking us to go back.” She turned to me. “I don’t know about you,
Ark
, but I find it rather irritating when someone comes at me with a dagger. I say she still has to pay for it.”

Ark
?? That was not something I’d normally let a servant of mine get away with, but Archie was not just a servant. Besides, I kind of liked it.

“No objections from me,” I replied. “Shall I chop her head off?”

Rosmarina’s frantic eyes darted from Cassandra to me.

“No! Please do not harm me, mighty wizards. Name your price. I can’t imagine what someone like you would possibly want from three humble witches whose strongest spells do not work against you, but I am willing to compensate for my discourtesy, if I can.”

Speaking of spells, our ten minutes of protection were nearly over. I slipped my hand into my pocket where I had more berries ready, pink ones wrapped in a cloth and white ones loose, so that I could find the right ones without looking. I pretended to cough as I popped the berries into my mouth—both to get Cassandra’s attention and to hide my act from the witch. Cassandra knew what I did right away; her hand slowly moved to her pocket as well.

“I will name the price,” I said, taking a small step to the witch and thus ensuring she had her eyes on me while Cassandra ate the berries. “These dogs of yours, as you call them, have captured a young Swirg not very long ago. We want him.”

Rosmarina gasped and held her breath for a second.

“Never!!” she screamed, snatching something off her neck and throwing it at us.

Whatever object it was exploded into black dust. The dusty cloud did no harm to us as we dashed through it after the witch, but it obscured our vision long enough to let Rosmarina escape. I searched around, Cassandra checked behind the rocks where the witch had been hiding earlier; it was of no use.

“She’s gone.” Cassandra spat in frustration. “Now they know what we’re after.”

“Yes. We must find their lair, and quickly.” I picked up the witch’s dagger. “Let’s go. It appears Reggie is very valuable to them. They’ll waste no time to hide him—or worse.”

“Worse?”

I looked at Cassandra. She clearly hadn’t given any thought to why the witches would want a Swirg.

“I hope they have captured him to blackmail the Swirgs for the emerald apple or to find out the secret of the berries,” I said, “but there is another possibility. They might want him as an ingredient to their potions.”

Cassandra wanted to run; I held her back.

“Running in a swamp isn’t a good idea, you don’t want to step on a bad spot and get bogged down. Let’s fly. It will be faster, too.”

We ate red berries and took off. I was amazed at the ease of it. The ability to fly came naturally, as if it was something I’d always known how to do. I did not have to learn or get used to it; the moment I swallowed the berries, I just knew staying on the ground was optional.

“Let’s turn invisible, too!” Cassandra suggested. “Those witches won’t know what hit them.”

“Good idea. We have no time for a scuffle. Grabbing Reggie and getting out of here is more to my liking.”

We flew at a quick pace, dodging trees and branches, searching the grayish-brown landscape below. I wondered why we hadn’t thought of this earlier; not only it would have saved time, we would not have alerted the witches. Oh well. Live and learn, I suppose.

“Over there!” I pointed, noticing dark shapes lurking ahead. “See those?”

Cassandra looked. “Yes… Although I can’t tell what they are. And what’s that? A shed?”

As we drew nearer, we saw four huge wolf-like creatures circling a crude hut. Teeth bare, the unnaturally long-legged beasts were sniffing the air, turning their heads this way and that.

“Oh my.” Cassandra’s eyes widened as she took a better look. “Their snouts have no fur. They’re almost like… faces!”

“Ugly mugs is more like it. They’re expecting us.”

“The witches must be inside,” Cassandra said, drawing her blade.

I drew the sword as well. “These things will smell us, but we should still be able to dispose of them quickly enough.”

We were about to sweep down to the hut when I saw three more silhouettes hopping in the distance, getting smaller as they moved farther away.

“Wait! Look over there. I bet it’s them—trying to flee while the beasts are left here to distract and delay us.”

“Shall we go after them or check the hut first?”

I took a moment to think. “You fly after them, I’ll check the hut and catch up. I’m certain they’ve got Reggie with them, but I need to make sure.”

The beasts must have heard us talk, in addition to catching our scent—they were all looking up, growling, their creepy hairless faces showing confusion and fear.