The Dreamer's Curse (Book 2) (15 page)

He looked up at her with eyes wide. He looked…terrified. And
hopeful. And anxious, all at once. “W-what if I don’t?”

“I take you with me, find you a master that you can
apprentice under, and you can make your own way in life,” she answered
steadily. “No matter what you choose, I’m not leaving you here. My master would
come down on me like a hammer if I did.”

He hesitated, mouth opening and closing without making a
sound. She could see the thoughts flashing over his face, everything she had
told him about the Fae conflicting with the view he had of himself. “I-I can’t
become like that.”

“Sure you can,” she denied easily. “Their magic will take
care of that. Question is, do you want to? I warn you, if you go to them, they
won’t ever let you go. The Fae are a very tightknit community. They are very
loyal to each other and they never, ever leave home.”

She might as well have described a utopia to the boy. He
looked so wistful that it was nearly painful to see. “You…you sure they’d take
me?”

“In a heartbeat. And they’d be quite cross if I tried to
take you back.” Actually, they’d probably string her up by her toes and leave
her for the wolves if she tried.

That settled it. He might not fully believe her, but he
wanted to at least try. He nodded slowly. “T-then I want to meet ‘em.”

“Good enough for me.” She took another bite of her
breakfast. “Now, I should tell you, I can’t take you to them immediately. I’m
in the middle of a very important job at the moment. So you’ll need to tag
along with me for a few days, perhaps longer, before I can take you to the
Fae.”

He seemed oddly relieved, as if he wanted a delay to let all
of this settle in his mind. “What kind of a job?”

“There’s a village in trouble on the Windamere-Kindin
border. I got transported out here accidentally, so I’m just waiting on my
friend to come fetch me back again.” In fact, while they were waiting, she
might as well put the time to use and buy the kid some more changes of clothes.
Right after she dumped him into another tub of hot water. “We’ll work on
getting some meat on you and some decent clothes before I take you to Noppers
Woods. That’s where the Fae live.”

Food, at least, he could understand and he nodded happily.

Definitely needed those locking spells tonight, huh. She
gave an internal sigh of resignation and kept eating. Well, if he did escape
again, Hinun would find him.

Sevana actually felt glad after a certain point that she’d
picked Sky up. Not just because it got her out of potential hot water with the
Fae, but because it gave her something constructive to do while waiting for her
ride.

In the time it took for Master to come fetch her, she made
sure that Sky had multiple baths, ate at every opportunity, and bought two sets
of clothes. He really needed more than that, but that’s all her limited purse
could afford.  He looked better after two days of care. Still far too scrawny,
and with traces of bruises and cuts here and there, but overall much healthier.
She didn’t worry about him putting some meat on, not with the way he ate. He
could put Kip at his most hungry to shame.

To her surprise, now that she had given him a definite
reason for his rescue, he seemed willing to trust her. If she had known that an
excuse would work this kind of miracle, she’d have made something up on the
spot when he’d asked her the first time. He still didn’t trust the idea of
becoming some fantastic, mythical creature, but he did trust that she had a
plan in mind for him. Really, that was all she needed him to understand at this
point.

By displaying consistent kindness in feeding him, Sky opened
up to her bit by bit until he hung about and pestered her with questions. That was,
until she hit upon the bright idea of sending him out with Hinun to “get some
exercise.” In spite of Hinun tracking him down twice and towing him back like a
wanted criminal, the two of them had become friends. Sky liked the idea of
having the responsibility of seeing to his wolf friend. Hinun, of course, could
see to himself perfectly well without a human’s interference. But he’d also
spent the last twenty years with Master and a string of apprentices young and
old. He knew how to look out for Sky.

Really, watching them interact, she couldn’t figure out who
was protecting who.

But they went out of the city for several hours at a time,
romping and playing with each other, only coming back for dinner. It worked out
perfectly as it got Sky out of her hair and let her have some peace to think.

She needed to think.

Master’s hypothesis of how the gadgick worked made sense,
but until this point, half of it had been deduction and guesswork. But now,
experiencing things as she had firsthand, she knew exactly how it worked. And
knowing that, she knew precisely what to do once she returned to Chastain.

Three days after her distress call, Master showed up early
morning in his self-navigating box-on-wheels. He looked (and smelled) as if he
had travelled straight there. Clothes beyond wrinkled, hair wispy and standing
on end, beard fully started, and dark circles under his eyes. He looked like
some sort of half-formed ghoul, really.

She met him at the inn door, smile wry. “Master.”

“Sweetling.” He wrapped her up in a strong bear hug that
lifted her off her feet and made breathing a tad difficult.

“What is wrong with everyone?” she protested, trying to shove
her way out of the embrace. “I’m not huggable!”

He ignored her, as he usually did during such protests, and
sighed against the top of her head. “I’m glad to see you safe.”

“I told you I was, didn’t I?”

“
Your
definition of safe and
mine
are worlds
apart,” he countered dryly, finally letting her feet touch the floor again.
“Oh? Who’s this?”

Oh, right. She hadn’t told him about Sky yet. Turning, she
found the boy standing at the foot of the stairs. Hinun went directly to Master
and pressed against his leg in greeting, which Master returned with a scratch
behind one ear, but he didn’t take his eyes off the nervous former street rat.

“This is Sky,” Sevana introduced, not quite sure how to
explain the semi-complicated relationship forged between them. “Sky, my Master,
Tashjian Joles. He’s come to take us to Chastain.”

Sky relaxed a hair and gave the older Artifactor a deep bow.
“Sir. It’s an honor.”

Master, putting on that charming smile of his, crossed to Sky
so that he could sink to one knee, putting them on eye level. “The pleasure is
mine, young sir. Tell me, how are you and Sevana acquainted?”

“She, uh, rescued me. Sir.” Sky couldn’t quite meet those
penetrating eyes and he kept dropping his own gaze toward the floor. “I was…ah…in
a bit of a pickle. She picked me up and promised to find me a home.”

“I see.” Master half-turned to beam at her. “Sweetling, I’m
proud of you. You
did
learn to help people after all.”

Sevana rolled her eyes expressively, putting one hand on her
hip. “With you drumming it into my head day and night, did I have a choice? At
any rate, I think Sky can smooth some ruffled feathers for me.”

Master cocked an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“The Fae.”

“Ohhh. Right, they’re quite cross with you since you took
Bel from them.” Seeing Sky’s confusion, Master patted him on the shoulder and
said in a confidential tone, “You see, last fall, Sevana was helping to break a
young man’s curse. But the Fae picked him up and tried to adopt him. Sevana had
to go and retrieve him, which upset the Fae. The only reason they let him go was
because of the curse warping his body. Fae don’t understand human magic, so
they couldn’t do anything about it. Still, it left bad relations between them.
Sevana had to promise that if she found a child who was in need of a family,
one without magic already on him, that she’d bring that child to them.”

“Yes, sir,” Sky managed neutrally. “So she told me. I don’t
think these Fae will take me, though.”

Master cocked his head in question. “Why not?”

“'Cause I—” Sky bit his lip, cutting himself off.

“Child, you seem to have suffered through hard times, but
all of the Fae are people who had a rough childhood.” Master gave him a nod of
reassurance. “I have no doubt they’ll take you in and consider themselves
blessed for it. But you’ll see that for yourself soon, no doubt.”

Sevana had already issued these assurances several times and
had frankly gotten tired of the repetition. Hoping to cut it short, she cleared
her throat. “Master, why don’t you get a bath and a hot meal? I think we can
leave after that.”

“Are you suggesting I stink, sweetling?”

“You do,” she responded promptly. “Hinun, back me up on
this.”

The wolf let out a whine of agreement.

Master put a hand to his heart in mock-hurt. “I go without
sleep or comfort to get here and this is the thanks I get?”

“This and that are separate matters. Bath.” After being
cooped up in the carriage for three days, he’d probably enjoy one, so she knew
he didn’t really mind the order.

Chuckling, he pushed himself back to his feet. “It seems
I’ve been outvoted on the matter. Then I shall. But let’s leave soon. I want to
hear about your experience. I trust it gave you some valuable insight?”

“Yes, because tromping around in primitive woods in the dead
of night always pays off in the end,” she snarked, only to smile when he
laughed out loud. Waving him away, she headed for the door. Time enough to
explain her findings later, when they were all cooped up in that carriage on
the way back toward Windamere. For now, they both had preparations to see to.

~ ~ ~

The space on the inside of the carriage did not, of course,
match the outside. Master had crafted the written incantation so that on the
inside, it seemed as if they had a spacious room to lounge about in. It
reminded her strongly of the tales of the genie’s lamp, especially since Master
had decorated it in rich greens and blues and golds with comfortable pillows
strewn about on long benches. It even had large windows so that they could
watch the passing scenery if they so wished.

Because Master had driven directly to her from Chastain, the
vehicle had “learned” the path and so he didn’t need to do anything to control its
return trip. He simply turned it around and ordered, “To Chastain.”

Sevana nearly went green with envy once she saw how easy
operating the vehicle was. Oh yes. She would have one of these. She would also
figure out how to duplicate his “learned” routes so that she wouldn’t have to
repeat his work.

They lounged about at their ease, eating some of the food
Sevana had bought, without a care in the world. For the first hour, Sky went
from one bench to the other, looking out every window, thrilled to be riding in
a
magic vehicle
. But the excitement wore off and he eventually curled up
with Hinun to take a nap.

Sevana watched him peacefully snooze, one hand wrapped
around the wolf’s leg. He probably hadn’t been able to sleep well during his
few short years in this world. It had probably never been completely safe for
him to fall deeply asleep. It said a great deal that he felt he could do so
now. But then, with a wolf guarding your bedside, what did anyone need to worry
about?

With Sky fully asleep, the adults turned the conversation to
more serious matters.

“Alright, sweetling.” Master shifted a little so that he
faced her more directly, a pillow propping up one arm. “What happened exactly?”

“I think your theory is wrong and right at the same time.”
She grabbed a pillow and hugged it to her, getting comfortable for what would
no doubt be a long discussion. “The incantation in the stones provided
direction, I agree with you there. But I don’t think it signified what was
meant to be transported and what wasn’t. If you think about it, it makes no
sense. You can’t tell the gadgick
everything on this platform of stones
needs to go
because the fountain and gadgick are also on the platform.
They’d be transported right along with everything else.”

“Ah.” Master blinked, then looked a little sheepish. “I
hadn’t thought of that. But you’re right.”

“Now, you were right in that the water is the key. I will
bet you anything you care to name that the way the gadgick recognized what
needed to be transported was through the water. With anything living, they
ingested some of it or somehow absorbed it into their body. With the inanimate
objects, the water was painted on with an insignia of some sort. I’m guessing
something very similar to what’s on the stones.”

“A water-painted insignia so that the gadgick would think
that it should be transported as well?” Master’s head canted to the side as he
thought it through. “That sounds…complex.”

“We’re talking about a device that could carry a small
caravan to the other side of Kindin,” she retorted bluntly. “What part of this
is
simplistic
?

“…You have a very good point, sweetling. Your theory might
not be perfectly accurate but I would say it’s very close. We won’t know for
sure, of course, until we can actually examine the gadgick.”

“I detest guesswork,” she groaned.

“I hear you. Still, the ingestion of the water by people
makes a great deal of sense.” Master rubbed at his chin thoughtfully with one
hand. “It would explain why most of the village was transported at one point or
another. Every person there uses that fountain as a water source. They all
drink it or come into direct contact with it somehow or other.”

“Except the few hunters that live well outside the village,”
she confirmed. “That bothered me for days. Why the exception? But of course,
they never went near the fountain. They never needed to. They had their own
water sources near their homes. They only came into the village to do
business.”

“Finally, the mystery is solved. Or would be, but you and
Hinun didn’t drink any of the water…ah…you did?”

Sevana grimaced. “Because I was sitting so close to the
fountain trying to pry a stone loose, some of it splashed on me. And of course,
Hinun was pressed up against me most of the time and it splashed on him, too.
That, apparently, was enough water to count.”

Master blew out a breath. “It’s a good thing we told
everyone to steer well clear of the fountain, then. At least we can easily
contain the situation now.”

“That is a blessing,” she agreed. “It gives us some
breathing room in dealing with the problem. While I was gone, did Sarsen find
all the stones and remove them?”

“He and most of the village promised to do so by the time we
returned,” Master assured her. “Which will help as well, of course. Although I
do think we should call him soon and explain everything you just told me to
make
sure
no one goes near that fountain.”

“Agreed.” The more ways they could safeguard the villagers,
the better. “But before you call him, let’s come up with a plan. I think the
only way to deal with the gadgick now is to cut off its water source. Do you
think it’s possible to find the spring that feeds it and dam it up?”

“I would hope so. How easy or difficult the job turns out to
be I can’t begin to guess. But surely the man that installed the fountain—what
was his name again?”

“Hube.”

“Right, right. I would think Hube would be able to tell us
where the spring is being piped in since he built the fountain. It should be a
relatively simple matter to dam it up and let the water out of the fountain.”