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

by Laura Lond

  “I wonder what these are,” I said, “I’ve never seen them before.”

  Cassandra turned her head to see what I was pointing at.

  “I think they are called sourberries; the name speaks for itself. They are nice looking, but pretty much useless.”

  We reached the two oak trees. There could be no mistake: these giants had to be several hundred years old, they were larger than any tree in the forest. I looked for the smaller creek, and sure enough, there it was, as well as the lilac bushes, just like the hermit described.

  I stopped Onyx.

  “We’ve arrived. This is one of those things I must do by myself, so you stay here and wait.”

  Cassandra looked around. “I see no Swirgs.”

  “They are in the caves. The entrance is over there.”

  Her eyes brightened. “The Sarwean caves! I wouldn’t miss that for the world! They’ve got a bad reputation, I want to see what’s in there.”

  I frowned. “You promised to stay back when I tell you to.”

  “And I will. I won’t touch your Swirgs, unless they decide to mess with me. I’ll just look. Looking isn’t forbidden by our agreement, as far as I remember.”

  “No, I suppose it’s not.” I dismounted. “Very well, come along, if you’re not scared.”

  She slid off the saddle as well. “Not many things scare me.”

  “Oh? So there are some that do? What would they be?”

  “Like I’m gonna tell you.”

  We tied the horses to a tree. I lit the torch I took from Triar and started searching for the entrance. It was well hidden, only those who knew it was there would ever think to look behind the lilac bushes. Swirgs must have planted them there on purpose.

  The cave was long, like a tunnel, with the creek running in the middle. As soon as we stepped inside, the bright summer day was over. Dark, wet chillness ruled here.

  I drew the sword.

  “Better be prepared. I have no idea when they will attack.”

  Cassandra held her blade ready as well. We slowly walked along the tunnel, looking around, listening for any suspicious noise. So far, the only sound was the soft murmuring of the creek, amplified by echo.

  The tunnel led us into a spacious cavern. I saw something move ahead of us, so I halted.

  “I think we have found them,” I whispered.

  I was wrong. What jumped at me was a huge rat. I kicked it aside—only to discover that the cavern swarmed with them, and they were not friendly.

  “I hope rodents aren’t one of the things you fear.”

  Cassandra saw them as well.

  “No, but rats of this size are pushing it!”

  Several more ran at me. I swung the sword; the rats hissed and backed off.

  “Here, take the torch. My sword frightens them; I’ll go first.”

  We walked through the hissing and growling furry mass. I was clearing the way, Cassandra watched our backs, swinging the torch and keeping rats at bay. The farther we went, the more aggressive they became. Then something whooshed over my head.

  “Lovely. There are bats here, too.”

  We kept moving along, wielding our weapons as fast as we could, jumping, ducking, spinning around. Bats weren’t that much of a threat, but their sudden swoops were distracting and, well, unnerving. The good thing was that, just like the rats, they feared my sword, so every time I raised it they’d recoil.

  There was a larger tunnel ahead. When we made it there, I fully expected our attackers to follow, but for some reason they didn’t. Both rats and bats stayed behind, as if their only purpose was to not let us pass through their cave, and once they failed, they were done.

  We stopped to catch our breath. Cassandra wiped her brow.

  “Whew. It’s been a while since I danced like that. Well, now what?”

  “I suppose we will soon find out.”

  We walked upstream of the same underground creek. Once again, everything was quiet.

  “Look!” Cassandra exclaimed. “These are… diamonds!”

  Ah, so we must be getting close. Yes, there were gemstones scattered around, on both sides of the shallow stream and in the water. Some of them were very big.

  “And rubies!” the girl went on, picking up one after another. “And emeralds! Now I see what those rats were guarding.”

  “If you see an emerald shaped like an apple, let me know. That’s what I’m after.”

  She didn’t respond, preoccupied with the gems. I thought I’d never pull her away from them, but she surprised me yet again.

  “All right,” she said, holding up several large stones and looking them over. “I think this one is worth the most. Yes, I’ll take this one.”

  With that, she threw the rest back in the water.

  “Now let’s look for your apple-shaped jewel. What? Why are you staring at me like that?”

  “You are taking only one gemstone? You’re not going to stuff your pockets with them or perhaps make a sack out of your skirt?”

  “That might be a fine idea, but how would I travel or fight with such a load?” Cassandra regarded my still stunned expression. “Well, what’s so amazing about it? You aren’t stuffing your pockets, either.”

  “I am a different story. I’m here for a specific jewel, and I must not take any other—not at this time, anyway—or it might ruin a very important mission. But you… Let’s just say you have shown quite uncommon common sense.”

  She shrugged. “Roderick had once taken too much plunder. It didn’t end well.”

  We searched for the emerald apple, watching out for Swirgs. I did not really expect to find the apple here, a treasure like that had to be far better guarded; but I still thought it wise to check every inch of this part of the creek.

  “It doesn’t look like it’s here,” Cassandra said. “Are you sure that there’s such a gem here? Perhaps it’s been taken by someone else?”

  “It hasn’t. Let’s keep going, it must be hidden deeper in the caves.”

  We walked for about half a mile. There were no more gemstones under our feet, no rats or other creatures. The tunnel was no longer straight, it turned so many times that I lost count. And the strangest thing: it was no longer so dark.

  “Is it just me, or is it getting lighter in here?” I asked.

  “I was just going to say the same thing,” Cassandra replied. “How can it be?”

  I couldn’t tell what the source of this light was, but it had to be somewhere ahead of us, because darkness diminished almost with every step. The tunnel turned again, and we both froze in astonishment.

  We stood at the entrance of yet another cavern. This one was huge, and there was a garden in it. Yes, a garden. Some unknown trees with pale leaves and elongated white fruits, somewhat like pears, grew around a pond with clear greenish water. I saw what was making it green: in the middle of the pond, on a silver platter, lay the emerald apple.

  Two small creatures who’d barely reach my knee were busy working not very far from us, picking the white fruits. One was up on a tree. He had a small basket with a rope tied to it, and he was carefully lowering it to the other fellow who stood on the ground. Had they not been moving, I would have thought them made of wood: they had skin like tree bark, arms and legs like twigs, and hair no different from grass.

  “An underground garden!” marveled Cassandra.

  The creatures saw us. They shrieked in horror and darted off, dropping the basket. There was only one “pear” in it, and it broke in half as it hit the ground.

  Cassandra tugged on my sleeve.

  “Would you look at that! There is a little one in there!”

  I saw it. A tiny treeman—or whatever these guys were called—rolled out of the broken fruit and burst into crying. One of the gatherers returned, grabbed him and disappeared in the twinkling of an eye.

  Cassandra was slowly shaking her head. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life…”

  “Neither have I.”

  “Well, if
these are Swirgs, I don’t perceive it to be too big of a problem.”

  “Unless they’ve got some secret weapon. Stay here. I’m going for the apple. Don’t come to my aid, no matter what happens.”

  I raised the sword and stepped into the cavern. In that same second, the sword jerked in my hand, hitting something. It was an arrow shot at me, and not just an arrow but a fiery one; it now lay smoldering at my feet. There was no way I could fight it off by myself.

  I looked around for the shooter, hoping that the sword would do the job again if more arrows followed this first one. Instead, a huge fellow came out from behind the trees. He was all made of muscles, a head taller than me, and he had four arms—with a sword in each one.

  “Oh my. Where were you when I needed a good bodyguard?”

  The warrior was not in the mood for jokes. He ran at me with a furious growl, brandishing the swords.

  “Four blades against one, not exactly fair?”

  He didn’t care. It looked like his job was to kill any stranger who entered here, no matter big or small, well armed or not.

  I parried and dodged his first round of blows. Jarvi’s sword must have helped, making my hand faster and stronger. The warrior looked surprised, he was obviously used to quick victories. He paused for a second and charged again. The force of his assault was so great that I could not stand my ground. I fought back as best as I could, yet he advanced, and I retreated. This was not looking good.

  If he doesn’t kill me, he’ll wear me out and force me to leave empty-handed.

  I had little chance to attack, but I still tried. Having made a false move, I used his confusion to get a bit closer and knocked out one of his swords.

  He didn’t like that at all. His next blow made me stagger back a few steps. Not realizing how close I was to the pond, I slipped on wet rocks and fell. The warrior struck right away. I rolled aside in the nick of time; his three blades hit the ground where I was just a moment ago.

  While I got back on my feet, he picked up his lost sword.

  Darn. Back to square one.

  I blocked a blow from two swords at once, but couldn’t get out of the way from one of his under-hand swords. Sparks flew as it glanced off my armor. The shoulder plate saved me from a serious injury, but I still reeled from the blow. Even a glancing blow from this fellow was bad enough. He must have thought I was going to collapse, and he approached to finish me off a bit too carelessly. I saw it, and I was ready for him. I struck first.

  The warrior dropped to his knees, swayed to the right, and nosed the ground.

  I took a moment to rest; I needed it.

  “Watch out, he might be just pretending!” Cassandra shouted.

  I checked. He wasn’t. I hit him right in the heart.

  I sheathed the sword and walked into the pond. It was not even knee-deep. The emerald apple shone through the water. I picked it up. It was warm, as if it had been lying out in the sun and not in a cold underground spring.

  I turned to go back and saw dozens of “tree people” peeking from behind trees. They had no weapons. It did not look like they were going to attack. One of them, a lady with long green braids and a small diadem on her head, stood at the very pond, looking at me with deep sadness.

  “I am Wilhelmina, queen of the Swirgs,” she said. “Before you destroy my people, tell me what it is you desire so bad that you were willing to risk your life and now are ready to do so much damage to others?”

  “I don’t know what you are talking about. I am not going to do any damage, I’m just returning this apple to its rightful owner.”

  “But the apple belongs to us.”

  “Yeah, and I’m Faradin, king of spirits. Tell your stories to someone else.”

  She regarded me with a slightly surprised, wondering expression.

  “You have passed up jewels bigger than this one, so obviously you know its worth. But you seem to be misinformed about its origin. Has someone sent you here claiming that the apple is theirs? Who do you call its rightful owner?”

  Well, Triar had warned me that they would try to lie their way out of it. I was curious to see how.

  “Triar the hermit,” I answered. “You stole it from him.”

  The queen shook her head.

  “We didn’t. The apple has always been ours. It gives special power to the water of this stream. We water our garden with it, and grow saveberries up in the valley—you humans call them sourberries. Saveberries help us to defend ourselves, and these trees produce fruits through which our children are born. So if you—or Triar—break the emerald apple, you will get your wish, but the garden will stop bringing fruit, and saveberries will lose their power. We will have no children and no defense. We will soon disappear.”

  “Wow, that’s quite a tale… Wait a minute, are you telling me that the apple can make a wish come true?”

  She looked even more surprised.

  “You didn’t know that? What did Triar tell you the apple can do?”

  “He said it gives information. Answers specific questions, truthfully and accurately.”

  The queen looked at the other Swirgs, as if asking them whether they ever heard such nonsense.

  “But it’s not true! The apple does no such thing. It does contain great power, and if a human breaks it, that power will grant them one wish—any wish—at the cost of destroying our nation. That’s why those who know this secret are after it. That’s why we tried to protect it as best as we could.”

  That sounded convincing. So convincing that I was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

  I gave her a slight bow.

  “Madam, I have to say, you are a masterful liar.”

  She appeared to be thinking. Then her gaze stopped on my sword.

  “The blade you carry is no ordinary blade. Come closer and draw it out.”

  I did not know what this new trick was about, but I did as she asked.

  “May this sword sing if I have spoken the truth,” the queen said, “or punish me if I have lied.”

  With these words, she reached out her hand and touched the sword. The sword turned in my hand and produced a soft, melodic ding.

  I felt a little lightheaded. Jarvi had mentioned that his sword could help separate truth from falsehood; he never said how, but now I saw it demonstrated. The queen didn’t lie to me; Triar did. I wasn’t rescuing a stolen gem; I was attempting to steal it from those who owned it. And I used Jarvi’s sword for it. And I shed blood.

  Triar, you scheming dog, you will answer me for this!

  Swirgs came a bit closer and stood around me, waiting, looking up at me with their big yellow eyes. Cassandra came up to the pond as well.

  I handed the emerald apple to the queen.

  “Here. Take it.”

  Her eyes widened.

  “You are returning it?!”

  “Well, it is yours. I’m certainly not taking it to Triar.”

  She sighed, accepting the apple.

  “Such an incredibly noble gesture… so terribly wasted.”

  “Why wasted?”

  “You have killed our guard. We are not warriors, we can’t defend the apple. Now anyone can walk in and take it. Our destruction is only a matter of time.”

  “You’ve got other defenses—rats and bats over there, and then other gems to distract intruders.”

  The queen shook her head.

  “They did not stop you, and many others before you.”

  “What about saveberries?”

  “They only help us to hide or escape from our enemies.”

  So I ruined them anyway. My giving up the apple did little good.

  The queen walked into the pond. I watched her wade through the water that was reaching her waist.

  “Well, if that’s the case… I have changed my mind.”

  I overtook the queen and snatched the apple from her hands. She gasped, other Swirgs cried out in fear.

  “I want everything to be the way it was before I entered this cave,” I said—an
d threw the emerald apple against the rocky wall of the cavern.

  It burst into thousands of green and white sparkles. They filled the cavern, dancing and flickering, making the world disappear for a few moments. Then the sparkles faded away. The emerald apple lay on its platter in the middle of the pond, and the four-armed guard was rising from the ground.

  The Swirgs stood speechless, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Cassandra had a similar expression.

  The guard didn’t share their awe; he saw me, so close to the precious apple, and ran my way, swords raised.

  At that moment, I didn’t care.

  “Archibald, no!” ordered the queen. “Do not touch this man!”

  He stopped in utter bewilderment.

  The queen turned to me. “What is your name, noble knight?”

  That I did not need to hear. Not again.

  “Never mind,” I said, heading back to the tunnel. “Sorry for the stress, have a good day. Come on, Cassandra, let’s get out of here.”

  Swirgs came back to their senses and tried to stop us, but I waved them off.

  “Leave me alone, guys. Just… leave me alone.”

  We walked in silence along that same tunnel, past the gemstones in the creek, towards the rat cave. Cassandra glanced at me with concern, but had enough sense not to ask any questions.

  “Sir noble knight! Mr. Hero! Wait!” came a shout.

  We halted and turned around. There was a Swirg running after us, carrying a small bag.

  “You call me that one more time and I’ll go back there and take your apple again,” I told him. “What do you want?”

  He took a moment to catch his breath.

  “Her Majesty Queen Wilhelmina wishes to reward you for what you have done for us.” He handed me the bag. “Please accept this gift from her.”

  “What is it?”

  “Some saveberries. You will be the first human to know their secret.”

  I took the bag and looked inside. It was divided into four compartments; the berries were sorted by color.