Once Upon a Quest

by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

  Once I finished eating, I dug through my pack for something to wear. The usual: black trousers and a white button-down top would have to do. It was all I had brought with me; easy to wear and easy to travel with. I dressed quickly and then caught sight of my hair in the mirror above the dresser. Dear God! I was a dreadful sight indeed.

  I attempted to comb through the mess atop my head and then pulled it into a ponytail. No fuss for this princess. Right. I was dressed and ready for the day. Eww, no. I needed to clean my damn teeth. I hoped there was something I could use to freshen my breath, or I wouldn’t need to kill dragons with my sword, all I would have to do was breathe. It tasted like something had taken a shit in my mouth. Truly dreadful! That certainly wouldn’t do.

  So, there was nothing but mint sticks in the bathroom. Apparently, dental hygiene wasn’t considered a commodity in this place. I chewed on a few and prayed no one came near me. It appeared I would have arse breath for the day. Fantastic!

  Chapter 17

  I made my way downstairs to the mostly empty bar area to find my companions sitting at a table near the centre of the room. Damn. I thought vampires, or half vampires healed quickly. James looked like hell with a busted lip and two black eyes; one was nearly swollen shut. I attempted to cover my smile. The brothers looked as if they hadn’t slept a wink. Oh, well. Time to get on with our day.

  “Good morning, gentlemen. I trust you slept well.” I couldn’t help myself. The glares I received were priceless.

  James turned toward me and attempted to speak. “Thure, Printhess.” Oh, damn. Was he missing a tooth? I hoped it grew back, or maybe he was only slurring from the beating to his mouth and jaw. I had to stifle a giggle.

  “Right, then.” I took a seat next to Tobias. “What’s the plan for today?”

  “We have a meeting with Julius and Gregory, his second, at sundown near the castle gates.” Eric leaned forward, placing his hands together. “The plan is for the three of us to distract them while you sneak inside the castle.”

  “Shouldn’t I stick around for a bit to learn where they’re holding Lucy?”

  “It would seem,” Tobias interjected, “they’re holding her in the lower cells. That’s the information I gathered yesterday. However, after the day you had, I was unable to relay this information.”

  “Very well. Seeing as you boys know the place, do you mind drawing up a map of sorts to guide me?”

  “Thobiash isth the only one of usth who hath been inthide,” James said without looking at me. “He can draw something up.”

  I was going to die from a fit of giggles if he didn’t stop talking! I looked heavenward and prayed for strength. It would be rude to kick a man while he was down, but oh, so funny indeed! I was surely going to Hell, I decided. I needed to walk away.

  “Sounds like a fine plan.” I stood from my seat, and glanced around to find someone we could ask for writing utensils. Ah, Bertha. I wondered if she ever took a break. “Excuse me for a moment, gentlemen.”

  She was lounging on a plush red sofa near the back, looking stunning as usual. I did wonder how she could breathe wearing her corset so tight; it hurt me thinking of the dreadful contraption. I was certain Bertha would appear beautiful in any position. Wait, that sounded odd, even for me.

  Moving on. A map, yes.

  “Bertha, do you have a moment?” I enquired with my hands clasped behind my back.

  “Sure, Princ—I, mean, Catherine.” She smiled at me. “What can I do for you?”

  “My companions and I are in need of writing utensils and a bit of paper suitable for drawing a map. Do you have anything like that available?”

  Surprisingly she didn’t ask any questions at all.

  “Give me just a moment and I’ll bring what you need to your table.” She stood and then patted my shoulder, walking toward what looked like a storage room of sorts.

  “Right. Thank you kindly, Bertha.”

  I walked back to where the boys were having yet another hushed conversation. James looked completely miserable, and maybe I did feel a tiny bit guilty. Only a tiny bit, though.

  I realised James and I would have to have a conversation about what happened between us at some point; a conversation I was truly dreading. I abhorred the fact that I had enjoyed what he did, but I couldn’t bloody deny it, unfortunately. Sigh.

  The dhampir brothers had moved from our table to the adjacent room that looked to be one for Bertha’s clientele. It was filled with comfortable-looking sofas, all red and black in coulor—that seemed to be the theme here—and fluffy pillows thrown about haphazardly. I honestly didn’t want to think of what went on in this room during the evening hours. Oh, my! The thought, although I had tried to keep it from surfacing, brought a blush to my cheeks. Dammit.

  Lucy would faint if she saw this place. The thought of seeing Lucy and hearing her chiding for being in the equivalent of a whore house made me giggle. God, I missed her. She was such a lady.

  Bertha touched my shoulder as I was nearing the boys and handed me a large piece of paper along with several different types of pens. “Here you are, Catherine. If you need anything at all, I’ll just be in the next room.”

  Before I could thank her again, she dashed away in a hurry. Oh! It seemed she might have a gentleman waiting. He was, well, a handsome man, if you liked the short balding sort. Oh, well. The map.

  “Here you go, gentleman. This should do nicely.” I handed the large sheet of paper and writing utensils to Tobias and then sat on the sofa beside him.

  Tobias went to work immediately, laying the paper out flat on the table in front of us without muttering a word. Apparently, whatever they had been discussing was now over. I realised it was most likely about me, and I had no desire to hear it anyway.

  As I watched Tobias draw the map, I thought about what we knew as fact. We were going on second-hand information, and not one of us truly knew if Lucy was being held in the lower cells beneath the castle. However, it was a risk I was willing to take. I didn’t care who or what I had to kill to rescue her. We just had to stick to the plan.

  Tobias’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “Catherine, you need to be very careful tonight. The Drakin Clan’s castle is much larger than your fathers. Werewolves and other creatures spend a lot of time there.” He nudged me a bit. “Catherine, are you listening?”

  “Yes, yes. I am. I was deep in thought. Carry on.” I studied the map and listened intently as he continued.

  “Julius uses these creatures for their magic, and we have no idea what you might run into in there.”

  The drawing was coming together quite nicely, and it seemed Tobias must have a photographic memory in order to retain such precise detail. Or, maybe it was magic. Magic. That was still a bit unnerving.

  “As long as I have my sword, I’m not worried about any of those creatures. I’d really rather kill Julius, but I guess a girl can’t have it all.” I smiled, imagining slicing his head clean off, watching it slide from atop his shoulders. Ah, that would do nicely, I decided.

  The boys must have been rubbing off on me. I had become quite gruesome indeed.

  “Stop overthinking everything,” Eric said, “and get in and out of there as quickly as possible. The plan is simple, but anything could go wrong; we need to be prepared for it.”

  Well, he didn’t seem too happy; quite pissy if you asked me. I realised he was most likely worried for my safety and being alone in a castle full of shifters. He had yet to come to reason with the fact that I was no ordinary princess. I was looking forward to this quest and hoping for some action. Every day was a good day to kill a Drakin, as long as I didn’t draw attention myself. That part was important. I simply couldn’t wait!

  I really was becoming a bit bloodthirsty. Hmpf. The bastards had kidnapped my sister and tried to kill me. They could all die.

  “And how issth thee to go in undetected?” James enquired, and I did giggle this time. I hoped his mouth healed soon.

  James stood from his seat a
nd walked toward the table. Oh, my! He was walking funny, too. I had to cover my mouth and stare at the map. His legs must have been damaged when Eric tossed him through the wall. Oh, God! I was going to burst into a fit of giggles! He really needed to sit down in a hurry.

  When I glanced at my other two companions, Eric was giving James a warning look while Tobias continued to focus on the map. It seemed their tiff had yet to be resolved. I honestly needed to stop laughing. It would indeed turn into belly laughter soon enough if I didn’t think of something else.

  Eric turned toward me. “Catherine, what the hell is so funny?”

  Oh, damn. I was caught.

  “Bertha was kissing another gentleman just outside the door. I found it quite funny.” I had to lie. I couldn’t tell them I was laughing at James. I mean, that would have been terribly rude and well, just rude.

  “Right. So, do you have any questions about what needs to happen to tonight?” He raised a questioning brow.

  Damn. Eric knew I was lying.

  I shrugged. “Nope. In and out. Save Lucy and then we’re on our happy way.” I could feel James staring at me.

  Dear God! He needed to stop. I couldn’t behave myself decently today. I had no idea what had come over me. Laughing gas? No. Not that. It was me. I was just an arsehole. I giggled again. God help me. I looked heavenward.

  James repeated himself. “We thill have no way to enthure Catherine issth undetected!”

  “We’ll find a way!” Eric growled, slamming his fist on his thigh. I couldn’t help myself and rolled my eyes. I could feel the tension in the room growing. I was sick of all the fighting. We needed to concentrate on getting Lucy home in one piece!

  I stood, glowering at them all. I was just having a laugh—an inappropriate laugh, I might add—and now they were being the arseholes. I began pacing the room, attempting to think of a reasonable plan to disguise myself. Damn. The brothel was indeed quiet this afternoon. The ladies must have been sleeping and then I wondered if our deplorable behaviour had scared off all their customers. Right, I was getting off track again. Dammit.

  Drakins ruled these parts and from what I had gathered, the people here were looking forward to change. It wasn’t neutral territory as I had originally suspected when I first arrived. Everyone hated the bastard, Julius. These people were often oppressed, and their homes were invaded without reason. Without getting too far ahead of myself, I had a feeling war would soon be on the horizon. However, Lucy was my top priority which gave me an excellent idea. Lucy hated trousers! Yes, that was it!

  I stopped pacing and stood before the brothers, grinning like an idiot. “I can dress up as a stable boy! Bertha must have some wigs lying around here somewhere. It’s the perfect plan; no one will look at me twice and I can sneak in unawares.” I placed my hands on my hips, feeling quite proud of this idea.

  I knew I could pull it off; my breasts were rather small, but they fit my tall frame nicely. By the looks of the drawing, there was an entrance to the castle near the stables. I still found it peculiar that the dhampirs held an alliance with Julius. The leader of the Drakins was nothing more than a fire-breathing coward. The idiot would never suspect me as a stable boy, and this was the perfect opportunity to get Lucy out of there while the boys kept the arsehole dragon occupied. I could just squeal with excitement!

  I needed my sister.

  “I suppose this could work,” Eric agreed, running his hand along the stubble on his chin and James nodded his approval.

  “I’m happy to know the two of you approve, but I wasn’t asking for your permission.” I pushed my hands to my sides, eyeballing them, well, mostly Eric.

  Such an infuriating caveman.

  “All right, it’s a good plan. We are going to be meeting Julius here”—Tobias pointed to a small section on the map—“and the stables are by these outbuildings. You’ll have to get Lucy out by midnight before the shift change.” He looked to me for affirmation and I nodded. “This way, no one will know Lucy has escaped.”

  I had a good feeling about this; the castle looked enormous, even on his drawing. Julius had invaded this castle over thirty years ago, before my time, killing the King and Queen of the Eastern Kingdom and then claiming the land for himself and his clan of dragon shifters. Other kingdoms, along with my father, had planned on invading the Eastern Lands and punishing the Drakins for their crimes, but when the time came for the plan to move forward, the remaining kingdoms had backed out. Suddenly it seemed, they were either afraid to make a move or they had struck some sort of deal. My father had been furious and didn’t want to start a war at the time without support from the other kingdoms.

  “Yes, of course; that shouldn’t be a problem at all.” I sat near Tobias again and began looking over the map once more.

  We discussed the plan in detail while Tobias showed me how I could get inside to the lower cells, after I managed to make it to the stables undetected. Even James was getting involved. His face was finally starting to heal, and his speech was improving, too.

  It was late afternoon by the time we finished sorting everything out. We were pretty confident that everything would go over smoothly tonight. Eric went to the bar to get some drinks, and Tobias locked himself in his room. Apparently, Tobias was working on a new spell that would enhance his abilities, giving him the power to bond us all during the mission, also covering my scent so the Drakins wouldn’t be able to detect me. I found it a bit odd, being nearly the same spell the old witch from the forest said she’d placed on me but said nothing of it.

  I removed a few knives from my boots and began sharpening them—a habit of mine I seemed to do while in deep thought—wondering if I had missed anything. I kept thinking about the what if’s and playing around with different scenarios in my mind.

  “Everything will go smoothly, and Lucy will be with you before you know it,” James said, startling me from my thoughts. I’d kind of forgotten he was still in the room.

  I stopped what I was doing and looked up at him; his face had healed quite nicely. Memories from our time together jolted through my mind. Dear God! Why couldn’t I erase what had happened and stop thinking about it? His crystal stare and heated expression were letting me know he had no plans of giving up on pursuing me. Eric had told me he was a womaniser, but I’d never actually seen him talk to another woman. Either way, I didn’t care. He needed to stop staring at me. If not, I would just kick him. Hard. Yes, that would do perfectly. I smiled internally at the thought.

  “I’m certain of it, but I’m so worried about her. This is a crime Julius cannot come back from. He’d better not have harmed a hair on her head or so help me, I’ll kill him myself—damn the plan!” The mere thought of him injuring my sister caused me to grind my teeth, and boiling anger began rising in the pit of my stomach.

  I was ready for this battle, ready to bring peace to this land and most importantly, ready to have my sister home and safe. James smiled and sat on the sofa opposite me.

  “You’re so passionate, and this is what I love most about you,” he said. “I don’t care about Eric, but you can’t deny the fact that we have a powerful connection. You wanted me then. You enjoyed what I was doing to you—admit it.”

  Wait. Did he just say, “love?” Dear God! Blood rushed to my face. How the hell was I supposed to respond to something like that? His eyes lowered to my breasts. It was suddenly too hot in this room, or maybe it was just me and my damned hormones again. Bloody hell. Why did those dhampir brothers have to be so damned good looking? Eric was hotblooded and intense, but James was cocky. He was driving me mad, and when I was around him I acted purely on impulse; a behaviour I certainly wasn’t used to.

  Stop it, Catherine! What are you thinking? You had steamy relations with Eric just last night!

  I was truly becoming a hussy. Sigh.

  “Shut up, James, or I’ll knock your teeth so far down your throat, they’ll blow out your arse!” I snapped, rubbing my forehead nervously.

  James had the ner
ve to smirk at me. Did he not think I was serious? Why, I would—oh, damn. The son of bitch was only trying to get a rise out of me, and I was playing right into his hand. Bastard. It didn’t matter in the slightest. I now knew I was developing feelings for Eric—against my better judgement, I might add—but I still wasn’t entirely sure if I was ready or if I would “choose” any of them. I had no desire to become queen, and dear God, I certainly didn’t want to be married! These thoughts and thoughts of what the future might bring scared the hell out of me.

  Was it time to kill Drakins yet?

  James’s voice broke me away from my internal ranting. He was still here. Damn the luck. I looked up again and nearly growled in frustration. Ladies didn’t growl, but again, a lady I was not.

  “I’m not sure why you felt the need to tell him what happened between us; it was our moment, and Tobias told me that he saw you kissing Eric. I should have known he would start pursuing you straight away when he insisted on accompanying you to your kingdom, giving him an advantage.” James’s tone seemed annoyed and unsure.

  Dammit! I was no one’s prize to be won! I belonged to no one. I had a sister to save and didn’t need this shit. He did have one thing right: Eric and I did share an instant attraction, but that was not relevant at present. And why was he talking to me about this when we should be preparing for our mission?

  “I thought it was a dream!” I slammed my knives on the table, got up and then stormed out of the room. And… that was simply embarrassing to say aloud.

  I was on the verge of losing control again, and in truth, I didn’t want to hurt him. Maybe stab him a little, but he would heal. Eric had already kicked his arse last night. James frustrated me to no end, but I couldn’t deny I was somewhat attracted to the arsehole. I did want to find out if he’d slipped something into my drink, though, however that conversation was for another time.

  At the end of the day, it was up to me to choose and, if I chose—it hinged on bringing Lucy home safe and sound. That was the deal. I sighed in frustration. This was why I was a no-frills kind of princess, also meaning—no attachments with men. It was always so much easier before now. This situation well and truly sucked.