The Child Prince (The Artifactor) Read online

  Published by Raconteur House

  Manchester, TN

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  THE CHILD PRINCE: BOOK ONE OF THE ARTIFACTOR

  A Raconteur House book/ published by arrangement with the author

  PRINTING HISTORY

  Raconteur House mass-market edition/December 2013

  Raconteur House ebook edition/December 2013

  Copyright © 2013 by Honor Raconteur

  Cover Illustration by Honor Raconteur

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

  Purchase only authorized editions.

  For information address:

  Raconteur House

  164 Whispering Winds Dr.

  Manchester, TN, 37355

  If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

  www.raconteurhouse.com

  Other books by Honor Raconteur

  Published by Raconteur House

  THE ADVENT MAGE CYCLE

  Book One: Jaunten

  Book Two: Magus

  Book Three: Advent

  Book Four: Balancer

  Advent Mage Compendium

  The Dragon’s Mage

  Special Forces 01

  The Midnight Quest

  Kingslayer

  THE ARTIFACTOR SERIES

  The Child Prince

  It takes courage to lead a life.

  Any life.

  Careful, now…she must be very careful. Just one drop of the captured sunlight on the rock salt would set off quite the explosion. Sevana held her breath as she leaned carefully over her work table, holding her arm steady with her other hand, muscles tense. Just a few more inches and she’d be able to insert the captured sunlight liquid into the mixture. But just a drop, just one—

  Knock knock. Knockknockknock.

  The sudden noise in the absolute stillness of her workroom sounded like a war drum going off. She started, the vial in her hand twitching at just the wrong moment, and a drop landed…exactly where it should not have. Sevana had just enough time to dive for the floor before the liquid dissolved into the salt and set off a spectacular explosion that set fire to everything within reach.

  I can’t lay on the floor, she realized in panic and rolled back to her feet. If that fire reached certain areas of the room—areas that held volatile and flammable things—then the whole room would go up like a volcanic eruption.

  Sevana scrambled towards the first tool that she could reach. It wasn’t a water or fire-reducing wand as she wanted, but a stasis crystal. Close enough to do the job. She snatched it off the table and quickly commanded, “Xold ne fole!”

  Everything in the room, including the flames that had been licking their way across her worktable, froze. Breathing hard, she looked around to see what damage had been done. The bookshelves lining either end of the room hadn’t been touched, so her reference books were safe. (This was a fortunate thing for whoever it was knocking on her door. It meant they could live to see tomorrow.)

  But the rest of the room…aish. Her long wooden worktable was scorched all along one end. She’d likely have to replace the whole thing. Everything on top of it was melted. Not one flask, wand, or ingredient was still usable. The stone grinders were questionable, covered in soot as they were. Even the workbench along the back wall was a little scorched along the edges.

  She couldn’t claim to be in better shape, either. Despite having dove to the floor, some of the flames had still reached her. She could taste soot in her mouth, so her face likely had smears of it. The back of her hands certainly did. When she looked down at herself, she noted in disapproval that her white shirt looked grey, and the buckskin pants she wore were streaked with black. For that matter…she sniffed the air around her. Could that be…? Yes, it was. The smell of melted hair. Even her hair had been burned?!

  Knockknockknockknockknockthud.

  I take it back. Whoever that is has to die. Sevana released the crystal, letting it hover in mid-air, and spun for the door. Big must have sensed her mood as he rearranged the tunnels for her with a low, grating noise so that she had direct access to the main door. Whoever had come knocking (aside from having a short life expectancy) must have been a friend to get this far without Big stopping them.

  Friend or foe, it didn’t matter. They still needed to be killed.

  She reached the door, grabbed the wooden latch, and yanked it open. Her visitor held his hand raised, as if poised to knock again. At the murderous look on her face, he cautiously backed up a pace, eyes taking her in from head to toe. “Ah…did I catch you at a bad time, Sev?”

  “Kip,” she snarled, not even surprised. Only he would have this kind of atrocious timing. “You barmy git! Whatever brought you to my door just became a life or death situation.”

  Her childhood friend held up both hands in a pleading gesture. “Wait, Sev, this is actually important. Errr…what happened to you?”

  “You happened,” she snapped, planting her feet. “I was in the middle of a very delicate experiment—”

  “Really? Then why did Big let me through?”

  She turned her eyes to the nearest section of rock. Big, as a mountain, couldn’t flinch or look guilty. But the condensation on the rocks looked like beads of nervous sweat to her. “A point I will take up with him later. At great length.”

  From the depths of the tunnels behind her, a soft breeze ran through, ruffling her scorched hair. With the feel of the wind came a soft word, said on a sigh, Sorry.

  Ignoring her giant sentinel, she turned her eyes back to Kip. Her temper rose a notch seeing that particular smile on his face. Ever since they were toddlers, he had always been a beautiful child, and at the age of twenty, he had become a very handsome man with the thick, wavy black hair that women envied, crystal blue eyes, and a tall, lean build to him. He had used his charm and that particular smile to get out of every troublesome moment in his life. The only person it failed to ever work on was her. Which he very well knew, so why he decided to try it, she had no idea.

  He turned his smile up another notch. “Really, Sev, it’s serious. But it’s also something that you’ve asked me to find for you.”

  Over the years, Kip had developed the troublesome habit of bringing her work to do. No matter how many times she told him that she didn’t want to be bothered, or that she had no interest in helping people, he still showed up with work. If not for the fact that childhood friends were rather difficult to replace, she would have strangled him and buried his body in the woods years ago.

  Well, that and the fact that his mother would no doubt make her bring him back from the dead. Again.

  But this didn’t seem to be the usual work. He typically started out with how this or that person truly needed help, no one else could do it, yadda yadda. She couldn’t remember asking him for anything specific, but this serious expression he wore indicated that she should at least hear him out. So she sighed, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “You’ve got fifteen seconds.”

  “You know that the Child Prince was hit by an age reducing spell about ten yea
rs ago?”

  She nodded impatiently. “And they’ve never been able to reverse the spell, so he’s eternally a child. What about it?”

  “Only yesterday you complained to me that you’re bored and that your job has become repetitious.” He leaned in slightly, eyes crinkling up at the corners. “Think about it, Sev. Our prince has had hundreds of magicians of every sort come and examine him. Five years ago, they gave up all hope and proclaimed his curse as ‘unbreakable.’ Wouldn’t that make this the ultimate challenge?”

  She had to admit, that truly did sound like one. Sevana adored pitting her wits against someone else’s and curse-breaking was the ultimate form of that. But she had to wonder about the timing of this. “If it’s been five years since he’s been locked away as a lost cause, why are you just now bringing this interesting challenge to me?”

  Kip’s smile froze for a second. “Ah, well…”

  “What, you didn’t think I’d notice that?” she asked acidly.

  He scrubbed at the back of his head, blew out a breath, and shrugged in resignation. “Alright, here’s truth. The Council passed a law this morning that…troubles me. On the surface, it gives them the right to manage the government in the absence of the royal family. But really, we’re already in that state. The prince is unable to rule, the king is basically always absent from court as no one’s seen him rule or decree anything since the prince was cursed, and there’s no one else to step forward to rule. Windamere is in the deplorable state it’s in because of the Council. If they give themselves tacit permission to rule, where does that leave us?”

  She froze, mind whirling at high speeds. Truly, the picture he painted scared even her. “And the king?”

  “I doubt he’s even aware of what the Council has done,” Kip sighed, running a hand through his hair. “That man’s even more preoccupied with experimentation than you are.”

  So the Council had taken control of the government entirely? All directions for the kingdom would come from that council of greedy fools? Sevana didn’t like the sound of this at all. She tried to ignore politics as much as possible, as it inevitably became too troublesome to deal with, but she couldn’t ignore it completely. As an Artifactor, she needed to be licensed on several levels in order to just do business. Because of her high rank, she required a Trade License, Operating License, Artifactor License, and a License for Unorthodox Substances. Without those, she wouldn’t be able to do anything—legally. But they all required a yearly trip to the capital city and the castle just to renew.

  If those fools had carte blanche on everything, who knew what new hoops they would create for her to hop through. In fact, they might get it in their heads to make her their personal Artifactor or some such nonsense.

  There were prices to pay for being the infamous Artifactor Prodigy.

  The news troubled her enough that she could almost forgive Kip for his atrocious timing. Almost. She leveled a glare on him that would make a lesser man quake in his boots. He did gulp nervously, though, and his smile faltered for a moment. “If you help me clean up my lab, I’ll let you live,” she offered generously.

  Placing a hand over his heart, he swept her a grand bow. “It will be my pleasure to assist you.”

  Well, well. The man did have survival skills after all. She turned and waved him through, kicking the door shut behind him.

  Kip made his way to the lab without any instruction on her part. Sevana paused to take in the atmosphere of the cave. She had been coming here since she was three, and living here since she turned fifteen, so she knew the feel of this place better than the back of her head. The smell of burned and melted things floated in the air, marring the usual pleasant smell of earth and running water. That she expected. But under that, she detected a sense of caution. Nothing about the sloping cave walls, the smooth pathways, or the condensation caused by the multitude of little springs in the cave indicated that Big might be a little nervous. She just instinctively felt it was so.

  So she gave him a friendly pat on the wall as she turned and followed Kip into her workroom. And if she smiled a little when Big sent a small breeze to caress her cheek and ruffle her melted hair, well, Kip couldn’t see it with his back to her.

  Kip had one of her never-ending trash bags open and was tossing anything melted or destroyed beyond recognition into it with commendable speed. Without a word, she picked up another bag and joined in. “You didn’t come here just to tell me the news, did you?”

  “No, I would have waited for you in town tomorrow if it was just that,” he responded with a cautious look at her. “But I had a thought. Sev, have you ever looked at the Child Prince? I mean, did you ever try to figure out what curse was responsible for his situation?”

  She looked at him wearily. Did she ever do work for other people unless he dragged her into it? Surely the man knew this by now. “No.”

  “I thought as much. I think you should. Look at him, I mean. If you don’t figure out what’s wrong with him, or at least some way to reverse the spell he’s under, then this whole kingdom is doomed. The Council is already issuing some pretty oppressive laws.”

  Well, he had a point, but…

  “And it really is the ultimate challenge,” he added as if sensing her hesitation. “I mean I looked at the list of magicians that went to see him. There were some very recognizable names on that list. If even they couldn’t do it, then I imagine that this curse is hideously complex. You wouldn’t be bored for the next several months at least, I would think.”

  She didn’t bother to ask how he managed to get his hands on such a list. This was Kip, after all. She paused in mid-motion, holding a bag open, and thought about it for a moment, running the ramifications through her mind. “But they’re not going to let me waltz in there and see him. The Council likely prefers him trapped in that eternal child’s body after all.”

  “So?” he responded artlessly. “Kidnap him.”

  She froze, hand reaching for something, and favored him with an exasperated look. “Tell me you’re not serious.”

  “Perfectly serious.” Kip stopped putting things into the bag and braced both hands against the table so that he could lean closer to her, eyes intense. “Sev, that poor kid should be twenty-one years old now. He should be near my age, but he’s eternally stuck at eight. Worse, if we don’t help him, if we don’t find a way to put him on that throne, then you know what’s going to happen. Without someone to check them, the Council magistrates are going to go mad with power.”

  She rocked back on her heels and thought about it for a moment. It sounded like a lot of trouble. Actually, the idea of breaking into that castle and kidnapping a prince sounded like more hassle than she cared to deal with. And that didn’t even include the fact that she would have to bring him back here, and he would have to live here for quite some time until she figured everything out. And who knew how long that would take. The only company that she could stand for any length of time was Big and Baby.

  And neither of them were human.

  Sevana blew out an irritable breath. Troublesome, troublesome. The whole situation reeked of trouble that she’d just as soon avoid. But if she did, a whole new set of trouble would land on her door, trouble that she couldn’t avoid. She only wavered toward the ‘helping’ side because of that interesting challenge tempting her.

  “If you could break my spell, you can break his,” Kip implored. “Please, Sev.”

  She wasn’t in the slightest moved by this plea. But an interesting thought popped into her mind. The prince, if turned king, would have the power to issue royal commands. “When that boy gets on the throne, I want him to issue me an eternal Artifactor’s License so I don’t have to renew the thing every year. That is my fee for helping him.”

  Kip rolled those big blue eyes of his and said patiently, “I’m sure he’ll grant you one for your help. Now will you go already?”

  Since he had caused this mess, she felt it only right that he got to clean it up. Alone. “This place nee
ds to be spotless by the time I’m back. Just leave everything in stasis, I’ll deal with that later. And do not show up here tomorrow.”

  “Err…” he looked nervous for some reason. “You sure that’s a good idea? I mean, he’s royalty. He’s not going to be used to that sharp tongue of yours.”

  “He’d best adjust quickly, then.” Unconcerned, she dropped the bag and spun on one heel before exiting the room, heading for the storeroom next door. If she were to break into a castle and kidnap a prince, she’d need a few things.

  “Shouldn’t you do something about your hair first?” Kip called after her.

  Rats. She probably should, at that.

  Sevana took an hour to grow out her hair and cut it, bathe, and change clothes before she started to prepare. At first, she’d only intended to just regrow the hair and cut it again, getting rid of the melted areas, but one look at the mirror had scared even her for a moment. A bath and a change of clothes had definitely been in order.

  Satisfied, she went to her room of records and dug through the information in her files until she found what she needed. Her files had a very specific way of organization to them (one that made no sense to anyone else) and at first glance, it did look rather jumbled. The room had originally started with bookshelves all along the cave walls, but over the years, she’d added bookshelves to stand in the middle of the room, and a narrow desk squeezed in near the door. Everything had been sorted by the artifact made (as that’s where she started looking), then by area, and then by client.

  She headed straight for the Clock Files.

  Somewhere around age twelve, Sevana had hit upon the idea of creating a personal portal network in the kingdom. She disliked most means of travel (simply because they were slow) and frankly, with the weird jobs that Kip kept volunteering her for, she’d be constantly traveling and never get anything done. So, portals. It had taken her some time to think of a way to manage it, however. Most people didn’t like the idea of anyone having access to their home or business without a by-your-leave. So Sevana had to develop something that they wanted and would never suspect.