The Dreamer's Curse (Book 2) Read online

  ~ ~ ~

  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.”

  Sevana quirked a brow at him. “I notice you didn’t say easy.”

  “In my experience, removing a power element from an ancient artifact is never easy,” Master grumbled.

  Sevana perked up with interest. She’d been vaguely aware that Master had dealt with ancient artifacts before, but this was the first time he had mentioned them himself. “How many have you come across?”

  “This will be the fifth, I think.” For some reason his eyes crinkled up in a small smile. “The first one was early in my career. In fact, I think I’d only been an Artifactor as long as you have been when I took the job on. I quickly realized I had gotten in over my head and had to call my master for help.”

  She glared at him. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

  “Just a fact, sweetling.”

  “Humph.”

  Chuckling, Master reached for the bag sitting at his feet. “Alright, let’s call Sarsen and tell him we’re adding an item to his scavenger list, shall we?”

  ~ ~ ~

  The return trip to Chastain would have taken three days, but Sevana insisted they stop the night before they were due and stay at an inn. If it were just she and Master, they’d likely have pressed on, but a young boy and a wolf couldn’t put up with a confined space for three days straight. Sevana absolutely refused to share space with a stir-crazy eight year old and a whiny wolf.

  So they stopped at a decent inn, all of them taking great delight in soaking in a hot tub and having a hot meal. Sevana felt secretly glad that she’d had an excuse to clean up before they arrived at the village again. She hardly wanted to arrive smelly and mussed from the long trip.

  They arrived at Chastain midmorning to the relief of the entire village. Sarsen ran to meet them, looking far more relieved than the whole village combined, if that were possible. Sevana managed to get one foot out of the carriage before he grabbed her around the waist and hugged her. “Sev,” he said against her temple.

  Sevana just sighed and put up with it. First Bel, then Hana, then Master and now Sarsen. Clearly, a hugging disease of some sort was going around and most of her inner circle had become infected. She’d go looking for the cure later since saying I’m not huggable! clearly had no effect whatsoever.

  “I’m so glad you’re back,” he told he
r, finally setting her gently to earth.

  “You’re only glad I’m back because you feel overwhelmed by everything,” she responded dryly, cocking a challenging brow at him.

  “Do you realize how many stones make up this village?” he whined. He looked wide-eyed and a little frenzied, as if he hadn’t been getting enough sleep and became dry-drunk because of it.

  “It’s alright, we’ll take over from here,” she soothed. She made silent plans to get him drugged with a sleeping potion and in a quiet room as soon as she could manage it. He clearly needed to sleep for a few hours.

  “Sarsen, this is Sky,” Master introduced, a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “He’ll be in our care for a while until we can take him to his new home.”

  Sarsen managed a smile. “Hello, Sky.”

  Sky gave a shy nod back, but he clearly felt wary of Sarsen. (Sevana didn’t blame the kid. At the moment, she felt wary of Sarsen.)

  “New home?” Sarsen asked him, making an attempt to put the boy more at ease. “Where is that?”

  “Um…Sevana said she’d take me to meet the Fae.”

  Sarsen’s eyes flew wide and his mouth moved for several seconds, visibly searching for a response. “W-well. I’m impressed. Sky, how did you manage to talk her into that?”

  She smacked him lightly on the back of the head. “I volunteered, you dolt.”

  Sarsen gave her a look askance. “Did you hit your head somehow when you were transported?”

  “Now, now, Sarsen,” Master scolded good-naturedly. “Don’t spoil the moment. I like it when Sevana tries to help people.”

  Since not one person had expected such behavior from her, Sevana was beginning to wonder why she even bothered. Abruptly changing the subject, she asked, “Sarsen, are all the stones found?”

  “No, not yet. I think we’re close though.”

  “And the spring?” Master prompted.

  “Hube wasn’t sure where it came from, exactly. But he knows two people with dowsing rods that will help us look for it.”

  Good enough progress, to her mind. “In that case, go sleep. We’ll take matters over from here.”

  Chastain Village had two men that were widely known as the “Dowsing Experts” and Hube called them in to help before Sevana had even arrived. They stood in the courtyard waiting on instructions, which Sevana would have loved to issue, but she had two problems that needed to be sorted first:

  1) Sky

  2) Sarsen

  Sarsen had been up far too long and stressed because of her disappearance. Catching Master’s eye, she inclined her head toward the dry-drunk Artifactor, silently asking what he intended to do about him. If he didn’t take charge, she’d drug the man right here and cart him to a bed somewhere.

  Master shrugged, half-amused, and gave her a casual salute. Then he grabbed Sarsen from behind, hands clamped on both elbows, and frog-marched the man straight for the inn. “Sarsen, I think you need rest.”

  “Eh?” Sarsen struggled a little on instinct, but he had no choice but to move where Master directed. “No, I’m fine. Perhaps a little tired, but I can still work.”

  “No, no, we’re here now. We’ll handle things while you take a nice nap.”

  The conversation faded as they disappeared into the inn. Sevana blew out a breath. Alright, one problem sorted. Now, what to do with the other? She looked down at Sky, who stood as close as he dared to her without actually wrapping his arms around her leg. He had formed a strange attachment to her, like a duckling imprinting on the first thing it saw. Really, if the kid had any sense, he’d choose Master to follow around. She could hardly be described as the motherly sort with her sharp tongue. But he’d spent the past seven days with her without showing any signs of wanting to distance himself.

  He felt her eyes on him and looked up hesitantly. “You have to work now?”

  “I do,” she admitted frankly.

  He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment before venturing tentatively, “Can I come with you?”

  Now that was the question. Could he? Sevana didn’t think that any part of this new plan would have any danger to it. They were not going to go anywhere near that fountain or the shields around the gadgick, so the odds of them being in danger or getting transported again later were low. “Well, why not?”

  He lit up in a bright smile.

  “It’s going to be boring, though,” she felt like warning him. “We’re just going to be walking around in circles until we figure out where the underground water spring is, and then we’ll be digging up a hole to actually get to it.” How they would manage to dam it up was a problem she did not yet have a solution for, as it would take seeing the area to come up with a good plan. “Wouldn’t you rather do something else?”

  “I’ll be good,” he promised faithfully.

  Well, granted, this child didn’t have anything in common with the typical brat. He’d been working for his living for years now, although she found it hard to remember that sometimes. He had the maturity of a young teen instead of a normal child. He knew exactly how to behave at work and likely wouldn’t get in her way. Besides, Gid was standing right next to Decker. If Sky did start to become an irritant, she could always send him off to play with the wolf.

  If he wanted to go along, she wouldn’t stop him. She wouldn’t know where to put him anyway, in this village of strangers. So she shrugged and waved him on. “Come along, then.”

  Decker, seeing that she had more or less sorted things out, took a step away from the waiting men, calling to her, “Ready to start?”

  “Yes!”

  He paused and gave the boy trailing along at her heels an odd look. “Ah, and who’s the boy?”

  “My love child,” she answered without batting an eye.

  For a split second, he almost believed her. She could see it in those wide eyes. Then he blinked, his common sense kicking in, and gave Sky a dubious look. “Unless you had a child at ten years old, I highly doubt that.”

  Sevana just laughed. “I almost had you going for a moment.”

  “You almost did,” he admitted. Sinking to one knee, he offered a hand toward Sky. “I’m Decker, a huntsman in this village.”

  Sky accepted the hand in a warrior’s clasp, as well as he could with his smaller build, and gave Decker a game smile. “I’m Sky. I’m not really her child. She’s just helping me.”

  “Oh?” Decker gave Sevana a quick glance upwards. “Well, lucky you. Did you know that this is the woman that broke the curse on Prince Bellomi?”

  Sky froze before whirling, craning his neck so that he could stare up at her. “Really?!”

  “Really,” she assured him, both amused and flattered by his reaction. “Have you heard this story?”

  He nodded vigorously. “Everybody was talkin’ ‘bout it for months. They said it’s how he got back his throne, too.”

  “That was certainly the main reason,” she agreed. That and her freezing a room full of people. “But I’ll regale you with the full tale later, on our way back to Big. For now, we have work to do.”

  “Ah,” Decker regained his feet and pointed down at Sky’s head. “Shouldn’t we find him a place to stay while we work first?”

  “It’s not necessary,” she assured him. “We’re not doing anything dangerous today, and he wants to go along.”

  From the look on Decker’s face, he didn’t quite agree with her, but he shrugged it off and half-turned, gesturing to the other men. “This is Denis and Bernard. Goodmen, this is Sevana Warran and Sky.”

  “Artifactor Warran,” Denis greeted with a respectful nod of the head. He looked like a liveryman—smelled like one too—with a stocky build and a short mustache. His compatriot, Bernard, just gave a nod. She guessed his profession to be farmer, based on the rough condition of his hands, the worn-out knees, and dark tan.

  “Gentlemen,” she greeted in turn. “I trust you have a plan?”

  “Yes ma’am,” Bernard assured her. “We got different methods, me and Denis. H
e does it all in straight lines, and I follow my instincts. So we figure, we’ll divide up the area that Hube thinks the spring is in and just go at it. This don’t usually take more than a few hours.”

  “It’s going to have to be outside the village,” she warned them. “Anything closer than that might set off the artifact.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Denis guaranteed her with a patient smile. “We’ve been told so by Sarsen.”

  Good enough. “Then I’ll just follow along behind you. Feel free to start.”

  They left the village at a walk, no one in a particular hurry to get this over with, not with the immediate threat of being transported removed. Sarsen had done his job well—with almost all of the incantation stones now accounted for, the last person to have been transported was Sevana herself.

  She found the irony of that painfully funny, in a twisted sort of way.

  Once out of the village proper, they led off to the north, heading in the direction of the ruins although they stopped well shy of them. This made sense to Sevana—of course they knew a spring of some sort was in this area. It’s where the artifact had originally been, after all. The spring’s source at the platform had disappeared, but it had likely only moved, not dried up altogether.

  Different people used different types of tools for dowsing. The only one that Sevana had any personal experience with was a pendant, which would swing from one hand freely. She had used it before as a student, still training under Master, to find minerals although she had never used it since. But these men used other tools. Denis pulled out a weathered stick from the pack on his back, the end of it shaped in a “Y.” It looked like any other branch taken from a tree that had been sanded down and shaped by human hands.

  Bernard instead had two rods in his hands, both of them in an “L” shape that he obviously intended to use. He lifted the rods to where they were perpendicular to each other and the ground. Denis also lifted his so that the stick stayed perpendicular to the ground. Then, with only a glance to each other, they started off, both of them going opposite ways.

  Seeing that she couldn’t follow both men at once, she decided to follow Denis. Really, they were fortunate the weather had held so fair so that they weren’t doing this in a pre-summer heat wave or a lingering winter chill. If she had to tramp around in aimless circles in and around trees, this was the perfect weather to do it in.