Read Online My Royal Pain Quest (The Lakeland Knight series, #2) by Laura Lond - Free Book Online
Authors: Laura Lond
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packed some food for you here, stuff that will keep.” He nodded at Cassandra. “How do you like the transformation?”
I smiled. “Archie and I are getting along great.”
“Archie, huh?” The hermit shook his head. “If only her father knew.”
“Knock it off, Triar! The lecture you gave me last night was quite enough.”
I looked at Cassandra, surprised by her suddenly sharp, imperious tone. I didn’t know she could order Triar around like that… And he said nothing to put her in her place. That was interesting.
“You know her father?” I asked.
Triar glanced at Cassandra, who was still frowning.
“I do. But she’ll bite my head off if I say anything about it.”
“That’s exactly what I’ll do,” she confirmed. “Shall we get going?”
Well, I didn’t like it either when people stuck their noses into my affairs. I asked no more questions.
We saddled the horses, checked and loaded our belongings. Triar came out to see us off.
“Watch out for Ragnar,” he said. “Remember how well he’d planned his last trap. He is even angrier now. He’ll do all he can to get his revenge.”
I did not need this reminder. I knew the gormack wouldn’t give up.
We thanked Triar and bade him farewell. I decided to go back to the creek first, to pick more sourberries. Keeping in mind our destination, it was smart to have a good supply of them.
“I’ll be picking purple, red, and pink berries,” I said, “and you go after the white ones. We need three times more of those.”
We started working. Protected by sharp thorns, the berries were not easy to get. It took some time to figure out how to do it: holding a branch up with one hand, we’d carefully remove all the berries from it and proceed to the next. I sorted berries by color as I picked them, placing them into three different pouches. Cassandra didn’t have to worry about sorting, so she was going a little faster.
“Shall we try them out?” she asked when the pouches were filled.
“Sure, why not. Which ones do you want to start with?”
“The invisible ones! I’ve often dreamed about it—you know, walking around without being seen.”
“That would be very helpful in your profession, wouldn’t it? All right, purple berries… Here, one for you, one for me.”
Cassandra took the purple berry and handed me a white one.
“I go first!” She put two berries into her mouth. “Blah! These aren’t called sourberries for nothing…”
In the next moment she vanished.
“Is it working?” came her voice out of nowhere. Then a pinecone jumped up from the ground and flew at me.
“Hey now!”
I ate the berries as well. The sourness made me wince. Thorns and a terrible taste—no wonder people haven’t discovered the secret.
I could still see myself, but I looked like a gray shadow. Another shadowy silhouette stood before me.
“I see you, Archie! You look like a ghost.”
“So do you!” Cassandra was thrilled. “My, this is great! The invisibles can see each other while no one sees them!”
“Well, it makes sense. Otherwise we’d stumble all over and bump into each other.”
“I want to do something! Let’s go back to Triar and scare the daylights out of him!”
I chuckled. “Sounds tempting, but no. We shouldn’t be wasting time, the prince doesn’t have much of it left.”
“Oh, look who else is here!” She pointed to my right.
I turned and saw three small figures marching our way. These were Swirgs, two adults and a boy. Judging by their spectral appearance, they were in the invisible mode as well.
“Hey guys,” I greeted them. “Who are you hiding from? Us?”
They stopped, looking up at me with happy grins. One, obviously the leader, saluted me.
“Hello, Mr. Hero! No, not from you.”
“Will you quit calling me that?! The name’s Arkus! Got it?”
“Arkus? Perhaps you should change it. There’s a bad villain called Lord Arkus, you don’t want to be confused with him.”
“Maybe I
I smiled. “Archie and I are getting along great.”
“Archie, huh?” The hermit shook his head. “If only her father knew.”
“Knock it off, Triar! The lecture you gave me last night was quite enough.”
I looked at Cassandra, surprised by her suddenly sharp, imperious tone. I didn’t know she could order Triar around like that… And he said nothing to put her in her place. That was interesting.
“You know her father?” I asked.
Triar glanced at Cassandra, who was still frowning.
“I do. But she’ll bite my head off if I say anything about it.”
“That’s exactly what I’ll do,” she confirmed. “Shall we get going?”
Well, I didn’t like it either when people stuck their noses into my affairs. I asked no more questions.
We saddled the horses, checked and loaded our belongings. Triar came out to see us off.
“Watch out for Ragnar,” he said. “Remember how well he’d planned his last trap. He is even angrier now. He’ll do all he can to get his revenge.”
I did not need this reminder. I knew the gormack wouldn’t give up.
We thanked Triar and bade him farewell. I decided to go back to the creek first, to pick more sourberries. Keeping in mind our destination, it was smart to have a good supply of them.
“I’ll be picking purple, red, and pink berries,” I said, “and you go after the white ones. We need three times more of those.”
We started working. Protected by sharp thorns, the berries were not easy to get. It took some time to figure out how to do it: holding a branch up with one hand, we’d carefully remove all the berries from it and proceed to the next. I sorted berries by color as I picked them, placing them into three different pouches. Cassandra didn’t have to worry about sorting, so she was going a little faster.
“Shall we try them out?” she asked when the pouches were filled.
“Sure, why not. Which ones do you want to start with?”
“The invisible ones! I’ve often dreamed about it—you know, walking around without being seen.”
“That would be very helpful in your profession, wouldn’t it? All right, purple berries… Here, one for you, one for me.”
Cassandra took the purple berry and handed me a white one.
“I go first!” She put two berries into her mouth. “Blah! These aren’t called sourberries for nothing…”
In the next moment she vanished.
“Is it working?” came her voice out of nowhere. Then a pinecone jumped up from the ground and flew at me.
“Hey now!”
I ate the berries as well. The sourness made me wince. Thorns and a terrible taste—no wonder people haven’t discovered the secret.
I could still see myself, but I looked like a gray shadow. Another shadowy silhouette stood before me.
“I see you, Archie! You look like a ghost.”
“So do you!” Cassandra was thrilled. “My, this is great! The invisibles can see each other while no one sees them!”
“Well, it makes sense. Otherwise we’d stumble all over and bump into each other.”
“I want to do something! Let’s go back to Triar and scare the daylights out of him!”
I chuckled. “Sounds tempting, but no. We shouldn’t be wasting time, the prince doesn’t have much of it left.”
“Oh, look who else is here!” She pointed to my right.
I turned and saw three small figures marching our way. These were Swirgs, two adults and a boy. Judging by their spectral appearance, they were in the invisible mode as well.
“Hey guys,” I greeted them. “Who are you hiding from? Us?”
They stopped, looking up at me with happy grins. One, obviously the leader, saluted me.
“Hello, Mr. Hero! No, not from you.”
“Will you quit calling me that?! The name’s Arkus! Got it?”
“Arkus? Perhaps you should change it. There’s a bad villain called Lord Arkus, you don’t want to be confused with him.”
“Maybe I
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