The Child Prince (The Artifactor) Read Online Free Page A

than just shoes.” His eyes darted around the room. “Give me two minutes.”
    “Nothing bulky,” she cautioned him calmly as he emerged from behind his shield and started darting from one side of the room to another. “In fact, if it can’t fit in a bag, don’t bother. I can only carry so much.”
    “No, it’s nothing heavy that I need,” he assured her in an absent fashion as he started rummaging through different chests lined against the wall. “It’s just, if I don’t bring some sort of proof of my identity with me, they won’t believe me later if you actually manage to restore me.”
    A valid point. Hmmm. So he can think quickly in unexpected situations, eh? Good, good. He’ll need that ability to survive . Especially if he was going to be coming and going through her workshop.
    “Ah, found it!” He grabbed something from the bottom of a chest and slung it around his neck before stashing it inside his shirt. Without another word, he changed directions and put on some sturdy boots, a coat, and a hat with a low brim. On first inspection, the simple black shirt and pants that he wore looked ordinary enough if very well-tailored. It should last long enough for her to pick him up some more common clothing.
    “Ready?” she asked impatiently.
    He nodded to her. “Lead the way.”

The kidnapping went off without a hitch. Sevana brought the little prince through the grandfather clock without anyone even spotting them. After he stepped down onto the cave floor, she turned and shut the clock off again.
    When she looked back at him, the prince was staring with wide eyes, nearly turning in on himself so that he could see in every direction. “Wait,” he said in a high-strung voice, “so every clock here connects to an outside clock?”
    Curses . He figured it out that fast ? She grabbed his chin with her hand and turned him to face her directly. “This room does not exist,” she told him firmly.
    He opened his mouth to object but paused, studying her expression cautiously. Then he gave a jerky nod. “As you wish.”
    Too afraid of losing her help to argue, eh? Good. They’d get along well that way. Grabbing him by the arm, she towed him out the door. “Before I forget to ask, what’s your name?”
    “You don’t know my name?!” he asked incredulously.
    “Haven’t heard it in a decade. Everyone calls you the Child Prince.” She shot him a look over her shoulder. He looked stunned, as if she had just knocked all the air out of him. “Name?” she prompted, a little impatiently.
    “Oh. It’s Bellomi Christoff Vogel braun Dragonmanovich.”
    Sevana stopped in mid-stride and gave him an arch look. “Why under the heavens do you need five names?”
    “I’m the 49 th Prince of Windamere,” he answered wearily, as if this didn’t even need an explanation. “My name has history in it. Do you really want me to explain it?”
    No, not really. She’d probably forget the explanation in five minutes anyway. “Well, I’m not calling you that. And I’m not calling you Prince or Highness or some such either. While you’re here, you’re simply my apprentice. I don’t want people being suspicious of you and asking questions.” Although people were bound to ask questions. Sevana had refused to take apprentices for years after all. Taking a boy in suddenly that no one knew would make the rumors fly.
    “So what are you going to call me?” he asked cautiously. “Bellomi?”
    “Too long,” she dismissed, starting forward again. “Bel will do.”
    “Bel?” he protested. “That’s what you call a pet!”
    “Pet, apprentice, what’s the difference?” With a dismissive shrug, she went on to the more important topics and ignored his spluttering. “A few warnings for you. This mountain is not a mountain. His name is Big.”
    Sidetracked from the name issue, Bel gave his surroundings a baffled look. “Not a mountain?”
    Sevana hated to explain things, but he had to know how this all worked,