My Royal Pain Quest (The Lakeland Knight series, #2) by Laura Lond Read Free Book Online Page A

good.
    The queen walked into the pond. I watched her wade through the water that was reaching her waist.
    “Well, if that’s the case… I have changed my mind.”
    I overtook the queen and snatched the apple from her hands. She gasped, other Swirgs cried out in fear.
    “I want everything to be the way it was before I entered this cave,” I said—and threw the emerald apple against the rocky wall of the cavern.
    It burst into thousands of green and white sparkles. They filled the cavern, dancing and flickering, making the world disappear for a few moments. Then the sparkles faded away. The emerald apple lay on its platter in the middle of the pond, and the four-armed guard was rising from the ground.
    The Swirgs stood speechless, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Cassandra had a similar expression.
    The guard didn’t share their awe; he saw me, so close to the precious apple, and ran my way, swords raised.
    At that moment, I didn’t care.
    “Archibald, no!” ordered the queen. “Do not touch this man!”
    He stopped in utter bewilderment.
    The queen turned to me. “What is your name, noble knight?”
    That I did not need to hear. Not again.
    “Never mind,” I said, heading back to the tunnel. “Sorry for the stress, have a good day. Come on, Cassandra, let’s get out of here.”
    Swirgs came back to their senses and tried to stop us, but I waved them off.
    “Leave me alone, guys. Just… leave me alone.”
    We walked in silence along that same tunnel, past the gemstones in the creek, towards the rat cave. Cassandra glanced at me with concern, but had enough sense not to ask any questions.
    “Sir noble knight! Mr. Hero! Wait!” came a shout.
    We halted and turned around. There was a Swirg running after us, carrying a small bag.
    “You call me that one more time and I’ll go back there and take your apple again,” I told him. “What do you want?”
    He took a moment to catch his breath.
    “Her Majesty Queen Wilhelmina wishes to reward you for what you have done for us.” He handed me the bag. “Please accept this gift from her.”
    “What is it?”
    “Some saveberries. You will be the first human to know their secret.”
    I took the bag and looked inside. It was divided into four compartments; the berries were sorted by color.
    “One purple berry will make you invisible for ten minutes,” explained the Swirg. “One red berry lets you fly, also for ten minutes. One pink berry will make you resistant to spells and magical traps, for the same amount of time.”
    “Really? And what do the white ones do?”
    He smiled. “By themselves, nothing. Just like the other berries will do nothing without a white one.”
    “I see! A white berry makes a colored one work.”
    “That’s right. Always remember to eat them together. And watch the time, especially when flying.”
    I closed the bag. These were handy. I did not know what I was going to do now, but, at any rate, they were worth keeping.
    “Tell your queen that I am grateful.”
    “I will. She also said that you are welcome to pick more saveberries in the valley, too, if you want.”
    The Swirg bowed and left.
    We continued on our way. I guess my less than happy mood showed, for Cassandra kept glancing at me with that same concerned expression.
    “Perhaps there is another way to find the information you hoped to get through the emerald apple,” she ventured.
    I shook my head.
    “No. And it’s not just that.”
    We had time to spare, so I told her everything—about Jarvi, his sword, and the three deeds. I even mentioned the Lakeland Knight thing, which she took amazingly well, only raising a brow.
    “So, you see, not only have I not gotten any closer to cleansing the sword, I have spoiled it even worse.”
    “But you have fixed things. You have returned it all back to the way it was, as if nothing had ever happened.”
    “ As if , these are the key words. It did happen. I don’t know whether one can just undo something like that. I was able to fix