Ridley
I stared at him and he stared back at me, still smirking.
He leaned forward, pushing back his damp hair. "Aren't you going to ask what I need you for?"
"I would prefer to talk as little as possible to you," I retorted.
Vandel rolled his eyes. "Fine, be that way." He glanced over to one of the guards. "He's no fun. Anyways, sir Ridley, why don't you and I strike a deal? I'll let you live under one condition, you perform a little task for me." He chuckled under his breath. "It's simple really, I need you to fetch an item called the cloak of the heavens. A curse was put on me long ago by a warlock that only a human can retrieve it. The jackass did it so that I wouldn't be able to get my hands on it. If you fetch it for me I'll let you go."
I took a deep breath. "How do I know you're not lying? You've tricked me before. There's no way for me to know if you'll stay true to your word."
Vandel let out an exasperated sigh. He glanced back to the same guard, talking loudly as if I wasn't able to hear him.
"Such a fussy one this boy." He looked back to me and gestured me to come closer. The guards pushed me towards him. Vandel leaned forward, the bubbles from his bath brushing against his bare shoulders. He lifted an arm, tracing a circle on my forehead. As soon as his finger left my skin the skin he had touched gave me a strange, prickly sensation. Vandel straightened and I blinked.
"What...what was that?"
"A binding spell. It's made for deals. Until you retrieve the cloak of the heavens for me you won't be able to move more than ten feet away from yours truly. The moment you hand the cloak over to me the seal is broken and you're free to go. How's that for a deal? Then again, we can make this all very simple and I can strangle you to death with my bare hands right here and now if you would prefer that." I had no idea what the cloak of the heavens was but there must be some reason Vandel was cursed from being able to go get it himself. It was probably an extremely dangerous and powerful item. Then on the other hand...I was of much more use to the kingdom alive. Besides, I couldn't die until I found my father's killer. I would be able to defeat Vandel eventually, even if he did have the cloak of the heavens.
Finally I gave him a little nod. "Alright, I'll do it."
"Marvelous! Then the deal is sealed." The moment the words left his mouth for a moment the circle he had traced felt like it was seething. I bit my lip, trying to ignore the pain as it slowly faded. Vandel clapped his hands now. "TUTTLE FETCH ME MY CLOTHES!" Suddenly his eyes narrowed as if he had just remembered something. "Oh...wait. Before we go to get the cloak we need to make one quick little stop."
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I followed behind Vandel, making sure to stay close to him. I wasn't sure what would happen if I went more than ten feet away from him and I didn't want to find out. Vandel came to a stop in front of a little wooden door and pounded rapidly on it.
"Open up you disgusting lump of bones!" At last the door creaked open. Vandel rolled his eyes. "Took you long enough." I froze when I realized what I was looking at. It was a goblin. I didn't know any still lived in this area, the Alterians had chased them out of our kingdom decades ago. The thing was hideous and smelled like rotting fish. It took everything in me to keep from gagging. Vandel frowned, crossing his arms.
The Goblin bowed his head. "Can I help ya with anythin' me lord?"
"Yes Boris. You can learn to be a halfway decent artist."
"What are ya talkin' about me lord?"
Vandel groaned loudly. "Oh my gooooods are you serious?" Do you have shit for brains?!?" Vandel rolled his eyes as the goblin simply scratched his head. "Let me say it in a way you can understand." Vandel proceeded to draw out every word. "Yoooooour aaaaaaart suuuuuuuucks."
The goblin shrugged. "I don't really care."
"HOW DO YOU NOT CARE? YOU'RE THE ROYAL PORTRAIT PAINTER!"
"I dunno'."
"You don't know??? Are you fucking serious!?" Vandel pushed me in front of him now. "See this Boris. THIS is what a human looks like! Got it! The eyes are HERE. Okay? Is that clear enough to get through all the mush that's sitting in your head right now instead of a brain."
The goblin was silent for a moment before he simply just gave a second little shrug. "Okay. Got it."
"That's it?" Vandel looked about ready to pull his own hair out. "Holy fucking shit you are the WORST Boris. Do they call you Boris because of what a bore you are...err...is. Get it? Bore you is? Boris? It's funny." He looked to me. "Laugh, that's an order." I made sure to give the fakest most monotone laugh I could muster.
Vandel glared at me. "Wow thanks."
"Just doing as I'm told."
Vandel cleared his throat. "Well, I think we can both agree that this has been lovely. Now, let's actually start this mission."
"It's not a mission. You're forcing me to do it."
Vandel glared at me. "Okay, for once could you try to stop ruining my fun."
"I don't think that's possible."
Vandel sighed heavily. "Maybe I really should have just killed you and saved myself all this trouble."