Universe Twister - Keith Laumer [80]
"One thing leads to another," Goruble gasped, "as you'll find for yourself. I needed a distraction; the people were grumbling about taxes and even after all these years, still asking too many questions about the former king's death. They weren't too happy with the story that I was his wandering cousin come home. So I made a number of trips in the Traveler, found Lod living in a cave and brought him here. Then I fetched along that great ugly reptile; it fitted in with the old legend of a dragon. Eventually, of course, I intended to do away with it and reap the plaudits of the yokels. But the scheme backfired. Lod grew stronger, while I heard the muttering daily grow louder. The people wanted Adoranne, and always there were rumors of the lost prince." He sighed. "And to think that I could have saved all this, if I could merely have brought myself to murder a tot."
"What's a tot got to do with it?"
"Eh? Why, I refer to the infant prince, of course. Exile was the most I could manage. And now see what it's brought me to."
"You . . . exiled the little prince?" Adoranne gasped. "You horrid, wicked man! And to think I thought you were my uncle! And all these years, you've known where the lost crown prince was."
"No, my dear, I didn't. He was crying in his crib, poor motherless tot—orphaned by my hand, though accidentally. I sent him—I didn't know where. But he thrived—ah, all too well. Cosmic justice, I suppose. And now—"
"How do you know he thrived?" Adoranne exclaimed.
"Just look at him for yourself," Goruble said. "There he is, standing over me, looking down at me with that accusing expression."
Adoranne gasped. O'Leary looked to left and right, puzzled. Yokabump nodded his heavy head wisely.
"Now you're seeing visions, eh?" O'Leary commented. "But it's a little late for regrets."
Goruble was staring up at O'Leary. "You mean—you didn't know?"
"Know what?"
"The prince—the child that I sent away, twenty-three years ago—is you!"
Beside O'Leary, Adoranne gasped aloud. "Then . . . then you, Sir Lafayette . . . are the rightful king of Artesia."
"Now, hold on," O'Leary protested. "Are you all crazy? I'm an American. I never saw this place until a week or so ago."
"I knew you by the ring," Goruble said weakly.
"What ring?" Adoranne asked quickly.
O'Leary held out his right hand. "You mean this?"
Adoranne seized his hand, turned the ring to show the device.
"The ax and dragon—the royal signet!" She looked at O'Leary wide-eyed. "Why didn't you show it sooner, Sir Lafayette—your Majesty?"
"He told me to reverse it," Lafayette said. "But—"
"I should have known then that my plans would come to naught," Goruble went on. "But I thought that by casting suspicion on you, I could dispose of you painlessly."
"Your jail's a long way from painless," O'Leary put in.
"Then you escaped somehow. Sterner measures were called for. I employed my specialized remote control equipment to send you away. How you returned, I still don't know. I followed your progress and waited here for the showdown, only to have it—alas—end in my defeat, disemboweled by a ravening monster unleashed by my own hand."
"Oh, that," Yokabump called from inside the Traveler, where he was gazing at dials and levers, "that was just a gag, your ex-Majesty. You're not hurt. On your feet now, and we'll toss you into your own dungeon until your trial comes up."
"Not hurt?" Goruble sat up, felt gingerly over his corpulent frame. "You mean . . ." His eyes went to the open door to his stolen machine. In an instant, he was on his feet, plunging between O'Leary and Adoranne, dashing for the entry.
Yokabump reached for a lever, waited, threw it just as the fat monarch sprang for the entry. There was a clap of air and Goruble was gone.
"I hope he lands in the same spot as the cat," the jester said, dusting his hands. "The skunk. Leaves me out of a job, I guess—unless your new Majesty wants to take me on?" He looked hopefully at O'Leary.
"Wait a minute," Lafayette protested. "Adoranne's the heir to the throne! I'm just a guy who wandered into