Бесплатный фрагмент - Dragon Bride

Flames in the woods

Clement was gathering brushwood in anticipation of an attack. Though he now wore simple peasant clothing, and a sharp dagger with a costly hilt was hidden in his bosom. He would pull it out instantly if his pursuers sought him out again.

There was a deafening dragon roar through the forest. It almost made his ears bleed, it was so loud. Clement had expected anything but a dragon to appear. It was up to the humans to attack. His friends and allies had warned him that assassins had been sent for him. The main thing was that none of them would think of disguising themselves in a peasant’s shirt, as Clement himself had already done for the sake of disguise. If his enemies had the same plan, they would be indistinguishable from ordinary passersby. Well, almost impossible.

Clement himself was kept safe by his uncle’s magic. It was good to have a wizard uncle and a royal father, but only as long as your kingdom was not overrun by monstrous beings from the black sands. They were non-human, and they knew magic very well. His uncle had gone to great lengths to place impenetrable spell protections on his nephew and his new habitat.

Until yesterday Clement had slept at the palace; today his home was an abandoned hut in a forest of ill repute. There were stories in the old days that the place was haunted. It had been said that berry-picking peasant women had seen dryads and vicious elves in the trees. The dragon was probably part of the forest’s magic, and not an agent of the new ruler of Aluar. His aim was to kill the only surviving prince.

When his country was overrun, Clement himself survived only by going hunting. The young prince was bad with a sword, and could not improve this, though his instructors had exhausted him in the training ring. But he was so good with a crossbow and a bow that no royal archer was a match for him. Clement had always believed that if a prophecy came true, and the Aluar’s heir’s life was in danger, he would be saved by his skill as an archer. And so it was! It was only indirectly, not directly.

If he had not gone on that fateful day to hunt, he would already be dead. The kingdom had been overrun at night, and the prince had been so caught up in the hunt for game that he roamed the woods until morning.

Now there’s no way home. Black creatures are nesting in the king’s castle.

«They are a special race! They will either overwhelm and enslave Aluar’s people or utterly destroy them,» his uncle, who had only escaped the castle by virtue of his ability to obscure the eyes that watched him with magic, told him.

It turned out to be possible to verify his words in the nearest city, where there were more monstrous creatures than ordinary citizens. Clement’s allies still hoped that he could wrest the power back. But it seemed rather doubtful. It is better to escape. Clement had already been attacked more than a dozen times by archers and knights in black armor. The dragon, on the other hand, would not attack. It just flew by. Its scales glittered so brightly overhead Clement had to squeeze his eyes shut. You could go blind!

«Run away, you fool!» A villager of some sort dropped her basket of blueberries and sprinted from the thicket. «Dragon in the sky! Expect fire!»

But there’s nothing on fire! Clement looked around in astonishment, and spotted another squad in black armor. It was time to run. Or should they fight back? The knights had spotted him too, and despite the magical protection, they knew who he was.

Clement quickly reached for the crossbow, hidden under his shirt, on his back. It was time to fight. It was too late to run away. Suddenly the villager, running away, flashed like a match.

Could it be that lightning had struck the tree beside her? There seemed to be no thunderstorm! And the trees were all intact. Clement opened his mouth in amazement as the band of black knights burst into flames, too, like one big bundle of brushwood.

What is this? Was it a heaven’s punishment for these men trying to kill the true heir of the country in which they live. If so, so be it for them. But why did the villager burn? On the contrary, she was trying to warn him of some danger.

Clement waited until the knights had burned almost to the ground and walked over to examine the remains. The charred limbs beneath the pieces of the armor looked monstrous.

But the real monster hovered overhead. Clement shuddered, realizing that it was not the fire of justice that had burned the men alive, but the fire of a dragon.

«Sit in the gamekeeper’s hut and wait while I send you a helper,» his uncle instructed before parting. Did he really send a dragon to help him? With a dragon and no army, there’s a chance to regain his rightful throne! Only Clement’s joy was premature. The dragon was quickly gone.

All that remained was to bemoan his fate. He would need a dragon companion, and an army of ghosts who could overpower the invaders.

His uncle had promised to send him just one mate-fighter and one bride. The latter was superfluous in Clement’s opinion. To marry penniless and on the brink of death was unwise. Then his bride would be executed along with him. But his uncle had lectured him on the benefits of an alliance with a wealthy neighboring princess, whose kin would support him in case of trouble with their armies. His uncle was probably right.

Clement was a good-looking fellow. But that’s how a cranky princess was going to like him in peasant clothes. All the princesses he knew were mean and selfish.

But the elf-like girl who emerged from the thicket stunned him with her beauty. Pale, slender, dressed in a light white dress, as if she were a bride. She had a wreath of white daisies in her blond hair. One glance at her shocked Clement, but she was not looking at him, she was looking at the ash-covered ground. She was looking for something, and when she found it, she grabbed it and disappeared. What she had found was beyond Clement’s comprehension, but he supposed it might have been something magical, something dropped by a dragon in mid-flight. Who was this girl, picking up what the dragon had left behind? Was she a sorceress? Was she a forest nymph? Or who else might dwell in the thicket?

As Clement pondered whether to speak to her, the beauty’s body turned into a silvery haze that billowed skyward.

Raymonda

The beauty came to his hut in the middle of the night. A village was burning nearby. The smell of fire reached here. When Clement woke up to the stench of smoke, he had the feeling that everything was about to burn, but the beautiful elfish woman he had seen in the woods that morning smiled sweetly and said:

«Don’t worry, the fire is far away! The forest is not on fire!»

He was at once relieved. If she says all is well, it must be so. How could he not believe her? But Clement was worried.

«But the village where I bought the wine and candles is burning. It stands behind the forest edge.»

«It has already burned!» The beauty corrected him without regret in her voice. «The people weren’t very nice.»

«Has anyone survived?»

«It is hardly. Only ghosts. They come often from the ashes of dragon fires.»

«So a dragon burned the village?»

The beauty silently trimmed a cascade of snow-white skirts, covered in a layer of silver sequins as if they were stars. Her bouncy blond curls snaked down her chest and back. The puffed sleeves accentuated the grace of her thin arms. How beautiful she was! Clement regarded her, forgetting to ask how she had managed to get through the latch-locked door.

Only the window was open, but girls in expensive dresses certainly didn’t climb through windows. Clement knew how meticulous court fashions were. It was as if the guest had walked through walls. If she’s from a tribe of elves, that’s no surprise.

«Are you an elf princess?» Clement asked directly.

She only laughed in response. Her laughter was infectious and beautiful, like the ringing of a bell. Her presence in the wretched hut had somehow brightened the air.

«I knew that huntsman who lived here before you, and now there are only bones left of him,» she said.

«But I did not know him!»

«No wonder you didn’t. He was eaten by a dragon before you got here.»

Again she spoke of the dragon. It made Clement uncomfortable to think of it. Surely he’d burned down the nearest village for sport. There would be no place to buy spirits now. He would have to make do with spring water. That’s all right. It’ll be soberer. Perhaps then the wood elves won’t seem so beautiful to him anymore.

«How did you get in?»

«You called me when you were sad for me,» she said in a simple voice. «The boys let me in as soon as they start pining for me. And the dragon comes with me. Don’t you want me to go?»

«No, I don’t. Stay!» He took her words as a joke. How can she be connected to the dragon?

«You have nowhere to sit!» She paced about the hut rustling luxurious skirts.

«This is not a royal mansion.»

«And you do not look too much like a huntsman,» she reproached.

«But I am dressed as a peasant.»

«I look like a pixie, but I have no more than a drop of pixie blood.»

There was not a drop of blood from the peasant race in Clemente, but he remembered that he had to remain incognito. Suddenly she is the beautiful spy of the chief of the black tribes, Shai.

«Who are you?» Clement questioned her. «Where do you live? Do you live in the woods?»

«Well, I live almost in the woods,» she corrected him. «There are a lot of places here that are forbidden to humans, but are open for me.»

«You look like a ghost in the moonlight,» Clement decided. «You must be a moon fairy! I have heard of your kind from my uncle.»

He chuckled as he remembered that he’d seen her during the day too. Moon Fairies cannot appear in daylight.

«I am Raymonda,» the beauty said.

«And I’m Clement, but it is just Clem to my friends…» He should have used an invented name, but he’d already blurted it out. Too late to make amends.

«Would you like to dance the night in a circle of moon fairies or elves? I know some of them. I could set you up with dryads or nocturnes or nymphs or…»

Raymonda curled her fingers as she enumerated. He probably thought she had more than five fingers on each hand.

«I have a fiancée,» Clement muttered reluctantly.

She grinned wickedly at him. «How many fiancées have you got?»

«What do you mean?» Clement didn’t understand. «I haven’t even had one recently. But I happen to be engaged. It’s a family whim! I am waiting here for my betrothed.»

«It is even so!» Raymonda suddenly softened. «You’re faithful! That’s good! I wouldn’t have anything to do with a traitor.»

Her blue eyes suddenly twinkled dangerously, as if there were ice inside her pupils.

«You want to see some magic?» She fluttered her curls into a halo-like blaze, and the cards his uncle had left at Clement’s hut shot up into the air and started shuffling on their own.

«Come on, then!» Clement was frightened that he was actually asleep and couldn’t wake up.

«Well, all right, sleepyhead!» Raymonda suddenly leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. «Sleep till morning, and I’ll come and see you in the afternoon.»

He thought she had scales of skin under the pendants of pearl on her bare forehead. It was probably part of the ornament. It’s hard to see in the dark.

What kind of pendants do jewelers attach to pendants? Sapphires cut in the form of drops or stars, beads, even cameos. Suddenly it occurred to someone to make a crown of dragon scales. What fashions will not be introduced! And the court ladies will support any innovations, even those that would cause them to burn themselves on jewelry made of dragon scales.

What surprised him more than scales was the veil in Raymonda’s hair. It was thin, like a spider’s web, but white. How similar to a bride’s veil!

If she is the one he is waiting for, she is certainly no princess. She is a forest nymph or an elf! His uncle has promised him a sorceress!

Or is it worse and Raymonda has been promised to someone else? It is for a wood elf like her, for instance. Clement’s heart ached, but there was no time to question Raymonda about her marriage. The beauty had vanished. Literally! Where she had stood, a luminous puff of smoke wafted toward the open window.

Ashes

Clement dreamed that he and Raymonda were dancing on the ashes of a burned village. Raymonda has an unusual crown of golden spikes, vignettes and claws in her hair. Her robes are orange, like flames. She is the one who dragged him away to dance on the fires. The dance is like flying in the starry skies, though it is ruin all around. Raymonda’s bare feet barely touch the ground, as if she could fly. He wondered where her slippers have gone, and if she had them. Noble ladies do not walk around barefoot. Judging by her fine clothes, Raymonda was certainly neither a peasant nor a bourgeois. She was probably the daughter of a lord or a duke, or perhaps the elf king himself.

What did she see in Clement? Why did she start flirting with him? And why would she want to have fun in a burnt-out ruin? The dance quickened, more and more like a fiendish dance. The houses were burned to the ground. No survivors! And the two of them whirled with the ashes. Raymonda’s white dress is soiled in the ashes, and she laughs so happily, as if all her enemies lived in this village. And suddenly fire bursts from her lips!

Clement woke up terrified. She had scorched his face!

The young man rushed to the bucket of cold water and only when he noticed his reflection in it, he realized that he had no burn. He had only dreamt of the wild dance on the ashes of the peasants’ houses. And the dream had been so real!

He could still feel the heat of the fire on his skin and hear the rustling of the ashes. The dream never seemed to end. Something must have risen from the burned houses.

Something monstrous…

Clement covered his eyes and imagined Raymonda’s bare feet dancing on the ashes, and charred skulls visible in the ashes.

«Awake at last!» Raymonda had just come in and put a basket full of berries on the table. «You’re such a sleepyhead! You’ll sleep for the rest of your life!»

«But it’s night!» Clement was indignant. «I have the right to sleep at night.»

«I don’t sleep at night. I like to walk in the dark woods.»

«You must have a magic light so you don’t stumble in the dark.»

«I can see very well in the dark!»

«You can even pick berries in the dark?»

Raymonda nodded.

«I hope they’re not poisonous?» Clement stood up and grimaced in pain. He hadn’t fought anyone lately, and his body felt like it was covered in battle wounds. Deep inflamed scratches had come from somewhere. They were just where Raymonda had touched him. She couldn’t have pinched him like that. Clement squinted at her suspiciously. Nonsense! Her fingernails were delicate and the scratches looked as if they belonged to animal claws.

Raymonda’s skin glowed in the darkness like a white candle.

«Try it! It’s a special berry mixture,» she offered.

The berries in the basket looked like their own special variety. They looked like raspberries and blackberries, and gooseberries and strawberries, and raspberries and hawthorn, and sea buckthorn — but the combination of all at once. The berries have a pyramid shape, not the usual rounds.

«Are they magic?»

She didn’t answer.

Clement decided they weren’t wolfberries, so he tasted them. His mouth was bursting with a cocktail of sugary tastes that killed thirst and hunger in a jiffy. All bad thoughts flew out of my head. He really wanted to dance barefoot on the stunted grass. Maybe Raymonda would keep him company. She beckoned him out into the woods, laughing. Her feet hovered lightly over the grass. It is probably a continuation of the dream? Clement eagerly wrapped his arms around the girl’s thin waist and spun her in a dance. This was the best moment of his life. No court coquette in the sumptuous Aluar’s ballroom was as good and free as this elf in the woods.

It was no longer a dream, but a sweet dream. One can only hope that the pale beauty does not turn out to be an evil moon spirit that lures him to the precipice.

«Is it a dream?» Clement wanted to kiss Raymonda on the lips, and she would not have resisted, but the clatter of horses’ hoofs could be heard in the distance.

The clatter of horses’ hoofs was muffled and unpleasant, like the clatter of gnoms’ hammers beneath the earth. It was as if it were coming from beneath the earth. Clement remembered the lore that the black knights of Shai were adept at finding their way along the roads of the Underworld, so they could appear on the surface or disappear at any moment.

The angry shouts and whistling of poisoned arrows were certainly not a dream. One arrow hammered into the timbers of the hut above Clement’s head and turned into a real dark red snake.

Clement turned around. There were riders rushing through the woods. It was a whole troop. Raymonda was gone when she saw them. Only the silvery smoke hung in his hands. What a coward! What did he expect? She is a lady. He should be her protector, not expecting her to conjure up a barrier of obscurity from the knights.

Clement’s weapon was left in the hut. The door, as luck would have it, was jammed. So what to do? The black knights had surely been sent here on purpose, and at night. Men sleep at night, but the Shai’s knights, on the other hand, are most active at this time of day. Surely their leader had already figured out from some magic mirror that the prince was hiding in the forest. Thanks to his uncle’s spells, though, it wasn’t so easy to pinpoint his exact location.

For a moment, Clement had a stray hunch in his head. What if Raymonda had brought them here? She might not have done it deliberately, of course, but accidentally. She herself had spotted him and thus removed the shield of impenetrability.

Clement could not think for long. Defending himself with his bare hands was also a waste of time. But once again a dragon came to the rescue. Its scaly belly glimmered in the dark, like orange gold. Clement had never realized that a dragon’s scales could be so dazzlingly beautiful. The dragon’s fire, on the other hand, was something to run for. The torrent of flame was once again rained down from the heavens as an act of justice. It didn’t hit the trees, or the hut, but went straight for the black squad. The knights burned like logs. The charred remains were smoking. The smoke was black and acrid. It made his eyes water.

«Raymonda!» Clement called. «Where are you?»

His cry echoed through the empty space.

«You may go now! The danger is over! The knights are gone, and the dragon has flown!»

There was no answer from Raymonda. She was probably miles away by now. The elf’s girls don’t seem to be shy, but Moon Fairies are timid. Perhaps she was one of the latter, after all.

The smoke made him dizzy. Clement began to think creepy things. Spirits of some kind, formed from columns of smoke, were trying to speak to him, to warn him of something. They were making faces and making silly prophecies.

A snake arrow withered and petrified on the hut’s log, barely out of the knights’ sight. What wonders! It was too much for Clement, who could hardly master a few of his uncle’s magic formulas.

«I’m going to walk to the nearest village,» he decided to himself. «Maybe there was something there that had survived.»

Or maybe he was just imagining the fire. Alone in the woods, you can’t help but lose your senses. Loneliness makes people go crazy. At least, that’s what the hangmen say when they lock up the next conspirator in the prison tower. With only one dragon in the realm, the conspirators could no longer be imprisoned or executed, but merely fed to the beast for supper. But how do you catch and tame a dragon?

«You can’t! You can only make friends with a dragon,» someone whispered in Clement’s ear.

At times like these, it would seem as if there were dryads in the woods. Clement turned around and saw no one.

The path to the village was not long. He just had to know the side trails to get there quickly. By dawn Clement had reached there. The sight was sad. The village, even the outlying farms had burned to the ground. No cattle left, no houses, no hedges, no wells. The land was black with ash. It was nothing to rest your eyes on. There is blackness and sorrow everywhere.

«That’s what the world would look like if you let a dragon loose,» said a hoarse voice over the ashes. It sounded as if the speaker had swallowed enough ashes to make it impossible to speak his words properly.

Clement looked around, but saw nothing.

«I’m here!»

In the place that had just been empty, there appeared a figure sitting in the middle of the ashes. It, too, was all black, as if drenched in ash.

«Are you burned?» Clement got worried. «I know where to get healing herbs.»

«It’s too late for that!» The haughty voice cut it off. There was an unkind mocking tone to it. «It’s too late for that! She has you in her claws.»

«What do you mean?»

The black stranger laughed a dry, rustling laugh, like loosened ash.

«Who are you?» Clement kept expecting him to wipe his face from the ashes and introduce himself, but he sat motionless. His limbs were too long to be human and clawed. His figure was lanky. He had some sort of encrustation on his shoulders, and a crown or cap with bells on his head. He did not look like a jester or a king. He was a stranger, but his ashes were so thick!

The sinewy stranger wiggled, and then the ashes woke and wailed upon a multitude of black faces. Clement watched with horror. This was more than his uncle’s magic tricks. It looked like real ghosts. The ashy faces resembled the discarded masks of burnt creatures. They squirmed, crooked, frowned. They opened their mouths in a mute or muffled cry.

«We’re all burned because of her,» they whispered. «Run from her, at least you!»

«Run from her!» In tone with them said the black creature, sitting in the middle of the ashes as if in his own house.

«From whom it is?» Clement didn’t understand. From the dragon, it seemed, you should run. The dragon is «he,» not it is «she.»

«It is from her!» The faces echoed, ignoring, for some reason, the threat of attack from the beast. «She can turn anyone and everything to ashes.»

There they were again, talking about some sort of witch. Could she be the dragon’s mistress? Running away from a dragon made more sense than running away from the sorceress who was controlling it. Besides, Clement had gotten past the dragon’s fire so far. Except that the dragon’s slip might have been pure chance.

«We don’t know her name, but if you get in her way, the same thing that happened to us will happen to you. You will become ash,» the ash masks whispered.

Clement was frightened. He didn’t want to burn alive. The ash faces gave too tragic a prophecy.

The ash-soaked creature pointed with its claws busily toward the sky, as if it had seen a sign there.

Clement looked up as well. No dragon was flying over the ashes. So what was it?

As he pondered, the creature chanted in a low voice:

«Beauty and scales, but she is not your bride!»

It laughed and vanished. Only its black crown lay briefly among the ashes, and the black faces lamented in mass. They made the ashy ground seem like a sea of severed heads.

Flames and scales

Clement dreamed that he was walking through the throne room of the Aluar’s palace. Here everything had changed. Instead of a row of knightly armor and sculptures, creepy monsters in armor stood on either side of the hall. Each one was the size of a giant. Their horned heads almost rest against the ceiling. The monsters themselves are as motionless as statues. They do not hinder his advance toward the throne. Everything looks like the day of the coronation. Only on the throne lies a crown of golden laurel leaves, thorns, and claws. All these symbols are not part of the coat of arms of Aluar. Only the crown of some dragon kingdom could be like this.

The floor is sprinkled with golden pollen, in which evil pixies circle. The mirrors reflect ladies and gentlemen in ghastly scarlet and black masks, like ghosts, though the room itself is empty. There are no guests. But in the flames of the candles sit tiny fire fairies. They hiss unhappily at the sight of Clement.

The steps of the throne are lined with skulls. There were several skulls in crowns. These are his brothers and his father!

«You are the last, but you are the most valuable!» There is an ominous voice over the hall. «I will get to you in any one piece. Even over the corpse of the one I love. Even through the flames of the strongest dragons. Your life belongs only to me!»

On the throne sits someone dark, he was resembled a monster formed from ashes. The teeth of his crown are so sharp you could cut yourself on them. Red eyes burn rubies in the shadow’s face.

«Come to me yourself?» A dark clawed hand beckons him forward. «Stop to play hide and seek! You were born a hero, but you run from your destiny like a hare. It is time to face your destiny.»

A wave of darkness rushes from the throne. The darkness turns into claws. They slide across Clement’s body, leaving scratches like seals. In reality he cannot bear to fight with a sword; in his dreams the sword is his only defense.

«I need a fifth crowned head, and then I will have the most beautiful and powerful bride in the universe! You want to help me, don’t you? Do you want her to be queen of Aluar and queen of Shai at the same time?»

The darkness’s hypnotizing voice is convincing. The claws of the darkness snatch the sword from him. Clement is ready to put his neck under the blade to join his brothers. But then the mirror on the wall shatters. The reflection of the dragon and Raymonda is seen in the shards that scatter across the hall. The sight of Raymonda lifts the spell of darkness. Clement understands that he is prepared to do some heroic deeds for her.

And that is all. The awakening is painful, like falling from a height. All around is not a hut but a dense forest. As it turned out, he sleeps right on the road and only by some miracle did not fall under some farmer’s cart, carrying hay to town.

«It’s all the invader’s charms! They make his mind wander somewhere far away,» said a familiar female voice.

Even without opening his eyes, he recognized the tenderness of Raymonda’s fingers as they brushed strands of hair away from his forehead. Her fingers had sharp scales on them. He winced. He must be hallucinating! Why would there be scratching hot scales in a maiden’s pampered skin?

«It’s bad enough the enchantments from Shai caught up with him on the road,» answered an unpleasant male voice with a lisp that made his ears hurt. «Think what would happen the next time they caught him unawares on the field and he fell asleep beneath his enemies’ axes.»

«The Shai’s ruler has tapped into it heavily,» Raymonda agreed. «He’s looking for a power source. But he’s not a fighter anyway. I’m disappointed in him, I admit. If he weren’t so handsome, I’d have broken the contract. But I have a weakness for handsome young men.»

«This one is not for burning!» The husky bass warned her defiantly. «For roasting you have his enemy troops. You can do what you want with them. You can burn them on a spit, but the boy is our liberator-to-be.»

«And what if you’re as disappointed in him as I am? He’s not even a knight. He’s just an archer. There’s no sword hidden in his things. I’ve already checked. He’s a very good shot, though. But he’s no better shot than any elf.»

Raymonda’s voice was pleasant, but the bass was like the rattle of twigs snapping in a storm. An owl howled. Clement opened his eyelids cautiously. She had already moved away from him. She looked beautiful in her new silver dress with its lace trim and waistband. But the hunched creature that galloped around her looked more like a living bush of moss, clusters of leaves, and branching horns. This is how the late, frightened travelers describe the wood spirits that attacked them. Could this be the wood spirits? There’s no other name for this creature.

Not that Clement was frightened, but the sight of a woodland creature near a stately elf maiden startled him. What could such an ugly creature have to do with a forest beauty?

The green monster and Raymonda seemed to be formally acquainted.

«Aren’t you ashamed of misleading a boy?» The woodsman interrogated, nodding his disembodied, horned head in Clement’s direction.

«I want to test him.»

«But he’s that… special!» The green creature scratched the back of his head with twiggy fingers.

«I’m starting to wonder if he has a gift. You have to patronize him, like a teenage brother.»

«But he’s got a purpose, that’s for sure.»

Raymonda looked back at Clemente questioningly, and he promptly pretended he was still asleep.

«Is he The Chosen One?» She snorted. «Doesn’t sound like it! He’s handsome but not very strong.»

«But he’s the only one of the four princes who didn’t die. It’s fate!»

«I think he was just lucky.»

«You just want to burn him, just like all the other suitors.»

«It is the groom, not the beggar. And all because he’s supposedly special! But how do you test him for that special gift?» She snapped her fingers together, sending out golden sparks from the tips of her fingernails.

«For now, you have to support him, not test him. He needs a hold, but only until he can shake off the charms of Lord Shai.»

«And then he will know who I am and put me in a cage?»

«What if he can unseal you?»

«It is not likely! The boy is completely naive. Why is it that all the most handsome princes are either tyrants or weak-minded?»

«He’s not weak-minded. He’s just worried that his whole family’s been burned. So don’t show him your talents just yet.»

«Why should I have to be secretive? I always do what I feel comfortable doing.»

Raymonda lit a fire on the ground with a single breath. She didn’t even need the logs. The fire was lit from scratch.

«It is a magical flame!» The creature, composed entirely of moss, horns, and leaves, darted cautiously into the bushes. Clement rubbed his eyes in bewilderment. Had he really just seen a dryad or a fairy? Or was he just imagining it. The forest path was empty, not counting the campfire and the pretty girl. No more creatures of the leaves were around. Raymonda herself could be mistaken for a forest nymph. Maybe she is a nymph. Clement wasn’t sure exactly how nymphs differed from elves and the most common of woodland fairies. The latter seemed to be distinguishable by flowers growing directly in their hair or by their greenish skin. Clement raised himself carefully on his elbows. He did lie down on the tracks left by the wheels of a recent wagon. The tire tracks went deep into the ground, and there seemed to be tiny, shiny pixies in them, like glittering insects. Clement remembered that it was good luck to see pixies. But where would he, a fugitive, find that luck?

Raymonda didn’t see that he was awake. She was dancing around the fire and humming softly.

«The arrangement with the wizard is already in place!

But there might not be a wedding,

Unless the bridegroom proves

He is worthy of a special bride.

How is he better than kings?

Sultans, sheikhs and kings?

Who’ve all been wooed to me…

All have become ashes.

The one who survives,

The great miracle will be mastered.»

Her feet did not touch the ground. She danced directly over the fire, and her feet did not burn. She took off her beaded slippers. Apparently they were uncomfortable for dancing over the fire. Clement noticed some jewelry on her feet. Or were they scales? They surrounded her heels like armor. He rubbed his eyes again. If that was magic, his uncle didn’t know how. Perhaps Raymonda wasn’t a nymph after all, but an elf princess. Elvish princesses are the best at magic. The magic made up for the song’s lack of rhyme. Raymonda may not be a poet, but she is the greatest sorceress he has seen in his short life.

«Oops!» Clement felt a dry branch crunched under his hand. Raymonda immediately landed and quickly put on her shoes. The fire was instantly almost extinguished. Only a faint orange trickle remained blowing in a column like the silhouette of a genie.

Angry pixies sprang from the pits and flashed in front of Clement’s face like a flock of fireflies.

«They say you owe them compensation for bringing down the earth walls of their new dwelling,» Raymonda translated.

Dwelling?! Those are wheel marks! But Clement didn’t dare argue with the tiny magical creatures. They might cast a spell again! And to break the spell on his own, he was not yet experienced enough. His uncle had never been able to get him to be diligent in his studies.

«Tell them I’ll pay for it when I’m King,» Clement promised.

Strangely enough, the diminutive folk calmed down. Probably because Clement forgot to make it clear to them that it’s not that easy to banish invaders. He might never be king.

Grim Population

The pixies were already having their housewarming party in an empty, cracked jug someone had dropped in the woods. Raymonda had pointed out the place to them. She herself had tamed an owl and spoke to it in the bird’s language. She knows the languages of woodpeckers and quail, even the owl understands her. But he didn’t study very well. He had hoped to inherit the throne and had not heeded his uncle’s advice to chew on the granite of science, that is, the granite of magic. Magic is also a science. Or is it pure magic? Clement was confused. Besides, seeing someone as beautiful as Raymonda made serious thoughts to vanish from his mind. As long as she was near, he thought nothing of the danger of pursuit. And yet Shai’s lord might be peering at him in the magical mirrors right now.

«You’d better not go back to the gamekeeper’s hut,» she advised him. «It’s too risky to live there.»

«Don’t even tell me! I found the bones of a dead gamekeeper in a hole near the house! I wondered what had happened to him.»

Raymonda hummed something dismissively. Clement himself would have guessed there was a gang of outlaws in the woods, but the bones were black as if they’d been burned. Surely they were the marks of dragon fire.

«Let’s walk to town,» Raymonda suggested.

«But it’ll probably be a couple of days’ walk into town!»

«I know shortcuts,» she snapped her fingers, flicking out sparks, and suddenly there was a thin trail of light in the thicket. It was the only bright one in the dark night forest. Something’s wrong here!

Magic! Clement realized. His uncle had told him about the secret paths that were hidden from the eyes of travelers. They could be followed in a matter of hours to the other side of the world. The main thing is not to get lost on them. By the way, only a magical creature can lead them. Even with a magic spell, you won’t be able to find them on your own.

Clement had been convinced from the start that Raymonda was magic. She was too ethereal. Even now she was hovering over the path, not walking on it.

By morning they were at the gates of one of the larger Aluar’s cities. It was certainly not the capital. Surely Raymonda knew he couldn’t return to the capital because of the invaders. After all, the elves knew everything.

The trail disappeared as soon as Raymonda stepped off it. Clément couldn’t believe he’d been so bold as to enter the big city for her. What he wouldn’t do for a pretty girl! Or a beautiful elf! It’s time to stop acting like a rabbit.

«There’s a fair!» Raymonda saw the colorful flags from afar. A sack of beige silk and swan feathers appeared out of nowhere in her hands. She wasn’t going to town for shopping, was she?

She was looking for something in the bag. Some shiny things spilled out of it. Clement helped her gather them up. It was a strange amulet, elves’ doubloons of pure gold with marvelous chasing, and a crown like in his dream. It had been owned by Raymonda, and consisted of spikes, monograms, and claws of gold ripped from the claws of a dead dragon. Clement whistled. What a piece of jewelry! It was too ominous for a lady. It was more befitting a witch.

«Give it back!» Quickly she took it and put it back in her sack.

«Why aren’t you wearing it?»

Raymonda ignored the question. She wore a thin hoop on her forehead, with the insignia of a linked moon and new moon. Only a witch could wear that, too. The moon and new moon, united in one circle, symbolized nighttime sorcery.

As Clement pondered, his companion strode into town. The guards at the gate didn’t notice her hem hovering over the gravel path.

Clement had no choice but to follow her. He noted with horror that most of the guards had been replaced by monsters from Shai. They were a head taller than ordinary people and wore black armor. Their horned helmets looked something like dragon heads.

There was very little of the human population left. Mostly the city was flooded with various supernatural beings. They were all dark, clearly coming from Shai, as were the monstrous warriors.

They did not notice Clement. Only the squads sent specifically after him discerned the prince beneath his simple peasant shirt. They were clearly endowed with clandestine vision. The local monsters paid no attention to the young man.

«This place is full of invaders!» Clement turned around looking for Raymonda, but she was no longer there. He found her after a moment by the colorful tents at the market, where they were selling many beautiful trinkets.

Raymonda had gone out to buy hair ornaments. This surprised Clement. Why would she need wreaths of paper flowers and cheap beads when she had a crown of gold? Are fashionable women greedy creatures? So be it. If he becomes king, he’ll buy her trunks full of ribbons and hairpins. It is as long as she stays with him. Clement peered out into the yonder crowd of rivals, not pursuers. What infatuation does to boys! His father had warned him not to be captivated by windswept women, lest he ruin the kingdom. And it died anyway, caught in the claws of magical invaders.

The heads and disemboweled bodies of those executed on staves made him uneasy. There was the former mayor, the heads of the mint that had already been looted by the monsters, the warriors, and even the merchants whose goods had apparently been taken. Their remains were hung up in bloody pieces on stakes and poles as an admonition to others who had not submitted. The crows did not dare to peck at them. They did not dare to fly close to the monsters of the Shai, who were on patrol on the walls. And he dared to come out here to amuse Raymonda! He’s out of his mind! She’d practically trapped him.

Clement shuddered as he saw the powerful clawed paw through the gaping holes in his armor catch a raven at the meat of an execution and squeeze it, blood spattering on the sidewalk.

At the sight of the blood, some creature on a pole suddenly opened its eyes and appeared alive. He looked like a foolish prophet, dressed in rags and necklaces of bones. Such often wandered the paths leading to the Shai. Into the Shai itself, only a select few were admitted, for some reason needed by the local ruler. The roads were only visible at night or in fog, when everything else is covered by a veil of invisibility. Some daredevils who had studied magic looked for these trails, but Clement’s uncle warned not to venture into them.

«Would you like a prediction of the future?» The creature on the pole grinned. Dirty and shabby it looked like a shabby owl.

«Thank you, but I have no money to pay for it,» said Clement diplomatically. Fortune-tellers usually back off after that answer, but this creature, on the other hand, clung harder.

«I most willingly accept payment in blood.»

«Is it in human blood?» Clement got a bit agitated.

«It is not in dragon blood. It makes everything burn like a match. I don’t want to burn. But you’re not a dragon.»

«No, I’m not.»

«But your friend’s a dragon.»

«No, she’s elf.»

Elves are respected everywhere, but the creature was wary.

«She seems to have roots in both.»

«You’re not just lying to attract a client, are you?»

«It’s nothing. I can give you a prediction for free. It’s not good to charge someone who’s in trouble.»

«I’m not in trouble,» Clement looked back.

«You are not in trouble yet, but you will be soon. It is because of the woman. You shouldn’t be getting married anytime soon.»

«My only living relative doesn’t think so. He can’t wait for me to settle down.»

«He can’t wait for you to burn! I know this family! They’re all supposedly well-intentioned, but it’s all selfishness. Sometimes family gains are too expensive for one of the family members. But marrying a fire monster is too much!»

«What are you talking about? Are all the predictions so vague? Or are they just guesses?»

Clement wanted to tease the crook, but the man wouldn’t listen, eagerly making one prophecy after another.

«Here’s some advice for the future!» He finally uttered. «There’s one truth that you should not forget: the wife is not guilty if the husband is a monster. But remember that the husband is responsible for the black deeds of his wife. Especially it is if he cannot control her. Don’t marry a beauty who will fly off at night to scorch cities. You will be responsible for what she does if you become her husband. The ashes and blood she turns her victims into will also be on your hands.»

How ominous that sounds! Clement shuddered. The creature reminded him of a goose, so disgusting it was. Geeks tend to eat dead things, and thus settle near places of execution and mass graves. Hence such grim prophecies can come from. What can a ghoul say other than death and terror? The ugly creature suddenly rolled its eyes. Its whites glowed red.

«It is danger!» It foretold.

It took Clement a moment to realize that the time to escape was now, not in the distant future. A party of black knights drove through the city gates. Their leader sniffed the air suspiciously, as if it smelled something. Somewhere the roof was smoking, like from a fire. He probably smelled something burning. Clement thought he’d missed it, but the red eyes from beneath his black helmet stared up at him, unerringly searching for him in the crowd. A finger in the black armor of a gauntlet pointed in his direction. The bandleader didn’t say anything out loud, but the heads of all the guards in the city suddenly turned toward Clement.

What a mess, it was all because of Raymonda! Where is she, by the way? Wherever she is, there is nothing she can do. She should be protected, not the other way around.

The black knights began to disperse the people from the fairgrounds in order to reach Clement, who was lost in the thick of the crowd. The motley tents fell under the onslaught of the guards. It was urgent to load the crossbow. The weapon was habitually concealed beneath his clothing. You can’t shoot them all, but you can at least try. Some knight in a helmet with a black cockade was getting close to Clement.

«Leave him alone!» A girl’s high-pitched voice cut through the noise. Raymonda was walking across the square. Sparks flew from beneath the hem of her dress as though she were treading on burning coals.

«He’s mine alone! You mustn’t touch him!» She declared as if her words carried weight here.

The Shai knights were only momentarily deterred by her impertinence. Clement, on the other hand, was so taken aback that several pairs of hands in black armor grabbed him. There was no need to open his mouth to the beauty. But it shocked him too much that the girl had stood up for him. Usually it was the other way around.

She was either cursing or incanting, and suddenly there was a blaze of flame around her feet. In the next instant, Raymonda was gone. In her place, the orange dragon’s enormous, scaly body surged toward the heavens. Its wings had such an enormous sweep that they blew the roofs off the nearby houses. The claws on its hind legs clawed so hard at Shai’s regiment that they fell like toy soldiers.

The most incredible thing was that the dragon had picked up its prey as it flew away. And that prey was Clement himself.

What a way to get out of a fire and into a fire. He felt like a toy in a dragon’s clutch. The city’s spires and turrets were nowhere to be seen. The dragon opened its mouth to let out one last blast of hot flame.

Even a volcanic eruption would not have made such an impression on Clement. The fire spread like an avalanche over the square and the ramparts. The great city turned into a raging sea of fire. Would the black knights burn in it? Or were they immortal?

Clement had no time to think about his enemies, for flying in the dragon’s claws proved far more dangerous than their attack.

Beauty’s claws

The dragon was taking him farther and farther away from the flaming city. Forests, fields, rivers, even entire villages were glimpsed below. And among the usual settlements Clement discerned several fantastical towns with elaborate turrets and the silhouettes of marble fairies on parapets. From above the sculptures seemed alive and moving. The dragon was now descending in flight, now soaring upward as if making zigzags from pursuit and arrows. But there was no chase, no one fired from the towers.

Clement was amazed that the clouds were suddenly close by. He could reach out and touch them, but the dragon held him tightly in its claws and would not let him move.

The mountains loomed up ahead. The dragon would fly over them, but he risked crashing. Was it worth dodging pursuers with swords and spears to be killed by a dragon’s claws?

At the decisive moment, the dragon managed to fly around the mountain ledges. He began to descend in flight. Beyond the mountains stretched a green valley, and beyond was a mottled heath. The dragon suddenly loosened its claws and tossed its prisoner into a lush thicket of purple flowers.

Clement was almost unscathed, save for a few scrapes and a few bruises. The flowers smelled wonderful, and the guards of the Shai were gone, but there was a danger of burning to death. For a dragon had landed nearby and suddenly begun to shrink in size. It felt as if it had been bewitched and forced to change to insignificant size. His uncle was probably wandering around somewhere. Only he could have cast such a spell. He could do nothing to make a mouse the size of a fighting elephant, or make a weed grow into a century-old tree in a few minutes. Clement looked around, but his uncle was nowhere to be found.

The dragon was gone, too. In his place, Raymonda was standing in the middle of the thicket of heather, carelessly shaking off the flowers that had stuck to her dress. It was an idyllic picture! It was except for one «but.» Why were there so many scales on Raymonda’s fingers that hadn’t been there before? And why she has orange claws instead of nails? They look like miniature dragon claws! Clement involuntarily backed away from her, and nearly fell, tripping over a clump of heather.

«So you’re the dragon?!»

He couldn’t get it out of his head. Raymonda was so sweet, so tender, and so scalding! Her hand gripped him and suddenly burned him. The pain was savage!

«Oh, I’m sorry!» Raymonda clearly felt guilty. «I’d forgotten that people can burn themselves. I should have waited until my skin had cooled after the transformation. But I can get you a healing potion. There’s a lovely tree nearby. It can crush you with its roots, but it can cure even a knight’s severe battle wounds.»

«Thank you! But an introduction to a magic tree is unnecessary. I’ve had enough of the dragon.»

Raymonda frowned. «Is that what you call it?»

«It is what it is!» — Clement realized there was no turning back. His feet tangled in a clump of tall heather. Something squeaks and nibbles in the ground beneath the flowers, as if leprechauns have taken up residence there. There’s a belief that if you catch a leprechaun, it will tell you where the pots of gold are buried, but Clement wasn’t busy chasing treasure keepers, who were pouncing on his feet like fleas. He discerned tiny creatures beneath the flowers. Apparently he had stepped into their territory. And they were even more aggressive than pixies.

Raymonda took out her hand mirror and held it to her face.

«It’s a double reflection,» she said aloud. «I didn’t want you to see me looking like this, but I had to. I don’t take threats against me or my friends.»

She was right! There was a regiment of attackers. As it turned out, Raymonda was capable of burning down an entire army single-handed.

The moon and new moon were outlined on the gilt back of her mirror, blended together. It’s the same symbol as the one on her hoop. Only this time it was surrounded by a scattering of stars milled around it like a wreath. It looks very much like the emblem of a midnight sorceress. Until now, Clement had never heard of such wizards being able to turn into dragons.

«So you do it on purpose with your charms?»

«Do what on purpose?» Raymonda wondered.

«You turn into a dragon.»

«If I could do it with my charms…» she sighed dramatically.«It’s not that simple! I’ll let you in on my secrets some day.»

Raymonda looked sadly in the mirror. Or was he upsetting her in some way?

«It’s easier for Chameleon wizards,» she whispered. «They choose their own appearance. But you have to accept the fact that your savior is a dragon.»

«I have,» Clement shook the fragrant heather petals from his collar and sleeves. The heather smelled strange in that field — a mixture of unfamiliar flowers. And Raymonda was not at all what he had thought her to be. What should he call her now? Is it my Lady Dragon? Or is it my Lady Elf?

«Thank you for not leaving me,» he thanked her, though he was, in fact, only in danger because of her.

Sparks flew from her claws, still as bright as dragon scales. One spark burned him. Clement felt like he was on a red-hot frying pan. What if Raymonda turned back into a dragon and spewed a torrent of fire on the heath instead of the city? Then it would burn. She’d have no one else to vent her fury on.

On the one hand it is very romantic, that it was Raymonda who clawed him and carried him away from danger, but on the other hand the alarm bells are ringing in his mind. She is the dragon! And the dragon is her! Clement did not know where to turn from the shattering truth. The beauty turned out to be a monster! The beauty turned out to be a dragon! How can you call a sparkling, albeit gigantic creature in orange and gold scales a monster? The luxurious scales make it look like a whole treasure trove of amber!

«Amber must be your favorite stone.»

«What do you mean?» Raymonda shook off the ashes from her skirts. Clement only now noticed the ashes on the hem of her skirts. He was glad it wasn’t scales. A dress with scales instead of lace trim would have looked too unnatural.

«I’ll give you a set of amber jewels if I’m made king,» he promised her.

«It is better sapphires!» Raymonda cheered up. «I do love sapphires! Are you going to ask me to marry you?»

«Why should I?» He was all hot and furious. He blurted out that if his uncle had not already asked him in marriage, he would ask her to marry him right away. And he’d have his own personal battle dragon in addition to his sweetheart. Well, just like a fairy tale! But his fussy uncle thwarted his plans. If he couldn’t marry who he wanted, magic would do. Though Raymonda may know a thing or two about magic, she wouldn’t fight for him. It is one thing to save him from death, and quite another to enter a magical tournament.

«Gifts as expensive as a set of jewels are only given to the one they wish to marry,» she remarked coquettishly. «They are usually given by the matchmaker. I know!»

«Has anyone ever asked you in marriage?» He asked, and his heart sank. «Was it a king or two?»

«Several!»

«I didn’t realize they all wanted a dragon bride. Probably they wanted to protect the border… You could burn an army, you know. If only the suitors knew you were duplicitous, they could understandably want you.»

Clement tried to speak lightheartedly, but his jealousy suddenly seemed to burn more deeply than a dragon’s claws.

«I think you’re willing to shower me with gifts because you want to offer me the humiliating position of royal favorite, not wife,» she teased him impudently.

«Honestly, I can’t help it,» Clement said aloud, and began swearing at the only surviving uncle — wizard.

Damn his uncle! Clement was a fool. His uncle meddled in his nephew’s private life as if the prince were his own son. And he was a fool himself! He agreed with his uncle in everything. Honesty now made it impossible for him to break his oath or deceive Raimonda.

But Raimonda herself was not the sort of girl who could be seduced by the promise of marriage.

«I will not be anyone’s favorite! And I wasn’t even planning on getting married until now,» she declared. «I am my own mistress. And if anyone asked me to marry him, he’d be hot and bothered,» she showed a flame on her fingertips.

And what will she do to the man who offered her the place of a minion? Clement backed away.

Maybe honestly confess to her that he’d been foisted on some rich princess he’d never seen in his life. But he himself would naturally prefer to marry a beauty who can turn into a dragon and burn the enemy army.

Whoa! What is wrong with him? How can he put the defense of the country on the fragile shoulders of women? Is he weak? So you really can’t marry a dragon. Better to wait for an ordinary bride. But he felt uneasy at the thought that it might not be Raymonda.

She would probably be the bodyguard his uncle had promised him. Who better to protect him than a real dragon? And he only knew the dragon would be a lady! Clement was confused. What could he do about his own feelings? He should never have known that dragons could change into beauties. Better that a pretty girl was his bride and a dragon was a sparkling monster in the sky.

But it was the other way around. One can only hope that the bride will perish on her way to him. He did not want to marry another after he had met Raymonda.

Though, come to think of it, his uncle had promised him a profitable bride. And who could be more profitable than a dragon? A dragon could command an entire army, and she would have a great deal of treasure stashed away. Leprechauns in the heath whispered something about hidden dragon treasure in the mountain caves.

«You’d better get up there and away from our supplies,» they hissed at Clement.

«Okay, I’ll be right back,» said Clement, uncertain of where to go on the moor. Everywhere he looked there was heather. It was except for the mountains.

The leprechauns wouldn’t touch Raymonda. Apparently, they feared she would fire on them and destroy their colony. There were too many of them in the heather.

She suddenly had a pile of rings in her hands.

«They are all from my suitors!» She boasted. «When they were courting me, they chose the most expensive ones without thinking of the size. The rings are too big for me.»

«We can take them to the blacksmith and make them fit.»

«Is it to the smith?» She gave a demonstration of fiery breathing.

«Well, you could probably resize them yourself, since you’re a sorceress.»

«It’s not the size, it’s the meaning.»

«What do you mean?»

«If I still have them, I didn’t give them back to the groomsmen.»

«The only reason you can’t give an engagement ring back is because the groom is already dead,» Clement recalled, trying to count by eye how many rings she was holding. Was it twenty? Was it thirty? Was it fifty? In a word, a lot! «Could it be that all the givers are dead? How had it come to this?»

Unless she had lived forever, and in fact they were all her spouses, not fiancés.

«I burned them!» She startled him with her confession. «Do you know why?»

«How should I know?» That’s what she does with suitors! So no one has a chance with her, unless you want to be burned on your wedding night or right on your wedding day. «I don’t know them all.»

«They’re not right for me. If you disappoint me, the same thing will happen to you.»

«That is, if I ask you to marry me, like they all do. Don’t worry. I’m not going to.»

«Why is it not?»

Well, how can you understand her? Is she provoking him.»

«I already have a fiancée.»

«Are you sure about that?»

He nodded.

«But I’m not,» she said, as if she had the final word. She can’t be sure she’s going to burn his bride. Well, he’ll probably be grateful to her for freeing him from his bonds.

«We must see your uncle this evening,» she said, glancing up at the darkening sky. «We shall have a serious talk.»

Her tone was darker than the dwindling sky.

Dragon caves

Piles of gold and glittering stones lined the caves. Here was the envy of the leprechauns of the heather. Clement whistled in surprise.

«Surprised at how much I’ve… well, accumulated,» she thought aloud. «Normally dragons rob or tax, but here I am just collecting shiny trinkets. I can’t help it when I see something shiny. They told me it would, but I didn’t believe it… Now I’m acting like a magpie.»

«Are you going to buy the whole kingdom?»

«I’m not going to spend what I’ve saved up at all. Didn’t you know that dragons are attracted to the sheen of treasure, not to what they can buy?»

«You bought something at the fair,» Clement remembered.

«Yes,» she said, «but the coins are bewitched. They slip through the dealers’ hands and back into my purse. They’re adept at rolling down the road in the right direction, and they’ll crawl back up the mountain or the wall, if they have to. After all, I am their owner.»

That’s what the elves’ coinage on her coins meant! They were enchanted!

«What talent is it!» praised Clement. «With it you do not need new gold.»

«But unfortunately that’s what attracts me, like a magnet. It’s not greed! It’s just that dragons are attracted to gold. There’s nothing we can do about it. It’s like we’re its slaves. There’s an ancient legend that explains it.»

He wished she hadn’t talked about dragons! For now she is beautiful again! And slender, and delicate, and like a beautiful snow-white flower. Clement wanted to kiss her. Even if he burned himself on her lips, he wouldn’t care.

As if out of spite at that moment his uncle appeared, as if he had grown from the bottom of a cave. Something glittering, like stardust, swirled around his dense figure. And the cave with his arrival was filled with green smoke, as if from an ancient lamp had just been released a genie, which now hovers over the treasures.

«Abraham!» Raymonda wasn’t expecting him so early. «You didn’t even knock!»

Clement looked around the sides of the cave in amazement. There aren’t even any doors to knock on. There were just rocky ledges. But there are also stalactites and stalagmites. Was there some kind of door between the worlds? Who would understand these magicians? He felt superfluous in the company. His uncle was an expert in magic. Raymonda is a great sorceress, capable of changing appearance. He himself was new to sorcery and had no knowledge of it. He only learned a few formulas because his uncle made him. But he doesn’t think he can make much use of them.

«Darling, these are such hard times that you can put etiquette aside,» Abraham excused himself awkwardly. The green smoke around his figure was dissipating. Clement noticed that uncle was dressed like an oriental magician. He’d changed his doublet and hat for trousers and a fancy turban with a peacock feather. He must have found a place at the court in Etar and become like the local sultan. At home he wore the cap and gown of a stargazer only occasionally, and only when he was in a secret magic lab.

«Times are hard, indeed,» Raymonda sighed, steam coming from her nostrils. «Colonies of woodland and field creatures are feeling hostage. They complain that the black magic is no longer spreading from Shai, but directly from the capital of Aluar, and is restricting all their movements. Dryads and fairies have all but lost their power. Even the nymphs in the forest lakes feel stunted and sickly. Lord of Shai longs to command all. Those who do not obey will either perish, or be weakened to the state of living relics, or imprisoned in blocks of ice, in the snow, in boulders. This has already happened to many of my friends and girlfriends. I feel alone.»

«You are not alone! You have a beautiful prince,» Abraham reminded her.«He is handsome! He is prince Charming!»

Raymonda scornfully sniggered. «He would have been better if he had been gifted!»

«Clement will show himself,» the uncle promised.

So far it had been Raymonda who had flaunted her powers. She’s shown her dragon like strength and wisdom, saved the heir of the state, ladled out the treasure pile, and cared for all magical creatures in general. Clement was astonished. He’d thought dragons were selfish creatures. They hoarded their wealth and slaughtered civilians. But she cared for all who were in distress. He found such behavior incongruous with the image of the dragon that burned entire cities before his eyes.

«Raymonda is no ordinary dragon!» the uncle explained. «She is bewitched.»

«Is she enchanted?» Clement’s feet started to fall from the floor of the cave, and his uncle slapped him on the shoulder in a friendly gesture that barely kept him on his feet. What a strong man Abraham had become since he’d left the king’s castle. His palm feels like steel. At home he must have controlled his power, but now there was nothing to hide. In today’s environment, only the strongest survive.

«What does it mean?»

«Don’t you know the meaning of that word? I must have taught you for nothing.»

Of course, Clement knew what «bewitched» meant, but it didn’t quite fit with the way Raymonda looked. She was so self-confident! Enchanted ladies are usually lethargic and ugly and feel inhibited because they are, in fact, under pressure from others. Raymonda, on the other hand, was cocky and felt very free and uninhibited. She could burn down the next town right now.

«Was she sure someone had cast a spell on her?» He was more inclined to believe that she had cast a spell on someone herself. Like his uncle. Abraham had changed a lot since Clement had last seen him, and not for the better. Maybe Raymonda had deceived him by pretending to be a victim instead of a huntress.

«My dear!» the uncle slapped him on the shoulder again. He might as well kill him! Clement went to the other end of the cave to sit down on a pile of gold, and noticed the skulls lying there. They were grinning viciously out of a thicket of glittering coins and necklaces. Clement immediately dissuaded himself from sitting down. He’d rather stand.

«I’ve long kept a list of all the enchanted ladies around the globe. There are quite a few of them. Some have been turned into a peacock, some into a swan, some into a cat the size of a man, and some into a flower of a thorny rose that catches strangers with its stems. There are those who have been robbed of their minds or their beauty by magic. And there are those who have been turned into vicious vampires through sorcery. But Princess Raymonda is the first to be turned into a true dragon.»

So she is a princess after all! That’s what Clement thought. He wasn’t wrong!

«Magic works differently on everyone, depending on the wishes of the one casting the spell,» the uncle went on to spout. He loved to lecture on spells. «The more a witch or sorcerer was offended, the harder the curse was, but sometimes it had side effects. It is in the case of Raymonda. She turned out to be stronger than the one who bewitched her. And now he’s afraid of her himself. That’s why she’s perfect for you.»

«But whether I’m right for her? She seems to dream of having a dragon knight.»

She stomped her foot and the walls of the cave began to crack.

«Careful, my dear, or the whole place will collapse,» his uncle was frightened. «You still haven’t learned how to control your power.»

«Why would I want to do that? Being strong is an advantage. Maybe I don’t even want anyone to cast a spell on me at all.»

Raymonda whistled a song of graceful charms while scribbling witchcraft-like letters on the wall of the cave with her fiery breath. Abraham moved cautiously away from her. It suddenly dawned on Clement that his uncle was afraid of her. Even he is powerless against her fire, just as he is powerless against the enchantments placed upon her.

«Do you want the secret kingdoms of the forest to fall under the rule of Shai’s ruler? His magic is spreading like black claws through the thicket, and soon it will reach them.»

Raymonda frowned. Abraham’s eyes pierced her.

«If the usurper is not expelled from the human kingdom, the elves countries bordering the Aluar risk falling under his influence. You don’t want your winged blond buddies to become his slaves.»

«Sometimes they’re so insolent, it’ll be a lesson to them,» Raymonda didn’t like to give in.

«I didn’t think you’d have to be persuaded. Do you really dislike Clement so much that you’re willing to give up everything you used to cherish?»

«He turned out to be kind of unreasonable.»

«But he’s prettier than any of your former suitors. So why are you displeased?»

«You promised me a great warrior. He doesn’t quite live up to the name.»

«I promised you a great hero,» said uncle Abraham diplomatically. «A great hero is not always a great warrior. There are also great wise men. With Clement, I’ve always relied on his intelligence, not his strength. He’s more of a scholar than a fighter.»

«He’s neither,» said Raymond scornfully.

«But he’s the best shot in the universe!«His uncle’s praised him. «You should have seen him shoot. He could knock down a dragon on the wing.»

She hissed and hissed a great hiss of flame, but Abraham was quick to turn away. He crouched over the smoky green cloud like a genie. How did it form so quickly under the ceiling of the cave? With the feather of his turban his uncle had hit the stalactites.

«I beg your pardon, my lady!» The flash of flame made him look polite. «I misspoke. I meant to say he could easily bring a pigeon down.»

«I should have been more suited to a knight than an archer. I want him to fight sword tournaments for me.»

«My Lady, you yourself are a paragon of strength and fury,» Abraham addressed her in an elegant voice. «Why do you need a mighty warrior when you alone are stronger than all the knights put together?»

The uncle was respectful and polite. There was a great risk that Raymonda would burn both her cave guests, uncle and nephew.

On the one hand, Clement was happy that his betrothed was not some sickly young lady, but a self-assured beauty. She had dragon charm. Uncle hadn’t let him down after all. It was worth thanking him, if only he could persuade Raymonda not to give up a marriage imposed by circumstances. Clement was not so naïve as not to realize that Raymonda needed him only for some ambitious purpose. Court ladies are not amorous, unlike cavaliers who sigh for them. And what to speak of the dragon princess! Though she is of fire, she is as cold as ice when it comes to love feelings.

«You speak to me as if I were an outsider!» Raymonda frowned. She seemed to have known Abraham for a long time. «Why should you? It is because I’ve changed a little since I turned into a dragon.»

«By the way, how do you feel about your new appearance?» My uncle was glad to see her at her mercy, and so he switched back to the familiar «you,» as if Princess Raymonde were as related and apprenticed to him as Clement himself. Abraham was used to teaching magic to royalty. Maybe Raymonda’s magic skills were his doing?

«Scales like armor, but fire sometimes suffocates from within. I need to burn something or someone. For instance, if I don’t breathe out a jet of flame on the first thing that comes up (even a field of plowmen I pass by), I’ll suffocate,» she described her current state.

«So you can’t control yourself?» Abraham looked worried.

«Not always!»

«And when Clement is around you don’t feel an influx of magical power? They say it’s supposed to happen to the protector of the chosen one.»

«Who says so?»

«Well,» his uncle hesitated. «My living witchcraft folio says so.»

«And these…» «Raymonda retracted the claws she’d already released. «You can’t argue with witchcraft books. You still keep them in chains, like prisoners, so they don’t draw an army to the library. Think what it would be like if their voices turned a mass of people into zombies, ready to wreck the world. By the way, if your nephew wants to get great power, he should talk to your books. They might make him lose his will and make him smash everything, or they might make him the wisest! He may be the lucky one.»

«He might be more comfortable with you.»

«I am not with him. He is more of a burden than a gift. And what guarantee is there that he’s the one I’m looking for? You remember how many mistakes I’ve made.»

«Don’t be so fussy! He may be the one who can help you.»

Clement suspected something was wrong. Wasn’t it her job to help him?

«He’s cute, but he’s talentless,» Raymunda pronounced.

«He could be the Chosen One who could save everyone, humans and your supernatural friends alike. If he weren’t, Shai’s Lord wouldn’t be after him.»

She had her ears pricked up long before Clement could hear the sounds below the cave. A party of riders was galloping through the valley. In the darkness they could not even tell if they wore black armor or regular armor.

«If they weren’t from Shai…»

But Raymonda was already at the cave’s exit, hovering in flight over the rocks and blowing out a jet of hot, bright fire. The orange flames seemed like dawn in the night. The squad of riders burst into flames like a handful of matches.

And she could do that without turning into a dragon! Clement couldn’t help but marvel. Well, now! He was beginning to admire her atrocities instead of dreading them. He would soon get to the point of what the rogue had foretold of him in the Piazza.

Raymonda turned and stepped lightly back into the cave from the light, silvery cloud that appeared to have formed under her feet as she hovered over the mountain. The scales that had grown a half-mask over her face instantly disappeared when she stopped breathing fire. Clement noticed that the scales on her face only formed when she was ready to breathe fire.

«The threat is gone!» Raymonda proclaimed, brushing the unruly strands behind her ear. Her ears were as sharp as an elf’s, with tracery along the length of their stalks.

«Well done!» His uncle complimented her on the fact that she’d just made an entire auto-da-fe. They didn’t even know if the cavalcade was a threat. «You must keep him safe!»

Clement is tired of being talked about as if he isn’t around.

«And how did you two meet?» He asked his uncle and Raymonda.

They both looked at him in confusion.

«You could ask the same question about how we met you,» uncle grinned. «I paid courtesies in the Southern Kingdom of Livellin long ago, and am a friend of the King, and therefore tutor to all his children.»

«What does this have to do with the kingdom of Livellin? Wasn’t Princess Raymonda an elf?» Clement didn’t understand. «She lived in the woods! I was sure she was an elf!»

Abraham laughed this time. «She is a Livellin’s princess. But you’re right about the elf blood. Her mother was of elves’ blood. So my lessons have taught you something. You’ve learned a thing or two, even though I thought you were a slacker.»

«Am I slacker?» Clement flared up.

His uncle had never spoken to him so familiarly before. He would never have dared to call the Crown Prince a slacker. But now his title was in doubt. Clement felt like a criminal on the run.

He couldn’t help but think of the moment uncle Abraham had found him in the woods after the fight with the boar. Clement had no life left on him. If he hadn’t found the forest spring of healing water, he would have died of blood loss himself. The black boar, which he chased, turned out to be a witch creature. He could not shoot it to death. Even with a dozen arrows in its hackle it was strong. She had to fight him in a fight. That’s when Clement realized he could wield a dagger as well as an arrow. In the morning, as he was aiming his wounds at the spring, his uncle appeared out of nowhere to tell him the kingdom was gone. That is, it had been occupied by the beasts of Shai.

«And why didn’t all those monster invaders live in Shai?» Clement asked belatedly.

«It was too small for them,» Raymonda answered in place of his uncle. She must have known the monsters of Shai well. Perhaps they had taken her country, too. «They want to conquer the world.»

«And they have started with us! It was bad luck!»

«Well, all right! You’ll settle this without me!» Abraham was glad that Clement and Raymond could communicate without an intermediary. «Your wedding will most likely take place in the woodland realm of the elves. Princess Raymonda’s relatives live there. They may also reveal to you some magical secrets to help you fight Shai’s lord. I’ll pass. My meager knowledge of magic is not enough to fight the invaders.»

And that’s the advice of a wizard! Clement had hoped that his uncle, who had sat through some witchcraft folio, might have found some means of combat. It was all an empty hope! He would have to survive on his own, just as he had when he fought the black boar. Except there was only one boar, and the Shai invaders came in hordes. And if he were to disappoint Raymonda in any way, she would be more attacker than protector.

She had a sly twinkle in her eye as she watched Clement. He already knew that she could light a witch’s fire right there in the cave and start dancing around it through the air, so that her feet barely touched the flames. If one day she drags him into such a dance, as in a dream, he will burn.

Uncle was about to leave, and not in the usual way, but in a magical way. A dark shimmering cloud formed around his feet, shod in oriental shoes with sharp curved toes.

«Learn! Work! Get married! What else can you do?» gave uncle Abraham’s parting admonitions, before finally disappearing into the black shimmering vortex.

Indeed! What else is left? Learning magic is almost a waste of time. For a non-talented student, it’s gibberish. He was accustomed to toil with a mediocre sword. Marrying a dragoness, on the other hand, was new. Raymonda shot a steady stream of flame through the air.

«If there’s no wedding, are you going to burn me?» Clement guessed.

«I can burn you before the wedding!»

What a beast! But she’s pretty.

«But don’t be afraid! You’re very pretty, so live for now.»

In a way, Clement was glad. After all, his fiancée was the girl he’d fallen in love with for the first time in his life. There you go! The fool had been made happy! At least Raymonda was a werewolf! He’d marry a dragon for that much gold.

«Don’t think of it as my dowry,» she said. Raymonde surmised what he had in mind. She’d probably had suitors who’d asked her out of greed before. She must have been scorning them all for a reason.

«I don’t give a damn!» Clement sneered. «I’ve got enough gold in the palace myself.»

«You don’t own the palace now,» said Raymonda reasonably.

Well, she’s right. Clement looked grim. No alternative but to take up residence in the cave or the woods.

«Don’t worry! We’ll try to fix that.»

She picked up the blue star-embroidered cloak she’d draped over the pile of treasures below.

«Where are you off to in the middle of the night?»

«To look for someone to burn and eat instead of you!»

Is she serious?

«You mean you’d roast a traveler on a spit with your breath?»

But she was already gone. He wondered what she was doing to her victims. Maybe she’s burning them without a spit.

Clement didn’t want to spend the night in a dragon cave, but there was nowhere else to go. There wasn’t even a bunk, so he’d have to sleep on a pile of gold. That’s romantic, of course. Everyone dreams of gold mines, but when there’s nothing left around, gold doesn’t seem so valuable anymore. What he needs now is a soft bed and a feather bed, or at least a straw mattress. But there’s nothing like that here! It was only hard metal all around and hard gems.

He caught hold of a pile of coins, from which large elves’ doubloons immediately fell and rolled across the floor. Either Raymonda had put new coinage on them herself with magic, or she had taken them from the magical creatures. She probably robs not only humans, but elves as well. Seizing the mint and forcing the intimidated workers to melt coins with the new coat of arms is unlikely.

In the silence, the gold seemed to sing as the coins tinkled against each other and rolled along the bottom of the cave. Perhaps Raymonda was right, and her gold was enchanted.

Clement looked outside. The mountains of ash left by the burned troop were settling in the valley. The ash swirled over the ground. It was too high, swirling in spirals and resembling faces. Clement had the feeling that the ghosts from the ashes were calling to him again. Here, as there, the ashes were folded into living moaning masks. They were squirming and giving disgusting advice.

«Lead her away! Seduce and kill her! Are you on the side of the arsonist?»

And now it was no longer the masks, but the faces of the demons of Shai.

Clement stepped back from exhaling from the cave and hid between the golden slides. He didn’t want to hear the advice of the evil spirits. It was a good thing they hadn’t even looked into the cave.

The Oracle Tree

Raymonda arrived a day later and said it was time to get ready to go. It’s not a good time! Clement had already become accustomed to the cave. He was even beginning to like the quiet song of the gold. It sounded so intoxicating that he could forget about eating and drinking. Clement felt both fed and satisfied as the coins rolled through the cave, chanting something about how all the gold in the world came from some solar deity. The hymns dedicated to this deity caressed the ear, but Clement did not fully understand their meaning.

Who would have thought that dragon gold could sing? He wouldn’t have dreamed that in his wildest dreams.

Today Raymonda wore her crown of golden laurel leaves and what looked like dragon claws. That crown made her look like the queen of some witchy state inhabited by dangerous creatures.

«So are we going on a journey?» Clement rubbed his eyes sleepily. He dozed lazily while the gold sang to him.

«Did you want to hole up in a dragon cave all your life?» Raymonda shamed him.

«I just thought it was risky to leave the place unattended. What if they looted it?»

«Who would want to rob a dragon?»

«There are all kinds of daredevils.»

«They’ll get caught! My gold is treacherous. It will drive them to the precipice, drive them mad or blind them. Coins, for instance, love to leech into thieves’ skin.»

«It’s a good thing I didn’t get my hands on any,» Clement rejoiced sincerely. «Still, there’s a chance of ruin if the knights of Shai invade here.»

«Why do you fear for my life savings?» Raymonda was furious. «Don’t worry! If I have to be gone for a long time, it means the cave is so protected by magic that no one will find its entrance. And it’s not the only cave where I save my money.»

«And you’re a rich bride!» Clement cracked a joke. Raymonda was too serious.

«And I am dangerous!» She flashed her eyes, which instantly turned orange like flames.

Okay, if she wanted to be quiet instead of talking, fine. Clement felt so happy in her company anyway that he whistled songs to himself as they walked through the meadows and fields into the night. For some reason Raymonda wanted to travel at night. She could see well in the dark. Clement didn’t even ask where they were going or why they were going there. The important thing was that Raymonda was with him. And he expected no other bride than her. To know he was engaged to her was bliss. And her dragon character would probably soften in time.

«By the way, why didn’t you tell me you were my fiancée?» Clement decided to ask.

She gave a dismissive chuckle.

Why had she been leading him on from the start? She was playing with him like a cat with a mouse. Or rather, like a dragon with its prey.

«By the way, am I the groom or the victim?» Clement asked the question directly, at the risk of exposing himself to a torrent of fire breath.

«I don’t know yet!»

Raymonda hovered over the thicket of tall grass, and Clement struggled his way through it. He produced a dagger which he could use to shear back the stalks and clear a path, but Raymonda warned him:

«Don’t dare!»

«Why is it not?»

«The grass is magic. If you cut it, it’ll grow twice as tall.»

That’s probably why it was so tall. It reached to Clement’s waist. Someone had already tried to mow it down.

The tree up ahead was magical, too. It stood in the middle of the meadow, huge and gnarly, like a giant’s severed head.

She strode up to it and stroked its bark gently, as if she were greeting an old friend. The tree’s branches stretched out from the lush crown like vines and lay on the ground, creating a cover like an arbor. They are more flexible than willow branches, and the leaves on them resemble in shape the badges of card suits and the coats of arms of some countries that have long since disappeared.

«Once there were battles fought here and powers crumbled,» Raymonda explained. «Now there’s only the tree, but it’s a wise one.»

Several of the branches suddenly sprang to life, lifted from the ground like slender fingers and touched Clement, unmistakably feeling the injured areas on his skin. There was nothing left of the burns and scratches in a jiffy.

«So the tree really is a healer!»

«And you thought I was lying to you?» She took an oddly shaped leaf or two and put it in her purse. «It’s also an oracle.»

«Isn’t it?» Clement was more interested in the rainbow-like color of the leaves. And its bark had fanciful growths that, in the dim light, might be mistaken for living, supernatural beings. Several birds flitted from the top of the tree. These are the real Syrines and Alconostes!

The living roots continued to grope Clement, though no wounds remained on his body. Clement trusted them now, like a doctor, so he willingly opened his palms as the branches began to glide along the lines of fate.

«He has a noble soul!» A hoarse voice was heard from within the tree. «It is an excellent choice! You are a perfect match! The archer and the dragoness! You are a prince and a princess!»

The giant face of the oracle seemed to fade into the bark of the trunk for a moment. Clement’s heart gave out. Hooray! The oracle tree had predicted good things. So the scoundrel in the square was wrong. His ominous visage made him want to believe less than the lush tree. Though beneath the sprawling crown lurked magical figures sprouted in the trunk and small magical creatures, as well as syrene. Clement whistled.

«Would I have a bird like that?»

«Would you propose to her too?» Raymonda mocked him. «Or make her your mistress?»

As luck would have it, the bird came up with a beautiful female head, braided hair, and a tiny corolla of turquoise.

«Mind you, if you marry me, I will let the minions go no further than into the furnace. That is in the dragon’s mouth!»

«You mean you’ll burn them all?»

«And you, too!»

«Won’t you be sorry?»

«Would you pity the minions you haven’t even had yet? How do you know they won’t turn out to be scheming witches you want to execute?»

«It’s too cruel a burnt offering anyway.»

«I promise I’ll burn anyone who annoys me or contradicts me. I will start with my rivals.»

«And that will be until you’re disenchanted?»

«As your uncle hinted, I don’t think that’s possible. But spells are good for me. I can remove all my rivals and enemies with fire. Your kingdom will burn. So, you’re not going to marry me, are you?»

«Absolutely not! I’ll find a way to tame you.»

She breathed fire into him, and nothing! He didn’t burn. Only the heat ran through his skin until he was red. It was as if he had been bewitched. And it is not by his uncle. Uncle couldn’t do that.

«And your uncle is right! You are the special one! If I can’t burn you, it can’t be otherwise.»

Raymonda suddenly respected him. As it turned out, even she could be impressed by something.

Well, the tree had to do the healer’s job again, probing the branches to see if the fire had left any small injuries on his body.

«I once watched a great battle here!» Raymonda said dreamily.

Clement thought a ghost battle was about to break out in the field, but there was nothing behind him but a statue of a fairy that stood on a pedestal right in the middle of the thicket of grass. She looked beautiful and a little ominous. She seemed to come to life as soon as the moonlight touched her.

«Why hadn’t I noticed her before?»

It was as if the marble fairy had just grown up in the middle of the field.

«Don’t go near her!» Raymonda was frightened. «Don’t even look at her!»

«But why is it?»

The statue seemed very beautiful to him. What could be wrong with it? Except that it was in a strange place.

For some reason Clement had an unbearable urge to lie down and fall asleep right now, right there, at the foot of that strange statue. In spite of Raymonda’s warning, he moved toward it. The beautiful bride cursed noisily behind him and repeated the warning several times:

«Moon statues are dangerous!»

But Clement could no longer hear her. It was as if the marble fairy was calling out to him and he could not resist the call.

What could Raymonda do? She flipped on the dragon almost instantly. The smoke seemed to envelope her in its familiar pattern of glitter. And before he knew it, Clement was sitting on the back of a dragon, flying higher and higher into the starry sky. As the night breeze refreshed his head, Clement couldn’t understand why he was so attracted to the fairy statue. He had the impression that it was the marble statue’s turn to swear at the dragon. After all, she had missed her prey, and once again Raymonda had saved her fiancé from danger. Apparently being a heroine has become a habit with her.

Forest Realm

The winged creatures were hovering in a dance over the halls, partly overgrown with moss. A carpet of leaves grew in the galleries, partly framed by trees rather than walls, and it was pleasant to tread on, even barefoot. But the pixies, too, had taken up residence in it. The little creatures were scandalous. Clement began to fear them.

The reflections of the elves in the mirrors were very willful and behaved very differently from their owners. Often they squirmed and mimicked the movements of their owners.

«The looking glass is a world of its own, and it has its own rules,» Raymonda said. Clement was in amazement.

It shocked him even more than the fact that the palace had no roof but a starry sky.

«Why did we come here?» Clement gazed in amazement at the enchanting surroundings, wondering if he would be driven away as an extra.

«To see my kin,» she urged him forward, first through the network of forest paths and now through a palace composed half of trees and half of walls and columns.

«Who is your kinsman?» Clement looked doubtfully at the winged creatures. Raymonda has no wings behind her. How could she be related to any of the natives? Usually the relatives are very similar.

«The elves are my distant kin,» Raymonda explained. «Abraham’s already told you, and you’re so untrusting.»

«Lost all your trust while you were running through the woods from the Shai killers,» Clement muttered. His quiver of arrows and crossbow were still hidden beneath his broad, rough shirt. Though his fiancée might be a dragon, he had to be prepared to defend himself as well.

The winged pairs were dancing over a carpet of moss.

«Is it a party every night?»

«It’s not a party,» Raymonda said. «It’s just an evening.»

«Which one’s your kin?»

«He is the local ruler.»

«Oh, well!» Clement could barely keep up with the bride on the moss-covered steps. The stairs went up into the starry heavens. The roofless palace had many galleries and passageways that practically hung high, leaning on nothing. Such a structure was meant for inhabitants who possessed wings rather than legs. Clement found it difficult to keep up with Raymonde. She could fly, but he had to jump over gaps where there was no floor or steps. One of the halls was like a giant mushroom, another was a living flowerbed of whispering forget-me-nots, and the third was as if the sea was imprisoned. The floor was of waves, and the walls of shells. Clement nearly drowned and crumpled several times as he reached the wing, which Raymonda called the Chateau of the Rulers.

«And all this luxury is hidden in the woods!» Clement marveled.

«That’s the realm of the wood elves,» said Raymonda, listening beyond the walls of the chateau. «There’s a Council going on. The elves are as anxious as you are about what comes next. But they will pause for my sake. I want you to meet the only relatives who aren’t bewitched.»

Bas-reliefs in the form of masks squinted slyly at Clement from the arches and walls. The rulers’ chateau had enough walls, as did the ceilings, but the dome gazebo was transparent to see the starry skies, and the halls themselves had unusual trees growing from the floor.

«There’s my kin over there,» Raymonda hurried toward the gathering of blond, winged beauties dressed in sparkling robes. Clement remained on the threshold, timid.

He had seen ambassadors and princes from many powers. But they were elves! Real elves! And he wore rough clothes, like a plowman. How can one not be embarrassed?

The elf with the crown glittering on his forehead looked happily at Raymonda. He was blown away as soon as he noticed that she had company.

«Behave yourself, Lourel!» She commanded, apparently to the king himself. «Don’t ruin tonight by summoning a storm. I demand that you ensure the safety of all humans who wander into the elves’ forest palace tonight, by accident or design.»

«Or you’ll burn us all?» Arrogant Lourel obviously knows her habits well. «Or will you chain us up like your Livellin’s clan?»

For some reason Raymonda blushed in shame. She seemed to have a guilty conscience about something. Clement concluded, quite justifiably, that there was a power struggle going on in her realm as well. Apparently, having become a dragon, she feels she must succeed her brothers to the throne. By the way, does she have any brothers? It is besides the elves? And what if they too are bewitched into dragons?

In a large luxurious hall, where flowering lianas stretched along the walls and columns instead of tapestries and stucco, a magnificent elves’ society was gathered. Elf men were in the majority, but a few beautiful ladies with translucent wings were present as well. From their chirping bird-like speech, Clement heard that Lourel was the local prince, not the king, and Raymonda’s cousin.

What a cousin! He has real wings behind his back, and blond hair down below his shoulders, and a hoop of live silver snakes crawling across his forehead, hissing slightly.

Clement didn’t want to meet him at all, but Lourel had already spotted him.

«Is he your dinner?» The elf prince turned to Raymonda. «Oh, I mean, hostage…»

The mistake in the speech was deliberate, Lourel grinned defiantly.

«He is my fiancé!» She corrected him.

«Is he your fiancé?» The pretty elves’ ladies jumped up in surprise and froze in midair. «You have a fiancé! And you still have not burned him!»

«He is not even burned!«The elf-woman with the rainbow wings, panted, and groped him. Though he was afraid of being tickled, he tolerated the touch of the elf-woman. He couldn’t keep the magic lady away from him.

«Leave him alone, Clariel!» Raymonda said.

Reluctantly, Clariel flew away from Clement. Her friends, wearing colorful wreaths and glittering wings, began whispering vigorously.

«Raymonda’s fiancé! Even the inaccessible Raymonda, who had only mocked everyone, was capable of falling in love with someone! It’s true that love is even stronger than magic!»

«These are my cousins, Narcissa, Freesia, Irisa, Heather, and Clariel,» Raymonda said.

The pretty elves surrounded Clement in a jiffy. They scented wildflowers and wings sprinkled with glittering pollen.

«What was so special about him?» Freesia pouted, crankily. «What makes him so different from all the others you’ve rejected?»

«He’s a Prince of Aluar.»

«Is he a prince?» They changed their attitudes toward Clement at once. Indifference was blown away like a magic wind and flirtation began.

«He is Prince of Aluar, he is not elf!» Lourel corrected with a jealous intonation.

«But he is a real prince all the same!» Fresia expressed her delight. «Raymonda was quite understandable.»

«I should like a prince too!» Irisa gasped.

«So would I!» Heather picked up on that.

«I would too!» The elves all chirped. «Because the only people who come to the forest are peasants, rarely messengers. Could you find us all a prince to bring here?»

Lurel snorted irritably.

«Suddenly there was such a big demand for princes on earth! It is because the boy is handsome. Raymonda loves a good-looking brunette or brown-haired boy. Blondes, on the other hand, are no good to her.»

The elf shook his mane of blond hair angrily and suddenly turned a brunette.

«You can’t impress me with tricks like that,» she rebuked him coldly.

Lourel turned red with anger and cunning. She had to hand it to him. His fiery red hair looked lovely, though it was distantly reminiscent of fox hide. He was just waiting for an angry elf to turn foxy and maul his rival.

«I’ll challenge him to a duel!» The elf prince gritted his teeth. «Then we shall see what a hero he is!»

«Don’t dare!» Suddenly Raymonda was nervous. Apparently, Lourel had become quite famous for his fighting skills. Had the Princess not been a dragon herself, Clement would have believed the jealous elf prince had killed every man she wanted to marry. Lourel was itching to go to the fray. He clutched convulsively at the armrests of his throne. Evidently, elves’ tradition forbade combat without a formal challenge and seconds. A formal challenge, however, was quickly followed. The elves surrounding Clement whispered in his ears that he could not refuse. Clement freed himself from their clinging hands and noticed that some of their fingers had turned into twigs stuck to his shirt. The whispers of the beauties also resembled the rustling of falling leaves.

«So what is it?» Lourel showed impatience. «Shall we fight like knights? And see if you, mortal prince, are worthy of such a prize as the beautiful Raymonda.»

Clement felt trapped. He would lose with a sword, but he had a chance with a bow. All he had to do was twist so that he could leave the choice of weapon up to himself. Usually it’s the one who challenges, which in this case is Lourel.

«Leave him alone!» Raymonda frowned. «Everyone knows that fighting against you is suicide. Are you so unhappy that I am back that you want to greet me with bloodshed?»

«And this is what you say to someone who has wooed you unsuccessfully for so many years?» Lourel teased and poured himself a glass of sparkling wine, which, oddly enough, was fitted with metal wings and floated right above the table. «Well, all right! I’ll give you a proper greeting!» He saluted with his glass. «Long live the beautiful, inaccessible Raymonda, who’d not thought of her forest kin until she’d been cursed by a dragon herself.»

«It was a blessing!» Raymonda corrected him smartly. «It was a blessing, not a curse.»

«Since when do pampered ladies consider a beastly form a blessing?» Lourel sniggered.

«Since it helps them defend themselves against the advances of suitors.»

«If I were your groom, I would have killed the Shai’s chief for you.»

«I don’t think so! You’re not that powerful.»

«And that boy is a weakling!»

«That’s not true.» Clement stepped forward, fumbling for an arrow in his quiver. It’s time to put his opponent in his place. He can’t hide behind a lady forever. A dragon bride is good! But a lad should know how to fight himself.

The uncle didn’t think so if he’d provided him with such a fancy woman. But he would prove someday that he could fight, too. And delight Raymonda. If only she could be admired in any way.

Lourel looked at him with mocking condescension.

«He must be very rich for you to condescend to him. He has nothing else to show for it. Strength and dexterity are the bounty of elves, not of mortals.»

How confident he was! Clement was exasperated and protested loudly:

«And I’ll prove that I’m not!» He couldn’t understand why he had to show off so much to Raymonda.

«And how could he do that?» The elf’s eyes gleamed with excitement. He’s going to take that mortal down! And Raymonda’s hand would be free again.

«That’s it!» Clement drew his crossbow. «It is a contest!»

Lourel was utterly surprised.

«Normally mortals pick swords or at least rapiers. I’ve rounded up a lot of hunters who’ve wandered into the woods to hunt game and ended up dueling with me.»

«Prove to me that you can fight with weapons you are not accustomed to!»

«Am I unaccustomed?» Lourel snorted defiantly. «Who’s a better shot than me?»

«Then why did you fight with the hunters, with swords? Were they bad at archery?»

«They chose their swords. I am magnanimous. I offer all trespassers in my woods a weapon of their choice to fight with.»

«So offer me one.»

«Choose!» Lourel allowed.

«I’ve already chosen,» Clement drew his crossbow.

The elf prince grinned dismissively, and the fair elves’ ladies whispered happily:

«It is a tournament! Tonight, in addition to the ball, we will be entertained by a tournament! Come on, let’s call everyone to the contest!»

They flew off in a gleaming flock.

«It is the usual weapons of mortals!» Lourel grimaced at the crossbow and quiver of arrows. «All right then! Let’s go!»

«Where?» said Clement, uneasily noticing the frightened look on Raymonda’s face.

«It is to the clearing, of course!» The elf answered and sent to fetch his magic weapon.