Such a gesture would be seen as helplessness. I will be overthrown! Better to find the culprit, who is already known to the people as a witch. You know you can’t get a sea fortune-teller.»
«But she’s not a witch!»
«How would you know, Orvel! You’ve never been able to read minds. That’s my talent. I agree that each of my brothers has their own special gift, but I’m still the most gifted. That is why I will rule! Remember your place!»
«This you say to the eldest heir of the Sultanit?» Orvel was indignant.
«You gave me your place on the throne.»
«I had no choice,» he scowled.
«Yes, you did. And you have none now. I am the queen!»
«The death of my father at the hands of the water king seems to have been good for you. And everyone knows that the Sea King was your admirer. Maybe they’ll think you’re a witch.»
«Not unreasonably, as you know! But everyone also knows that I rejected the Sea King because of his not standard appearance and lack of gifts worthy of a Sultanit’s princess. Apparently he’s already spent it all on the withered Occylvanian princess Lilothea, who he dragged off to the bottom, so there’s no money left for new courtship.»
«What’s your point?» Orvel’s worried.
«That killing our father might be an act of revenge on the part of a spurned suitor. It’s not a pretty story! I suppose someone might accuse me of provoking the wrath of the sea on the Sultanit by my intransigence. We’d better execute one witch and close the case. The people will be glad, and so will I.»
«And all your brothers won’t! She’s perfect for us to close the circle.»
«And I’m not good enough for you?»
«She has a special purpose,» Orvel said. «I just don’t know what it is yet.»
«You must be mistaken!» Ornella barked back at him.
«Then we’re all wrong!»
«That’s why I rule, not you. All my brothers, unlike me, were not smart enough to be in charge of the country. And here I am, the first woman to pull the Sultan’s power. And you still contradict me!»
The firemen hissed angrily, sending up a shower of sparks.
«They report the watermen are watching us. A whole regiment of morgens under the windows,» Orwell translated the fire fairy’s tongue. «Soon they’ll bring the worst of the storm.»
«And it is good! Executing a witch at a time like this will distract everyone. I’ve already ordered a bonfire to be built in the square.»
«Execute such a pretty girl!» Orvel was indignant. «Give her to me!»
«Didn’t you claw the last minion with your claws during love games?»
«I’ve been more careful.»
«I won’t let you do that to this one. I could catch and send some old gypsy fortune-teller instead of her to tonight’s bonfire. But that redheaded girl’s no good for your clawed amusement anyway. You can’t have her!»
Ornella cares about her? There’s something fishy going on here. Fiona had trouble waking up to what was going on and who was running the country since the King’s death. But the word «bonfire» gave her a fright. She shuddered violently.
«She’s waking up!» Orvel determined. «I’ll take her upstairs to my ex-fiancée’s quarters.»
«You swore you wouldn’t take any more harlots.»
«This one’s innocent. I can smell it.»
«She’s a witch,» Orvnella said stubbornly.
«No, she isn’t. There’s something magical about her, but not witchy.»
«But she’ll burn at the stake as a witch!»
«Why don’t you leave her to us?» Orvel was begging. «The room of the Crown Prince’s dead bride is still empty, and apparently it will be empty forever.»
«You don’t want to marry a commoner, do you?»
«Well, no, of course not,» Orwell hesitated. «But she might amuse us.»
Fiona was frightened. For some reason she invariably associated amusement with scratches and claws and savage pain. Oh, why had she gone in the mountains? If she hadn’t gone there, she wouldn’t have ended up in a dungeon.
Ornella leaned over her and ran her fingers through her tangled hair.
«She is a redhead and she has no freckles!» For some reason Ornella was alarmed by this fact.
Yes, Fiona had no freckles. So what is of it? Redheads usually had them, but someone got away with it. You should be happy, not sad! Freckles and pimples were all skin blemishes. Fiona was glad she didn’t have to cover her freckles with homemade flour whitewash, not enough for the market. Ornella, on the other hand, was even angry.
«Remember the prophecies about the redheaded beast who…» She clutched at her brother’s sleeve.
«Ch-ch-ch!» he glanced at Fiona, who couldn’t stand it and opened her eyes.
«After a fire, memories turn to ashes too, so let her listen!» Ornella waved her ringed hand and straightened up stately.
«But it wouldn’t hurt to put the plugs in!» Orvel remarked.
Fiona felt a blockage in her ears, but not for long. She couldn’t hear anything at first. All she could see was Ornella’s pursed lips opening aggressively, and her brother shaking his head negatively. Then fragments of phrase began to be heard again.
«What do you mean, you can’t? You could! You have to learn better!»
«It is Sephora. She is a bad teacher and she is too flaming.»
«She’s the best, that’s why she’s fiery.»
Isn’t that the firebrand they’re talking about? That one hissed in a web of fire, hovering over Ornella’s head. A moment and her redheaded fingers reached for the crown on Ornella’s head, causing the metal to glow. Ornella shuddered, and quickly stepped back into the shadows. Smoke billowed from her strands.
«You are thieves!» She hissed at the fire fairies. «I’ll have you burned at the stake for disrespecting the Queen!»
The fairies merely laughed evilly.
«Then I’ll drown you! Give you to the Morgens as tribute!»
The flaming fairies kept silence, and scurried away. It was dark without them. Only Ornella’s jewels exuded a little golden glow, and the torches of the guards gingerly glowed behind the bars in the distance.
«I will invite Sephora again,» Ornella promised to Orvel.
«But don’t invite her dragons again!» He exclaimed.
«They are like her train. They are always around.»
«You don’t own us!»
«Yes, I do!»
She showed her claws. Birds’ claws on woman’s hands! Fiona shuddered.
«Yes, I see, I see!» Her brother brushed her off.
Fiona seemed to have lost her only protector. Orvel gave up. The newfound Queen of Sultanit bent over Fiona again and tugged her hair painfully.
«She is a redhead! All redheads are sorceresses. They must be tortured and burned.»
Fiona did not have time to object, and no one would have listened to her. Ornella had already summoned the guards.
The guards here were empty-headed in the literal sense. It was as if they had been turned into sleepwalkers. They moved like machines.
«Go