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