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