and diamonds to adorn our outfits!”
“Bring us magic spinners! We’ll need veils and robes made of their golden yarn, since we are now concubines of the Emperor himself!”
“And invite the musician spirits to tune our tambourines and tighten the skin on our drums!”
“Roast some dwarves on your dragon fire! We want to see how you deal with lazy people!”
“Rip the earrings out of the ladies’ ears!”
“Ride us on the back of a dragon in flight!”
I indulged Rose in these little things, but they all tired me out at once. So I decided to lock them up again. But it’s okay to let them out once in a while. After all, they’re good at pleasing their masters.
Unlike Vincent, who, I realized, had unleashed them too much, I instantly put the peri in order by locking them back in the candelabrum. It was just after dinner, where they were noisily musing and humming to me about what I would have to do for them in the next century. I snapped my fingers, and the bewildered faces of the beauties turned into silvery smoke, which flew back into the holes of the candelabrum that had miraculously appeared on the table in front of me. I took it in my hand and carried it up to the attic myself. Concerned whispers came from the wells.
“What had we done to anger him?”
“Everything seemed to be going so well!”
“We were friends with him! And suddenly it was a betrayal!”
“He was fed up with us!”
“We sang too much!”
“We loved him too much!”
“It’s your fault!”
“No, it’s your fault!”
“Shut up, everyone! He’s a dragon! He could burn us all!” said the most judicious voice at the end. Peri whispered, hoping I wouldn’t hear, but I did, and, frankly, I felt an increasing urge to throw the candelabrum into the fire. Only it probably wouldn’t burn. Let it grow cobwebs in the attic. I’ll have to lock the door like before. It’s a good thing it’s protected by magic. The company of the peri is proving tiresome.
“I have matters of state to think about,” I whispered politely, locking the candelabrum in the attic. “You have distracted me too long. And the problems of the empire do not wait.”
I’d forgotten that there was another dragon flying around, and we were lucky it didn’t swoop down on us while we were enjoying ourselves and burn the castle down.
Beneath the dragon’s mask
I walked, not flew. Fallen leaves rustled beneath my feet. It’s amazing that there are so many fallen leaves in a forest that isn’t fall. They were all green, not even starting to turn yellow yet, and every leaf had scratched marks on it, as if someone had clawed them.
Who dares to be such a freak in my woods? And who dares pretend to be me, a dragon that flies freely through my domain and even burns whatever it pleases? Nothing like this had happened since Simon had appeared. I remembered finding him in the cellars of Prince Rothbert. My pale copy had dwarfed even me. Thankfully, with the destruction of the sorcerer-prince, all it had come to an end as well. We could live in peace.
The fact that I was walking like a commoner was already a bad sign. It meant that my thoughts had led me to a dead end. The last time I had wandered so much was when I was looking for a way to Rose’s forest hideout. There was nothing left to look for now. I knew perfectly well where she was staying, and I was well aware that she wasn’t expecting me to visit, unless I brought her another load of gold and jewelry. Beautiful women are surprisingly sneaky creatures. The only thing they want from dragons is their wealth. Well, protection, too. And when protection is no longer needed, the dragon is left without a lady.
Rose has been my lady of the heart for a long time. Modest and gentle, she stayed by my side until she discovered she had a strong talent for sorcery. I, like a fool, began to help her develop them, even began to teach her the laws of magic myself. And what happened in the end? Rose broke all the laws to become the strongest sorceress who would corner even her teacher. And all just to gain independence from the dragon, who, by the way, faithfully guarded her. I never once hurt her, never once ran my claws into her, on the contrary, I served her faithfully. And what was in return? Not even a thank you. The only pleasant things I heard from Rose were flattering compliments about my radiant appearance and dragon strength. She never once mentioned my treasures, but when she gained her independence, it was clear that she couldn’t live without them.
Rose is the true daughter of Princess Odile. What else did I expect from her? A snake family! Her grandfather is a sorcerer, her mother is a sorceress, and Rose herself wants to be a great sorceress. All her magic comes out to the detriment of others, but she is not the least bit ashamed of it. Rose’s name itself seems to indicate her descent from a family of thorn-like thorns. Rose had gone from being the lady of my heart to the enemy.
Maybe she had created the dragon with her magic that was tormenting me. She could be expected to do such a trick in gratitude for all the treasures I’d sent her.
There were more and more fallen leaves. It was like a green carpet by the path. Some creature with claws was walking through the forest and ripping off leaves in large quantities and then just tossing them on the ground? Why?
Well, it’s not that important. The leaves in this forest resemble emerald plates, and among them, if you discover the secret, sometimes you can actually find pure emeralds. So much so that someone might have searched unsuccessfully for the gems. This is, of course, stealing, considering the forest belongs to me. But I’m not petty. One or two gems won’t take away from my wealth. Besides, only one of my own subjects would enter this forest. My empire in general is populated only by creatures loyal to me, whom I am obliged to care for and, therefore, to make sure that they do not fall into poverty, leading them to steal. So if someone is desperate enough to search the woods for anything of value, it’s my fault. I didn’t follow him. I should have spent less time with the ladies and more time on the affairs of state. Is that someone my subject? Did this creature accidentally wander into my territory?
I wondered. It’s unlikely. The borders of the Empire are delineated by magic, not letting anyone through except those who do not please me or are not invited by some of the locals. Nevertheless, a dragon, unknown to anyone, has somehow penetrated the magical defenses.
So! What I have, according to the complainers who have come to my court: some dragon has started raiding small villages, including magical ones. No one knows where it came from. Not even myself.
So how do we make sense of the situation? It is only to hunt down the dragon. For some reason, I kept putting off that moment, even though I knew I’d find him in the mountains beyond the forest. Instead of flying, I was walking through thickets and brushwood, through a labyrinth of forest paths that diverged in many different directions and led to a variety of magical dwellings of all sorts of creatures.
Why did I suddenly become so modest? What prevents me from turning into a dragon right now, catching a winged rival in the mountains and tearing him apart?
Well, you don’t have to kill him right away. First we should try to find out what he wants and who sent him. Somehow I was sure he didn’t come to the Empire on a whim. Someone had conspired or captured him with magic to control him like a puppet. How many malefactors there were who tried to cause me trouble with magical tricks? I exposed their intrigues, solved the problems they created one by one, and every time came out victorious even from an unequal battle. But now I had a feeling that my luck had changed, and that a new problem might be so difficult that I couldn’t handle it just like that. Probably, nostalgia, melancholy and apathy, which began in me after the broken relationship with Rose, were put on either by herself or Princess Odile