Читать книгу Dragon Bride - Natalie Yacobson - Страница 6

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.