Natalie Yacobson "Rhianon-9. The Birth of the Dragon"

В«So you take nothing away from this place except stolen knowledge.В»

В«IВ only get what my already sold soul is worth.В»

В«So,В» Rhianon shot him aВ curious look. В«You know aВ lot about them.В»

В«It is not all ofВ them,В» he admitted frankly.

«I could have understood it all,» she said, reaching out to take the scroll, but then ducking back in time to look at it. She needn’t look at the strange symbols. She could imagine them anyway. The time of drill was over. She had become strong both mentally and physically. Knowledge that to others would be murderous was familiar to her. It seemed as if she could even penetrate Madael’s mind and learn all that he himself knew.

«You are special,» Douglas said. «It’s not that he chose you.»

В«Then what isВ it?В»

He stared at her face for aВ long moment, then he turned his gaze toВ her lips.

«It is something…» «Douglas never finished. Rhianon turned her gaze to his pale lips. His face resembled chalk against the dark jabot, but the arcs of his eyebrows and lashes stood out in seductive dark lines. He could have been handsome, but the magical experience he had gained had exhausted him. Around his multicolored eyes appeared a dark cusp. His hair, dyed black, had lost its former silkiness. Maybe it was punishment for him for taking the heads off all his competitors. Rhianon looked into his thoughts and experienced the horrors he had experienced with him. How he had been tormented. A boy who had fallen in love with Dennitsa and discovered his hidden talents, he feared that one of his brothers or kin would become his own rival. He demanded from the king heads of his half-siblings until he executed them all. Rhianon remembered the young man being dragged to the scaffold and the star he had given her. It was Douglas’s brother, condemned by him – who would have thought. It would have disgusted her before, but now she didn’t look away, following his thoughts. They tangled into such an intricate web, and the two multicolored eyes further accentuated his singularity. One eye was blue, the other eye was emerald. Only wizards had eyes of different colors, and not all wizards, only the most powerful. Douglas was a very special, but the struggle for supremacy nearly drove him mad. What was he fighting for? Did he hope that if he became first among the damned, he would win the sympathy of his chosen one? That goal had been relegated to the back burner. Rhianon saw what he was thinking and sighed. Her lips opened like gates, ready to breathe out fire, but she already knew that Douglas would not be burned. She leaned on his shoulder and pressed her lips to his. It was just one kiss. It was sweet. The supple cold lips immediately slid open to meet hers. Experience replaced desire. Surely he wanted more, but Rhianon was quick to pull away. She had no regrets about the gift. In years of torment and abstinence, Douglas deserved at least that.

«Will we meet again… here?» He gazed meaningfully around the tower beneath the high dome.

Rhianon shrugged. She hadn’t thought of having a secret tryst with him just yet, especially not here. Everything here held the memory of Madael, the intimacy and kisses of the fallen angel.

Douglas was losing badly against him. Yes, he was handsome, despite his black raven robes and forced celibacy. But he’s human, and while he’s a little different from the rest of mankind, he’s mortal, too.

В«You waited too long for him,В» she reminded him before she left. В«Is it really all the fun inВ the world for you toВ wait even longer for me? It is all eternity, for instance.В»

He only shrugged his shoulders.

В«Some things are worth aВ lot.В»

Rhianon was quite in agreement with him. Only unlike him, she wouldn’t wait in vain.

Six Spinsters

When she emerged from the towers, Loretta was still drowning inВ twilight. The dark streets were calm. Or did it just seem thatВ way?

As she passed the well, Rhianon stopped and glanced down, apprehensive. Could Rothbert, out of spite, have let worms like those he’d let loose in the sewers down here too, to grow into dragons? Could there already be a dragon in the well? For a moment all she could see was a hunched winged silhouette, so much like Setius. Against the gleaming water below, it seemed a mirage made of moonlight. The creature lifted its head and stared at her with those same empty, moonlit eyes.

Rhianon merely shrugged her shoulders. They say that some of Dennitsa’s companions have fallen into crevices and wells. Those who dwelled in the water helped her take the city. The young queen was grateful to them for this. Now the underwater dwellers could get away, but they still found a place for themselves in the gutters and fountains. Perhaps, in time, a sea serpent would indeed appear in one of the wells, and a kraken would take up residence in the castle moat. Rhianon wasn’t too worried about that prospect. She could handle guests seeping through the water with ease. Unless, of course, there was an ocean nearby, fire would easily scare them off. Without water, they are nothing. Their tears for Dennitsa forced them into moisture for all eternity. Every time Rhianon spotted a new pearl in her caskets, she knew who had brought it, and the wet footprints leading to the gutter or bathtub said more about the visitor than they could say for themselves. Pearls were also a symbol of tears, and also of innocence. Those who now lived under the water had compassion for Madael and paid the price for it. On the one hand Rhianon sympathized with them, on the other she was concerned about how she would keep such supporters in line if they were to rebel. In the narrow streets of Loretta, where there is little water, fire would frighten them, but what would happen in the moat. For now it was best not to think about it.

Rhianon looked into all the wells and fountains as she passed. She saw water droplets silvery on mermaid scales, unusual fish splashing in someone’s tubs, living pearls gliding down the gutter, supported by unusual creatures. Loretta came alive. Every drop of water in it became animate, and so did every leaf on the branches. As she walked past someone’s front gardens, Rhianon could hear the leaves rustling anxiously. It was as if someone was calling to her from the crowns of the trees. Sometimes she recognized the dryads, but she did not want to communicate with them today. Phyllis had long been angry with her and hid in an orange tree near the castle. Rhianon hadn’t spoken to her in a long time, and the dryad was angry. She wanted to flirt and play cards with her mistress, not remain a neglected servant. She often said that the rustling of playing cards reminded her of the foliage and her home far away in the forest. More than once she had suggested that Rhianon go back into the thicket with her, to the tree that Phyllis said grew to the heavens.

Rhianon did not doubt her words now, but she did not want toВ leave Loretta just yet. She walked through the streets and enjoyed the feeling that everything here now belonged toВ her. The streets, deserted at night, were beautiful and spacious.

The figure sitting alone by the fountain would have seemed asleep to Rhianon had it not been for the scarlet trickle that trickled into the water. The girl was not asleep. Rhianon stepped closer to take a closer look. She had already expected to see Setius leaning over the corpse. He was the one who could nestle into the maiden’s delicate neck and bleed her.

Rhianon touched her shoulder. Her hand felt as if it had touched aВ helpless rag doll. The corpse fell limply toВ the curb ofВ the fountain. Blond strands were wet and covered her face, but not the sign scratched into her neck. Rhianon immediately recognized it. The mark ofВ the fallen! Someone had branded the corpse withВ it.

«He kills all golden-haired girls who look like you,» a small voice whispered from around the corner. «That’s because he can’t touch you. And he can’t touch the Master. That’s why he looks for copies and kills them.»

Near the scene, Rhianon had expected toВ see the black hunched over shadow ofВ Asmodeus, but not one ofВ the six spinsters. Madeleine, who had come around the corner, seemed toВ have grown inВ stature. She resembled aВ girl ofВ twelve now, but not aВ little dwarf, and yet her outfit remained the same. Even the cap on her oversized head was the same, and so was her hair. But her face, under the curls ofВ red curls, looked more grown-up.

Rhianon remembered that those who were too guilty were especially diminished after the fall. Could they have atoned for their sins and changed? It is unlikely, no one would forgive them, and they did not want forgiveness. Pride and desire for independence would not have allowed them toВ ask for anything.

«Only I shouldn’t have told you that,» Madeleine put her finger to her lips and turned as if she were looking for witnesses.

It seemed toВ Rhianon that she had not come here alone.

В«Why are you here?В» The queen asked.

The spinster only grinned mischievously.

«We wanted to make a dress for her,» she nodded at the corpse. «It was a garment of thread that would drink the life from her. The wretch wanted to take from us the workshop, you see, she is heir to a house where we already worked… We would not have tolerated her, but he left us behindt.

Madeleine raised her head on tiptoes and looked at the corpse, as if she wished toВ be sure that the girl would never rise again.

В«Farewell!В» She nodded quickly toВ Rhianon.

«Farewell?» She thought the word was astonishing. Wasn’t all eternity in front of them? «Won’t you serve me anymore?»

The spinster only shrugged her shoulders. She disappeared into the darkness faster than Rhianon could call out to her. She wandered the streets for a long time, hoping to find one of the spinsters and figure out what they were doing in Loretta, but they were nowhere to be seen. Along with them all the supernatural creatures seemed to have gone into hiding. The only unusual silhouette that separated itself from the shadows was gray and unsightly. Occasionally he would stop in front of someone’s door and knock on it, but the knock itself was inaudible. At first he seemed to Rhianon to be nothing more than an illusion. She did not immediately recognize the familiar face under the hood. When she recognized it, Rhianon shuddered. The gray angel was here again. Who was he looking for? She dared not go up to him and ask him that. But it seemed as if he wanted to take everyone at once. His every gesture said so. He moved through Loretta, smoothly and silently, as if he were taking the city in a ring. Rhianon followed him to watch his strange manipulations. He touched doors and locks with his pale fingers, ran his fingers over the eaves. Every stone, as if it were to soak in his touch. Rhianon would have followed him further, but she became dizzy. She had to return to the castle. Orpheus was already waiting for her there. He was shuffling cards and whistling merrily. The tune was frivolous and mischievous.

«Hello, my beautiful queen,» he grinned as she crossed the threshold. – «Did you have a good night?»

В«Not very much,В» Rhiannon said, feeling tired. She wanted toВ go toВ the mirror and remove the hairpins from her tangled hair, but the spirit blocked her path.

«Do you look disappointed?» Orpheus took a closer look at her face. «The colored-eyed boy hasn’t lived up to your expectations?»

В«What do you mean?В» she stared at him inВ amazement.

В«You know, the one pretending toВ be aВ witch doctor. Damned undertrained and unsuccessful,В» Orpheus almost swore.

«Ah, that’s who you mean,» Rhianon was surprised at how quickly he found out. It would have been well if he had begun with the important news and then moved on to the distractions. Douglas was of little concern to her now, but Orpheus continued to badmouth him.

«If it were up to me, I’d have his head on a stake in no time. It would make a fine addition to the collection that already frightens the guards in the courtyard.»

В«Those heads should be buried. That reminds me,В» Rhianon grimaced, remembering the eerie sight, the half circle ofВ stakes stuck inВ the ground, each crowned with aВ disfigured severed head.

«That’s where they belong,» Orpheus snapped. «Your betrothed knows how to put fear into his subjects. It’s his way of emphasizing his power since time immemorial. Personally I think that young wizard’s head would be a fine addition to his collection. There must be the heads of other traitors as well, of course.»

«I’ve already heard that you would like to behead them.»

В«Would you?В»

He puzzled her with his question. AВ voice that spoke one word, В«They are doomed,В» was whispered inВ her ears again, loud and clear.

«I’ll think about it,» she decided.

В«You can think ofВ aВ riot.В»

В«IВ can pacifyВ it.В»

«And this rogue warlock would help you? Your betrothed might not appreciate your intercourse with his servants. They’re just insects under his feet.»

В«And IВ am his favorite golden snake. IВ am aВ traitor. And he knowsВ it.В»

She wanted toВ hurt Orpheus, but her words hit the mark. Her spirit let them slip past his ears. He shuffled the deck so deftly that from the outside it looked as if the cards were flying inВ the air, caught inВ the wind. Then he became visible, and the mirror caught his reflection.

«That’s how you shuffle young men,» Orpheus grinned. «And you discard the superfluous ones in search of the one and only trump card.»

В«What do you mean?В»

He sat down on the table and grinned defiantly. She snapped and clenched her fists.

«Don’t dare to cheek me. You forget, I am still your queen.»

«Oh, yes, of course you are,» his mischievous smile grew wider, only this time there was something malicious in it. «You’re lucky to find your trump card. Madael is your trump card. If you hadn’t become the devil’s minion, you’d have nothing now. You were better off holding on to him.»

«That’s not what you told me before? Who but you promised me Loretta back with your arsenal of jokes and insignificant tricks? Do you think you could have done it?»

В«OfВ course,В» he pouted resentfully. How could she not believeВ him?

Rhianon sighed. Orpheus would have made aВ fine actor.

«I wonder how you’d do it. You would have hired a former king as a jester and started to torment him with your pranks, and then, after bringing him to a heart attack, you would bring me in the castle and leave alone in the throne room to deal with a pack of predators around me.»

В«IВ would stand behind you and give advice, and intervene myself if necessary. IВ could be invisible and very agile. IВ would disarm all your detractors and whisper toВ the unruly that you are the strongest.В»

В«How nice is it. IВ see that you and IВ would make aВ great couple,В» she said sarcastically.

But Orpheus did not detect the mockery inВ her tone. Apparently, he was so used toВ being witty himself that he denied humor toВ everyone else.

«We are a great couple,» he affirmed cheerfully. «I’m reflected behind you in the mirror. You are as bright as fire, and I am your blackened heart, given over to a fallen angel. You are the queen, and I am your personal demon.»

В«And yet IВ would rather have aВ dragon than you.В»

The words came like aВ slap inВ the face. Orpheus flinched, jumped up from the table, and hovered inВ the air for aВ second.

«No, you can’t really think like that. You’re lying to hurt me.»

She shook her head negatively.

Orpheus couldn’t believe it, or pretended that he couldn’t. «You chose me, you gave me a name, you appointed me as your companion, you awakened me to life there in the caves. I would still be asleep if it weren’t for you. Your voice, like a silvery bell, called me to your service.»

В«And before that, inВ the inn, you had brazenly imposed yourself as my fellow traveler.В»

«That’s not how it happened.»

В«IВ am your companion, your good fortune, IВ should have followed you.В»

В«If only you had been ofВ any use.В»

He seemed about toВ cry. She wondered if his tears would be as bright orange as his hair, or as blood-red as liquid flame. Rhianon felt no pity for him atВ all.

«You don’t need a dragon,» Orpheus was angry and jealous. «There is more fire in you yourself than in a pile of dragon’s throats. You can easily ignite this city like a volcano ready to erupt. You are stronger than a pack of fire-breathing reptiles.»

В«They are your former brethren,В» she added reasonably.

«Oh, that…» Orpheus brushed the pesky memory aside. «I wouldn’t like to be like them.»

«Perhaps you are less guilty, and I am attracted to vice. There’s more of it in Madaael, so I choose him. He could have been a golden dragon, too.»

«Did he tell you?» Orpheus frowned and began counting something on his fingers, as if he were shuffling invisible cards again. «Of course he told you. You shared a bed with him,» he grimaced hostilely. «I don’t know that. I’m not a man, and I’ve never tried anything like that until now, but they say all secrets are revealed in bed.»

В«Did you want me and you toВ check it out?В» She arrogantly arched her eyebrows.

В«Well, yes,В» he hesitated.

«I think it’s a good thing we didn’t, or you’d have told me all your little secrets, and then you’d have been sorry. I wouldn’t have tolerated the presence of a howling spirit behind my back.»

Rhianon was not surprised that, for all his good looks, he had not yet been able toВ seduce any girl. His garrulity would have put any girl off. No one wants toВ end up inВ bed with aВ lunatic, even one so pretty. One look at the way his eyes occasionally sparkle with wild fire, like facets ofВ cold jewels, and you no longer doubt that inВ the morning he could slit your throat if you were inВ the same bed with him. Orpheus could kill, cripple, and trick you without even realizing that he had done something wrong. He was aВ typical madman. Rhianon turned her back on him with disdain.

В«Now leave me alone,В» she demanded. В«IВ have aВ feast toВ get ready for.В»

«Ah, yes, there are still celebrations in your majesty’s honor,» Orpheus mocked in a mellifluous tone. «Since when have usurpers like you or your winged betrothed been unselfishly celebrated?»

В«Since IВ became queen,В» she cut off, picking out an outfit. She liked the one brocade dress with the ermine best. The faeries had already unlaced her corset toВ help her change, and Orpheus was furious.

«Not long ago you’d have been turned away just to get rid of the rightful heiress. And if it weren’t for Conrad’s passion, you might have been declared insane and imprisoned in a tower. The dungeons beneath the keep are excellent, damp, dirty and cold, and full of creatures of all kinds, including those of unearthly origin. If you tell anyone about your time with the winged creatures, you’ll be deemed insane.»

В«IВ have the power on my side now,В» she retorted.

That silenced him for aВ moment.

Already dressed in her sumptuous ceremonial attire, Rhianon listened to the sounds that filled the castle. The general cacophony almost made her ears ache. The heralds’ trumpets were blowing, the kitchens were clinking, footmen and cooks were fussing, and the guests were preparing for the feast. To think how many whispers, sounds, and voices could fill one castle. Otherworldly beings were swarming too, but Rhianon didn’t listen to them. She was on her way to feast with the humans.

Douglas refused to help her. He was captivated by the girl. He would not harm Rhianon for any money or promises. Hildegard herself thought with regret that she would no longer be such a beauty, but she was faced with a choice. Which was sweeter: the lips and long lashes and languid glances of the devil’s mistress or the power? Anyone who was smart would have chosen the latter.

Had Douglas learned of her plans, he would have been dangerous. He might have blabbed everything to Rhianon. So it was worth using all her charms to weave a sorcerer’s web around the tower so that no one’s thoughts could penetrate it. No sorcerer could understand what she was doing.

The witch potions and potions in Hildegard’s jars were running out. And there were no ingredients to make new ones yet. They were too difficult to obtain. She had to go to the cemetery and dig in the places where she could hear claws clawing under the ground and nocturnal creatures. The bones they nibbled in the graves were perhaps the most necessary, just as the seed of the hangmen or the mandrake growing under the feet of the hanged. She needed many things to maintain her witchcraft arsenal. Talented magicians use their charms; she had to act more like a witch doctor. No potions, no effect. She could only conjure using formulas given to her by others.

Pheba, the witch doctor of the village, was another matter. She had recently been brought in by Velicia, one of Hildegard’s special friends. She had long been bewitching suitors for court ladies, or casting spells. If Hildegard could have given her a golden lock of Rhianon, she would have done so. It was a pity she had only managed to comb a few hairs out of the strands of the newfound queen. But even those should have been enough.