«That’s not what I mean! Aren’t your subjects supposed to be exclusively elves and fairies?»
«Oh, no,» she even laughed. «Fairies’ Queen is just a title. It means that all magical creatures are subject to me. Fairies are the strongest among us, they form the highest caste, and to rule them is to subjugate them all at once.»
В«And IВ thought monsters were the strongest. They are such giants!В»
В«People are naive. But IВ can teach you toВ see deeper than any man can.В»
Corundum sprouted in Medea Shai’s forehead. The skin around it gave the impression of porcelain about to crack under the weight of the stone. But the stone itself resembled a third eye. Is it true that the third eye is all-seeing?
В«Do you enjoy my company?В»
Conrad nodded.
В«Do you want toВ fight me further?В»
В«It was you who declared war on me!В» He reasonably remindedВ me.
В«IВ had toВ lure you toВ Shai.В»
В«Where did your kingdom come from? From nothing!В»
В«Shai exists wherever IВ wish it toВ be,В» Medea Shai raked her sharp fingernails across the table. The corundum inВ her forehead seemed toВ glow with fire.
В«You may summon your advisor and the knights toВ join inВ the feast. It is not proper toВ leave them inВ the vestibule.В»
Conrad first made sure that there were no more severed heads on the table among the courses and only then called his retinue.
The two roses, scarlet and white, had been crushed byВ the hooves ofВ the horses on the battlefield, but inВ her hands they came toВ life. One ofВ the monsters picked them up from the bloody field and brought them toВ her with aВ bow. Even if you put the flowers inВ aВ vase ofВ water, they do not refresh as quickly as from the touch ofВ her hands.
«But these same hands cause rashes, leprosy, pustules, and various infections. Don’t touch her,» whispered the counselor, who had reluctantly joined the feast. He squinted warily at the lady of the castle. «Do not sleep with her! Do not sleep with her, or you will not awake alive! Or worse, you’ll be a cripple. Why do we need a crippled king?»
But Conrad wouldn’t listen. Who could listen to it? Near him was such a beautiful woman. She was not a match for his ailing and stunted bride. The princess of Luan Araminta has gray skin and a gaunt body, but Medea Shai has tall, feminine breasts, a face like a porcelain doll and beautiful wings. It does not matter that they are black. They go very well with the slender waist.
There is aВ purple blush on her cheeks, like the crust ofВ an apple showing through under aВ layer ofВ porcelain.
Could she break? It feels like she’s all made of porcelain.
В«So touch it, check it out?В»
Someone’s voice rang in his brain. Or was it coming from the walls, where bas-reliefs of inhuman faces were carved? Or was it the roses whispering with their hundreds of scarlet mouths? The roses here are so reminiscent of a maiden’s mouth, and sometimes the lips of vampires.
InВ the presence ofВ the insolent counselor, the feast turned toВ hell.
«Don’t drink the wine!» He whispered to the king. «She will poison you! She will bewitch you! Enchant you!»
But Conrad ignored the advice and drank. And he didn’t die! The counselor bit his tongue.
However, besides poison, there might be other reasons toВ feel fear.
The fruit on the plates turned out to be alive. One peach slipped from his hands and rolled on the floor, laughing. A ruddy apple rolled over in his fingers, smiled at him with a woman’s face as if painted on the rind and winked. The same faces appeared on the unfamiliar tropical fruit. The mouths on the peels opened and sang in unfamiliar languages.
В«And these creatures we ate!В» The counselor jumped up from the table. The knights felt sick, but not from fear. It seemed that the fruit was already stirring and singing inВ their bellies.
В«They will vomit, but they will survive,В» Medea Shai accompanied them with aВ glance as they fled.
«Now we are alone!» Conrad was glad he hadn’t eaten anything, or he would be sick now, too.
The living fruit at the feast, the statues that came to life, the flowers with talking mouths – it was enough to drive even a strong wrestler mad. But he proved to be a tough nut to crack, and he got the prize. The mistress of the castle ushered him into her bedroom.
AВ black salamander flew inВ front ofВ them, posing as aВ candelabra lighting the way. There was lighter from its scales than from real candles.
Medea Shai’s bed appeared to be made of black flowers. Only the canopy and silk bedspread stood out in bright purple. But a dragon, coiled in rings around the bed, would have alarmed anyone. He glared so fiercely at his guest that the king instinctively drew his sword.
«He’s not jealous,» Medea Shai gently stroked the dragon’s scaly spine.
В«Should he be jealous?В»
She only smiled enigmatically.
В«People are so innocent!В»
I’ve had many women before, Conrad wanted to say, but realized that by innocence she meant something else. Was it naivety? Was it people’s ignorance of enchantments and magic? Was it a mystery that united only her and the dragon? And it was a secret Conrad shouldn’t have poked his nose into. He felt as if he were standing under a keyhole watching Medea Shai make love to a dragon. And in fact it would be the dragon who would be watching their coitus. Even an experienced womanizer would be uncomfortable here. Conrad already was. The dragon’s eyes were staring right at him as Medea Shai unbuttoned his sash.
The white and red fairies were already fighting under the window inВ the dizzying height above the wasteland. The red fairy was winning.
Passion is strongest! The black moths that had fluttered out of the gloom were lacing Medea Shai’s corset, trying not to catch her wings. Conrad looked at the half-naked fairies’ queen and realized he didn’t care. Let the dragon watch as much as he wanted. It was as long as he didn’t interrupt them.
Thorns inВ the heart
When Conrad awoke, Medea Shai was not there. Even the bed was not crumpled where she lay. Her black dragon was gone, too. But the other two, the white one and the amber one, sat unobtrusively inВ the doorway. They did not interfere with Conrad as he left the bedroom.
Going through the castle inВ search ofВ the queen was not the smartest thing toВ do. The enfilades ofВ the hall resembled aВ labyrinth. After ten minutes, Conrad realized that he would not be able toВ find his way back toВ the bedroom on his own. Servants were nowhere toВ be seen, and the wattles ofВ black roses that abundantly braided the walls and columns proved biting. Conrad almost lost an arm when he caught them.
All that remained was toВ turn down aВ dark corridor where there were no roses. True, he had toВ find his way through it as well. The chandeliers and chandeliers which had previously gnawed at him through the eyes ofВ salamanders were gone. But the keyholes inВ the many doors let out aВ measured glow, now azure, now pink and emerald. Behind the doors one might have thought they had locked aВ rainbow. All ofВ the doors were different shapes and sizes.
The end ofВ the corridor spiraled into darkness and was lost inВ infinity. Closed doors ofВ fanciful shapes stretched across the entire corridor.
В«Let me out! Let me out! IВ already regret not obeying you.В»
В«Who are you?В» Conrad leaned toward the door, pushing it open, but it was locked.
В«Who are you?В» Out ofВ the keyhole flashed aВ frightened, bright redВ eye.
В«IВ am aВ man!В» The prisoner howled, either enthusiastically or disapprovingly. It was impossible toВ tell from his tone. В«Bend your ear toВ me! IВ will whisper something secret toВ you.В»
Probably out ofВ curiosity, Conrad bent down, and immediately aВ sharp black claw nimbly peeked out ofВ the crevice and nearly pierced hisВ ear.
«Don’t listen to him! Come to me!»
This time the king did not yield, though the summons came from behind aВ very different door. It was ofВ black metal, and its shape was that ofВ aВ great sheaf ofВ ears.
В«The queen has us locked inВ here. She forbids you, too. Get out ofВ here!В»
He wondered if this was aВ dream. Conrad even pinched himself. The voice moaned inВ different ways, as if aВ whole regiment ofВ different creatures were lurking behind the same door.
В«Let us out! And we will tear the villainess toВ shreds!В» The voices ofВ all sorts ofВ tones croaked and muttered.
And only one squeaky voice warned:
В«Run for your life! Get away from her! Or you will be imprisoned, as we have been, for all eternity!В»
Conrad looked at the fancy door. Were it not for the keyhole, it might have been aВ bas-relief ofВ black spikes. InВ any case, it was too small toВ hold many prisoners, and he could hear aВ chorus ofВ voices. One hoarse bass inВ the chorus was surely that ofВ aВ giant. No more, no less!
Except that it was unbelievable that aВ crowd ofВ creatures could fit into such aВ narrow space at once. Behind the door was probably aВ tiny storeroom, not aВ room. Conrad tapped the wall, checking byВ the sound toВ see if the interior was hollow. There was no echo. The door seemed toВ have aВ blank wall.
«Hey, mortal!» That same squeaky voice, apparently belonging to the dwarf, called. «The fairies’ queen has a soft spot. I can tell you where it is.»
Conrad already knew.
«It’s her heart,» he suggested, remembering the night before with Medea Shai. If she hadn’t fallen in love with him, there would have been a bloody battle between them.
В«No, it would not!В» Someone jumped at the door. В«It is Honeydew!В»
В«What isВ it?В»
В«Not what is it, who isВ it!В»
«And who is it?» Conrad scolded himself for having conversations with someone he couldn’t even see. But he was torn by curiosity.
«Honeydew is a living black flower. It can strangle you with its stems if you get close, or it can give you the key to a secret if you ask very hard. Speaking of keys…Medea Shai has a bunch of keys, each with a head the same shape as these doors. You couldn’t steal her key to the door where I’m languishing! It’s the one with the black sheaf notch.»
В«Are you alone inВ there?В» Why is the polyphonic chorus here? В«It seemed toВ me that there were many ofВ you inside.В»
There was aВ wheezing laugh inВ reply.
В«How stupid mortals are!В»
Conrad took offense, reached for his sword, and realized he did not have his sword with him. If one of the fairies’ queen’s monsters attacked him now, he would not be able to fight back.
В«It is at your service!В» AВ voice at the door insisted. В«IВ told you how toВ overpower her, and you get me the key!В»
Conrad wanted to blurt out that he wasn’t a thief, but it would have been nice to ask something first:
В«What were you locked inВ here for?В»
There was aВ long silence on the other side ofВ the strange door.
«So… A minor transgression! It was sorcery against her majesty’s charms. It was trampling her fields.»
В«But there are no fields, only black wasteland.В»
В«This is Shai! You see only aВ black wasteland, and if the dragons ofВ the queen burn your army, the wasteland will be covered with black sand from ashes like aВ blanket. The ash from your warriors will pile up into whole barchans. Medea Shai likes toВ sow her fields with seeds from human bones.В»
The man who spoke chuckled like aВ madman. Maybe he is insane.
В«What is going on here? Who are you talking to?В» Medea Shai walked down the corridor, rustling her black and scarlet skirts. AВ living candlestick flew ahead ofВ her, rustling with notches inВ the shape ofВ golden wings.
Conrad noticed that the train of the fairies’ queen’s new outfit was woven of thousands of black butterflies. It stretched across the carpet, rustling unpleasantly. The butterflies looked as if they had been captured. They also adorned the neckline and sleeves. Conrad couldn’t tell if they were alive or dead? They seemed to be moving their wings, as if they wanted to warn him about something. But he was no longer willing to listen to warnings. The beauty of the fairies’ queen captivated him once more. One look at her face, at the black curls tangled in the shoulders of moths, and he couldn’t think of anything but love.
«I’ve heard that when people start talking to emptiness, it means they’re going crazy.» Medea Shai brushed some butterflies off her sleeve, and they encircled her forehead in a living hoop. «I have a tincture for insanity. Would you like some?»
As Medea Shai approached, the voices outside the door fell silent, as if they were not there atВ all.
«I heard the ghosts…»
«Believe me, if there were ghosts nesting here, I’d be the first to hear and see them. I love taming ghosts and genies. It’s been my favorite pastime for centuries.»
В«Is it several centuries?В»
Medea Shai nodded. How old is she? She looks young and beautiful. Conrad had heard that time flows differently for fairies than it does for mortals. Humans tend to grow old and die in a century. Fairies, on the other hand, live forever and never grow old at all. That’s why they are called magical creatures.
«I’m older than you… by a couple of millennia,» Medea Shai noticed his embarrassment and began to calculate her age. «But that doesn’t mean anything. If I like someone very much, I can give them eternal life. And there are still conditions not to go outside of my realm, or you will grow old and die despite my charms. Only within Shai can you live forever with me.»
Forever enjoying the love ofВ aВ true fairy! How tempting that sounds! But Conrad remembered his responsibility for his people. Even though his kingdom is made up ofВ humans and not immortal creatures, he is responsible for them. And he also has aВ fiancГ©e! How can he tell Medea Shae about this? Or is it better not toВ say anything at all? How about forgetting the stunted princess Araminta for the sake ofВ the beautiful black-haired fairy?
Medea Shai reached out and kissed him. She didn’t even have to stand on tiptoe, even though Conrad was taller. She simply flew over the rug and touched his lips.
В«Who would have thought IВ would like aВ mere mortal so much!В» She frowned.
В«IВ am aВ king, not aВ mere mortal,В» Conrad corrected.
В«Kings and peasants are mere mortals toВ the Fairy people,В» Medea Shai told.
Morals are complicated! The aristocrats were considered special inВ Aluar. They belonged toВ the upper classes.
Something jerked at the door. Conrad looked around quickly. It felt as if aВ force imprisoned within was trying toВ tear all the doors off their hinges.
«Who’s locked in here?»
Conrad counted on an honest answer, but the fairies’ queen pretended not to understand him.
«What makes you think there’s anyone locked in here?» Her graceful eyebrows rose in surprise.
В«It looked so toВ me. Is this place like aВ dungeon?В»
