Araminta opened her eyes with difficulty. Her eyelids began to grow a film, like cobwebs. Her whole body was covered with gray pustules. She could hardly feel her arms or legs. She would only sit for hours in a rocking chair in front of a window overlooking the royal garden. Sore growths appeared on her back, as if wings were about to grow out of it. And then she would become like those swamp ghostly fairies who had called her. Because of these outgrowths she will not be able to wear the exquisite wedding gown she brought from Fenir. The Fenir’s princess was to be married in the most expensive gown, trimmed with diamonds and silver. But instead of the wedding, it was time to prepare the coffin. Araminta was rotting alive. And all because of a wonderful apple that was held out to her by a hand from the mire.
There was no need toВ take aВ bite out ofВ that fruit. But the voices ofВ the fairies enchantedВ her.
Now there were ordinary human voices inВ the room above her, and she wanted toВ hear the whispers ofВ the swamp fairies again.
«She won’t last a year!» This was Marianne, the sister of the king whom Araminta is to marry, saying. «Everyone says it’s a disease from the marshes, but I’m sure she’s been sick ever since she ate the poisoned fruit from the strange tree that sprouted in the corner of the garden. It would have been cut down, but it withered itself and now resembles a sleeping goblin. My maidens complain that when they approach it, its branches cling to their dresses as if they were alive.»
В«What if she was ill toВ begin with?В» The second voice seemed toВ belong toВ the king.
В«IВ doubt the ruler ofВ Fenir would hide that from you. After all, the alliance is dynastic, not made for love.В»
В«What do you know ofВ love?В»
Marianne sighed resentfully. Araminta could barely hear her. She was sinking back into sleep. She hadn’t been awake for more than an hour lately. She was constantly drawn to sleep. Her eyelids were slipping, her mind racing back to the swamps full of evil and fairies, where the winged fruit waited. She probably took too small a bite out of it to die at once.
«Does she ever wake up?» Marianne carefully straightened her brother’s fiancée’s blond curls. They had turned almost gray, and a meshed gray rash stretched across the skin under her bangs.
«Don’t touch it! You may be infected!» Conrad warned.
В«It is nonsense! IВ would have caught it aВ long time ago if it were contagious.В»
В«You probably only get it from swamp creatures, not humans,В» Conrad agreed.
«I don’t want to say anything bad, but if you don’t get married right away, you’ll have to marry a corpse.»
«Shut up about the wedding!» Conrad suddenly became furious. Marianne had never seen him like that. He had changed since his return from Shai’s lands. He had seemed a stranger to her, as if an evil spirit had taken over his brother’s familiar body.
Conrad announced that there would be no war with Shai. Allegedly he had not found enemies there, but allies.
But the king looked grim, as if he was expecting aВ devastating war. The castle was flooded with monstrous knights from Shai. Each ofВ them was aВ giant. Marianne was aВ little afraid ofВ them. These monsters were completely indifferent toВ female beauty, so she could not twirl them around like ordinary knights. Attack her with one such monster, and her faithful admirers Lance and Henrik would not be able toВ protect her. What could ordinary warriors do against the giants?
Conrad assured her that there was nothing toВ fear. After all, Queen ofВ Shai favors him. Marianne was struck byВ the very fact that Shai was ruled byВ aВ queen, not aВ king. Normally even widows retreated into the shadows, ceding their place on the throne toВ male heirs. And Medea Shai was no widow. But she was aВ lord ofВ an army ofВ giants.
Queen ofВ Shai sent gifts for all ofВ Aluar: baskets ofВ black fruit, with wing-shaped growths on the stalks instead ofВ leaves. They were the lightest cloths woven with mysterious symbols, daggers ofВ unusual black steel. The maidens received wondrous ornaments and flowers which did not need soil, but took root directly inВ the carpet. The townspeople were given bundles ofВ berries that evoked pleasant visions. Even the peasants Medea Shai had not forgotten, sending them sacks ofВ black grain, the harvest from which should ripen inВ just three days after sowing.
«I don’t want any trouble with all these wonderful gifts,» Marianne worried, but her brother brushed her off like an annoying gnat. He had never been so inconsiderate toward her. But he looked at Araminta asleep, even with hostility. And he had liked her very much before. Marianne had the feeling that Conrad’s heart had remained in distant Shai.
«Better put that away!» She removed a light beige veil woven from Araminta’s curls, another gift from the strange queen.
Conrad was saying something about fairies. They lived inВ Shai and wove magical capes ofВ cobwebs, but the two servants sent byВ Medea Shai were not fairies, but monstrous dwarfs inВ gorgeous oriental robes. They resembled two living bushes, one black, other green. Arms like branches held trays with gifts for Araminta. One held aВ box ofВ costume jewelry, the other aВ symbol ofВ sun and moon, and aВ peculiar star-shaped phial with aВ lid.
It is an elixir for sickness!В» Conrad explained. В«My new ally is kind, even though she is the queen ofВ the black fairies.В»
«She is a real fairy queen! Why didn’t you say so before?» Marianne’s mood immediately changed. She had only seen elves up close, but never fairies. But her dream since childhood had been to meet a living fairy. There were rumors about them that they were divinely beautiful and could bestow magical talents on anyone who appealed to them.
«Is the Fairies’ Queen really your ally?»
Conrad nodded silently.
В«What did you do toВ make her your ally? Did you accomplish some feat?В»
В«She likedВ me.В»
В«Did you?В»
For some reason Conrad became darker than aВ cloud.
В«IВ might even have married her, had IВ not already been engaged.В»
Marianne thought feverishly about what she heard. She knew she was being naive, but she wanted aВ fairy sister-in-law so much that nothing else made sense.
«You’d better marry a fairies’ queen!» She advised Conrad impulsively.
В«And what is about Araminta?В»
Marianne bit her lip. Becoming a fairy sister-in-law was far more interesting than being related to a Fenir’s princess. Besides, a fairies’ queen would be able to drive the aggressive giants away from Cassian’s mountain kingdom.
В«Politics is complicated,В» Conrad said philosophically, В«and sorcery is even moreВ so.В»
What’s his point? Marianne watched the two bush creatures as they carefully poured drops of sparkling elixir into Araminta’s morning tea. The king’s bride was asleep, but the twig-like fingers of the servant still poured some of the drink into her pale lips.
В«It is aВ medicine,В» Conrad explained.
«It’s from Shai, like all the gifts he sent,» Marianne suspected. The queen of the fairies is too generous.
В«So what is ofВ it?В» Conrad noticed the dark scarlet cloud flying across the sky. His sadness was immediately blown away. The cloud was approaching the window ofВ the royal armory.
В«You go toВ the tournament, and IВ will go away!В»
Marianne watched inВ amazement as her brother hurried off like aВ schoolboy out ofВ school. What should she do with Araminta now? Leave the girl inВ the company ofВ two unimaginable creatures? ToВ herself, Marianne had already called them both porcupines. One ofВ them reached out toВ her with stubby twiggy fingers. Two proboscis-like noses sniffed theВ air.
В«Madam has arrived!В» AВ hoarse voice called out. В«And inВ the kitchen they are making deer blood soup for us and other servants ofВ her dusky majesty.В»
Are they really picking up smells from the kitchen, which is inВ the basement below the tower? It is magic.
One of the creatures braided its limbs- twigs around Araminta’s blonde head.
В«Her consciousness is far from here, aВ prisoner ofВ the swamp fairies,В» it determined.
В«Could you heal her?В» Marianne turned toВ them. She must be insane toВ put their opinion above that ofВ the Court Physician.
В«She can be put back on her feet, but not her consciousness,В» the two husky voices answered inВ unison. В«She will remain aВ weakling puppet forever.В»
Marianne had the feeling that she was now inВ the forest, not inВ the palace, and the dry branches were crunching beneath her feet.
В«Her soul would be carried away into the fairy swamp if she died,В» the green creature squinted at the vial ofВ elixir.
Marianne was dizzy with cryptic phrases. Better toВ leave these creatures alone. Let them figure out how toВ heal Araminta on theirВ own.
Winged Swords
Medea Shai stood inВ the empty armory, gracefully spreading her patterned wings. The guards thought it best toВ leave as soon as she appeared here. Conrad was happy toВ see her again. Though she brought waves ofВ darkness with her, toВ him she was like the blackВ sun.
«I’ve been waiting for you!» He exclaimed from the threshold. «You took your time.»
В«But IВ have sent gifts toВ all your subjects that will radically change the country.В»
Conrad did not detect a note of guile in her tone. Medea Shai paced around the circular holder on which the rarest of weapons was laid out. Her dainty black-nailed fingers slid over the double-edged blades. She’d better not hurt herself!
В«You collect swords from Menuel!В» Medea Shai was delighted at the sight ofВ his collection. Others were frightened byВ the hilts inВ the shape ofВ wings, but she was fascinated byВ it.
В«There are legends that such swords fly into the heart ofВ the enemy, if you send them, even through the country, strongly wishing someone death,В» Conrad remembered the fables ofВ arms dealers. В«Such aВ sword will find its prey and plunge intoВ it.В»
«It’s not a legend, it’s the truth,» the queen of the fairies interrupted him, almost harshly. «True, there is a spell you must first recite before you can send a sword to seek out your enemy. I can teach you…»
She was silent for aВ moment, and her brow furrowed inВ incomprehension. Her wings twitched nervously.
«But why should I teach you anything? You’re mortal, aren’t you? Not even a mundane elf! I always wanted to marry an elves’ king. No more, no less. And now I’ve changed my mind. I don’t believe it.»
She gently brushed aВ lock ofВ hair from his forehead.
«You were so extraordinary. I didn’t expect a human to have the consciousness of an elf.»
«Was it all because of the armory? Has your opinion of me increased so much because I keep Menuel’s swords in my possession?»
«It’s not an arsenal, it’s a treasure trove.»
Medea Shai manipulated one ofВ the swords inВ some way, and the steel notched wings flapped like they were alive. The sword hung inВ theВ air.
В«Who do you want it toВ kill?В» She asked him curtly.
At first Conrad didn’t even believe her.
В«Do you meanВ it?В»
В«And yourself, what do you think?В» Medea Shai flapped her wings sharply and knocked over the sword basket. They scattered across the floor. Their clanging sounded like the echo ofВ aВ bloodbath.
«I don’t want to hurt anyone since I met you,» Conrad admitted.
Medea Shai frowned. The streams ofВ gloom that flew from the tips ofВ her wings grew thicker.
«It’s strange! I usually bring out the darkest qualities in even the nicest people,» she thought aloud.
«So it’s different with me.»
В«But every king has at least one mortal enemy. You nameВ it!В»
Well, all right.
В«It is King Meron ofВ Arador.В»
By naming the name Condor didn’t think he was signing his death warrant. The sword dashed through the open window of the armory and flew over the sleeping city like a big arrow.
В«InВ an hour it will have done the job!В» Medea Shai promised.
Her luxurious wings scuffed the walls of armoires and spears stacked in niches. Conrad was again afraid she would hurt herself. With wings like hers, it’s hard to walk around earthly apartments. There’s too little room, and she doesn’t want to fold her wings with a cape behind her back like her fairies do. She is, after all, a queen.
Condor noticed the dark-winged fairies circling above the tallest tower spire.
В«They are my retinue,В» Medea Shai explained.
«Don’t they want to fly into the castle?»
«They’re more at ease in the heights.»
Conrad didn’t insist. The fairies looked ominous. They seemed to be calling for a storm. Black storm clouds were gathering where they were dancing.
В«Will you grace the royal tournament with your presence?В» Conrad gestured toВ the queen ofВ the fairies. Even though she is aВ magical guest, but we must observe the etiquette. But toВ enter through the windows instead ofВ the doors, as Medea Shai had already done, was aВ clear violation ofВ all the rules.
«That is unnecessary!» She shrugged. «I don’t like mortal tournaments. Magic tournaments are more fun.»
«But there aren’t any in Aluar.»
«We shall remedy that,» «Medea Shai levitated off the floor to catch up with Conrad and kissed him. The kiss of a fairies’ queen must make everyone lose their mind. Conrad momentarily forgot what he was about to say. Medea Shae’s lips tasted and smelled of the dark forest, pine and witch berries. Conrad was ready to forget everything and make love to the fairy right now in the armory, among the scattered weapons, regardless of the risk of severe injury. But there was a sharp whistle outside the window. It was the winged sword coming back. It flew back on its own, moving the notches of its hilt like real wings. Its blade was covered in blood. A flap of Arador’s coat of arms clung to its hilt.
«Your opponent is dead!» Medea Shai took the sword, twirled it in her hands, and suddenly licked the blood from the blade. «And he was no longer young, but cunning. It would have been nice to get to know him while he was still alive. I can talk to the dead, too, but it’s not as interesting as talking to the living.»
The sword dropped from her fingers and took its former place in the hollow of its holder. The blood wasn’t caked on it, but disappeared, as if the steel had absorbed it.
В«You said it would take an hour for the sword toВ do its job, and it came back much sooner.В»
Medea Shai only grinned wryly. He must have been the one who lost track ofВ time while he was kissing the fairy.
Conrad picked up the sword that had just killed his rival.
В«What are you doing?В» Medea Shai grew wary.
В«It boggles my mind toВ think that an hour ago it was inВ the heart ofВ my enemy,В» Conrad confessed.
В«What surprises me is that this sword does not crave your blood. Ordinarily, if you draw it from its sheath, it would be as thirsty as its proprietor. And it only drinks blood.В»
Medea Shai’s slender but incredibly strong fingers slipped over Conrad’s sword-clutching hand.
