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Though, come to think of it, his uncle had promised him a profitable bride. And who could be more profitable than a dragon? A dragon could command an entire army, and she would have a great deal of treasure stashed away. Leprechauns in the heath whispered something about hidden dragon treasure in the mountain caves.
«You’d better get up there and away from our supplies,» they hissed at Clement.
«Okay, I’ll be right back,» said Clement, uncertain of where to go on the moor. Everywhere he looked there was heather. It was except for the mountains.
The leprechauns wouldn’t touch Raymonda. Apparently, they feared she would fire on them and destroy their colony. There were too many of them in the heather.
She suddenly had a pile of rings in her hands.
«They are all from my suitors!» She boasted. «When they were courting me, they chose the most expensive ones without thinking of the size. The rings are too big for me.»
«We can take them to the blacksmith and make them fit.»
«Is it to the smith?» She gave a demonstration of fiery breathing.
«Well, you could probably resize them yourself, since you’re a sorceress.»
«It’s not the size, it’s the meaning.»
«What do you mean?»
«If I still have them, I didn’t give them back to the groomsmen.»
«The only reason you can’t give an engagement ring back is because the groom is already dead,» Clement recalled, trying to count by eye how many rings she was holding. Was it twenty? Was it thirty? Was it fifty? In a word, a lot! «Could it be that all the givers are dead? How had it come to this?»
Unless she had lived forever, and in fact they were all her spouses, not fiancés.
«I burned them!» She startled him with her confession. «Do you know why?»
«How should I know?» That’s what she does with suitors! So no one has a chance with her, unless you want to be burned on your wedding night or right on your wedding day. «I don’t know them all.»
«They’re not right for me. If you disappoint me, the same thing will happen to you.»
«That is, if I ask you to marry me, like they all do. Don’t worry. I’m not going to.»
«Why is it not?»
Well, how can you understand her? Is she provoking him.»
«I already have a fiancée.»
«Are you sure about that?»
He nodded.
«But I’m not,» she said, as if she had the final word. She can’t be sure she’s going to burn his bride. Well, he’ll probably be grateful to her for freeing him from his bonds.
«We must see your uncle this evening,» she said, glancing up at the darkening sky. «We shall have a serious talk.»
Her tone was darker than the dwindling sky.
Dragon caves
Piles of gold and glittering stones lined the caves. Here was the envy of the leprechauns of the heather. Clement whistled in surprise.
«Surprised at how much I’ve… well, accumulated,» she thought aloud. «Normally dragons rob or tax, but here I am just collecting shiny trinkets. I can’t help it when I see something shiny. They told me it would, but I didn’t believe it… Now I’m acting like a magpie.»
«Are you going to buy the whole kingdom?»
«I’m not going to spend what I’ve saved up at all. Didn’t you know that dragons are attracted to the sheen of treasure, not to what they can buy?»
«You bought something at the fair,» Clement remembered.
«Yes,» she said, «but the coins are bewitched. They slip through the dealers’ hands and back into my purse. They’re adept at rolling down the road in the right direction, and they’ll crawl back up the mountain or the wall, if they have to. After all, I am their owner.»
That’s what the elves’ coinage on her coins meant! They were enchanted!
«What talent is it!» praised Clement. «With it you do not need new gold.»
«But unfortunately that’s what attracts me, like a magnet. It’s not greed! It’s just that dragons are attracted to gold. There’s nothing we can do about it. It’s like we’re its slaves. There’s an ancient legend that explains it.»
He wished she hadn’t talked about dragons! For now she is beautiful again! And slender, and delicate, and like a beautiful snow-white flower. Clement wanted to kiss her. Even if he burned himself on her lips, he wouldn’t care.
As if out of spite at that moment his uncle appeared, as if he had grown from the bottom of a cave. Something glittering, like stardust, swirled around his dense figure. And the cave with his arrival was filled with green smoke, as if from an ancient lamp had just been released a genie, which now hovers over the treasures.
«Abraham!» Raymonda wasn’t expecting him so early. «You didn’t even knock!»
Clement looked around the sides of the cave in amazement. There aren’t even any doors to knock on. There were just rocky ledges. But there are also stalactites and stalagmites. Was there some kind of door between the worlds? Who would understand these magicians? He felt superfluous in the company. His uncle was an expert in magic. Raymonda is a great sorceress, capable of changing appearance. He himself was new to sorcery and had no knowledge of it. He only learned a few formulas because his uncle made him. But he doesn’t think he can make much use of them.
«Darling, these are such hard times that you can put etiquette aside,» Abraham excused himself awkwardly. The green smoke around his figure was dissipating. Clement noticed that uncle was dressed like an oriental magician. He’d changed his doublet and hat for trousers and a fancy turban with a peacock feather. He must have found a place at the court in Etar and become like the local sultan. At home he wore the cap and gown of a stargazer only occasionally, and only when he was in a secret magic lab.
«Times are hard, indeed,» Raymonda sighed, steam coming from her nostrils. «Colonies of woodland and field creatures are feeling hostage. They complain that the black magic is no longer spreading from Shai, but directly from the capital of Aluar, and is restricting all their movements. Dryads and fairies have all but lost their power. Even the nymphs in the forest lakes feel stunted and sickly. Lord of Shai longs to command all. Those who do not obey will either perish, or be weakened to the state of living relics, or imprisoned in blocks of ice, in the snow, in boulders. This has already happened to many of my friends and girlfriends. I feel alone.»
«You are not alone! You have a beautiful prince,» Abraham reminded her.«He is handsome! He is prince Charming!»
Raymonda scornfully sniggered. «He would have been better if he had been gifted!»
«Clement will show himself,» the uncle promised.
So far it had been Raymonda who had flaunted her powers. She’s shown her dragon like strength and wisdom, saved the heir of the state, ladled out the treasure pile, and cared for all magical creatures in general. Clement was astonished. He’d thought dragons were selfish creatures. They hoarded their wealth and slaughtered civilians. But she cared for all who were in distress. He found such behavior incongruous with the image of the dragon that burned entire cities before his eyes.
«Raymonda is no ordinary dragon!» the uncle explained. «She is bewitched.»
«Is she enchanted?» Clement’s feet started to fall from the floor of the cave, and his uncle slapped him on the shoulder in a friendly gesture that barely kept him on his feet. What a strong man Abraham had become since he’d left the king’s castle. His palm feels like steel. At home he must have controlled his power, but now there was nothing to hide. In today’s environment, only the strongest survive.
«What does it mean?»
«Don’t you know the meaning of that word? I must have taught you for nothing.»
Of course, Clement knew what «bewitched» meant, but it didn’t quite fit with the way Raymonda looked. She was so self-confident! Enchanted ladies are usually lethargic and ugly and feel inhibited because they are, in fact, under pressure from others. Raymonda, on the other hand, was cocky and felt very free and uninhibited. She could burn down the next town right now.
«Was she sure someone had cast a spell on her?» He was more inclined to believe that she had cast a spell on someone herself. Like his uncle. Abraham had changed a lot since Clement had last seen him, and not for the better. Maybe Raymonda had deceived him by pretending to be a victim instead of a huntress.
«My dear!» the uncle slapped him on the shoulder again. He might as well kill him! Clement went to the other end of the cave to sit down on a pile of gold, and noticed the skulls lying there. They were grinning viciously out of a thicket of glittering coins and necklaces. Clement immediately dissuaded himself from sitting down. He’d rather stand.
«I’ve long kept a list of all the enchanted ladies around the globe. There are quite a few of them. Some have been turned into a peacock, some into a swan, some into a cat the size of a man, and some into a flower of a thorny rose that catches strangers with its stems. There are those who have been robbed of their minds or their beauty by magic. And there are those who have been turned into vicious vampires through sorcery. But Princess Raymonda is the first to be turned into a true dragon.»
So she is a princess after all! That’s what Clement thought. He wasn’t wrong!
«Magic works differently on everyone, depending on the wishes of the one casting the spell,» the uncle went on to spout. He loved to lecture on spells. «The more a witch or sorcerer was offended, the harder the curse was, but sometimes it had side effects. It is in the case of Raymonda. She turned out to be stronger than the one who bewitched her. And now he’s afraid of her himself. That’s why she’s perfect for you.»
«But whether I’m right for her? She seems to dream of having a dragon knight.»
She stomped her foot and the walls of the cave began to crack.
«Careful, my dear, or the whole place will collapse,» his uncle was frightened. «You still haven’t learned how to control your power.»
«Why would I want to do that? Being strong is an advantage. Maybe I don’t even want anyone to cast a spell on me at all.»
Raymonda whistled a song of graceful charms while scribbling witchcraft-like letters on the wall of the cave with her fiery breath. Abraham moved cautiously away from her. It suddenly dawned on Clement that his uncle was afraid of her. Even he is powerless against her fire, just as he is powerless against the enchantments placed upon her.
«Do you want the secret kingdoms of the forest to fall under the rule of Shai’s ruler? His magic is spreading like black claws through the thicket, and soon it will reach them.»
Raymonda frowned. Abraham’s eyes pierced her.
«If the usurper is not expelled from the human kingdom, the elves countries bordering the Aluar risk falling under his influence. You don’t want your winged blond buddies to become his slaves.»
«Sometimes they’re so insolent, it’ll be a lesson to them,» Raymonda didn’t like to give in.
«I didn’t think you’d have to be persuaded. Do you really dislike Clement so much that you’re willing to give up everything you used to cherish?»
«He turned out to be kind of unreasonable.»
«But he’s prettier than any of your former suitors. So why are you displeased?»
«You promised me a great warrior. He doesn’t quite live up to the name.»
«I promised you a great hero,» said uncle Abraham diplomatically. «A great hero is not always a great warrior. There are also great wise men. With Clement, I’ve always relied on his intelligence, not his strength. He’s more of a scholar than a fighter.»
«He’s neither,» said Raymond scornfully.
«But he’s the best shot in the universe!«His uncle’s praised him. «You should have seen him shoot. He could knock down a dragon on the wing.»
She hissed and hissed a great hiss of flame, but Abraham was quick to turn away. He crouched over the smoky green cloud like a genie. How did it form so quickly under the ceiling of the cave? With the feather of his turban his uncle had hit the stalactites.
«I beg your pardon, my lady!» The flash of flame made him look polite. «I misspoke. I meant to say he could easily bring a pigeon down.»
«I should have been more suited to a knight than an archer. I want him to fight sword tournaments for me.»
«My Lady, you yourself are a paragon of strength and fury,» Abraham addressed her in an elegant voice. «Why do you need a mighty warrior when you alone are stronger than all the knights put together?»
The uncle was respectful and polite. There was a great risk that Raymonda would burn both her cave guests, uncle and nephew.
On the one hand, Clement was happy that his betrothed was not some sickly young lady, but a self-assured beauty. She had dragon charm. Uncle hadn’t let him down after all. It was worth thanking him, if only he could persuade Raymonda not to give up a marriage imposed by circumstances. Clement was not so naïve as not to realize that Raymonda needed him only for some ambitious purpose. Court ladies are not amorous, unlike cavaliers who sigh for them. And what to speak of the dragon princess! Though she is of fire, she is as cold as ice when it comes to love feelings.
«You speak to me as if I were an outsider!» Raymonda frowned. She seemed to have known Abraham for a long time. «Why should you? It is because I’ve changed a little since I turned into a dragon.»
«By the way, how do you feel about your new appearance?» My uncle was glad to see her at her mercy, and so he switched back to the familiar «you,» as if Princess Raymonde were as related and apprenticed to him as Clement himself. Abraham was used to teaching magic to royalty. Maybe Raymonda’s magic skills were his doing?
«Scales like armor, but fire sometimes suffocates from within. I need to burn something or someone. For instance, if I don’t breathe out a jet of flame on the first thing that comes up (even a field of plowmen I pass by), I’ll suffocate,» she described her current state.
«So you can’t control yourself?» Abraham looked worried.
«Not always!»
«And when Clement is around you don’t feel an influx of magical power? They say it’s supposed to happen to the protector of the chosen one.»
«Who says so?»
«Well,» his uncle hesitated. «My living witchcraft folio says so.»
«And these…» «Raymonda retracted the claws she’d already released. «You can’t argue with witchcraft books. You still keep them in chains, like prisoners, so they don’t draw an army to the library. Think what it would be like if their voices turned a mass of people into zombies, ready to wreck the world. By the way, if your nephew wants to get great power, he should talk to your books. They might make him lose his will and make him smash everything, or they might make him the wisest! He may be the lucky one.»
«He might be more comfortable with you.»
«I am not with him. He is more of a burden than a gift. And what guarantee is there that he’s the one I’m looking for? You remember how many mistakes I’ve made.»
«Don’t be so fussy! He may be the one who can help you.»
Clement suspected something was wrong. Wasn’t it her job to help him?
«He’s cute, but he’s talentless,» Raymunda pronounced.
«He could be the Chosen One who could save everyone, humans and your supernatural friends alike. If he weren’t, Shai’s Lord wouldn’t be after him.»
She had her ears pricked up long before Clement could hear the sounds below the cave. A party of riders was galloping through the valley. In the darkness they could not even tell if they wore black armor or regular armor.
«If they weren’t from Shai…»
But Raymonda was already at the cave’s exit, hovering in flight over the rocks and blowing out a jet of hot, bright fire. The orange flames seemed like dawn in the night. The squad of riders burst into flames like a handful of matches.
And she could do that without turning into a dragon! Clement couldn’t help but marvel. Well, now! He was beginning to admire her atrocities instead of dreading them. He would soon get to the point of what the rogue had foretold of him in the Piazza.
Raymonda turned and stepped lightly back into the cave from the light, silvery cloud that appeared to have formed under her feet as she hovered over the mountain. The scales that had grown a half-mask over her face instantly disappeared when she stopped breathing fire. Clement noticed that the scales on her face only formed when she was ready to breathe fire.
«The threat is gone!» Raymonda proclaimed, brushing the unruly strands behind her ear. Her ears were as sharp as an elf’s, with tracery along the length of their stalks.
«Well done!» His uncle complimented her on the fact that she’d just made an entire auto-da-fe. They didn’t even know if the cavalcade was a threat. «You must keep him safe!»
