He is drawn by beauty and innocence, something Dennitsa had before he fell. Dragons are magnetically attracted to anything that even remotely resembles him. And who is more like him than she? So she must be more precious to them than all the other innocent maidens, or gold, or jewels. They must all strive for her, and even fight over her if they must. It would be better if they fought at her side. Rhianon trembled with anticipation. Just a moment more and she could look into his eyes, reach out and touch the sharp teeth of the comb on his head, mentally start a conversation.
It was very cold on high ground. Even the archers, dressed warmly under their cuirasses, were freezing, their fingers straining the bowstring and laying arrows trembling, either from strain or from cold. She herself was warmed by the flames that beat beneath her skin instead of her blood. Her magical power was growing. Even if a dragon came at her with fire, she could summon her power into an invisible shield and fend off the blow. She didn’t want to burn the dragon herself. For him it was a bad time anyway. It was going to rain. Rhianon felt the first raindrops hit her face.
«I must speak to you, please!» She was whispering instead of speaking mentally. «Just look at me!»
Look at me! This is how the forest fairies beg the wayfarers to turn around at the seductive voice and be captured by them forever. In fact, she wanted the same thing. Rhianon expected that by recognizing in her the likeness of his first warlord, all the infernal creatures would serve her. With her own tame dragons, she could become the strongest ruler in the world. How to make them at least look at her and discern in her all the things they had long loved and lost.
If the dragon has already spotted the lonely figure standing on the parapet with her golden head and the stolen comb in her hair, what is he waiting for? It is, after all, his comb. Rhianon had already guessed. The dragon flew here to return what he had stolen. Naturally he would have returned it, along with his new victim. Surely, in his mind, any girl who wore his jewelry herself would also become his property. He could sense from afar that a living creature owned his thing. He planned to grab it along with the comb and carry it away with him. So what is he waiting for? Why doesn’t he pick it up and rain fire down on the castle while he still has the strength. And will he be able to spew jets of flame when the storm comes? Rhianon didn’t even know that.
She noticed how the dragon slowed its flight. It regarded her long and intently. Sharply glowing eyes glittered in his forehead. It looked as if it reflected a rainbow. The curved horns bent just above it. Its nostrils flared menacingly, but it kept its fire out, though that had been its intention just a moment ago – to explode the castle in flames. Rhianon suddenly realized that she could read his thoughts. She’d never been able to do that before. Could it be because of the comb?
In any case, a ridge would not have the power to make a dragon hover in the air above the tower and gaze at the young queen. The archers amicably lowered their arrows, but they bounced off the dragon’s armor in an instant. One of the arrows that ricocheted back struck the archer in the shoulder. Now his comrades were supporting him, and he was bleeding. Someone shouted that it was time to fire the cannons. Rhianon hoped the dragon would fly over the tower before the gunner lit the fuse. Or would a cannonball also do it no harm?
«Could we make a deal?» She turned to him mentally.
Maybe she thought the crowned head bowed slightly, as if to pay her respects. That’s how you bow to your mistress.
The clawed paw did not reach forward to take the comb out of her hair. The dragon stared at her carefully, almost appraisingly. And then suddenly it turned and flew away.
«No!» Rhianon was furious. She even clenched her fists. She would have loved to fire at him now, to scorch his impenetrable tail and wings and spine. But she was being watched. The tower was full of archers, squires bringing arrows and gunners. All these people must not know that their queen could breathe fire as well as a dragon.
Rhianon was furious. How many witnesses watched as the dragon turned and flew away from her? Now they all knew of her humiliation. Instead of serving her, or at least grabbing her and carrying her away to negotiate elsewhere, the dragon simply abandoned her and flew away.
Had she had strength enough, she would have torn it to pieces herself to make armor from its scales and wear it as a battle trophy. She knew such warlords who made cups for themselves out of the skull of a defeated enemy. Now she even understood them. She wanted the same thing. But a dragon that had flown away was beyond her reach.
And on top of that, there were so many onlookers watching her fail. They were the only ones who looked at her with admiration. Of course, they didn’t know that it wasn’t her victory, but her defeat.
Rhianon slid surprisingly easily off the parapet, careful not to look down. The height frightened her. The roof of the castle became wet with rain drops. Carefully avoiding the puddles, she wandered away into the warmth and comfort of the castle chambers. And just as she was leaving, a thunderstorm began.
«He wants to see you,» the spirit whispered in her ear, not even paying attention to the fact that she didn’t want to hear it. The quiet whisper merged with the crackling of the fire in the fireplace, and it was impossible to distinguish one from the other.
Rhianon rested her head on the back of the carved chair and watched the play of the flames in the fireplace’s yawning fireplace. Today it did not irritate, on the contrary, it sent a kind of pleasant current through her veins. After soaking in the rain, she didn’t feel hot from the flames inside her. This had happened to her for the first time. Had one mishap made the fire in her go out?
Rhianon was not even sure what the invisible interlocutor was talking about. And when she did, he was already breaking news.
«You didn’t see that the dragon didn’t fly back out to sea, did you?
«Well, yes,» she nodded apathetically.
«There are caves beyond the forest where no one lives yet, and he waits there…»
She nodded apathetically.
«Why is it?»
«You must tell him what you want from him?»
«What is it?» Rhianon turned her head in confusion. She couldn’t see the spirit behind her, of course, but she could distinguish his voice better.
«He knows you want something from him. Well, he’ll grant you anything you want. I can tell him.»
She didn’t know whether to be more surprised by the helpfulness of the spirit or by the dragon’s willingness to cooperate with her.
«Wouldn’t it be better if Vivian found him first?»
A dragon slayer! Rhianon grinned. It wasn’t the left and the cleansed world that he wanted, it was just impenetrable armor. Rhianon did not believe that Vivian had enough strength of his own to defeat a dragon alone, or even with an entire squad. If someone resorted to magic to drug the beast with a potion that deprived or trapped it, then Vivian with his sword could already prove to be a hero. But who would dare do such a thing?
Rhianon began to drum her nails against the armrest of her chair. Sparks shot out from under her fingernails, lightly marring the smooth, polished surface.
She didn’t know how to call out to the spirit, for it had no name, so she only asked quietly.
«Could you answer one question?»
«What
