mind raced her like a servant girl until she had dragged almost all the contents of the chest into a deep recess beneath the throne steps.
“Look, is living with your mind, I mean being smart, always so hard?” Estella sighed, exhausted from her work as a loader.
“Shut up!” The mind on her shoulder weighed itself like a chest of jewelry. Her shoulder stiffened.
“Why should I be silent?”
“The more silent you are, the smarter you look.”
“It sounds smart.”
“Trust me, and they’ll stop calling you a simpleton.
“They’ll call me Wise?”
“They’ll call you a star. Your name means North Star, doesn’t it?”
“I didn’t know that! I thought I was just a star.”
“You are a fool,” said Reason, spitting ash on the floor. Why is there ash in his mouth instead of spit? His black spit sealed the treasure-filled hiding place.
“What did you say?” Estella was offended when she heard the word “fool.” Who was he talking about?
“It’s all right, my dear, go ahead. We must get out of the throne room.”
“But my coronation is coming up!”
“It is no coronation for sure yet,” Reason glanced around. “You need to take me to the north tower. Come on!”
Estella felt like a coachman. It was as if the Reason were pulling her by the reins. And so they went. It guided her, showed her the way to her home castle. He was getting into her head. It’s cheeky of him, but convenient for someone who doesn’t want to think about anything herself. He thinks for her.
Reason’s claws were almost lusting over her curls.
“How beautiful you are, Princess.”
“What good would that do?”
“What do you mean? Don’t you value your beauty? Careful, it can be stolen by evil spirits.”
“Everyone laughs at me because I’m stupid.”
“What does a beautiful woman need a mind for?” He laughed suddenly. “It turns out that she does!”
Estella suspected something wrong when she looked at him in the wall mirror. Her mind pressed against her cheek like a gentle pussycat, but it looked like a demon.
“If you are my mind, why are you so ugly?”
“It is because beauty and intelligence are incompatible! Smart people are never beautiful.”
“But then you’re not my mind, you’re someone else’s. You were wrong about me.”
“You are fool,” he swung at her with his claws, but held himself back. “I am yours, you know!”
“And how do you know?”
“I can feel it.”
“You feel it? What do you mean?”
“Like you can feel your leg or arm, I can feel you.”
“But I can’t feel you unless you’re sitting on my shoulder.”
Estella grimaced. The small-sized Mind proved to be heavy. Her shoulder ached from the burden. She hesitated to ask it to step down. She hesitated to ask it to get off, or else it would be gone. Being left without a mind again was terrifying to her. And so she was teased for being a simpleton. Things must change when she had her mind.
“Thank you for showing up,” she thanked him. “It was too bad without you.”
“And you’re already beginning to get smart!” Mind clapped his hands cheerfully, and his claws squeaked. “Usually beauties are empty-headed, but you’re lucky, because you have me. With me you’ll be the greatest queen in the universe, just take my advice.”
Estella nodded obediently. Of course, it was unpleasant to know that your mind was as ugly as a demon. But there was nothing to be done. You have to put up with it. As he himself says, the mind is not meant to be beautiful.
“Aren’t you trying to get back inside my head?” Estella didn’t like the way he drove his sharp claws across the back of her head.
“No, just checking something,” his claws hooked the pendants of the crown. “If you only knew how hard it was for me to let go of my magical chains, to free myself and come back to you, you would have snuggled me now.”
“Was it hard for you, too, without me?” Estella rejoiced. It’s always nice to know you’re not the most deprived.
“Of course it is! As you’ve noticed, I’m very ugly, but a wise man. Together we’d make a great tandem. Just don’t tell anyone about me. Let them think I’m still enchanted. It’s a pity they took the magic out of your pretty little head, or I’d look so pretty. No one would ever have locked the doors of the ballroom or the feast room in front of me.”
“But you will be seen with me if you don’t get off your shoulder.”
“They won’t! As long as I sit on your shoulder I am invisible to others. And you can enjoy my wise counsel.”
“I already have one mentor.”
“Is it a stupid chaperone?”
“She’s smart. Don’t insult her!”
“You will be even smarter now.”
He whispered in her ear. His whisper was as hot as a dragon’s breath. Estella winced.
“Come, princess! With me you will be irresistible to court and invincible in war. Only listen to my advice!”
It’s a good thing Reason doesn’t have to be introduced as a tame monkey. No one really sees him.
There is some commotion among the courtiers. Reason has his black ears pricked up and listens.
“There will be no coronation!” He proclaimed. “This is no longer conjecture but fact.”
“Why should it be so?”
“War has been declared from Ravelin. The local king is convinced the girl must be removed from the throne.”
“Oh, he’s a scoundrel!” Estella clenched her fists.
“Don’t be so boisterous, mistress!” Reason cautioned. “You must behave yourself. Summon the army.”
“But Ravelin is the largest state north of us, famous for its torture chambers and dungeons.”
“And they are but men!” Mind clenched his black clawed fists. “And I…”
“Who
