Lilophea-2: Consort of the Sea King. Natalia Yacobson

      ISBN 978-5-0060-2968-2 (т. 2)

      ISBN 978-5-0060-2969-9

      Created with Ridero smart publishing system

      The magic of the underwater harp

      A wedding with a waterman! A wedding night alone! What a fate! Is she disappointed or is it a relief that Seal has disappeared for a long time? Who knows what awaits her alone with him. He’s not human after all, though he’s damnably attractive.

      Lilophea tried to forget the voice of the rebel imprisoned behind the throne room, but it would not leave her mind.

      “You could rule alone…”

      It was tempting, as if it still spoke to her. It sounded in her brain, penetrating her consciousness in black and red vapors. If she closed her eyelids, it felt as if the bricked-up doors were about to explode from the negative, furious magic that was building up behind them.

      But there had been no explosion that would have brought down the entire underwater palace.

      In the underwater kingdom, everything was proceeding at its own pace. Mermaid maids scurried in and out, newts with tridents watched over the entrances and exits, sea dragons on the arches came to life and winked at Lilophea. She truly felt like a queen when one blue underwater dragon suddenly jumped down from somewhere on the arcade and blocked her way, not to attack her, but solely to worship her.

      Was he impressed by the peculiar crown on her head, or by the fact that she had finally become Seal’s wife? The important thing is that now everyone here honors her as ruler, bows and pays her homage. Even the mighty patterned pillars, which can actually come to life as sea monsters, no longer hiss after her but respectfully sing hymns. The same change occurred with the golden faces in relief embossed on doors, colonnades, and even walls. No longer did they tease her, but only praised her beauty and virtues with monotonous singing. Apparently, they know how to suck up. Lilophea took a long time to look at the bas-reliefs of various mythical creatures, which came to life before her eyes and also gave her signs of esteem. The little golden morag on the column moved and winked at her slyly. Small multicolored jellyfish swarmed beneath her feet. Some of them had female faces. Gee, if you look closely, they’re pretty cute. Maybe she should take them as maidens. They certainly wouldn’t mind. As queen of the seas, Lilophea was their favorite.

      How pleasant to be the queen of the underwater kingdom! She never felt so at ease on land. There were intrigues, spies, rules of etiquette, which could not be broken. Here she was free to do as she pleased, to sail wherever she pleased. All around is honor and respect. It is unlikely the same happiness would be if she married an earthly king or sultan. The sultan had a harem of concubines. She would have to be on pins and needles every day there, even as a sultana. Here, it’s so free and so nice. And there’s magic all around. Lilophea couldn’t tear herself away from the living arches of azure dragons. She could not fear them now. After all, she was their mistress. For the first time in her life, she felt happy. Well, almost happy. After all, Seal was still not coming back. It’s even nicer to be around him. But even without him, she felt at home here, as if this land were a foreign land and the underwater realm a homeland.

      Could it be that her marriage to the Water King had had such an effect on her? Her whole outlook suddenly changed dramatically. She began to think like a morgen. Had she thought differently at first? The crown suddenly began to press against her forehead and even seemed to heat up. There was an unpleasant feeling that someone was watching her. Lilophea even turned around to see if anyone was hiding behind the arches or pillars. But there was a whole forest of them. Every shadow that flashed behind them could be a spy. Someone was following her for sure, and it wasn’t dragons guarding her in the guise of arches. The feeling of being followed was so unpleasant that Lilophea decided to return to her chambers. She would surely be alone there.

      The crown was still pressing on her forehead, and Lilophea took it off. Exquisite thing! It looks like a miniature palace in the shape of a headband. And the sun with a human face in the middle seems alive. Lilophea found a necklace with the same pendant in the chests and put it around her neck. The pendant in the form of a sun with a woman’s face was appealing in some way. But not the reminder of the land over which the sun warmed. Here under the water it seemed to have fallen from the heavens to the depths.

      The symbol was mysterious. One had to close one’s eyes and Lilophea could see the sun falling from the sky beneath the water, burning the water column with fire. The fish and morgens moaned at its approach. This sun has the face of a beautiful girl.

      Lilophea opened her eyes. The vision burned her brain so that it felt as hot as a furnace. Somewhere above the gates of an underwater palace or on one of the pediments she had seen the same symbol of large size, but where exactly she could not recall. The sun with a human face seemed to mock her, calling her to go there without knowing where. She wanted to wander through the entire palace, like a labyrinth, until she found a symbol on one of the walls, which was alive and burning even under water.

      And what if the call of the sun led her to some creepy tract or hollow or magical dungeon?

      That’s it, stop thinking about it! It’s some kind of exquisite witchcraft that takes over the mind and makes you go somewhere against your will in search of something you don’t even understand the meaning of. The sun is alive, it is somewhere here, and it is calling to her.

      Lilophea tried to shake off the obsession. Maybe take off the pendant, too, so as not to fall under the power of spells anymore? She didn’t want to take it off. The golden sun gently warmed her skin. It felt good to wear it on her chest. The only discomfort was that its proximity to her body gave rise to strange visions in her mind.

      Lilophea was distracted when she noticed things that hadn’t been in her chambers before. Apparently they were wedding gifts. Though who had brought them? There was a heavy wrought iron chest with a dormant figure of a brass mermaid on the lid. As soon as she touched it, the mermaid opened her brass eyes and said something in a language Lilophea cannot understand. It must have been an underwater adverb. Lilophea immediately gave up trying to move the lid off the chest, and the copper figure slipped back into sleep. Next to the chest was a jellyfish-shaped candlestick with glowing snails instead of candles, something like a hookah with a mouthpiece in the form of a water snake, and a gilded harp, whose body was made in the form of a mermaid again, or some sea witch with fins instead of arms and legs, and a whole ball of sea snakes instead of hair. An exquisite piece! The strings are gilt, too. Can one play them?

      Only when Lilophea touched a string or two did she hear such high notes that it was frightening. It’s a beautiful sound, but it’s too strong. You could go deaf from it. She wished Lady Moralla were here. There was someone who could play in such a way that her music would scare away even the morgens. Lilophea remembered well that during the Morgens’ invasion of the palace, it was only through the window of Lady Moralla’s music that they were somehow afraid to climb. Perhaps skilful music can paralyze even evil spirits? Or perhaps Lady Moralla was putting some light magic into it. This harp she would certainly have been able to handle. But, alas, it was Lady Moralla that no watery wanted to marry, so she and her musical talents remained on the surface.

      “Don’t be a doomsayer! Who knows what will happen!”

      The children’s voices sounded so suddenly

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