I’ll get to know him if I’ve been here long enough. By the way, there are so many wonders in the royal palace. Let me show you around!»
«No! Don’t!» Seneschal was frightened out of his wits. «Not to the palace! They will lock me up in a cage on purpose, so that I will drown.»
«There aren’t even cages!»
«But there are wicked mermaids. They’ll pluck my tail feathers.»
«Ow!» The peacock’s eyes went red and rolled up. He frantically began to catch air with his beak, which, of course, was not under the water. The miraculous herb must have worn off. Without thinking, Lilophea picked up Seneschal, forced her own legs to join together as a mermaid’s tail, and sprinted upward with all her might. It didn’t take long to swim. She emerged in the open sea, with no sign of the island or the ships. But there were a number of large circles about the size of shields, sticking out from the water like flat stones. There were many of them.
«What were they?» Lilophea lowered Seneschal onto one of the stones. «It looked like a shell.»
Seneschal still couldn’t come to his senses. Water was pouring out of his beak. Apparently, he almost drowned. He shouldn’t have gone underwater just to see his mistress for a moment.
Lilophea touched the edge of the shell with her fingers. It was as hard as a rock. If she hadn’t been so flat it might have been a reef.
Curiosity got the better of her. Lilophea climbed on top of the shell. The mermaid’s tail became her legs again as she wished to rise. The surface of the shell did not slip beneath her feet. This is astonishing! After all, the shell itself lay in the middle of the sea, washed by the waves.
There’s a whole road of big shells. She wondered if each shell is supported from below by any columns. We’ll have to dive in later and check it out. In the meantime, Lilophea decided to walk along the path of shells that zigzagged through the water.
«Stop it! Don’t go!» It was Seneschal who came to his senses. He panted and howled hysterically. «There is danger!»
«What danger is it? I can’t see anything!»
She had to step over the short distance between the shells. She had to step over the little space between the shells, and it felt as if she were stepping on water boarded warrior shields. But it was not a risky thing to do. After all, if she fell into the water, she still wouldn’t drown.
«There’s a fairy’s mansion up ahead,» Seneschal said in a mournful tone.
«And that’s all!» He was understandable. The peacock did not want to see the fairy again, who had so heartlessly given him up to the Sea King.
«I have much to thank her for. I think I’ll go and see her.»
«Please don’t go!»
But Lilophea boldly moved forward. If it hadn’t been for Ariana, she would never have learned how to use her powers. To know that your train can cause a storm is a great power! Only it is better not to explain all this to Seneschal. He’s frightened enough as it is.
The peacock hovered above the road of shells as he watched the small island of crystal form looming ahead. On it were many white pinnacle-shaped plantings. From afar it looked as if the entire island were made of ivory. Only closer it became clear that it consisted of shells of different shapes and sizes. The shells were piled one on top of another. The tiny hulk itself appeared to be the back of some rare white fish. It moved slowly through the sea like a floating theater. And it housed a marvelous bird house without a single cage. All the birds were free, not chained, not locked up. They flew back and forth like servants.
The sweet, multi-voiced singing of the birds poured over the water. Sometimes human speech was heard in it. Birds could not sing in the language of men, could they? Lilophea knew one peacock that could. He probably wasn’t the only one.
The sea fairy was more like a white fairy because of the color of her hair, skin, and clothes. It was as if she had been bathed in milk, which colored her eyebrows, eyelashes, lips, even her eyes creamy white. The dress, composed of white petals, really grew right out of her skin. The petals themselves moved strangely. One shoulder was bare, but the elbow and wrist were full of floral flounces. White curls flowed from under a silver hoop. She couldn’t call them gray. The fairy’s pupils were blue, but her eye socket was white, too.
There wasn’t much room on her island, because the place was filled with all kinds of tools for making elixirs. There were bundles of seaweed, a mortar to grind small seashells in, and retorts of sorts through which frothy liquid flowed. Not an island, but a kind of marine laboratory! Shell-necks shone at the bottom of the flasks, which they could not burn through. Wise multi-headed fish made talking scarecrows. Ariana experimented as best she could. Her pairs of hands moved incessantly, filling vials and vials with something.
But the wretched cloak, made from a scrap of sail, was clearly not meant for experimentation. It was only for camouflage.
«So you followed me here in rags, pretending to be a beggar or a fortune teller?» Lilophea took the cloak and examined it. Yes, this is the one. «It takes time to compare a lady in a palanquin to a beggar at a wedding.»
Ariana was not upset that she had been rebuked.
«I wanted to foretell your bad fortune and keep you away from the Underwater King, but I suddenly realized that he himself will not let you go. So my plan to survive you by deception failed.»
There was nothing to reply to such straightforwardness. She didn’t want to quarrel with the fairy, so she simply kept silent.
Lilophea looked around. Ariana had so many birds that could breathe in water. They scurried in and out of the water, running errands. Ariana named each of them by their duties. There were Maid, Chambermaid, Gatekeeper, Messenger. Yes, the Seneschal is definitely from here.
The Siren bird looked at her guest with royal arrogance. Ariana herself, on the other hand, was trying to be polite. Either she pretended or actually had good manners.
«I wanted to be a queen of the sea,» she admitted, «because I am the most magnificent creature on water. But Seal did not appreciate my qualities.»
«You had little to lose by not being queen, or you would have had to put up with a harem of nymphs and mermaids.»
«Do you really think they’re rivals? How arrogant the earthly aristocrats are! They don’t even know what a disguise is.»
«I beg your pardon?»
«It’s all for the Sultan of Etar. He sometimes took a tincture to breathe underwater and descended into the underwater world. Seal felt ashamed that with all his wealth he couldn’t have a harem. Earth women would not live long on the bottom, so they hastily assembled a harem of mermaids. In fact, they do considerable work, but the Sultan will never know about it.»
«So Seal has never been with them?» Lilophea was relieved.
«So have I, but when the Sultan comes to visit, I have to go to the court and play the role of one of the chief wives. Nereida does the same.»
«Is showing off that important?»
«Seal
