The demon’s tricks
The Mind ripped off the dwarves, stealing all the diamonds mined under the pretext of new taxation. You see, since the dwarves are mining on the territory of Ivilor, they have to pay a tax to the treasury. But the tax usually implies a percentage of income, and the clever devil took everything at once. The deceived dwarves grumbled.
Samantha had heard the news from the king of the dwarves himself and now she sympathized with him.
«You are a poor little one. The elves lure your wife away from you, then the demon taxes you,» the girl stroked the gnome’s head, but it was impossible to comfort him.
«Since the demon takes my diamonds, I will take a couple of books from the library,» the king of dwarves hissed vindictively.
«You can take them all, and take the demon with you and put him in the jewelry chest. He’ll fit right in there,» Samantha said graciously, but the dwarf king had already disappeared into another trapdoor. The hatch was gone immediately. The dwarves’ trapdoors were well disguised with magic.
Samantha followed the labyrinthine palace at random and inadvertently stumbled upon open doors with mountains of gems glittering behind them. She even pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. It was definitely not the doors of the treasury, after all. The royal treasury is definitely on the other side of the palace.
Where did the second treasury come from and what was it for? Is it for the Mind? Why does he need separate money when he’s Serpin’s property himself and shares everything with him? Could he be being hypocritical?»
Samantha peered through the gap between the doors of the secret treasury. The Mind was poring over the diamonds and wailing over them like babies.
«Oh, you are my darlings! You are my darlings!»
The Mind’s gaze softened, his paws stroking the gems lovingly.
«I love you almost as much as the mistress of all evil spirits Luciferina.»
The dwarves, hidden under the floor, hissed with indignation and prepared revenge, but somehow did not dare to get out of the hatch.
«May the spirit of the great Luciferina protect my savings,» said the Mind before leaving, and the dwarves were blown away, and on the walls of the treasury some black marks appeared, as if drawn in tar.
Samantha hid in a wall niche as the demon left the treasury. Samantha slammed her fist against the door in frustration, but the demon was already on his way to the royal dining room, where Serpin was feasting alone. The Mind unceremoniously jumped right onto the table and commanded the king:
«Play me a lute! It’s boring to eat in silence!»
«But Mind, I have not even finished the soup!» Serpin was indignant. «Come on, I’ll have lunch, and then I’ll play for you.»
«What do you say?» The demon jumped up so that the plates rang, and vases with fruit fell from the table. The fairies lurking in the niches immediately rushed to pick up the fruit and flowers from the fallen vase. Most likely, they will eat both. The angry demon didn’t even notice the thieves.
«You never dared to contradict me before! The red-haired beast has corrupted you! You’ve become rebellious!»
She must be the redhead. Samantha realized that she was being called such an insult on purpose, but decided to keep silent to avoid another conflict. The imp had taught her to be quiet.»
«By the way, I miss the ladies at the table,» Serpin said. «Dinner would be more fun with them. We could make toasts and have fun.»
«And, of course, there’s one lady you miss most of all,» said the Mind sneeringly.
«That’s right!» Serpin raised his wine glass. «It is a toast to the lovely Samantha, and to her staying here with me forever.»
«You’re not going to marry her, are you?»
«What if I am? She’s sweet and kind and so gentle.»
«As soon as you marry her, she will drink, smoke hookah, squander the treasury, gamble, cheat on you, and even beat you!» The Mind threatened.
«It is not true! Samantha is good!»
«Estella was good too, and then she stole my most obedient dragon from me.»
«Is it really?»
«What’s the difference?»
«One day your clawed friends from the graveyard stole my royal carriage and I was left without my best carriage.»
«Don’t be so greedy and heartless! They want to ride too.»
«But after they’d had enough, the carriage was found broken and clawed at the edge of a swamp.»
«So what is of it?»
«If you rent things, why can’t you return them in one piece?»
«They probably lost control of the carriage. You’ve got very nimble horses. I’d better put my trolls on your carriage.»
«Where did you get trolls?»
«I recruited them into the service of the King of Ivilor, as well as other creatures from the swamps, black tracts, and even from beneath the earth. They are all yours and my subjects now. In short, Ivilor has such a huge and fearsome army that no neighboring ruler will ever attack us again, but we will be able to annex a piece of foreign territory to the country. You see, I’m doing it all for your good.»
«Mind, you’re a miracle! You’re a sweetheart!»
«I’m black, but not fluffy,» the Mind looked in the wall mirror with annoyance. «Why are cats so lucky? They’re fluffy and I’m all shabby?»
«Do you want me to comb your hair?» Serpin took out a gilded comb from his pocket.
«Go away!» The Mind shrieked with indignation. «I don’t need a hairdresser!»
«I just wanted something to make you happy,» Serpin put the comb aside with a guilty look.
«Then play on lute and sing me my favorite ballad about the queen of hell, Luciferina.»
The request was shocking, but Serpin, who had evidently lost his appetite after his argument with the counselor, obediently sat down to play and sang, muddling through the verses. The ballad was about the beautiful and insidious queen of evil spirits, who is served by all the demons, devils and witches, and who intends to crush the mortal world by bringing her infernal hordes into it. The most faithful demon named Ibrazymus the Coal Devil sits on her shoulder and whispers his advice.
«Add a refrain at the end of each verse: «I call Lucefirina to be my royal bride,» advised the Mind. «Maybe she’ll hear you, rise from the ashes and come.»
«Does she look like Samantha?» Serpin became so nervous that a string broke beneath his fingers.
The Mind raged.
«Samantha! Samantha! Samantha who? Remember that misty fairy named Beatrice you were in love with before Samantha. And then there was the red-haired fire fairy Patricia, who turned out not to be a harmless burning fairy, but the treacherous queen of all fairies. She came to us incognito and pretended that she was the captain of the goblin pirates Patricia, but turned out to be the very empress of fairies Rose, because of which the dragon emperor could burn alive you and me! You fell in love with her too, and do you know what kind of rival you’ve made? Fortunately, I used ingenuity and diverted his wrath away from lvilor. You should be eternally grateful to me.»
«Mind, I’m always grateful, but I’m also in love.»
«Is it with Samantha?»
«Uh-huh!»
«You were in love with Duchess Evangelina too, and now you don’t even think about her.»
«She’s disappeared from the palace and no one knows where.»
«I know!»
Samantha shuddered. The demon would tell the truth about the bloody ritual at the crossroads and the meeting with the country girl. He might even blame her for Evangelina’s death, but the demon was more cunning.
«Evangelina hanged herself at the crossroads because of your treason,» he bellowed at the king, «and now her ghost is wandering around the palace and wishing you and me harm. You see what your thoughtlessness leads to.»
«Mind, I did not know,» Serpin blushed and paled. The Mind’s lies were easy for him to believe. Samantha thought that even if the Mind were to eat the king alive one day, he would still believe that the demon only wanted what was good for him. You’d have to mess with an innocent boy’s mind like that! Samantha’s righteous anger rose again.
She waited until the Mind had run out of the dining room and attacked him.
«Aren’t you ashamed to manipulate the king like that?»
«I’m patronizing him, not manipulating him,» the Mind said proudly, swinging from the chandelier.
«He’s too old to be coddled like that. Serpin is a man, not a child.»
«He’s only a year past twenty,» the Mind smirked. «He’s in his mid-teens.»
«He’s not in his mid-teens, he’s an adult!» Samantha was outraged. «How can you twist things like that?»
«If you’d lived in Hell, you’d realize that even a few thousand years is a very small age. You still have to grow and grow, gain experience and gain experience.»
«And then you could people to destroy!» Samantha panted. «There are many kings to your service!»
«I have ennobled them!» The Mind corrected with a philosopher’s look, waving a black claw. «A stupid girl like you can’t understand that.»
«I don’t want to understand anything, just leave Serpin alone.»
«Not until you leave him alone.»
«That’s blackmail!»
The Mind smirked insolently. Samantha regretted that there was no frying pan at hand, but then decided to behave more tactfully.
«Don’t you want to go to another king or queen?»
«I already tried! It was a nerve-wracking experience. I was with a princess, and she already had a sassy pussycat counselor. She was from a kind of wonderful Mur cats and could talk and whispered to the mistress different nasty things about me. Anyway, she survived me. You see, she has posture, grace. She has a bow on her tail and a pearl necklace on her neck. In general she is white, clean and fluffy, and I am black and dirty, like a chimney boy. She advised me to become a chimney sweep. And then there was one sultana, for the sake of which I killed the sultan, and she did not even thank me, chased me on small errands as if a speeding demon: a pearl from the bottom of the ocean to bring her, or fly behind the clouds. I was exhausted. Besides, after the death of the sultana, her stepson came to power and called the shamans to banish me.»
«Enough! I realized how hard it is to be a squatter.»
«You’re calling me names!»
The Mind toppled a heavy floor vase over Samantha. It fell to the ground, the shards covering her so that it looked as if she were a corpse buried beneath the glass. Apparently, the Mind had mistaken her for a corpse. He shouted «hurrah» and dashed off.
Samantha struggled to get up. She had to be careful not to bruise herself on the shards.
What a bastard the Mind was! Samantha swore at him with her last words.
«And he’s smart! And a scientist! He’s a bully, not a wise man!»
But the Mind didn’t hear her. He galloped away and was in the happy delusion that he had defeated his rival. So he’s a fool after all. He didn’t even have the sense to feel her pulse and see if she was breathing. He thought he’d killed her and ran away from the scene. In short, he’s a fool, not a wise man.
Samantha had a thought, she should tell Serpin about the Mind’s foolishness. She immediately slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand. No, she couldn’t complain to the king’s counselor. The Mind had the king’s full attention. All Serpin kept saying was that without the Mind, he couldn’t rule the country. You see, if it weren’t for the Mind, he would have been torn apart by warlike neighbors and local intriguers.
The Mind decided too soon that Samantha was already dead. He exulted, racing across the tapestries, only until she reappeared in the galleries. His amazement was not long enough.
«You’re not a ghost!» He quickly realized.
«Evangeline’s ghost is enough!» Samantha put her hands to her sides like a militant village milkmaid or a market trader. A moment later, a row broke out between her and the demon that shook the palace walls.
«Leave the king! Go back to hell!» Samantha shouted.
«The king is my profit! Serpin is my wages, my profit, my income, my breakfast, my dinner, my lunch, my salary, my influence, he is my patron. And you want some kind of love from him! Get out of here!»
The Mind shook its clawed fists.
A royal scepter flew at Samantha. The Mind threw it back at Samantha. He’s strong! He even grabbed the scepter like it was nothing.
Luckily, Samantha came across a mantelpiece filled with porcelain statues of shepherds and shepherdesses. All of them flew at the Mind in turn, but none of them hit the demon. Samantha was left to fight with words. And so she began to berate the Mind for everything he was worth.
«You’re all about profits! You can’t be so self-serving and ambitious!»
«You don’t understand anything!»
«What am I supposed to understand? You are taking advantage of the king. It’s better to live without luxury, but honestly.»
«You should live like that!»
«I live!»
«Is it in a luxurious estate?»
«Well, it wasn’t exactly luxurious,» Samantha remembered the holes in the drapes and the plaster flying off the ceilings, but the Mind was not to be mollified.
«I was poor, hungry and homeless,» he ranted. «I had to sleep in the open air until the kindly Serpin took me in. And you’re a fat landlady with serfs to work for! You’ve lived in a fancy big house since you was a baby.»
«You’re exaggerating a bit!»
«No, I’m not! I’ve made inquiries about you!»
«Is it through the infernal accounting department?»
«It is gossip of fairies!»
«You should have asked them better. They’ve flown by the windows and must have seen what a domestic tyrant my mom is. She can make even a fancy palace a living hell.»
«I could coup with your mom with one claw.»
Samantha backed away from the sharp claws that the Mind had clearly demonstrated. They gleamed like honed blades.
«Let’s do this the easy way!» She offered.
«I crawled out of hell! I can’t make nice!»
«But with Serpin, you’re being friendly, even forgetting you’re a demon for a while.»
«Serpin benefits me, but you don’t!»
You are bastard! You are rascal! You are greedy! If you knew I had jewelry, you’d be nice to me.»
The Mind was interested.
«Do you have them?»
Samantha nodded.
«Would you share them?»
«Do you leave the king alone?»
«I will, if that’s what he wants.»
«But it’s a dead end! Serpin will never want to send you away.»
«That’s the point,»» the Mind puffed up. «I’m irreplaceable! Look at me and envy me! There are many girls like you at court, but only one demon!»
Samantha threw a statuette at the Mind. The imp dodged it deftly, and the porcelain shepherdess shattered. Another projectile wasted! There are no more statuettes around. The only thing to do is throw a candlestick at the demon.
Samantha grabbed the three-branched candelabrum and took aim. The Mind shrieked. The candelabrum was silver. Apparently it burns demons, as the lore goes.
This is her revenge! As luck would have it, Serpin came through the door to try on the role of peacemaker. What a bad time!
«Mind, sweetheart, don’t scratch the girl! Samantha, darling, don’t hurt the little ones!»
«I don’t.» Samantha put the candlestick back down, but immediately grabbed it again, because the Mind moved threateningly toward her.
«What brings you to us, Serpin?» He asked lazily, stretching his words with an obvious attempt to hypnotize the king.
«You’re making such a row that you can be heard on every floor of the palace!»
«We’re having an argument.»
«It’s as if you’ve become her counselor, not mine! What kind of arguments are you two having? You live under the same roof, but you fight like dogs. It’s time for you to make peace and shake hands, I mean paws…» Serpin shifted his gaze from the lady’s hand to the demon’s claws. «I, as an authority, can reconcile you.»
«Get out of here, Serpin! We’ll handle this ourselves,» Samantha and theMind shouted at the king.
«It is all right, as you wish!» The king disappeared with the obedience of a genie.
The battlefield was free again. Samantha knocked over the candlestick. The Mind bounced to the side. In a moment, even its tail was nowhere to be seen. Samantha looked around, but noticed only the ghost of Duchess Evangelina lurking in the shadows. Her ghost often appeared in niches or in thickets in the garden and displayed wounds from the demon’s claws with a groan.
«You haunt me as if I could defeat him!» Samantha was furious. «So far we have a draw!»
That was funny! The imp couldn’t kill her because of the fairies’ markings, and she could only hurt him with swear words and objects at hand. The Mind was tricky. What more tricks could one expect from it?
In the evening, Samantha was brushing her hair when suddenly a flattering voice behind her sang out:
«It is mahogany-colored hair! How lovely! What a rich color!»
The Mind jumped onto the dressing table suddenly. Samantha was startled, but he behaved gallantly, even started picking out combs for her hair.
«This one will suit you better.»
The imp gently tousled her strands with his claws. Did he really want to be friends with her?
«Your hair is mahogany, also called red. So luxurious!» He kept saying.
«Thank you.»
Before Samantha could thank him, she cried out in pain. The Mind snatched a strand of hair from her and clawed at her temple.
«It’s an advance! You’ll go bald if you don’t get off the king’s back! I’ll scalp you!»
«Wait! Why do you want my hair? Are you trying to put a spell on it?» Samantha was worried.
The Mind had already jumped on the curtain rod and showed its tongue.
Suddenly her head was on fire. She thought he’d slipped her a poisoned hairpin. Or was it magic? The Scoundrel who flew up barely managed to pull the comb out of her hair with his claws. The comb crumbled to ashes in his claws.
«You are rascal! You were ruining my charms!» The Mind leaped at the dragon, but Samantha managed to grab the demon by the tail.
«Light the fire! Hurry!» She shouted to the dragons. Though they were usually lazy, they reacted quickly in a moment of danger.
«Go back to hell!»
Samantha dodged and threw the demon into the fireplace, but it turned out that it was not burning in the fireplace. The Mind crawled out of the flames within a minute and shook the ash off its pelt. Apparently he had managed to use some sorcery that even the dragon fire no longer burned him. Apparently, having confronted Samantha, he was in the habit to insure.»
«You lose!» He shouted, shaking the sparks off his tail. But when the lazy dragons woke up, the Mind had chosen to flee for his own good. Instead, Rosafeira appeared in the window. How timely! She’s barely out of harm’s way.
«Hello, family fairy!» Samantha sneered.
«Am I family fairy? You talk about me like I’m part of the family jewels,» Rosafeira was eating the petals off the rose her new beau had given her. «How delicious is it!»
«And how good is it for you fairies that the king’s demon has forgotten all about you. You can fly around the palace as much as you like.»
Samantha herself began to think of escaping and went to the closet to see if her savings were still there. They were, as luck would have it, gone. Maybe coins plucked from the magic tree disappear over time? Samantha, inexperienced in magic, would have thought so if she hadn’t noticed the claw prints at the bottom of the cabinet. It looked like the Mind had managed to break Rosafeira’s defenses and rob the fairy ward.
«Ah, he’s a creep!» Samantha clenched her fists in anger.
«He’s a demon,» corrected Rosafeira as if that excused it.
A dragon is not a dragon
Samantha fidgeted around the throne room out of habit, expecting to see the king. Instead, the king’s agile pet slipped through the door. Over his shoulder, this time the Mind was carrying a huge sack. How could such weight fit on the shoulder of such a small creature? The gilded stem of a jeweled goblet and the pendants of an emerald necklace peeked out of the sack. Samantha gasped in amazement. Was the Mind really stealing from the royal treasury? But then why carry the stolen goods directly into the throne room. Something was wrong.
Stealthily, Samantha watched the demon hide the bag of treasure in a secret compartment beneath the throne. Once the Mind had slipped away, Samantha made her way to the hiding place. She would not have been able to open it had it not been for Rosafeira flying up from the garden. The fairy was eating the petals off the rose the gardener had given her, and she was telling her which lever to push to open the hiding place.
The cache was deep and filled with jewelry and coins. Apparently, the king knew nothing about it.
«Probably one day the crown from Serpin’s head will fall into that hiding place, and he won’t even notice that he’s without a crown!» Samantha complained.
All she was interested in was a bag with a strange coat of arms that looked like a royal coat of arms. Except it wasn’t the coat of arms of Ivilor.
«It is the crest of Opal,» said the experienced Rosafeira, who had flown everywhere and knew everything. «I recently traveled there. A girl who made a deal with the Mind became queen there. The Mind decided to steal from her out of joy.»
«Or maybe she was happy to share the local treasury with him.»
Rosafeira flapped her wings doubtfully.
«I can sense that the sack is stolen,» she explained. «The Mind stuffed it with jewelry in a wild rush when he disappeared from Opal. Apparently, he was not received kindly there.»
«He managed to visit Opal while I was sighing for the king he won’t give me!» Samantha was indignant. «While I am in great grief because of him, he manages to do leisure and tourism! How did he get there without a ship? Opal is across the sea.»
«I think he flew there through the sea,» suggested the fairy.
«But he has no wings!»
«But he has demonic agility. He can ride the waves as if in flight when he wants to cross the sea.»
«What a rascal he is!»
«Hold your tongue!» Rosafeyra turned around sneakily. «Don’t take the demon in vain!»
With these words, the fairy disappeared, leaving behind only a train of silvery pollen. Samantha looked at her regretfully for a second and didn’t notice the jewelry falling out of the bag. It was so exquisite that she wanted to try it on. Samantha put on the elegant tiara and began to measure the rings.
«You are thief!» The Mind jumped out from behind the throne out of the blue. How could he have been there? He had been sniffing around the throne room door a while ago.
«No, I was just trying it on,» Samantha hurried to take off her jewelry and return it to the bag. The demon might take it off with her skin.
The Mind was not satisfied with the return of the items. The demon was still angry.
«I measured them myself, and then I put them in a bag and stole them. I know how all those fittings end!»
«So you stole them?» Samantha played dumb to confuse the demon.
The Mind just hummed.
«The Opal crest is on the box,» Samantha stroked the lid of the mother-of-pearl box from which she’d taken the rings. «Did you steal them from Opal?»
«Would you swim across the sea to Opal to denounce me?» The Mind squinted slyly.
«I’ll fly on a Pegasus!»
«Pegasus wings can’t fly across the sea,» the demon snorted smugly. «Pegasus will take you to the nearest island and fly no farther. Winged horses get exhausted quickly.»
«Then I’ll send a letter to Opal with the nearest ship.»
«Have you seen any ships in the harbor? I think I’ve already sunk all the ships and drowned all the sailors. We should go and see if there are any survivors.»
«No, don’t!»
«Do you have any friends among the sailors?»
«I don’t think so.»
«Then why do you feel sorry for them?»
«It is humanity!»
«Why would a fairy ward have humanity? All fairies hate humans!»
«Maybe not all of them hate humans?»
«Humans took back the fairies’ ancestral territory. Naturally, the fairies will eat you for it in the end.»
«Why haven’t they eaten us after all these centuries?»
«Humans breed too fast, and fairies like to have fun with their victims before they kill them. I’d kill you all in a heartbeat,» the Mind released his claws, «but then who would protect me from the fairies?»
«Politics is complicated,» Samantha nodded, «you have to maneuver and adapt. I can see that from your experience.»
«Behind Serpin, I’m like a giant behind my back. With the King, I’m quiet, well-fed and safe. And then suddenly a temptress comes to Ivilor and tries to lure Serpin away from me. The temptress has skin like milk, sable eyebrows, hair like silk. And I’m small, short, black, unassuming! I’ve had such a hard time getting a job! I’ve only got Serpin by myself! And you, with all your data, you could have gotten all the men in the world, and won a beauty contest at the same time!»
«All men run away from a penniless woman, and they say beauty contests are full of corruption.»
«Anyway, you have a better chance than me! Have a conscience!» The Mind has shown its claws.
«Let’s not fight in the marketplace!»
«It is all right!» The demon’s eyes twinkled slyly. «Let me show you what happened to past temptresses.»
«Is it like duchess Evangelina?»
«No, they are princesses from overseas.»
«Have even princesses come to visit Serpin?»
«None have come in person. I took care of that. Some ships sank at sea thanks to mermaids, the Arcadian princess’ fleet was destroyed in port by a water dragon, some princesses were kidnapped by pirates and others were sacrificed by savages on the islands. All in all, all the princesses didn’t make it to Ivilor.»
«You are a liar!»
«Look at the records of the royal archivist! Before I ate him, the kid was fast. Here’s a record of every attempt by foreign ambassadors to negotiate an alliance with lvilor by marriage. And here’s a list of prospective brides.»
«The Mind held out a large folder with letters, letters of marriages, ambassadors’ placards, and sketches of the princesses’ faces. All the dates on the marriage arrangements were so old that the marriages should have taken place long ago, but for some reason they hadn’t, even though Serpin hadn’t refused a single proposal. Apparently the Mind had praised his dexterity for good reason. All the prospective brides had indeed never made it to Ivilor. Samantha looked at the list and felt sad.
«I’m just a common country noblewoman, and Serpin was looking for princesses from Aluar, from Mion, from Argania. Everywhere! What competition am I to them?»
«I’ve shortened the list,» the Mind showed his glittering claws. «Observe the crosses. Under each princess who’s been eliminated, a cross is drawn with my claw. And on the throat of one princess is the same stroke of my claw.»
«But a princess from the sea nation of Delphia has not yet been eliminated!» Samantha searched the list for clues like a meticulous lawyer looks for loopholes in the law. «You can’t handle her! Besides, I’ve heard that all the rulers of coastal states are under the patronage of watermen and mermaids. To get the princess of Delphi, you have to swim across the sea.»
«You underestimate me, silly! I’d fly across the ocean to kill another princess bride!»
«Do you have wings?» Samantha looked at the Mind with doubt. He didn’t seem to have wings, but he might just let them out of his back and fly like a bat.
«I don’t have wings, but he does,» the Mind put his claws in his mouth and whistled shrilly. A huge dragon flew toward the window. Samantha cried out in horror. The dragon didn’t look friendly, and it was much bigger than her colorful dragon friends.
«Don’t go near it! It will burn!» The girl warned the demon, but the Mind easily opened the window and went straight from the window sill to the dragon’s kindly placed neck.
«That’s it! These thugs are listening to me!» The Mind began to whisper something in the dragon’s ear, and the dragon listened to him with a serious look.
«But how is it?» Samantha backed away. «My dragons almost burned you.»
«They are unintelligent little fleas! They never realized how big I am!» The Mind puffed up with pride and pointed a claw at Samantha. «Ah, well, burn her, Virgil, so that the palace does not burn! Blow fire only on the maiden!»
Let’s run! Samantha recoiled from the window as the dragon exhaled a thin jet of flame. Instead of the girl, the drape burst into flames.
«You have missed, jackass!» The Mind scolded the dragon. «You have to be accurate! What did I teach you?»
The dragon had the brains of a donkey, if it obeyed the Mind. If she were the dragon, Samantha would have thrown the little demon down, but the dragon didn’t share her opinion. While the Mind jumped into the room and extinguished the drape with water from a vase, the dragon dashed to the window Samantha had run past. His claw shattered the glass, penetrated and nearly caught the fugitive.
«You don’t have to listen to the Mind! He’s a liar!» – Samantha tried to make the dragon see the truth.
It had no effect on the dragon. He smashed the windows of the long gallery Samantha was running through, one after another. Splinters were falling all around. The girl was out of breath. Either the dragon was stupid or bewitched! How could one obey a demon?
«A great dragon is in the captivity of a black flea like the Mind! It’s an outrage! It is discrimination!» Samantha shouted, trying to pull the dragon to her side. She had to find the words to enrage the dragon. Or was she trying for nothing? What if the dragon could only understand the demon’s whispers, but couldn’t understand human speech?
«You’d better sing for the dragon. Then he’ll be kinder!» A familiar dwarf advised. He had snuck out of the royal library when all the windows were broken. «He loves the songs of young maidens. If you sing it, you’ll subdue him!»
The Dwarf King must be joking! She can’t sing to the dragon while she’s running away. Singing will only attract it, but silently you can find a hiding place and hide there. The main thing is that there should be no windows where the dragon can see her.
Near the library, the crown of the dwarf king gleamed. He himself was carrying a stack of puffy books. While the Mind was distracted by Samantha, the library was being robbed. At least Viola would have new books.
She wished she could get into Romara’s secret door again, but it was once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. By the way, Romara never remembered that she was going to help. What if the dragon mishap was already the thirteenth and Samantha couldn’t survive it?