Prisoners of the greenhouse
One fairy flew up to Samantha. She looked down at the girl curiously.
«How strange is it that you didn’t crash?» The fairy remarked.
And this instead of helping! Samantha struggled not to swear at the winged sorceress. However, only a complete fool could quarrel with fairies. They can do evil magic in response to swear words. Samantha struggled to keep her voice calm.
«You should fly away from the royal garden,» she advised the fairy.«There is a cunning demon crawling about.»
The violet fairy was frightened, her wings fluttered.
«You’re right! We should fly away quickly!» She nodded and flew to her friends. Soon the motley flock of fairies disappeared from sight.
Samantha got up, shook off leaves and dry twigs from her dress and walked back to the royal castle. Needing to get back to her chambers and tidy up. The first person she spotted on the way was the slick demon who had gotten her into trouble.
The Mind was playing with the golden apple as if nothing had happened. He tossed it up to the ceiling. Then he caught it again with his claws. It was obvious that the golden glow emanating from the apple gave the demon pleasure. He seemed to love looking at treasures. Samantha wasn’t immediately noticed by the Mind.
«You managed to evade the giant!» He marveled. «Tell me, how did you do it?»
«You lied to me!» – Samantha clenched her fists in anger. «The apple wouldn’t have made me queen!»
«Did you want to be queen? You are poor thing!»
«Don’t play dumb! You knew right away what I wanted!»
«How dare you call the smartest creature in the world stupid?» The demon was furious. He did not tolerate criticism of his wisdom.
«The smartest being in the world would not have advised me to do something stupid! Why would I risk my life for an apple that couldn’t fulfill my wish?»
«It would have, but you didn’t make your wish in time. You should have said it when you plucked the fruit from the branch.»
«But you didn’t warn me!»
«I thought that while you were fighting the giant, I would have time to make the wish,» said the Mind, smugly, and held the shining apple close to him. «Really, I am the most calculating!»
There was nothing to object to. Samantha was left dumbfounded.
«If I asked the golden apple to make me queen, would it do it immediately?»
«Aha!» The Mind nodded shamelessly. «But now the magic power will be used for my more modest needs. Farewell, fair lady!»
And the Mind was gone. Only black smoke swirled where he stood. And Samantha was ready to bite her elbows in frustration. If only she had known from the beginning that a wish had to be made instantly. She had thought the apple had to be given to the demon, and only then would she become queen. The Mind lied to her!
«I’ll never believe it again!» Samantha coughed up black smoke. It seemed to be poisonous, but the fairy’s mark saved her again. You can’t poison a girl who has been marked by fairies.
Alas, Rosafeira, was not around, otherwise she would have explained everything in detail. Only she knew exactly how her mark worked.
Samantha walked through the palace galleries and pondered. If she was marked on purpose, then the fairy had bewitched her! All right, it wouldn’t bother her. She’s not going to marry an elf. Serpin is not an elf. And she’s not interested in his advisor, the devil. The mark is only good for her. The fairy didn’t realize Samantha would fall in love with a human. Apparently, the fairy was counting on her father’s heredity. The heredity didn’t work.
Instead of her chambers, Samantha found herself at a dead end of glass greenhouse doors. Had she misremembered the way to her apartments? She seemed to be counting all the turns and corridors.
«I wish the fairy had rewarded me with intelligence rather than marksmanship! Then I’d know how to deal with a demon,» Samantha sighed and twitched the massive door handles made in the shape of metal coats of arms.
It was as if a voice was calling from inside the greenhouse. Samantha thought she was following the call, but the doors were closed. One of them, however, gave way and creaked open. Samantha was lucky she was slender enough to fit through the narrow opening.
The scents of orchids and gladiolus wafted into her nostrils. Between the palm trees in tubs was a graceful tiered fountain with a marble nymph at the top.
The greenhouse was very picturesque, but empty. Is it impossible to come in here? Or is it that everyone is afraid to come in here, because the greenhouse is full of shaded corners, and the demon is wandering around. Samantha wasn’t afraid of him. If he showed up, she’d fight him off with her embroidery hoops. And there is a knife in her pocket. The imp would be unfortunate.
The greenhouse was lined with vines, magnolias bloomed lushly, and small fountains ran among the flowers. One empty tiered fountain was filled entirely with roses, and another with coins. The Mind was here counting the coins.
«How little tribute the fairies had brought!» He muttered.
The Mind was interested in a cage standing in a thicket of camellias and roses. Before leaving the greenhouse, he checked the locks of the cage for strength. Samantha, hiding behind the palm trees, was not seen by the imp. As soon as he was out of sight, the girl decided to check what was hidden in the cage. What if the Mind had locked the golden apple there? It could still be returned to make a wish?
The cage in the greenhouse was not empty. There were voices coming out of it.
«Have you come to visit us, beautiful?»
«Oh my God, there are people inside!» Samantha panicked. «Just bear with me, I’ll get you out of here.»
It wasn’t easy to open the cage, but Samantha managed it. She was so eager to let the victims out that she found the strength to open the rusty bolts. Her father had taught her not to leave even strangers in distress.
Instead of people, small colorful dragons came out of the cage. They resembled a living rainbow: red, blue, green and yellow, purple, aquamarine. The dragons swirled around Samantha.
«We are all-powerful but miniature dragons from the eastern suburbs of the magical empire,» a glittering purple dragon introduced the company. He spoke in human language! Samantha nearly fainted. She had never imagined talking dragons.
«I am Purple,» the purple dragon introduced himself. He gallantly swooped up to Samantha to kiss her hand.
«I’ve never been courted by a dragon before!» Samantha gasped. In fact, she had never been courted by anyone yet, except for Serpin, and he preferred his demon-advisor to a country girl.
«Now you can be courted by the thirteen dragons you’ve freed.»
Thirteen! That’s exactly how many curses the leprechaun sent her way. Maybe the dragons would neutralize them all. It would be good if she found helpers. So far, instead of help, the burn from the dragon’s kiss was spreading across her arm.
«What were you doing in the cage?» Samantha asked.
«Ibrazymus locked us in here!» The dragons roared in unison. «He’s an evil spirit! Watch out for him!»
«Who’s Ibrazymus?»
«He is the king’s current lodger, his so-called advisor.»
«But isn’t he called the Mind?»
The dragons laughed together. Their laughter was like rattling music.
Multicolored dragons
The names of the dragons were Purple, Merry, Scoundrel, Gossip, Amber, Cock’s comb, Troubadour, Gardener, Bully, Emerald, and Sage, and one dragon girl was called Tea. It turned out that the name came from the word tea, because the dragoness was able to climb into the kettle and boil water with her breath. All the dragons knew how to make tea with fire, but only Tea did it. The others were not so diligent and grateful to make tea for their savior. The Troubadour hovered from the ceiling and sang dragon songs that sounded like melodious rumblings. had the most beautiful and ornate dragon crest that stretched from the horns on his forehead all the way to his tail. Gossip was constantly gossiping about everything and everyone. Amber colored scales were similar to the semi-precious stone he was named after. Sage smelled pleasantly of the herbs he collected and ate. Merry was constantly making jokes. Purple was such a rich dark scarlet color that it resembled a royal robe. If he sat on the king’s shoulder, he would be mistaken for a piece of royal attire. Bully acted incredibly arrogant and made everyone angry. Gardener preferred to fly over the flowers and even tear them. He would bring Samantha daffodils and gardenias with their petals burnt. Once he pricked his paws on a thorny rose and his blood burned an entire bush. The real gardener nearly fainted at the sight of it, and then began chasing the dragon with a rake. Bully loved to pounce on defenseless people and then laugh at them.
Sometimes Samantha thought the dragons were caged for a reason. But to put them back in would be too cruel.
«How evil the Mind is! How could such cuties be locked up?» Samantha scratched the dragons’ scaly chins, and they rumbled contentedly in response. They were affectionate, but their scales were prickly. They called their melodious rumblings «songs».
«You will take care of us, and we will sing dragon songs to you,» said Scoundrel.
Samantha hoped he was joking. How could she take care of a pack of dragons? She couldn’t even take care of herself. If it weren’t for Rosafeira’s mark, the king’s clawed demon would have torn her apart long ago.
«You’re all very nice, but I have to go,» Samantha noticed that it was getting dark outside the glass walls of the greenhouse.
«It’s tea time!» Tea rejoiced and exhaled a thin stream of fire that burned a leaf of the nearest palm tree. «I can make the best tea for you in a second!»
«Thank you, but I’d rather do it later,» Samantha picked up her lush skirts and hurried out of the greenhouse. Strangely enough, the dragons followed her.
«Shouldn’t you stay in the greenhouse?» The girl asked when the whole flock of dragons squeezed through the doorway after her. Bully spread his wings and shook his head in the negative.
«How can we stay where we were imprisoned?»
He’s right. Samantha could only nod.
«That makes sense. But where are you going to go? Is it to some dragon country?»
The dragons looked at each other. Then they stared at Samantha as if she were a fool.
«Don’t you have rooms in your palace where you can put us?»
«There are, but they’re not meant for dragons.»
«I’m sure a lady like you would have spacious quarters,» she couldn’t fool the rascal. «If your quarters are too cramped, we’ll burn the royal butler’s bald head and he’ll move you to a flat with more rooms.»
She guessed they kept them in a cage for a reason! Samantha herself was frightened of the creatures she thought were unhappy prisoners. In freedom, the dragons felt like heroes. They flew over Samantha’s head and out of mischief they used their wings to extinguish candles in tall sconces, to tear the curtains of the windows with their claws, to attack the ladies they met and rubbed their hair with their paws. They tore off one fashionable lady’s wig. Who would have thought that her luxurious blond curls would be a wig! Samantha opened her mouth in surprise. Probably shouldn’t let the dragons get in the way of the fun. The socialites deserved a dragon’s lesson. If they realize that the naughty dragons are Samantha’s pals, they will never dare to make fun of her again.
True, the king may demand that the dragon’s girl leave the palace.
«If he does, I will demand that he chase his demon out of the palace,» Samantha decided aloud.
«What are you babbling about?» Scoundrel flew up to Samantha’s face intrigued and almost breathed fire on her.
«Watch out! You could burn me!»
«What are you so worried about? Fire is good for you!» Scoundrel sat on an ornate sconce and spread his wings.
«I don’t agree with you! Fire burns!»
«It doesn’t burn us! We breathe fire every second, and we haven’t been burned yet, but we’ve warmed up in the cold cage where the Mind has put us. If it weren’t for the fire, we’d be freezing in there,» he said as he flew toward Samantha’s chambers. How he had distinguished them from the other rooms of the palace, the devil knows. As Samantha unlocked the door, the dragons had already flown in through the window. They felt like masters in her bedroom. Tea was boiling water in a wash bowl with fire as if it were a teapot. Scoundrel nestled in a vase of grapes and ate the berries. The rest of the dragons had made a nest at the top of the canopy. Samantha realized that a dangerous neighborhood awaited her at night. Maybe it would be better to sleep on the floor, in case her new friends burned the bed. The canopy already had holes burned in it by dragon breath.
«Wouldn’t you rather sleep in the garden outside my window?» Samantha made one last attempt to kick them out.
«No, it’s more comfortable,» said the Rascal.
«But there’s a cypress tree outside my window. You could make a nice nest there,» Samantha said, but the dragons were not listening. They were gossiping about something of their own.
«We need to get back at the Mind,» Samantha heard them hissing.
Well, if that’s the case, it’s worth putting up with them. Samantha wanted to get back at the Mind for his harmful advice. Apparently, the king’s demon had driven everyone to extremes.
Fairy Moth
During the day the dragons preferred to fly around the garden, and in the evening they returned to Samantha’s house for the night.
«Night is the demon’s time,» Purple liked to say. «The demons are especially active at night, because they should only give advice to the king during the day, and when it gets dark, they can go hunting, because the king goes to bed.»
«Does the demon hunt dragons?» Samantha wondered.
«Well, he hunts all living things,» Merry scratched the back of his head with his paw, as if he were extracting valuable information. «He loves skeletons, though. Probably, if he succeeds in killing us one day, our dragon skeletons will join his dead troops.»
Samantha didn’t take Merry’s words seriously. He made jokes so often that she shouldn’t have believed him much. How could a royal advisor have dead troops? Ivilor’s army hadn’t suffered any casualties in a long time. All quarrels with neighbors were miraculously resolved in favor of King Serpin. Enemy armies themselves died in the mire when they went to war against Ivilor, and enemy armadas on their way to Ivilor were drowned in a sudden storm. Everything was solved by a miracle! It was not without the help of a demon.
Samantha closed her eyes and imagined an army of enemies marching toward Ivilor, while the Mind sat on the king’s shoulder and muttered incantations. His sorcery makes the foreign troops fall straight into the huge swamp that suddenly blocked the approach to the kingdom.
It must be the mark of the fairies that gives her such thoughts. When she asked herself a question, visions immediately popped into her head. Samantha asked herself why the Mind needed a dead army. Do dead people know how to fight? Probably the answer would have come by itself, too, but Tea, who was boiling apple juice instead of tea today, suddenly declared:
«Normally the Mind preferred to hunt humans, but under the tutelage of the good-natured King Serpin he had grown lazy and changed his tastes in favor of delicacies from the royal kitchen.
Samantha’s heart sank.
«Please tell me you’re joking,» she turned to Tea.
«I’m not Merry! I never joke! The Mind loved human meat. He fed on the guards of his patron kings, ministers, courtiers, and when he wandered around, he would prey on anyone he could find. I once saw him attack a band of robbers on the high road.
«What happened? They grabbed him and locked him in a cage like he locked you up? Or did the cunning devil manage to pay them off? Like promising them all sorts of goodies, and when the bandits hung their ears, he put them to sleep and disappeared?»
«Honey, he ate all the bandits alive!» Tea looked at Samantha like she was stupid. «You don’t know what a demon can do when it’s hungry!»
Samantha felt sick.
«Why are you telling me such horrors?»
«You must know what kind of palace you live in! Remember that besides us, there’s a terrible demon living here.»
«The demon may be bad, but the palace is beautiful,» Samantha sighed languidly, looking at the gilded columns. «If it were mine…»
There! Serpin had flirted with her and she was already imagining herself Queen of Ivilor. The king shouldn’t have given her false hopes, for all the demons of hell are probably on their way to the throne. The chatty Tea started talking about how a dexterous demon could summon entire cohorts of dark demons. Even if she was exaggerating, the news was not happy.
«I thought the Mind had been banished from Hell for some misdeed,» Samantha admitted. – Maybe he’d gotten so fed up with everyone there that they’d thrown him out. He’s so fussy and sneaky, always sticking his nose in other people’s business.
«On the contrary, in hell he was a servant of a very powerful demon. He’s probably preparing the ground to bring that demon to lvilor. It will be difficult. The Mind has to perform a night ritual with sacrifices, but even before that, he’ll have to work up a sweat. The demon won’t just show up.»
Samantha wouldn’t have believed Merry, but Tea looked very serious.
«Be careful! To summon the powerful demon that the Mind serves, you must sacrifice the most beautiful girl,» she warned.
«Well, I’m not the prettiest…» Samantha looked at the mirror doubtfully. At home, in her old tattered dresses, she might not have been the first beauty, but now, in the outfits given by the fairy, she was visibly transformed.
Tea finished boiling the apple juice in the carafe and flew over to Samantha.
«Outwardly, you fit the mold for a sacrifice. That’s probably why the demon hasn’t killed you yet, though there’s a rumor that you’ve been nasty to him.»
«He didn’t touch me because of the mark,» Samantha wanted to pull down her sleeve and show the dragons the fairies’ mark, but Tea sat on her shoulder. Now the reflection in the mirror, framed in a luxurious frame, looked like a family portrait.
Samantha was happy to have a whole family of dragons, but the talk of sacrifice was ruining her mood.
«Be careful!» The dragons warned each other before they took off again for a walk in the garden. They were probably gossiping with the fairies during the day.
«They may be dragons, but they’re not much of a protector,» Samantha sighed. «They’re too tiny!»
Tea managed to tear her sleeve with her hot claws, but that was all right. The fairy’s magical dresses had the ability to repair themselves. And now the lemon-yellow fabric of the luxurious negligee was repairing itself. In a minute, the flaw was gone.
Boiled apple juice remained on the table. Hot bubbles gurgled in the carafe. The carafe itself was nearly bursting from the heat. Perhaps she should have told Tea not to let her boil the juice, but Samantha didn’t want to upset the dragons in any way. The poor things had been caged for so long. We should let them have a little fun.
Samantha didn’t know what to do with the boiled juice. She could drink hot milk, but boiled juice looked like a poisonous mess. Should she pour it out? Samantha thought about it and decided to let the carafe cool. You could burn your hands on it now. Dragons, on the other hand, never burned themselves. No wonder! After all, fire is their element.
Usually in the morning the dragons helped Samantha to change her clothes. Thanks to them, the girl could do without a maid. When a flock of miniature dragons flies around you and spreads the folds of your dress, you don’t need maids. The dragons deftly laced the corset, dragging the laces in flight from loop to loop. They were perfect at it. Who would help her lace up her dress today?
It was a shame the dragons had to leave so early. There would be no more calls from the garden. Samantha looked out the window, but she couldn’t see the little dragons among the leaves and flowers. She had to go to the closet and choose a dress herself. The dragons liked green dresses, but Samantha chose a canary yellow ball gown with puffy flounces. If the corset lacing had been in the front, she could have dressed herself, but now she would have to call a maid. As luck would have it, all fairy dresses buttoned in the back.
«Oh!» Samantha shuddered as pale, glittering wings emerged from the closet. «I didn’t think you’d be back so soon. Have you decided to add a few more gorgeous outfits to my closet?»
Instead of Rosafeira, however, an unfamiliar fairy emerged from the closet. Her face was very pretty, but her coloring resembled a moth. Her monotonous body of pale yellow color was glossy.
«I accidentally found myself in your closet, sorry!» The fairy smiled guiltily. «I don’t harm other fairies’ friends. I’m delicate!»
How strange that sounded.
«Do I look like I’m under the auspices of a fairy?» Samantha wondered. «Usually werewolves, demons, and other evil things notice it, but not fairies.»
«Then I’m an exception,» she flapped her pale, glossy wings.
«Since you’re here, could you help me tighten my corset?»
«Of course,» the fairy smiled. Her pale yellow teeth were unexpectedly sharp. Not even the royal demon’s fangs were that sharp!
Right now Samantha would accept help from a demon as well. She didn’t want to wait for the maids to serve the king’s other guests and find a moment for her. The pale yellow fairy nimbly began lacing up the corset of Samantha’s dress.
«Oh, you smell so good,» she exclaimed, smelling the fabric. «Is it silk or muslin?»
Did she really mean that the fabric of the dress smelled delicious? Samantha frowned. How strange is that!
«I don’t even know,» she mumbled.«These dresses were enchanted by a fairy.»
«That’s why I didn’t want to eat them!»
«I’m sorry, what?»
«I usually eat fabrics: silks, satin, satin, brocade, tulle, organza, but those are delicacies. If they’re not available, any carpet or tapestry will do,» the fairy began to enumerate enthusiastically.
«Tell me you’re joking! A fairy can’t feed on fabrics!»
«And what did you expect from a moth?» The unfamiliar fairy flapped her wings in amazement.
«But you’re a fairy!»
«I’m a moth fairy! Don’t you recognize me?»
Samantha turned around excitedly. Yes, her new acquaintance resembled a huge moth with the body and face of a beautiful girl.
«Oh, my gods! Don’t eat my canopy!«Samantha was scared out of her wits. If such a huge moth swooped down on her closet, there would be nothing left of it, nor would there be anything left of the carpets, curtains, or bedding.
«To tell the truth, I’ve already eaten a little of it,» the moth confessed, «but only a little. I don’t like dragon-burned fabric. And you have dragon burners living with you, so I’ll probably move on to other boudoirs.»
«I can even advise you where,» Samantha flashed back to the proud girls who teased her. A fairy mole would be the perfect punishment for their wicked tongues. «The socialites who live one floor above me have incredibly lavish and delicious outfits. If you’re a moth fairy, you can bring all the flocks of your subjects to their apartments.»
«Is it really?» The moth fairy clapped her hands with happiness. «I’m so glad you let me do that. The king’s counselor has always forbidden me to feast in this palace. May I taste the fabric of the king’s robe?»
«No, fairies are not allowed to fly to King Serpin’s rooms. Remember, the king has a demon on duty. If you trespass on royal property, namely drapes, tapestries, carpets and draperies, the demon will drive you away, but the closets of socialites are at your disposal. Just don’t touch their maids’ clothes. It’s not tasty.»
«All right!» The charming fairy moth kissed Samantha on the cheek and flew away. As soon as she was out of the shadows and into the light, she was completely invisible. The court gossipers wouldn’t even notice her flying into their closets and feasting there.
«I must have imbibed something demonic from my encounter with the devil to do such trickery,» Samantha scolded herself, looking in the mirror.
The rectangular mirror in the ornate frame looked like a living portrait. It stood in the shadows, and for a moment Samantha thought a real demon was looking back at her.