The queen of werewolves
Rosafeira explained to Samantha that the fairy mark would hardly protect her from ogres, for ogres are only half magical creatures and half common savages.
«They’d eat you without choking. A piece of meat with my mark on it would probably only burn their palates a little.»
«Thanks for the reassurance!» Samantha grinned skeptically.
The fairy carried her to her bedroom on her own wings. From shock, Samantha couldn’t walk. The imp had almost fed her to the ogres. What else did he have stashed up his sleeve, or rather his claws? The Mind didn’t have sleeves, of course, but living with her book-loving father, Samantha was used to using figures of speech.
A muffled singing sounded outside the window at night. Samantha opened her eyelids and saw night spirits circling the garden. All the spirits looked like night fairies, but they were frighteningly pale and had an evil glint in their eyes. They sang in a way that made you want to throw yourself out the window. Their singing must be hypnotizing and suicidal. Samantha covered her ears. Where the hell was Rosafeira? Why isn’t the family fairy protecting her? Samantha had gotten used to considering Rosafeira a member of the family, practically a second mom, since her father had almost married a fairy when she was young. However, the presence of family fairies from demons, as it turned out, does not save.
The round dance of night spirits, of course, led the Mind. He was waving his claws as if a conductor and admonishing:
«Sing harder so she’ll want to hang herself from your singing!»
That’s when Samantha jumped up and slammed the window shut. With ashes from the fireplace, she drew on the window sill some simple symbols of protection that the caring Rosafeira had taught her. They didn’t work at first, but Samantha relentlessly drew them over and over until she had smeared the entire window. From the quantity, the magical symbols began to work. The absentminded funeral chorus outside the window subsided, and the Mind scolded at the top of her voice:
«She is sneaky! She is cunning! She tricked me again! I knew that women were worse than demons. So why did I get involved with her?»
«Who told you to mess with her?» Samantha gave the demon a tongue-lashing through the closed window.
She shouldn’t have done that. The Mind leapt at the glass, trying to break it with its claws, but failed to even scratch it. Rosafeira’s signs had worked without fail. The defense against night spirits had been put in place. Now Samantha would never be driven to suicide. A frustrated demon can bite his elbows.
In the morning, there was no one under the window, but the black marks were still there. Samantha might be mistaken for a witch when she sees the ash drawings on her window.
«If they see them, I’ll pretend I didn’t draw them,» Samantha said to the indifferent dragons. They had slept through the night when they had to protect their mistress from attack. When they woke up, the dragons yawned sleepily. They looked so peaceful that Samantha relented and did not reprimand them.
When she decided to go for a walk, none of the dragons flew to accompany her, but her breakfast was eaten to the crumbs. The dragons were lazing around, stretching their wings and gossiping among themselves. From the outside, it might have seemed as if they had invited Samantha to stay with them, not the other way around.
It was unusually noisy outside the chamber doors, even the sound of clavichords and harps. Samantha was surprised at how crowded the palace, which had seemed empty before, had become. Apparently, while the offended demon was idle, festivities were being prepared in Ivilor. Many strangers in fancy clothes flocked to the palace, obviously overseas guests who had come from faraway lands. Samantha’s attention was drawn to one elegant lady with a high hairstyle of fine, serpentine curls. She moved gracefully, like a queen. There was something subtly familiar about her, and the scent of her perfume smelled of forest pine needles. Samantha inhaled the scent and began to imagine that this was not a lady, but a she-wolf who had come to the palace straight from the forest. Where did such illusions come from? There was probably something magical in the scent of the perfume.
The lady was covering her face with a fluffy fur fan. How unusual! And what a familiar tiara! And a bright red dress with a short train was generally impossible to forget. Not so long ago the figure under this dress was covered with wolf’s hair, but now she is slender and white. But the grace of the lady reminds one of a wolf.
«Jessica! You’re at court!» Samantha is frightened. «But then your company is here too!»
A whole company of wolves is roaming the royal palace and pretending to be human. It’s horrible!
«It’s foolish to think that dinner will come to us,» Jessica said with a shrug. «We’ve already had our fill of you, and we’re out of game in the province. We ate the surrounding villages long ago. Wolves can’t go to the same henhouse forever, they run out of chickens. And the king’s counselor wants us at court.»
«You mean the Mind?»
«Have you met him?»
«He’s so ubiquitous!
«He probably wants you in on his plans because of the fairy mark. He’s prepared some kind of assignment for us in the capital. Helping him is the same as working for the nothing!»
«It’s humiliating for a wolf queen to work for a petty demon,» Samantha said, trying to stir up strife.
«What can you do? The Mind is small but cunning.»
«Yes, he’s the size of a fingernail, but he’s got more brains than can fit in a giant’s head!»
Jessica laughed. Though her laugh sounded like a musical growl, it was a sign of friendly sympathy.
«You’re funny,» approved the wolf queen. «I’m beginning to understand why the fairies marked you. It seems that they were supposed to ruin you for something, but instead they patronized you. How did that happen?»
«I don’t know.»
Samantha glanced carelessly out the window and saw a love scene near the gazebo by the pond. Both arms and wings were entwined in a passionate embrace. It was worth looking away embarrassed, but Samantha recognized her patroness.
Rosafeira was having an affair with a park architect and had forgotten all about the wrongs of the past. Besides, she was only capable of being jealous of marriages between fairies and humans. Didn’t it happen that fairies married elves? Why wouldn’t an equal marriage between humans make the fairy jealous? Or is it convenient for a fairy to squeeze her protégée onto the queen’s throne by marriage to Serpin? Then there will be no impudent demon left in the kingdom, and fairies will be able to pluck flower bushes in the garden in peace. You won’t even have to say a word to them, because the Queen will be in their debt.
«Are all your wolf-boys here? I don’t see them? They went hunting in broad daylight?»
«Alas, even the Lady of the Werewolves has to pay tribute to the demon,» Jessica sighed theatrically. «We’ve all been forced to work long hours at the palace, driving out anyone who crossed the royal advisor. The Mind said they should be bone-dry, but we’d have dinner.»
Samantha shuddered.
«Do you know who crossed the royal demon?» She said, cautiously.
«He regularly gives us lists of troublemakers in Ivilor. Not every time it’s an appetizer. Once we had to chase down and eat a decrepit old Minister of Justice, and another time a royal treasurer who was not only unscrupulous, but also unclean.»
«And what is about the ladies who have made an attempt on the king’s attention?»
«Oh, the devil prefers to deal with them himself,» Jessica said with a sly wink. «He trusts no one else to do such jewelry work as killing his rivals.»
«How can beautiful ladies be rivals to a demon? It would make more sense if he seduced them and then killed them.»
«With his creepy appearance, that would be difficult. The Mind can cast spells, of course, but it doesn’t think it’s worth wasting its energy on mortal women. I’ll tell you in on a secret, he has a long and passionate love for a dead demon queen named Luciferina.»
The familiar name struck Samantha like the prick of a red-hot needle.
«Where’s the guarantee that this demon queen won’t come to Ivilor after the demon.»
«I’m telling you, she’s long dead. She was destroyed by fate and evil hunters, but she can be revived if you try hard enough and make a lot of bloody sacrifices.»
Jessica’s dress rustled pleasantly, but its deep red color was an unpleasant reminder of blood. Samantha wrinkled her nose.
«We didn’t meet at the werewolf manor, but here at the royal court we can be friends and gossip together,» Jessica cooed. «I love society, and you’ve become such an elegant lady. You don’t look like the dirty little girl who broke into my house. It’s like the fairies are interfering.»
How right she is! Samantha was embarrassed. Nothing escapes the queen’s keen eye.
«Do you promise to call your whole pack to my defense if the king’s demon tries to hurt me?»
«Alas, I can’t,» Jessica smiled. «Sadly, he controls all of us. If he commands it, we’ll turn on anyone in the pack.»
«So if someone could drive the demon out of Ivilor and set you all free, you’d be grateful?»
«Where would I find such a hero?»
«They say the heroine will drive him away sooner if she marries the king.»
«Don’t dream of it.» Jessica saw right through Samantha’s plans. «The king is so firmly in the demon’s claws that only death will save him.»
«But the demon doesn’t want the king to die quickly.»
«So he watches over him and protects him. The prosperity of the demon clinging to him depends on King Serpin’s life. It’s a symbiosis.»
Samantha cringed at the terms she knew from her father’s biology class.
«I’ll free the king,» Samantha mumbled.
«It’s easier to fly to the moon or subdue an army of giants,» Jessica’s smile turned teasing.
«Or skinning a pack of werewolves,» Samantha said, offended.
«And that’s an insult!» Jessica playfully slapped her elbow with a folded fan. «Don’t forget that I’m the queen of werewolves, and I won’t let my pack get hurt.»
«I want to make a werewolf queen coat,» Samantha thought angrily as Jessica talked her out of her plans to marry the king. How easy it was to become a person’s enemy when you mess with their dreams! The only thing that kept Samantha from fighting with her new friend was the fact that wolf doublets were seen in the crowd of courtiers. All of Jessica’s subjects were here. A whole pack of wolves wasn’t easy to deal with. And lazy dragons couldn’t be fight on offenders. Samantha had to suck it up and swallow every stiletto Jessica let loose. The day passed in chitchat with the werewolf queen. The Mind didn’t appear while Jessica and her pack were around.
Finding a compromise
Jessica took Samantha into the royal kitchen where a great pudding was being made. The werewolf queen was more interested in the cooks, but Samantha decided to have some sweets. She took a cup of punch with her as she left. It was so nice to sit in the palace gallery under the palm trees and sip a hot sweet drink leisurely. The mood was spoiled by the king’s demon, who suddenly appeared as if from under the ground.
The Mind gingerly sniffed the air above the palm trees, over which the dragons had recently flown.
«Something smells foul,» he wailed, sharpening his black claws.
«It’s punch!» Samantha said.
«No kidding,» Reason said, keenly interested.
«Fresh, warm, berry and aromatic,» Samantha began to praise, showing him the cup.
The Mind suddenly licked his tongue. His tongue was split, like a sting. Samantha was startled and recoiled, spilling some of the punch.
«You are stingy!» The Mind thought Samantha was in a hurry to hide the punch bowl from him. «Serpin would have bought me a drink, and maidens are so stingy.»
«But it is not me! I’m generous!» Samantha was glad she had a chance to bond with the royal counselor. In addition, the Mind sat next to her on the step with his tail in a zigzag pattern. Even a demon could be a friend. All it takes is a little ingenuity.
«You can have my cup,» Samantha said, trying to flatter to the king’s advisor. «It’s more convenient than running into the kitchen and clawing at the cook.»
The Mind looked incredulously at the porcelain cup in the girl’s hands.
«Take it! It’s not poisoned!»
«You didn’t treat the fairies with it?» The demon grinned suspiciously. «I know firsthand that fairies’ saliva is poisonous.»
«Fairies never drink from my cups or eat from my plates! We are not such close friends!» Samantha assured him, rightly deciding that Rosafeira didn’t count. She wasn’t a friend, she was practically family, considering Samantha’s father had almost married her once.
Samantha thought it was unlikely that her mom would be happy to hear that her daughter considered her rival almost a member of the family. But her mom wasn’t around, so there was nothing to worry about a reprimand. While Samantha pondered, the imp sipped the punch and licked his lips.
«It is delicious!» He snorted, finishing the rest of the punch. «You’re a sweet girl! You can’t get snow in winter from other palace guests. I sleep and have nightmares about how one of them is going to get into the queen hood and strip me down to nothing.»
Samantha almost jumped when the demon called her a sweet girl. So far he’d only called her mean and sassy, but when she’d given him punch, he’d been nice to her. So even he could be bribed. As her mother used to say, all officials are corrupt. The king’s demon is no exception.
«Perhaps you’d like some more wine. I know where I can get a flask,» Samantha obliged.
«Better lemonade.»
«Are you serious?»
The Mind’s horned head nodded.
«I thought you only drank hard liquor.»
«I’m a demon, not an alcoholic,» the Mind frowned.
«Oh, I’m sorry!» Samantha hadn’t realized they were different things. In her opinion, all vicious people were known as drunks, and who could be more vicious than a demon.
«There was a time when I drank only blood,» the Mind said dreamily. «There was no battlefield where I would not suck the blood from all the wounded and killed. I provoked wars and rebellions to drink blood.»
«How horrible is it!» Samantha moved away from the creature she was beginning to think was cute.
«As soon as I met Serpin’s darling, I’d be so much happier, and I’d switch from the hoppy drinks to the sweet juices. But all good things don’t last. Serpin’s all about the girls. I keep pulling him away from them, but he likes them more and more. One of them can take my place.»
«It’s unlikely a girl could become a royal counselor,» Samantha said diplomatically.»
«But she could become the king’s favorite, and then there would be no room for me. What girl can get along with a demon?»
«If you turn into a handsome man, she’ll accept your presence. She even begins to flirt with you. It’s all about looks. If you get prettier, no one will be scared of you.»
«If only it were that easy,» the Mind sighed, setting aside his empty cup, his eyes flaring like coals. His good spirits were gone along with the punch. «It was much easier to remove a nuisance before it became a disaster.»
The demon’s claws reached for Samantha’s throat again, its black tail whipping at her arm like a scourge.
«That hurts! Is this your thanks for the punch?»
«Never favor a demon! I don’t understand kindness!»
«But you are kind to Serpin.»
«Serpin has a kingdom and you have none. What will you offer me for your own life?»
What to entice a demon who intends to kill her? Samantha didn’t know how to bargain. She should have gone to market more often instead of sending servants. Then she might have become more adept at bargaining and haggling.
«If you don’t stop, I’ll bring the bandits from the high road to the palace!» Samantha threatened. She’d already met the werewolves on the road, and the Mind would probably believe she’d made friends with the bandits, too.
«You’d make any bandit run away from you! With a temper like yours, you can’t even marry a bandit. And you have your eye on the King!»
«Then leave me to my idle dreams. What’s wrong with idle dreams?» Samantha’s got a knack for it.
«Just in case, I’d better tear your head off your body along with all your stupid dreams. That would make me feel better!»
«So killing me is just a matter of principle for you?»
«Principle is the most important thing! It’s better to be safe than sorry.»
«Right now, it’s better to feel sorry for me. You’re scaring me!»
«I don’t pity pretty girls! They’re all too mean.»
«The ladies of the court are gossipy, proud and jealous, but I’m different.»
«However, you’ve crossed me too.»
«In what way is it? Did I steal a piece of hell from you?»
«You are making eyes at the king. I don’t forgive anyone for that.»
«The King forgives you for is how disgusting you look. You look like you crawled out of the ashes of a furnace.»
«I did sneak out of the furnace, but I might send you in my place.»
The Mind was advancing. Samantha backed away. It’s business as usual. And Pegasus isn’t around to help. Maybe another cup of punch would save her. But the only place to get it is in the kitchen.
«Mind, let’s be friends!» Samantha begged.
«When you become a ghost, then we can be friends. I love being friends with ghosts.»
Samantha knew how people became ghosts, so she prepared to flee. The Mind already wanted to give her to the night spirits, but it didn’t work, he whistled a giant to crush her, Samantha flew away on Pegasus, then he lured her to the ogres, but even here she was saved thanks to a fairy. But what if the fairy isn’t around this time?
«I won’t rest until I’ve worn you out,» the Mind admitted honestly, with his friendliest grin. At least he could be honest.
«What did I do to you?»
«You tried to steal my king,» the Mind shook his claw threateningly in Samantha’s face.
«You don’t own the king!»
«Yes, it is!»
«No, he’s not. He’s not your slave. How can he be yours?»
«Well, one day my cannibals will eat you and your mouth and you’ll be silent forever. And I’ll go back to Serpin and rule the country as before.»
«You better rule the country and leave Serpin to me.»
«Serpin is not a cup of punch! You can’t divide it between two!»
«Who said anything about sharing?» Samantha felt foolish bargaining with the demon, but she had no choice but to dodge. «I’m offering you a kingdom in exchange for Serpin.»
«A king and a kingdom are one and the same,» the Mind said in an unquestioning tone.
«And you’re a philosopher too!» Samantha poured the rest of the punch on the demon. Now she was going to run into his claws again! The Mind was furious. He was easy to anger. It was hard to get him out of his rage. When he was furious, he wanted to crush the world to get all the insolent, clingy girls out of it. Samantha often heard the Mind muttering that the suitors should be taken out of the royal palace like pesky insects.
The punch made the demon sticky and dirty.
«You are a wretch!» He hissed.
«I accidentally spilled it,» Samantha hid the cup. «I’m sorry. You want me to clean your skin?»
«You better clean your conscience! Thief! You want to steal my king and patron!» The Mind was hysterical again. Samantha was used to his tantrums.
«Mind, you need a good counselor. I can get one from my aunt’s estate. She suffers from endless migraines, insomnia and nervous disorders.»
Aunt Lavinia’s psychologist usually always helped, but the Mind spoke out against psychologists in his usual hysterical manner. For about ten minutes he berated Samantha and all the doctors.
«They are clever charlatans! They’ll cure anything they can think of to get the king’s money for treatment!»
«What’s it to you? The King will pay for it!»
«The King’s treasury is my treasury,» the Mind said proudly.
How simple the devil has it all! Samantha envied his luck. She would probably not be able to reach the king’s treasury even after the wedding. What is she thinking? Does she only want Serpin for his wealth? What about his looks? He’s the most handsome young king in the entire universe. Samantha reached out dreamily and nearly ran into the demon’s claws.
«Get out of my palace!» For the hundredth time, the Mind chased her out. «Get out of here! Catch suitors in the village!»
«This is the king’s palace, not yours!»
«The King and I share everything!»
«Maybe you’ll have a bride in common, too! I wouldn’t want to marry the king and become the property of a demon,» Samantha said indignantly.
«I need no brides!» The Mind was even more indignant. «Maidens are nothing but trouble. Even many of my fellow devils have fallen in love with mortal wenches!»
«You mean even demons fall in love?» Samantha’s amazement was unparalleled.
«I will never fall in love!» the Mind declared with dignity. «And I’ll eliminate all the girls so they won’t tempt anyone.»
«You are a misogynist!»
«And you hate demons! You want to drive me out of the royal palace, you clever weasel! And all because of greed! She wants a king! She should have stayed at home with the shepherds and milkmen! Why did she come to the capital?»
Samantha wanted to say she wouldn’t have come if her kind mother hadn’t sent her, but she bit her tongue. What if her careless words set the devil against her mother and her entire estate? Sometimes it’s better to keep quiet.
«There was only one girl in the whole world. She didn’t disgust me with her insolence,» the Mind ranted. – All the other women need to be eradicated from Ivylor like fleas, bedbugs and cockroaches. They’re all pests! They all want to steal my king from me! Only Princess Estella was a good girl.»
«Was it Estella?» Samantha tried to recall articles from her father’s historical encyclopedias. «Wasn’t Estella of Aluar?»
«That’s the one!»
«But she was known as the wisest and most powerful queen in the world. Why would she give you up to her? She didn’t need mind. An advisor like you can only pick on simpletons like Serpin.»
The Mind suddenly became angry and shook its clawed fists menacingly.
«It was only because of me that Estella became a clever, clever girl. Before she met me, she was so stupid that the whole country laughed at her. I was able to clear her brain, and stupid beautiful princess suddenly became a great idea in politics and strategy, and even on the love front. She was a unique woman! She benefited from all my advice.»
«But even with her, you’ve fallen for her!» Samantha snapped vindictively.
«Who hasn’t run into women?» the Mind grumbled resentfully.
«Some people have had a go at guys. I read a book in my father’s library about the radiant goddess Alais, who, after the war in the heavens and the fall of her armies to our mortal earth, ruled over all magical creatures and demons.»
«Don’t dare to speak her sacred name!»
Samantha ignored the Mind’s squeak.
«So there she was, ruling over the kings of a country where the rulers were called pharaohs. Things had been going well for centuries, but the heaven marked warlord Taor fell in love with her and she fell for him. Out of jealousy he used the sacred dagger, and though he didn’t kill the deity for good, he put her to sleep for centuries.»
«How could this have happened?» The Mind wondered. «Alais had always been omnipotent. I don’t believe your stories. You are envious mortal maiden!»
The pleasant conversation turned to conflict again. Apparently, you can’t be friends with a demon.
«Mind, why are you so prickly?»
«Am I prickly?» The demon hesitantly felt the thorns on the back of his head. «I think they need sharpening.»
«I’m talking about character!»
«What a poet you are! It is metaphors!»
«If you were beautiful, I’d compare you to a thorny rose,» Samantha began ingratiatingly.
«Roses are not always beautiful,» snorted the demon. «I know the garden of a prickly fairy called Lady Shipina. Her roses are all thorns.»
«It is no romance!»
«I prefer horror to romance. If you argue with me, I’ll drag you into that garden and throw you on the thorns.»
«You won’t be able to pick me up!»
«Why is it not?»
«I’m big and tall and you’re small and skinny. Who’s supposed to carry who?»
«Shall we test it?» The Mind grabbed Samantha by the scruff of the neck, lifted her off the floor like a piece of fluff and threw her against the wall. The girl did not immediately recover from the shock. Was this a nightmare? Or is the little demon really able to lift her in his arms and even fly with her.
«Get out!» Samantha slid down the wall and put her arm forward in self-defense.
«You get out! You’re my guest! You come to my palace and kick me out of my own home! I feel in the position of the master who let the pig on the doorstep, and his whole house turned into a stable.»
It was useless to remind the Mind that his house did not belong to him, but to the king. The nimble devil was accustomed to consider the king his property, because it was convenient, because the whole country was attached to the king. What a rogue!
«How many dowry-hunters the king has found?» The Mind wailed. «These impudent maidens come out of every crevice like fleas. They want to steal my patron away from me. I’ll crush them all!»
Samantha dreamed of tricking the Mind and getting along with him, but it wasn’t easy.
«Suppose I’m different,» she said flatteringly. «Let’s say I’m a copy of Estella.»
«You are another Estella!» The Mind hesitated. «You look like her, but don’t all pretty girls look like each other? Estella was as tall as you, just as quick, but not a redhead. You’re worse than that.»
«What if I’m better?»
The Mind pondered for a moment, and then every heavy object it could get its claws on flew at Samantha.
«You are a liar! You’re no match for Estella!»
«Why is that?»
«She was a born princess, and you’re just a common village beggar.»
«I’m a country lady!»
«A noble husband hunter, that’s what you are!»
The Mind’s hysteria has resumed.
«For Serpin’s sake I gave up drinking, gave up smoking hookah and eating human meat. You could say I’ve reformed, become a caring daddy. And now our family’s falling apart because of some pretty girl! We need to get rid of all the girls in lvilor so they don’t interfere with the king’s rule.»
«It is the imp’s rule!» Samantha corrected him. «By the way, you’ve done a good job of feeding on him. Hell has seen such daddies!»
«Don’t be rude, girl! What good can you do for the kingdom? You’ll bring in fairies to steal the treasury.»
The mind was on point, but Samantha was tired of being embarrassed. She struck a pose.
«And you plan to bring all your infernal spawn from the underworld to take over Ivilor and turn it into a branch of hell. The crops in the fields are already rotting, the beasts in the forests have become werewolves, and soon demons will be crawling out of the ground.»
«Do you think Serpin will object?»
«Even your charm won’t be enough to convince the king that demons are welcome.»
«The king’s already suffered enough with his neighbors to make many demons seem prettier. Do you know how many times Serpin has been invaded? Without me, he’d be lost.»
«I would be lost without you, too,» Samantha said, «I need you to respect and love me if I am not to die in the king’s palace.
«I will love you so much that it will not be enough!» the Mind lunged at the girl, claws as sharp as knives.