Dragon’s Empire – 3. Countess and Dragon. Natalie Yacobson

are documents on the village to the north of your possessions. It and several farms that can be rented will give a good income.»

      And whose were these lands before me?» I didn’t even unfold a scroll, although I already realized that such document is a great mercy from the side of the monarch, only here he provided the service not to the one who was in need of it, but to a stranger.

      «These lands belonged to the crown,» Selvin replied. «They are pretty fertile, such an area will not give a bad income to the host, and the repair of the estate, too, if you do not mind, write down at the expense of the treasury.»

      «What a care is it,» I admired, but Selvin did not notice sarcasm in my voice.

      «The king is waiting for your appearance every day and… every night,» he said, clearly remembering our collision in a hunting house. «It is inconvenient to me to talk, but he is fascinated by you, and the court is jealous, so you must be careful when you appear among them. From jealousy, they are capable of everything, even of crimes. Many have never seen you, but they already dismiss unpleasant and terrible rumors. I am also your debtor and will be alert to provide you with safety at the court.»

      «Selvin!» I turned to him by name, without titles and other rules of courtesy. «You must understand that I am not going to come to the court, nor today, neither tomorrow, no in a month.»

      «But the king…»

      «Listen!» I took him by my arms and led closer to the fireplace, so that in the reflections of the fire he could well consider my traits. He did not take away his hot live hands, although he felt the ice cold of my skin and, probably, he realized that this was a handshake of death.

      «You are far from stupid and quite capable of understanding that I am not a common man,» I continued quietly. «Take care of your suzerain. Say to him that the most terrible danger, which only can be is coming from me. Communication with me has the worst consequences. It is dangerous. You are afraid that they can kill me but how? I will not be harmed with a spear, a knife, a sword, or even with a poisoned arrow. But if I wish or in the whims of fate, I can destroy many. Your king sees the deceased son in me. So let him send his father’s guard to someone from living, and not on whose fate are darkness and loneliness. If I need your service, I myself am not ashamed to come, but it is necessary to fear in advance that someone like me is going to let me your doors.»

      «You say that you are… Cursed? «Selvin could not find a word for a long time and the phrase itself flew away from his tongue. «But this is not the case?» He immediately asked me with a hope.

      «Who knows,» I replied indefinitely, and immediately turned away to send my energy to fire, which had almost no food left, at the expense of which it could burn.

      The awkward pause was delayed. Selvin, having exhausted the stock of his eloquence, urgently tried to reveal the reason to extend his visit. He looked around a poor living room, heavy, dusty curtains, soft furniture set with faded upholstery, vases with dried bouquets. Dry flowers with the lightest touch could crumble in small curvy. Selvin’s gaze ran through a darkened portrait and pictures, which got me together with the house, and lingered on a small old tapestry with a hunting scene.

      «Still, you have shown yourself as a hero that day,» Selvin remembered the predators who arranged the hunters the trap and an unexpected salvation. «Those who you saved, now and call you – the lord of the wolves. The rest, who heard the story, gave you this nickname in absentia, without requiring any confirmation of such power.»

      Selvin spoke simply and with admiration. No tricks about why wolves scared me or how I managed to keep their fierce attack with the whole pair of words. He was not going to get out someone else’s secret and took the uniqueness of his savior as proper.

      Young Viscount learned to perceive my secrecy, as an integral. Therefore, he was still alive, healthy and not scared, but only a little confused. Already in his behavior, it was possible to understand that received as a present possessions and other grace is just one way to lure me to the court. Does the king lack his own concerns? Why does he call in a fragile maze of urban mansions the fire-breathing snake?

      «I see, it is useless to warn,» I stated with a sad smile. «Well, perhaps, one day I will appear before your jealous courtiers, and God forbid that I come to them in such a kind, as now, and not in another.

      «What do you have in mind?» Selvin was amazed.

      The holy simplicity, I grinned about myself, how he is it far from the suspicious Francesca.

      «Very often, the evil fate pursues those to whom I feel sympathy,» I remembered with the sadness the gnomes, especially Dominic, even more painful there was a reminder of the prudent Claude and the naive, but uniquely charming Florian. All of them were destroyed because of me.

      «Do you want to extend our acquaintance?» I asked the confused Selvin. «Well, I do not mind.»

      «Excellent, you will not regret,» he was delighted. «Today we will have to bring bricklayers, painters, carpenters. We must bring the house to the appropriate look.»

      He wanted to add that if I would be a little bit more agreeable, and I would be waiting for the future of the royal heir. I did not fit to be the landowner in debts. He got used to the court luxury and was confident that anyone who was forced to live in the house with the flowing roof, without servants, undoubtedly is a debtor. If only he did not stand in advance with the royal treasurer pay for these non-existent debts.

      Selvin has already escaped to give orders to his escort, and I choking a deaf hysterical laughter. Yes, I could enrich any of the rulers of nearby countries. From the very tiny, not even faceted stone from my treasury would not be abandoned any of the richest and powerful kings. Selwin’s ignorance excused his naivety.

      I considered Selvin unobtrusive only until the work was boiled in the estate. The workers imported a new, fashionable furnishings. The walls were re-crossed by expensive wood. The dressmakers filmed the measurements for the curtains. I was tired of the incessant crash of driving around, the knocking of hammers and disputes about what will be more beautiful to stand, I moved to the mill. It was warm and nice there.

      Left alone, I thought about Vincent. Where is this poor fellow now? Probably, he is in some wretched hut, because his house is sold, and the debts are not paid. Only in the evening he can get out of his shelter to go to visit those who have enough stupidity to invite him. A poor Vincent! He would dance from happiness, if any childless king suddenly thought to adopt him. Again it outdated so that all the honors got to the one who did not appreciate them at all, and not the one who was dreaming about them.

      Not that I am very sorry for Vincent. He brought himself all the time in trouble and did it quite skillfully without any assistance. Clear fraud is not a mean with which you can succeed. Now I remembered Vincent, because I felt his presence nearby. I just could not understand what he was doing in the village.

      From the roof of the mill, an excellent panorama opened, but someone removed a ladder. Unlike people, I did not need a ladder to climb the attic. Probably, the miller noticed it. My hearing was very sensitive, I heard the hammer strikes in the forge, snoring the horses, crying baby in the cradle and warlike screams. Everything that happens in the village was almost tangible to me. I strained and listened. What happens there? Someone takes out a weapon from the forge. The village is preparing the uprising. The rumors and suspicions have done their job. What is the honor to kill the dragon while he is in human guise. Whether I am a man, I would be offended. After all, this village belongs to me according to papers from the king, I am a friend of the king himself, and these stupid people want to kill me with pitchforks and knives. Well, if they wish to see the dragon, they will see it, although I swore not to turn without special need.

      From above, it was possible to observe the crowd, which moved to the mill.

      Only pride prevented me to return to the gloomy,