Rhianon-9. The Birth of the Dragon. Natalie Yacobson

was losing badly against him. Yes, he was handsome, despite his black raven robes and forced celibacy. But he’s human, and while he’s a little different from the rest of mankind, he’s mortal, too.

      «You waited too long for him,» she reminded him before she left. «Is it really all the fun in the world for you to wait even longer for me? It is all eternity, for instance.»

      He only shrugged his shoulders.

      «Some things are worth a lot.»

      Rhianon was quite in agreement with him. Only unlike him, she wouldn’t wait in vain.

      Six Spinsters

      When she emerged from the towers, Loretta was still drowning in twilight. The dark streets were calm. Or did it just seem that way?

      As she passed the well, Rhianon stopped and glanced down, apprehensive. Could Rothbert, out of spite, have let worms like those he’d let loose in the sewers down here too, to grow into dragons? Could there already be a dragon in the well? For a moment all she could see was a hunched winged silhouette, so much like Setius. Against the gleaming water below, it seemed a mirage made of moonlight. The creature lifted its head and stared at her with those same empty, moonlit eyes.

      Rhianon merely shrugged her shoulders. They say that some of Dennitsa’s companions have fallen into crevices and wells. Those who dwelled in the water helped her take the city. The young queen was grateful to them for this. Now the underwater dwellers could get away, but they still found a place for themselves in the gutters and fountains. Perhaps, in time, a sea serpent would indeed appear in one of the wells, and a kraken would take up residence in the castle moat. Rhianon wasn’t too worried about that prospect. She could handle guests seeping through the water with ease. Unless, of course, there was an ocean nearby, fire would easily scare them off. Without water, they are nothing. Their tears for Dennitsa forced them into moisture for all eternity. Every time Rhianon spotted a new pearl in her caskets, she knew who had brought it, and the wet footprints leading to the gutter or bathtub said more about the visitor than they could say for themselves. Pearls were also a symbol of tears, and also of innocence. Those who now lived under the water had compassion for Madael and paid the price for it. On the one hand Rhianon sympathized with them, on the other she was concerned about how she would keep such supporters in line if they were to rebel. In the narrow streets of Loretta, where there is little water, fire would frighten them, but what would happen in the moat. For now it was best not to think about it.

      Rhianon looked into all the wells and fountains as she passed. She saw water droplets silvery on mermaid scales, unusual fish splashing in someone’s tubs, living pearls gliding down the gutter, supported by unusual creatures. Loretta came alive. Every drop of water in it became animate, and so did every leaf on the branches. As she walked past someone’s front gardens, Rhianon could hear the leaves rustling anxiously. It was as if someone was calling to her from the crowns of the trees. Sometimes she recognized the dryads, but she did not want to communicate with them today. Phyllis had long been angry with her and hid in an orange tree near the castle. Rhianon hadn’t spoken to her in a long time, and the dryad was angry. She wanted to flirt and play cards with her mistress, not remain a neglected servant. She often said that the rustling of playing cards reminded her of the foliage and her home far away in the forest. More than once she had suggested that Rhianon go back into the thicket with her, to the tree that Phyllis said grew to the heavens.

      Rhianon did not doubt her words now, but she did not want to leave Loretta just yet. She walked through the streets and enjoyed the feeling that everything here now belonged to her. The streets, deserted at night, were beautiful and spacious.

      The figure sitting alone by the fountain would have seemed asleep to Rhianon had it not been for the scarlet trickle that trickled into the water. The girl was not asleep. Rhianon stepped closer to take a closer look. She had already expected to see Setius leaning over the corpse. He was the one who could nestle into the maiden’s delicate neck and bleed her.

      Rhianon touched her shoulder. Her hand felt as if it had touched a helpless rag doll. The corpse fell limply to the curb of the fountain. Blond strands were wet and covered her face, but not the sign scratched into her neck. Rhianon immediately recognized it. The mark of the fallen! Someone had branded the corpse with it.

      «He kills all golden-haired girls who look like you,» a small voice whispered from around the corner. «That’s because he can’t touch you. And he can’t touch the Master. That’s why he looks for copies and kills them.»

      Near the scene, Rhianon had expected to see the black hunched over shadow of Asmodeus, but not one of the six spinsters. Madeleine, who had come around the corner, seemed to have grown in stature. She resembled a girl of twelve now, but not a little dwarf, and yet her outfit remained the same. Even the cap on her oversized head was the same, and so was her hair. But her face, under the curls of red curls, looked more grown-up.

      Rhianon remembered that those who were too guilty were especially diminished after the fall. Could they have atoned for their sins and changed? It is unlikely, no one would forgive them, and they did not want forgiveness. Pride and desire for independence would not have allowed them to ask for anything.

      «Only I shouldn’t have told you that,» Madeleine put her finger to her lips and turned as if she were looking for witnesses.

      It seemed to Rhianon that she had not come here alone.

      «Why are you here?» The queen asked.

      The spinster only grinned mischievously.

      «We wanted to make a dress for her,» she nodded at the corpse. «It was a garment of thread that would drink the life from her. The wretch wanted to take from us the workshop, you see, she is heir to a house where we already worked… We would not have tolerated her, but he left us behindt.

      Madeleine raised her head on tiptoes and looked at the corpse, as if she wished to be sure that the girl would never rise again.

      «Farewell!» She nodded quickly to Rhianon.

      «Farewell?» She thought the word was astonishing. Wasn’t all eternity in front of them? «Won’t you serve me anymore?»

      The spinster only shrugged her shoulders. She disappeared into the darkness faster than Rhianon could call out to her. She wandered the streets for a long time, hoping to find one of the spinsters and figure out what they were doing in Loretta, but they were nowhere to be seen. Along with them all the supernatural creatures seemed to have gone into hiding. The only unusual silhouette that separated itself from the shadows was gray and unsightly. Occasionally he would stop in front of someone’s door and knock on it, but the knock itself was inaudible. At first he seemed to Rhianon to be nothing more than an illusion. She did not immediately recognize the familiar face under the hood. When she recognized it, Rhianon shuddered. The gray angel was here again. Who was he looking for? She dared not go up to him and ask him that. But it seemed as if he wanted to take everyone at once. His every gesture said so. He moved through Loretta, smoothly and silently, as if he were taking the city in a ring. Rhianon followed him to watch his strange manipulations. He touched doors and locks with his pale fingers, ran his fingers over the eaves. Every stone, as if it were to soak in his touch. Rhianon would have followed him further, but she became dizzy. She had to return to the castle. Orpheus was already waiting for her there. He was shuffling cards and whistling merrily. The tune was frivolous and mischievous.

      «Hello, my beautiful queen,» he grinned as she crossed the threshold. – «Did you have a good night?»

      «Not very much,» Rhiannon said, feeling tired. She wanted to go to the mirror and remove the hairpins from her tangled hair, but the spirit blocked her path.

      «Do you look disappointed?» Orpheus took a closer look at her face. «The colored-eyed boy hasn’t lived up to your expectations?»

      «What do you mean?» she stared at him in amazement.

      «You know, the one pretending to be a witch doctor.