Dragon Bride. Natalie Yacobson

their meaning.

      Who would have thought that dragon gold could sing? He wouldn’t have dreamed that in his wildest dreams.

      Today Raymonda wore her crown of golden laurel leaves and what looked like dragon claws. That crown made her look like the queen of some witchy state inhabited by dangerous creatures.

      «So are we going on a journey?» Clement rubbed his eyes sleepily. He dozed lazily while the gold sang to him.

      «Did you want to hole up in a dragon cave all your life?» Raymonda shamed him.

      «I just thought it was risky to leave the place unattended. What if they looted it?»

      «Who would want to rob a dragon?»

      «There are all kinds of daredevils.»

      «They’ll get caught! My gold is treacherous. It will drive them to the precipice, drive them mad or blind them. Coins, for instance, love to leech into thieves’ skin.»

      «It’s a good thing I didn’t get my hands on any,» Clement rejoiced sincerely. «Still, there’s a chance of ruin if the knights of Shai invade here.»

      «Why do you fear for my life savings?» Raymonda was furious. «Don’t worry! If I have to be gone for a long time, it means the cave is so protected by magic that no one will find its entrance. And it’s not the only cave where I save my money.»

      «And you’re a rich bride!» Clement cracked a joke. Raymonda was too serious.

      «And I am dangerous!» She flashed her eyes, which instantly turned orange like flames.

      Okay, if she wanted to be quiet instead of talking, fine. Clement felt so happy in her company anyway that he whistled songs to himself as they walked through the meadows and fields into the night. For some reason Raymonda wanted to travel at night. She could see well in the dark. Clement didn’t even ask where they were going or why they were going there. The important thing was that Raymonda was with him. And he expected no other bride than her. To know he was engaged to her was bliss. And her dragon character would probably soften in time.

      «By the way, why didn’t you tell me you were my fiancée?» Clement decided to ask.

      She gave a dismissive chuckle.

      Why had she been leading him on from the start? She was playing with him like a cat with a mouse. Or rather, like a dragon with its prey.

      «By the way, am I the groom or the victim?» Clement asked the question directly, at the risk of exposing himself to a torrent of fire breath.

      «I don’t know yet!»

      Raymonda hovered over the thicket of tall grass, and Clement struggled his way through it. He produced a dagger which he could use to shear back the stalks and clear a path, but Raymonda warned him:

      «Don’t dare!»

      «Why is it not?»

      «The grass is magic. If you cut it, it’ll grow twice as tall.»

      That’s probably why it was so tall. It reached to Clement’s waist. Someone had already tried to mow it down.

      The tree up ahead was magical, too. It stood in the middle of the meadow, huge and gnarly, like a giant’s severed head.

      She strode up to it and stroked its bark gently, as if she were greeting an old friend. The tree’s branches stretched out from the lush crown like vines and lay on the ground, creating a cover like an arbor. They are more flexible than willow branches, and the leaves on them resemble in shape the badges of card suits and the coats of arms of some countries that have long since disappeared.

      «Once there were battles fought here and powers crumbled,» Raymonda explained. «Now there’s only the tree, but it’s a wise one.»

      Several of the branches suddenly sprang to life, lifted from the ground like slender fingers and touched Clement, unmistakably feeling the injured areas on his skin. There was nothing left of the burns and scratches in a jiffy.

      «So the tree really is a healer!»

      «And you thought I was lying to you?» She took an oddly shaped leaf or two and put it in her purse. «It’s also an oracle.»

      «Isn’t it?» Clement was more interested in the rainbow-like color of the leaves. And its bark had fanciful growths that, in the dim light, might be mistaken for living, supernatural beings. Several birds flitted from the top of the tree. These are the real Syrines and Alconostes!

      The living roots continued to grope Clement, though no wounds remained on his body. Clement trusted them now, like a doctor, so he willingly opened his palms as the branches began to glide along the lines of fate.

      «He has a noble soul!» A hoarse voice was heard from within the tree. «It is an excellent choice! You are a perfect match! The archer and the dragoness! You are a prince and a princess!»

      The giant face of the oracle seemed to fade into the bark of the trunk for a moment. Clement’s heart gave out. Hooray! The oracle tree had predicted good things. So the scoundrel in the square was wrong. His ominous visage made him want to believe less than the lush tree. Though beneath the sprawling crown lurked magical figures sprouted in the trunk and small magical creatures, as well as syrene. Clement whistled.

      «Would I have a bird like that?»

      «Would you propose to her too?» Raymonda mocked him. «Or make her your mistress?»

      As luck would have it, the bird came up with a beautiful female head, braided hair, and a tiny corolla of turquoise.

      «Mind you, if you marry me, I will let the minions go no further than into the furnace. That is in the dragon’s mouth!»

      «You mean you’ll burn them all?»

      «And you, too!»

      «Won’t you be sorry?»

      «Would you pity the minions you haven’t even had yet? How do you know they won’t turn out to be scheming witches you want to execute?»

      «It’s too cruel a burnt offering anyway.»

      «I promise I’ll burn anyone who annoys me or contradicts me. I will start with my rivals.»

      «And that will be until you’re disenchanted?»

      «As your uncle hinted, I don’t think that’s possible. But spells are good for me. I can remove all my rivals and enemies with fire. Your kingdom will burn. So, you’re not going to marry me, are you?»

      «Absolutely not! I’ll find a way to tame you.»

      She breathed fire into him, and nothing! He didn’t burn. Only the heat ran through his skin until he was red. It was as if he had been bewitched. And it is not by his uncle. Uncle couldn’t do that.

      «And your uncle is right! You are the special one! If I can’t burn you, it can’t be otherwise.»

      Raymonda suddenly respected him. As it turned out, even she could be impressed by something.

      Well, the tree had to do the healer’s job again, probing the branches to see if the fire had left any small injuries on his body.

      «I once watched a great battle here!» Raymonda said dreamily.

      Clement thought a ghost battle was about to break out in the field, but there was nothing behind him but a statue of a fairy that stood on a pedestal right in the middle of the thicket of grass. She looked beautiful and a little ominous. She seemed to come to life as soon as the moonlight touched her.

      «Why hadn’t I noticed her before?»

      It was as if the marble fairy had just grown up in the middle of the field.

      «Don’t go near her!» Raymonda was frightened. «Don’t even look at her!»

      «But why is it?»

      The