Dragon Bride. Natalie Yacobson

him and suddenly burned him. The pain was savage!

      «Oh, I’m sorry!» Raymonda clearly felt guilty. «I’d forgotten that people can burn themselves. I should have waited until my skin had cooled after the transformation. But I can get you a healing potion. There’s a lovely tree nearby. It can crush you with its roots, but it can cure even a knight’s severe battle wounds.»

      «Thank you! But an introduction to a magic tree is unnecessary. I’ve had enough of the dragon.»

      Raymonda frowned. «Is that what you call it?»

      «It is what it is!» – Clement realized there was no turning back. His feet tangled in a clump of tall heather. Something squeaks and nibbles in the ground beneath the flowers, as if leprechauns have taken up residence there. There’s a belief that if you catch a leprechaun, it will tell you where the pots of gold are buried, but Clement wasn’t busy chasing treasure keepers, who were pouncing on his feet like fleas. He discerned tiny creatures beneath the flowers. Apparently he had stepped into their territory. And they were even more aggressive than pixies.

      Raymonda took out her hand mirror and held it to her face.

      «It’s a double reflection,» she said aloud. «I didn’t want you to see me looking like this, but I had to. I don’t take threats against me or my friends.»

      She was right! There was a regiment of attackers. As it turned out, Raymonda was capable of burning down an entire army single-handed.

      The moon and new moon were outlined on the gilt back of her mirror, blended together. It’s the same symbol as the one on her hoop. Only this time it was surrounded by a scattering of stars milled around it like a wreath. It looks very much like the emblem of a midnight sorceress. Until now, Clement had never heard of such wizards being able to turn into dragons.

      «So you do it on purpose with your charms?»

      «Do what on purpose?» Raymonda wondered.

      «You turn into a dragon.»

      «If I could do it with my charms…» she sighed dramatically.«It’s not that simple! I’ll let you in on my secrets some day.»

      Raymonda looked sadly in the mirror. Or was he upsetting her in some way?

      «It’s easier for Chameleon wizards,» she whispered. «They choose their own appearance. But you have to accept the fact that your savior is a dragon.»

      «I have,» Clement shook the fragrant heather petals from his collar and sleeves. The heather smelled strange in that field – a mixture of unfamiliar flowers. And Raymonda was not at all what he had thought her to be. What should he call her now? Is it my Lady Dragon? Or is it my Lady Elf?

      «Thank you for not leaving me,» he thanked her, though he was, in fact, only in danger because of her.

      Sparks flew from her claws, still as bright as dragon scales. One spark burned him. Clement felt like he was on a red-hot frying pan. What if Raymonda turned back into a dragon and spewed a torrent of fire on the heath instead of the city? Then it would burn. She’d have no one else to vent her fury on.

      On the one hand it is very romantic, that it was Raymonda who clawed him and carried him away from danger, but on the other hand the alarm bells are ringing in his mind. She is the dragon! And the dragon is her! Clement did not know where to turn from the shattering truth. The beauty turned out to be a monster! The beauty turned out to be a dragon! How can you call a sparkling, albeit gigantic creature in orange and gold scales a monster? The luxurious scales make it look like a whole treasure trove of amber!

      «Amber must be your favorite stone.»

      «What do you mean?» Raymonda shook off the ashes from her skirts. Clement only now noticed the ashes on the hem of her skirts. He was glad it wasn’t scales. A dress with scales instead of lace trim would have looked too unnatural.

      «I’ll give you a set of amber jewels if I’m made king,» he promised her.

      «It is better sapphires!» Raymonda cheered up. «I do love sapphires! Are you going to ask me to marry you?»

      «Why should I?» He was all hot and furious. He blurted out that if his uncle had not already asked him in marriage, he would ask her to marry him right away. And he’d have his own personal battle dragon in addition to his sweetheart. Well, just like a fairy tale! But his fussy uncle thwarted his plans. If he couldn’t marry who he wanted, magic would do. Though Raymonda may know a thing or two about magic, she wouldn’t fight for him. It is one thing to save him from death, and quite another to enter a magical tournament.

      «Gifts as expensive as a set of jewels are only given to the one they wish to marry,» she remarked coquettishly. «They are usually given by the matchmaker. I know!»

      «Has anyone ever asked you in marriage?» He asked, and his heart sank. «Was it a king or two?»

      «Several!»

      «I didn’t realize they all wanted a dragon bride. Probably they wanted to protect the border… You could burn an army, you know. If only the suitors knew you were duplicitous, they could understandably want you.»

      Clement tried to speak lightheartedly, but his jealousy suddenly seemed to burn more deeply than a dragon’s claws.

      «I think you’re willing to shower me with gifts because you want to offer me the humiliating position of royal favorite, not wife,» she teased him impudently.

      «Honestly, I can’t help it,» Clement said aloud, and began swearing at the only surviving uncle – wizard.

      Damn his uncle! Clement was a fool. His uncle meddled in his nephew’s private life as if the prince were his own son. And he was a fool himself! He agreed with his uncle in everything. Honesty now made it impossible for him to break his oath or deceive Raimonda.

      But Raimonda herself was not the sort of girl who could be seduced by the promise of marriage.

      «I will not be anyone’s favorite! And I wasn’t even planning on getting married until now,» she declared. «I am my own mistress. And if anyone asked me to marry him, he’d be hot and bothered,» she showed a flame on her fingertips.

      And what will she do to the man who offered her the place of a minion? Clement backed away.

      Maybe honestly confess to her that he’d been foisted on some rich princess he’d never seen in his life. But he himself would naturally prefer to marry a beauty who can turn into a dragon and burn the enemy army.

      Whoa! What is wrong with him? How can he put the defense of the country on the fragile shoulders of women? Is he weak? So you really can’t marry a dragon. Better to wait for an ordinary bride. But he felt uneasy at the thought that it might not be Raymonda.

      She would probably be the bodyguard his uncle had promised him. Who better to protect him than a real dragon? And he only knew the dragon would be a lady! Clement was confused. What could he do about his own feelings? He should never have known that dragons could change into beauties. Better that a pretty girl was his bride and a dragon was a sparkling monster in the sky.

      But it was the other way around. One can only hope that the bride will perish on her way to him. He did not want to marry another after he had met Raymonda.

      Though, come to think of it, his uncle had promised him a profitable bride. And who could be more profitable than a dragon? A dragon could command an entire army, and she would have a great deal of treasure stashed away. Leprechauns in the heath whispered something about hidden dragon treasure in the mountain caves.

      «You’d better get up there and away from our supplies,» they hissed at Clement.

      «Okay, I’ll be right back,» said Clement, uncertain of where to go on the moor. Everywhere he looked there was heather. It was except for the mountains.

      The leprechauns wouldn’t touch Raymonda. Apparently,