A demon’s rival. Natalie Yacobson

Instead, a black sprout appeared. It reached upward and grew into a tree.

      «But it had no coins!» Samantha thought she’d been fooled. What if the branches were about to grow dragon teeth? But there was a soft clinking sound, and the black branches were covered with gold coins. Samantha didn’t look surprised, but picked as many as she could. Even if the coins turned into clods of earth or leaves along the way, at least she had tried to get rich.

      The fairies flew to the tree.

      «Stop it! You are thieves!» The inhabitant of the field screamed, but the fairies stripped the whole tree and flew away. Only one coin remained shining on the black branches.

      «Perhaps I should share it with you,» Samantha decided. She offered the creature the apron in which she had placed the coins, but it waved it away. Why was it so proud? Had the coins in her hands gotten leprosy, or was the immortal creature afraid that the Earth girl might infect it with mortality?

      After a moment, the ringing sounded again, and the tree again gave golden fruit, that is, coins. This is the thing! It is inexhaustible. The dweller of the fields didn’t want to share the gold only with the fairies. Apparently, those cheeky little things had been flying around the field for a long time, looking for an easy profit.

      The creature jumped to the top of the tree and began stripping the coins from it, and Samantha hurried back to the carriage. She took off the apron full of coins and tied the ends into a knot, hiding the knot under the seat. Now she had funds for emergencies. Thanks to the black fields and their inhabitants!

      Fairy’s dresses

      Samantha arrived in Ivilor at sunset. The guards at the entrance to the palace let her through, but the ladies of the court laughed at her.

      Such a turn of events was to be expected. The socialites saw a disheveled Samantha perched on the rumps, holding the reins ineffectively. The gossip became as loud as a choir. The hillbilly had come in a carriage that she drove herself, and she was humming along the way.

      «People care about everything!» Samantha grumbled as she jumped down from the horses.

      It was a good thing that the young stableman who ran up to her was polite. He took the horses away to be fed and cleaned. Samantha thought vindictively that now at least someone in the royal stables would have as much trouble with unruly horses as she did.

      «Look at the look of surprise on her face! I bet she was going to take the horses to her bedroom for the night instead of the stall,» laughed one lady, who was covering herself with a fan. Samantha pretended not to hear her. She didn’t want to get into an argument with a whole crowd. You could argue with one lady, but you’d lose with most of them, of course.

      «I’d like to have my own personal demon in Ivilor,» Samantha muttered to herself as she heard the snide comments. «There’s no one who can punish those faggots but a demon!»

      She was wrong! All the ladies were silent at the sight of the King, who had just gone for a walk. The ladies, as if on cue, sat down in curtsy. The men bowed low. Only Samantha stood at attention. The king appeared so young and so handsome that her knees trembled. She could not curtsy. Thankfully, the young King Serpin paid no attention to the indelicacy. He was whispering something to a strange animal that was sitting on his shoulder. It seemed to be a monkey. But are monkeys ever coal-black in color? It must be some special breed from the tropical islands, where the sun is so hot that the locals’ skin and fur turn black. Samantha stopped at that assumption because the monkey didn’t bother her too much. The main thing worth looking at was the king himself. He had graceful facial features, golden eyebrows and eyelashes, blue eyes, and blond curls whose tips curled up to his collar. King Serpin was dressed luxuriously, but carelessly. The expensive velvet camisole was open at the neck, the crown was slightly off his forehead, and the fabric was torn at the shoulders as if someone had clawed at it. Still, the king was the cutest guy Samantha had ever seen.

      As he walked past her, Serpin glanced at her torn dress and, instead of being dismissive, suddenly winked at her.

      Just then, a disgruntled snort sounded from the king’s shoulder. It seemed that his majesty’s monkey was dissatisfied with something. King Serpin strode into the garden so quickly that Samantha didn’t have time to get a good look at the beast. He seemed to be in a hurry to take it to the orange grove where it could eat the fruit.

      As soon as the king was out of sight, the court gossipers began gossiping about Samantha again:

      «Look at how sloppily she’s dressed!»

      «She has bad taste!»

      «And what an old-fashioned dress is? My grandmother used to wear one of those.»

      Samantha stuck up her chin and walked proudly past the gossipers. Let them keep on practicing their backbiting. They’d probably get their tongues twisted one day. Of course, it’s not good to wish bad things on people, but if people are bad…

      The butler escorted Samantha to her chambers. From his demeanor and remarks, the girl thought that she was not welcome here and that her room was not the best, but that was fine with her. She was so tired from the road that she could have slept in the barn. It would have been a haystack, but there was even a soft bed with a featherbed. It’s a royal palace! Everything’s luxurious! But the people here are mean! She wished she could get a demon on all of them! It’s a pity she couldn’t have negotiated with him on the road. There was no turning back now.

      Samantha strode to her apartment.

      So the local ladies are making fun of her. You see, she’s not dressed to the hilt! Proud women! They’re the lucky ones in life, so they should be modest, but they’re going crazy. Their rich parents dressed them up like Christmas trees, and she had patches on her sleeves.

      Samantha sighed.

      «What are you sad about?» A beautiful blonde fairy appeared out of the darkness so suddenly that Samantha almost fainted.

      «You’re not a dream?» She reached out her hand to the fairy’s face, which was scattered with golden freckles that sparkled like glitter.

      «I am not a dream myself, but I slept briefly in your closet while I waited for you?»

      So the fairy flew out of the closet? Is this closet special because fairies sleep in it?

      «How did you settle in?» The fairy’s voice was like a tinkling silver bell.

      «Not too well,» Samantha admitted honestly.

      «I think the room is comfortable. The closet inside is lined with silk so the dresses won’t get dirty or wrinkled.»

      «It’s about the dresses.»

      «Don’t you have any?»

      «Yes, but look at the state they’re in: worn, patched, shabby and unfashionable!»

      «Are they?» The fairy blinked her golden lashes in surprise.

      Samantha looked into her closet and aghast. Her dresses had been transformed. They were now outfits worthy of a queen. They were recognizable only by their colors.

      «Is this really my closet?» Maybe the fairy was joking. What if it was her personal closet? Samantha had already prepared herself for the new dresses to fall apart or tear into threads as soon as she put them on, but nothing of the sort happened.

      «I made this dress», the fairy took out a hanger, on which hung bright maple leaves, repeating the contours of the ball gown.

      «Won’t it fall apart if you put it on?» Samantha wondered.

      «It is absolutely not! This is the work of a fairy! A fairy’s work is never shoddy!»

      «Why does a fairy care about my comfort? Did the King send you to help me?» Samantha had a flicker of hope. Did the King really like her? Only a king could give such a generous gift as a fairy maid!

      «The king has