One Century to Marriage. Prisoners of the Magic Kingdom. Natalie Yacobson

your presence?» Conrad gestured to the queen of the fairies. Even though she is a magical guest, but we must observe the etiquette. But to enter through the windows instead of the doors, as Medea Shai had already done, was a clear violation of all the rules.

      «That is unnecessary!» She shrugged. «I don’t like mortal tournaments. Magic tournaments are more fun.»

      «But there aren’t any in Aluar.»

      «We shall remedy that,» «Medea Shai levitated off the floor to catch up with Conrad and kissed him. The kiss of a fairies’ queen must make everyone lose their mind. Conrad momentarily forgot what he was about to say. Medea Shae’s lips tasted and smelled of the dark forest, pine and witch berries. Conrad was ready to forget everything and make love to the fairy right now in the armory, among the scattered weapons, regardless of the risk of severe injury. But there was a sharp whistle outside the window. It was the winged sword coming back. It flew back on its own, moving the notches of its hilt like real wings. Its blade was covered in blood. A flap of Arador’s coat of arms clung to its hilt.

      «Your opponent is dead!» Medea Shai took the sword, twirled it in her hands, and suddenly licked the blood from the blade. «And he was no longer young, but cunning. It would have been nice to get to know him while he was still alive. I can talk to the dead, too, but it’s not as interesting as talking to the living.»

      The sword dropped from her fingers and took its former place in the hollow of its holder. The blood wasn’t caked on it, but disappeared, as if the steel had absorbed it.

      «You said it would take an hour for the sword to do its job, and it came back much sooner.»

      Medea Shai only grinned wryly. He must have been the one who lost track of time while he was kissing the fairy.

      Conrad picked up the sword that had just killed his rival.

      «What are you doing?» Medea Shai grew wary.

      «It boggles my mind to think that an hour ago it was in the heart of my enemy,» Conrad confessed.

      «What surprises me is that this sword does not crave your blood. Ordinarily, if you draw it from its sheath, it would be as thirsty as its proprietor. And it only drinks blood.»

      Medea Shai’s slender but incredibly strong fingers slipped over Conrad’s sword-clutching hand.

      «I suddenly realized that you were special…» she whispered, and somehow she was frightened. «You’d rather not give Araminta elixirs anymore.»

      «Why is it not?»

      Medea Shai didn’t want to explain. She stormed out of the armory and into the corridors of the castle like an arrow. The footmen and knights, whom she had knocked down, did not understand what was wrong. It must have seemed to them that a black hurricane had just rushed past them. Conrad hurried after the fairies’ queen. She flew straight to his bride’s chambers. It smelled familiarly of musk, fresh flowers, and medicine. The two horrid creatures were still swarming over Araminta’s bedside, but this time they were no longer medicating her with elixirs, but dressing her cold corpse.

      «It is the horror!» Medea Shai folded her wings in a horn.

      «You mean her appearance?»

      Even the gray faeries, each the size of beetles, crawled away from the bed of relics, expressing distaste.

      «I mean her death,» Medea Shai clarified. «She could be raised from the dead, but only the shell would come back to life, not Araminta, who is already dead and accounted for in the records of the Dead Realm. It is too late to bring her back to life.»

      «So you’re not happy that I’m free now and can choose a new bride. Don’t you want to be my queen?»

      «You are silly! I don’t want to lose you for a century. I could fall out of love with you in a year, let alone a century. Fairies are fickle.»

      «I will not live a century,» Conrad laughed at that, and suddenly he realized his mistake.

      «Don’t say that for a century!» Medea Shai reached out to kiss him, but the air around him turned cold to ice. The cabinets and tapestries were covered in an icy crust.

      Some icy creatures crawled down the corridors and peered through door crevices.

      «We must hide from them before they find me,» Medea Shai worried.

      «Who are they?»

      «They are the guardians of the law of one century before the wedding. But I will try to deceive them.»

      But one of the creatures was already looking right at them from a gap that had suddenly formed right in the wall.

      «No, I don’t want to go to the castle beyond the clouds! It’s too cold!» Medea Shai cried out, but her silhouette suddenly began to pale, covered in an icy crust.

      Conrad tried to grab her, but all he felt was ice. Medea Shai’s fingers managed to press against his chest for a moment.

      «The rose sprouted firmly! You will never betray me!» The queen of the fairies exclaimed triumphantly before the dense mist covered her figure for good.

      The mist spiraled and vanished, along with all the ice creatures. Only two or three of them crawled around Araminta’s corpse, obviously intent on taking her with them. The two servants of Medea Shai, who had managed to dress the princess in her wedding garb, had also disappeared.

      The vial of elixir that had been given to Araminta tipped onto the carpet. The liquid gave off a pungent fume. It looked like poison!

      Conrad did not know what to do now. Rose squeezed his heart with steel thorns.

      «She’s ours for life,» one icy creature wheezed, running its fingers through Araminta’s tresses. «And this one stays with you! Bury her with honors and wait a century from now. With any luck, the queen will return to you. There are some trials to be passed before the end of the term…»

      One icy creature blew on the clock, and it suddenly stopped. One century of waiting appeared to have begun.

      Conrad couldn’t think of an hour without the fairy queen, and now he would have to suffer without her for a century! And would he live through the century? What if he is not immortal after all?

      Elves at the Tournament

      Conrad has not yet graced the company with his appearance. Good! Marianne took the empty throne. Good if her brother doesn’t come at all. She had enjoyed sitting on the royal throne in his absence.

      It was a pity his new ally hadn’t come. To see a real fairy was so exciting! Especially it was the fairies’ queen. She must be incredibly beautiful! Marianne looked out for her in the crowd of courtiers. But there were only elves around. They flooded the tournament. Except for a few monster knights sent from Shai, the contest was becoming purely elves.

      The blond winged elves fought solely against each other so far, soaring in battle over the field. Magical sparks were flying from their combat. Someone in the audience had already been burned.

      There was no bloodshed. The mortal knights had agreed with the elves that in the first rounds of the tournament, each would fight only members of his own race. And then, as fate would have it! If there were knights of equal strength to elves, then there would be inter-racial duels. So far elves fought elves and men fought men. Boring! Marianne yawned.

      For some reason her admirers weren’t even looking at her. Someone had spread a rumor that she had behaved unworthily, forbidding the elves to be honorary guests of Aluar. Most of the knights sulked at the princess for ignoring their advances. They used to shower her with flowers, gifts, and madrigals of their own composition, but now there is an icy indifference. Only the commoners who watched the tournament from behind the fences pointed fingers at her.

      «There’s the princess all the elves are in love with! It was because of her that they made a commotion and began bewitching the