Swan Lake. Dragon Empire. Natalie Yacobson

feel their suffering, regret their fate. My fate has prepared such a fate for me, it is as cruel to me as to everyone else, but the more pain in my heart, the stronger the shackles of passion and death, so share this with me, be my queen!»

      Diana turned to look into the dark pool of his eyes. Where did man come from in the sinister world of the prince of darkness? The proposal was more like a dream.

      «I can’t,» Diana whispered, and at the same moment the gold wedding ring slipped out of her hand.

      «Then whatever happens,» he said, and as soon as it fell to the floor and hit the marble slabs, like a broken love, a thunderclap thundered in the distance, and it seemed, in her very heart. The sky above the palace turned dim, turning into a blue hell and bursting with a terrible thunderstorm, bright lightning split the green tall tree even in the darkness, and its fragments caught fire with a burning fire, this ring of lost love wooed the end of the world with the dark horror of hellish, otherworldly life.

      Boulders of rocks burst out of the ground, everything groaned and roared, as in a nightmare, everything sobbed and cried for its former beauty and met its new ruthless master with streams of tears.

      Waves of silvery radiance ran along the walls and darkened the beauty of the palace, and now – this was the world of stone monsters and bats. The bright face of the palace became the darkness of an eternal, merciless curse. Marble slabs and ornaments became in an instant the gloomy stones of a huge castle – the lair of the king of darkness. His last hope did not come true. Now he was suffering, although the shadow of the cruel ruler had already crept into his heart. He was the master of evil, and nothing could stop him on his difficult and dangerous path in the conquest of the world, but he needed only one of all this nightmare of eternal life, the one and only and therefore even more dear, beloved heart.

      The wind rushed into the hall and ruffled her long hair, and the master of evil slowly, as if in a nightmare, extended his hand, white as snow, to her, but he did not order, he begged, and in front of her eyes, as if in reality, an ugly and spiteful face rose red-haired witch whispering:

      «You can never be evil.»

      «No,» she burst out, «never.»

      She looked at the corpse, now everything in it was cold and dead, even the heart that she loved so much.

      The eyelids of his beautiful eyes closed forever, and his hair fell to the floor. It was his love for her that ruined him.

      Without even casting a glance at the dark figure in front of her, she rushed to him, but the marble face did not feel her last, farewell kiss. At that moment, the lord of darkness looked at her like a snow-white flower that grew in the kingdom of evil, he was in love with a white swan, and she became his curse.

      «How could you,» she uttered through crying, but there was no answer in the dead silence, he had nothing to say, in her eyes he was a murderer and a villain, but he was guilty of only one thing, his love.

      «You are a killer,» Diana whispered, «you took so many lives in just one night, and in just one moment you destroyed all my dreams.

      «You will stay with me,» his eyes flashed with cold dazzling hope, «change your outfit for a black dress of the queen of evil, for a golden crown with a blood-red ruby, human wealth is nothing compared to the fabulous treasures of the world of darkness, you will be beautiful even as a black swan.»

      She glanced at the royal crown. Its gold now shone as brightly as all the treasures of the earth could not shine, but now something dark appeared in it, the seeds of dark crimson, like blood, pomegranate shone where the pure tears of diamonds had flowed before, during the life of their love, and in the middle of the crown burned like the flame of hell itself, a fiery red ruby. Nearby lay a lush dress, everything in it was beautiful: jewelry, lace and sleeves that looked like swan feathers, except for one color, black as pitch. Everything foreshadowed her fabulous riches, this night called her to become the queen of darkness, but at the last moment she remembered the distant sunlight, the light of day, there was so much beauty in it, and the darkness was an eternal witchcraft secret. What could overpower good or evil? The rays of a clear dawn still stood before her eyes, and her eyes were blue, like the azure sky during the day, the day did not hide its beauty, and the night kept in her soul that which tormented her all her life.

      Diana looked at the royal throne, now even its splendor seemed gloomy and dark, and fear crept into the soul of anyone who saw this room, but, no, she could not become evil, could not forget the light in her life, she was no longer a queen, she was an ordinary girl in love.

      «How I wish I could die with him,» she whispered, and another bitter tear rolled from her eyes down her snow-white cheek.

      «You must stay with me,» exclaimed the prince of darkness.

      «Diana,» he shouted warningly, but she rushed to the dais, grabbed the golden goblet prepared by the red-haired witch, and when her white hands touched the sparkling gold, something inhuman appeared in them, in the union of gold and thin fingers of the beloved of the dark and damned demon.

      «Goodbye,» she whispered and quickly raised the goblet to her lips, blood boiled in it, gold flashed like fire around her white hands.

      «No,» he shouted, and it was the cry of a mad lover, not the prince of darkness, but he knew what this witchcraft ritual was fraught with.

      She took the first sip, and that was enough, her head was spinning, the blood in her veins was boiling and seething, blazing with fire, she dropped the precious goblet from her hands, and the blood from it spread over the marble floor.

      He rushed to Diana, but it was not he who hugged her, but death itself.

      «No,» he whispered, and a crystal tear ran down the face of the lord of shadows, even he was only able to cry once in his life. He pressed her golden-haired head to him, and the last call of dying love made him pronounce, like an eternal damnation, only one name:

      «Diana.»

      But she fell to the floor, a crown of golden hair adorned her pale face, she was as dead as his love.

      «Goodbye, Diana,» he said, and a cold mask of pain distorted his face, no one will ever read this secret in his eyes, he won’t hear her name, he won’t see the feelings of his heart, no one should ever know that love lived in his heart. evil genius.

      Cursed by darkness

      Cliffs stretched far beyond the sea, like the wings of a white swan, but they were not part of wildlife, they breathed and whispered in the night, no one dared to climb them, no one dared to come closer to their spreading shadow, they became part of the cursed land and deserted the beauty of the dead splendor of darkness.

      They said that at night witches and sorcerers gather there, and the devil himself visits them, that they rage and scream until morning and kill anyone who enters their dark domain. No one knew another, more beautiful legend that the devil himself of these rocks and the dark sea was once a man, like everyone else, but this was the secret of his love.

      The night was deaf and dark, even the dim light of the moon in the distant gloomy skies could not dispel the darkness. Here he was too weak and helpless to illuminate the possessions of evil forces, and not far from the rocks, there was a beautiful palace, but its beauty was too weak to attract people in comparison with the devilish legends about the eternal heaps of rocks and swan lakes beyond the borders of the kingdom.

      Everyone knew that the legends tell the truth, and they have no reason to lie. Everything was true: witches, demons, beautiful captives of evil, the very girls turned into swans by the black demon of darkness, all heard the sad songs that were heard at night. There, far beyond the rocks, the hostages of darkness at night took on their real appearance and sang and danced all night, but no one dared to approach them, to the beauties who were so careless that they went to the rocks, and then the devil’s revenge found them. No one knew why he was taking revenge on this world and all