Swan Lake. Dragon Empire. Natalie Yacobson

smoke went from it, along with the stench of death, which made Odette sick.

      «Let it be so,» said the witch, and together they all repeated this short but deadly phrase of the devil’s spell, and black fire reflected on their faces, and they all seemed even more nightmarish in its reflections.

      «And Odette,» one of them said, and the little princess shuddered, «she has a pure heart. How can we get her?»

      «Do not be afraid,» one of the witches assured her, «our mistress has come up with an original way of terrible revenge, Odette will regret that she was born at all, this will be her curse.»

      Odette felt that she was losing her feelings, but nevertheless with an effort she managed to pull herself together, she did not have to utter a word, otherwise she was waiting for death, and not only death, but also the eternal damnation of her soul.

      The witches laughed with a vicious, disgusting laugh, which immediately spread over all the rocks.

      «It’s time,» one of them whispered, and her face twisted in a devilish grin, «I know she will be here soon.»

      And then in the hands of one witch Odette saw a small child, he was crying and screaming, and at that moment, when the light of the fire fell on him, a dagger flashed in the hand of another witch. It slowly but steadily approached the heart of the child, it was a terrible bewitching sight, and Odette could not resist.

      «No,» she shouted, jumping out from behind the rock, and immediately the fire burst into a bright column of her flame, burning everything around her, but without touching the three devilish figures.

      The witches froze in amazement, but then their faces were distorted by ominous grins, and on the claws of one of them bright human blood was already shining. The fire swelled with extraordinary force, and now, as if those silhouettes of witches were not here at all, they disappeared somewhere and the child along with them, but Odette was ready to swear that a minute ago she saw them and almost witnessed a nightmarish ritual…

      Now everything around was calm, but Odette clearly saw that she was standing on a rock, and in front of her in a rocky hollow a bright fire was burning, its flame warmed with its hot gusts, it was so pleasant in the cold of the witch’s night, but at the same time, how- then mysterious and mysterious.

      There was a huge cauldron next to the fire, from which from time to time small streams of smoke burst out and disappeared into the crimson darkness of the fire. What was in it, some kind of witch’s brew, and in fact, before her eyes, the witchcraft almost killed a living child. Odette could not believe what had happened to her, but it was true, a minute ago she saw all this and could not take her eyes off the witchcraft rite.

      Odette slowly approached the fire, now a pleasant warmth and a kind of comfort unknown here emanated from him, his flame blazed slowly and hotly, his scarlet tongues caressed the hot air around the fire and suddenly, in this darkness, some unknown, but ominous voice called:

      «Odette, Odette, Odette!»

      Odette turned, but there was nothing but the rapid beating of her own heart.

      Suddenly the fire burst into a blue flame, and no more heat emanated from it, it turned cold like ice or snow, and pale blue like night clouds. Odette could not understand what had happened, just a moment ago everything here was calm and quiet, and now some ominous spirit crept here and did not give any more peace to this, perhaps, accursed place.

      Something said to her «Come to the cauldron», some voice pushed her, but fear was stronger, it could only be overcome by excessive curiosity, and it always appeared in the soul at the most dangerous and inappropriate moment.

      Odette walked slowly over and carefully peered over the edge of the cauldron. A strange green brew mixed with something dark crimson resembling blood was boiling and seething in him.

      Odette wanted to recoil in horror, but suddenly there, in the green mess, a head with long messy hair appeared, and the hand of the ugly witch grabbed Odette by the clothes. She tried to escape with a scream, but nothing worked, the green hand held her tightly to the dress and did not want to let go for a moment, it seemed that the end of the young princess was coming, but something terrible awaited her, in front of the cauldron next to her appeared disfigured with scars and burns face of a red-haired witch.

      «The time has come, beauty,» she hissed, and her angry laugh flooded everything around, not allowing a single drop of silence to take possession of this place, and here, in horror, the princess woke up, the dream was too much like reality.

      The full moon was shining over the beautiful royal palace, its walls and Gothic windows were flooded with sparkling, silvery light, as in a charming fairy tale, but it was the fairy tale of the night itself, and it did not let go of anyone from her magical embrace.

      The palace was both huge and rich, it was not more beautiful to find it in the whole world, but many years ago the one to which it now belonged was subjected to a curse.

      A huge lake overflowed in front of the palace, its dark cold waters glittered in imitation of the moon, and it was reflected with pleasure in them, not allowing the night darkness to fully embrace itself, there was only one thing missing: swans that had fallen asleep at night, but the darkness had its plans.

      The deep night covered everything around, but they did not sleep in the palace. In the huge windows of the throne room, a bright light burned and dispelled the darkness around its possessions. The moon was reflected in the waters of the lake, making them beautiful and mysterious.

      The fairy tale of the night began here, by the transparent lake, and continued in the royal palace, and it was magically beautiful, like the witchcraft of nature itself.

      The palace was magnificent. Previously, Diana was its mistress, but now another beautiful princess overshadowed her fabulous beauty and shone with her charm in the castle at night by the swan lakes that spilled far, far, beyond this embraced dark night of the country.

      Today all gentlemen and noble ladies have gathered in the throne room. Fulfilling the last will of her parents, the young princess had to get married and take the crown of the mistress of this country. All the noble nobles who had gathered here regretted this in advance, the little princess was so beautiful that it was simply impossible not to fall in love with her.

      She stood at the throne, in a lush ball gown, its folds rustling in the gloomy silence. Odette was a ray of light even in this night and sparkled with her unique beauty. It would be difficult to find a girl more beautiful than she, and Richard knew this, knew that his love had become his curse.

      There were so many girls in the world, both accessible and sympathetic, and he, as if in a terrible dream, doomed himself to eternal torment, fell in love with a young princess and could not forget his love. All will be lost tonight. She will marry another, and he will never have hope. He was afraid and could not confess his love to her.

      Now anxiety and fear were fighting in him, if he did not have the courage, he would remain unhappy for his whole life. Yes, besides, Odette herself did not want to get married, she did not know her fiancé and was still quite a child, but he loved her as much as he could only love the one who was called the best knight in the world.

      He fought duels, won wars, fought like the noblest of all, and now he was overtaken by a mad infatuation with the one that was supposed to go to the royal throne, not him. Richard looked at Odette’s sweet face, how he loved her, even so cold and unapproachable to human feelings, but only she was his love, beautiful as a white swan and cold as dispassion itself.

      No one should have known what was in the heart of the invincible knight, that he was suffering from a criminal love for the one who was to become his queen in the future. He looked at her delicate features and swore to himself that he would never yield her to any prince, not to one of the most powerful king in the world, no, he would fight for his love.

      Richard squeezed Odette’s hand, and she gave him