LITMIR.BIZ

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of the hold and on the threshold. Nevertheless, the fairy continued to rage in her cage, and the ship rocked all night as if there were a storm.

      «Those fairies make the ship shake like a storm even in the calm,» Patricia complained as the pillow popped out from under her head. The bunk in the captain’s cabin was shaking. It was impossible to sleep. But when she closed her eyes, images of Queen Esperanza, part of her face rotted to a skeleton, came to mind. You could see the bones of her shoulders under the lace of her neckline and the bones of her cheeks. The half-skeleton, half-queen was alive. She was whispering something, but in her half-sleep Patricia couldn’t make out the words. And then some dream character touched Patricia’s hair. What a familiar touch! It was Beatrice, Patricia’s sister. Only why in the dream had Beatrice become so dull. The skin on her face is bone tight, her curly hair has faded to an ashy color, almost to gray, her skin is covered with gray spots like magical moles, and two stiff bone wings protrude behind her back.

      «Beatrice, are you a fairy too?»

      «No, I am a half fairy,» came a whisper from the darkness. «Do you know what it is?»

      Her sister’s voice broke into a sinister laugh. Behind Beatrice’s back there was definitely a crypt and black grave fairies feasting on the bones.

      Patricia awoke in terror. Someone was walking about the cabin. Some woman with coal-black eyebrows and eyelashes was leaning over Patricia. It was yesterday’s guest! Patricia recognized her by her golden crown of hooped wings. The queen of the fairies! That’s why the hostage in the hold was so frightened. If she went under the King Opal’s banner and the Fairy Queen is still alive, she’s a traitor. And treason is serious, even for the fairies.

      «She was curious, why did the fairy queen wipe out her subjects? And why does she sail the seas? Or rather, she flies the seas. To Patricia’s ship, she clearly flew.

      The fairy Aleandra, trapped in the hold, miscalculated. It wasn’t her that interested the queen of the fairies, but the captain.

      «You are such a pretty girl!» The Fairy Queen ran her fingers through Patricia’s curls. «And you are such a troublemaker! Did you know they hang captured pirates in the town square? A woman pirate is hardly an exception.»

      Patricia stared mesmerized at her guest. So she wasn’t dreaming about the Fairy Queen. Curious as to why she had flown in without Edwin today.

      «Medea Shai?» Patricia remembered her name.

      «Shh!» The Fairy Queen’s black claw pressed against her lips. «Don’t dare call the fairy queen by her name, or you’ll turn into a toad yourself.»

      «Calling the Queen of the Fairies by her name is sacrilege?»

      «You’re funny!» The guest laughed playfully. The glass in the porthole rang with her laughter. «But I like you. I feel that you can be negotiated with.»

      Now she’s going to demand the fairy locked in the hold! Patricia has decided that Aleandra must be handed over. Let the queen deal with her herself. Otherwise the ship will rock every time the fairy gets nervous.

      «What do you want?»

      Medea Shai smiled slyly and snapped her fingers. Immediately, chests of coins and jewelry appeared in the hold from nowhere.

      «Is this a ransom for a hostage?» Patricia wondered.

      Medea Shai didn’t understand her. She had clearly not come here for Aleandra. Then why did the queen bring gold and jewelry? Well, she didn’t bring it. She created it out of the darkness.

      «It’s more than you could loot in a lifetime.»

      «Not more, but it’s impressive,» Patricia nodded grudgingly. She didn’t want to admit her worthlessness right away. The sight of the treasure was disconcerting. Even a king doesn’t have such riches!

      Medea Shai snapped her fingers again. The treasure doubled, then it tripled. The gold clogged the cabin almost to the ceiling. They began to make the cabin seem like a huge dragon cave, bursting with jewels.

      «It is enough!» Patricia shouted. «No more! Otherwise the ship would sink from the weight of it!»

      There’s a ton of gold in here! Patricia didn’t know how to get out of the bed of coins.

      «Is that enough now?» The Fairy Queen squinted slyly.

      «It is more than enough,» Patricia nodded obediently, just to appease the madwoman. Otherwise, because of the crazy fairy queen, they would sink. It’s a pity that the captain of the magical ship doesn’t know the basics of magic, otherwise she would have fought back, but for now Patricia’s weapons are only words and a useless saber from the fairies. Medea Shai’s magic saber wasn’t going to cut her down. Apparently fairies are subject to some sort of code. You can’t touch them. Or is there only one fairy queen that can’t be touched, even if she’s a former queen?

      «All this is for you,» Medea Shai nodded at the gold. «It’s wealth! You want to be rich, don’t you?»

      «I want to be free,» Patricia didn’t mention that she had already been rich in Opal, but wealth didn’t save her from the king’s molestation.

      «Freedom is when you are rich enough to buy anything you want, even your own palace.»

      «I’m not sure freedom is measured in gold.»

      «Trust a more experienced woman.»

      «Are you a woman or a fairy?»

      «Isn’t it almost the same thing in your mortal eyes?» Medea Shai flirtatiously flapped her wing and touched the coins. They jingled and fell on Patricia.

      «After a night in a cabin like this, I’m going to be claustrophobic,» Patricia complained.

      «What is it?» The queen of the fairies was illiterate.

      «It’s a fear of confined spaces,» Patricia said, who had read the encyclopedia in Opal’s library. She’d even come across a manual on magical skills once. Too bad she hadn’t studied it.

      «You have nothing to fear as long as you’re compliant,» Medea Shai promised, but the tone of her voice betrayed guile.

      «So why did you come? Isn’t that a generous gesture, even for a fairy queen? I’ve done you no favors, and you’re giving me gifts?»

      «I’m giving you a chance to start an honest life. Finish your career as a pirate. It’s a criminal enterprise, not a career! Buy yourself a mansion and a title, and I’ll fly around your lands on patrol and protect you.»

      «And what is it in return?» Patricia squinted suspiciously.

      «It is nothing.»

      «You help unselfishly!»

      «Why are you so surprised? I’m a fairy.»

      «But you are not a good one, unless I’m mistaken.»

      «Even an unkind fairy can do a good deed unselfishly.»

      «Usually, everyone needs a benefit – unless the fairy queen is luring a gullible fool into a trap.»

      «It’s a win-win for me,» Medea Shai admitted grudgingly and sighed. The role of benefactor was beyond her.

      «Get me off the seas! What do you want from the sea? What am I in your way?»

      «That’s an unnecessary question.»

      Patricia hesitated.

      «Give me time to think,» she finally suggested.

      «It is three days!» The Queen of the Fairies held up three fingers, and the coins swirled around the cabin. The gold tinkled and disappeared. The Fairy Queen herself disappeared.

      «She didn’t even leave an advance,» Patricia complained. «And she’s greedy!»

      Not a single coin on the floor.

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