LITMIR.BIZ

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of wheels on stones.

      «Rhiannon is lady of all demons, fairies and dark forces. She is Queen of Hell. Her consort is the chief of the evil spirits. So she’s allowed to do anything.

      «She could bring a box of strange creatures into my castle?»

      «It was a box of jewelry that could probably come to life and turn into something like what you saw,» Dandy corrected her.

      «And how did that box get into my castle? I didn’t even see it, by the way.»

      There was a scratching sound. Dandy wanted to scratch the back of his head with his claw, but accidentally scratched the edge of the roof of the carriage, and scratched the metal jewelry.

      Rosamunda’s question first perplexed him.

      «Probably, the box was accidentally brought by someone who passed into your castle through magical portals, or some magical creature who stole it and under the guise of a guest took refuge in your castle. But in this case, angry demons would have already come for the stolen goods and torn the whole kingdom to pieces. So most likely the box came to you with some unusual message.»

      Rosamunda bit her tongue, remembering the letters from an unknown and nameless admirer who jokingly called himself a dragon.

      Dandy swerved so many times that he managed to confuse the guards who were catching up with them. The defenders of the king’s property had to break into small groups to cordon off the surrounding roads. Some fell into ravines and gullies that happened to be on the way. But a number of guards pursued the carriage relentlessly.

      «We’re being chased!» Dandy warned. As if she hadn’t seen it herself? The square rear window gave a good view of the road behind. There were seven pursuers. They all were from the royal guard. How did Dandy manage to get the carriage out from under their noses!

      «You can stop them.»

      «Is it me?!» Rosamunda almost fell off her seat. On the one hand she was astonished, on the other the carriage jumped over a bump.

      «Of course you are! I’m not! You’re the witch.»

      «Don’t call me names!» Rosamunda clenched her fists in frustration. No one had ever called her that before, even in a fit of rage. But Dandy is probably not familiar with court etiquette.

      «All you have to do is get mad at them to hold them off,» the clawed coachman admonished.

      «I don’t think that’s likely. Otherwise, my anger would have broken the enemy troops and burned the dragon. And I wouldn’t have to go anywhere now,» Rosamunda decided judiciously.

      «Turn around and get angry!» Dandy insisted.

      «Like this! Is it on order?»

      The arrow hit the rear window. And the chase was not as easy as she had first thought. Rosamunda clenched her fists. Anger arose. If the arrow had broken the back window, it might have hit her in the face. Anger boiled up inside, and something began to happen to the soil beneath the carriage wheels. The ground they were traveling over shook. It was a blessing that Dandy knew how to push his horses to extreme speed. The road that had been left behind had split into a gully-sized crack, from which something monstrous and swamp-colored was bursting forth. Had the guardsmen who had caught up with the carriage fallen through the holes, or had the mire inside sucked them in? The swamp looked like a living beast.

      «What kind of vermin live in the bowels of the earth,» came Dandy’s careless shout. He began to whistle some song about the underground kingdom and its creepy inhabitants.

      The ride into the mountains proved unpleasant. Dandy dropped her off, mumbled something unintelligible, and pulled the carriage aside. Rosamunda was not embarrassed. She remembered the stories about the Zwergs and Leprehuns who lived in the mountains and kept fabulous treasures. There was a cave just then. And from it was singing.

      Rosamunda followed the sounds, sneaked into the cave and saw a tiny people at the spinning wheel. The cave dwellers didn’t look like zwergs or leprechauns. Rather, they were pixies – tiny fairies the size of moths. They were entirely golden in color, as if tiny statuettes made of gold had come to life and fluttered about. And these cuties were doing magic here! Wow! Everything that was happening was like a charming dream. Mirrors were placed around the spinning wheel. They reflected what was not happening. Inside the mirrors, the pixies were doing round dances, while in the cave they were doing something else. The figures, surrounded by a golden halo, were flying toward the spinning wheel, or bouncing off it, pulling a thread of pure gold.

      Barely noticing Rosamunda, the glittering creatures fluttered toward her face.

      «Do you want to tell the future?» The magicians offered.

      «I’d rather know the past. I don’t remember it.»

      «You don’t remember your past!» The chorus of surprised voices sounded like bells ringing.

      «I know it sounds strange, but it’s true.»

      «Aren’t you just pretending to test us?» The one from them asked. «We usually have beggars from the village come to us to have us predict their future. And once even a noble lady came and brought us gifts. She called us oracles.»

      «I brought no gifts,» Rosamunda said, embarrassed.

      «We can’t charge a pretty girl like you. It’s nice to look at you,» one little thing fluttered onto her shoulder. «I’d like to keep your lock of hair as a memento. It’s like black gold! It’s easy to cast a spell with such a curl.»

      «First tell her fate,» insisted the envious people, who had not had time to set the fee.

      «Tell me what I don’t remember. What happened to me in the past? And why have I forgotten everything except the recent past?»

      The pixie stared in amazement with tiny eyes.

      «My childhood, my adolescence, my youth,» Rosamunda began to recount. «My parents. My friends, if I had any. And I also want to know if I have forgotten some lover who now wants to take revenge on me for something.»

      «Girls usually remember their lovers. Even the ones they’ve fallen out of love with.»

      «But I don’t.»

      «Wouldn’t it be better to find out who will be your companion in the future?» The pixie squinted slyly.

      «I’m more interested in the past,» Rosamunda insisted. «And the man I supposedly seduced and abandoned in the past. I don’t remember him now for some reason.»

      The crumbs could have lied to her, but because of the magical light that came from their flock, any woman would have believed them. Magical creatures are supposed to see things.

      «Who you’ve had in the past, you’ll have in the future. You can’t get rid of him,» said the brightest fairy who sat on Rosamunda’s ring. «Only besides the pleasures of love, he will bring with him a long-standing curse. And you won’t be happy anymore.»

      «She is inexperienced. We can see better,» the others chorused. Though the tiny fairy gave the impression of being more judicious, they were more combative.

      The pixies all clung to Rosamunda’s palm, drew shining strings of yarn along the lines of fate, and were suddenly so frightened that they all ran away at once, throwing away both the mirrors and the spinning wheel. It continued spinning on her own.

      Is there something so terrible in her fate that even a pixie is frightened? And it must concern both the past and the future. Rosamunda felt fear. She wished they’d explain what this was all about. What did they see?

      There was a deafening roar over the mountains that seemed to make the mountains themselves shake. So that’s why the Pixies might have been frightened! Not because of her fate, but because of the awakened monster.

      Rosamunda was relieved at first, until she looked up at the heavens.

      «It’s

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