Fiona peered around, but all she saw were belligerent men. Someone she could not see, however, was speaking to them from the side of the waves of the surf. His voice was hypnotizing, depriving her of will and reason. The sounds made her dizzy.
Outside the window something was happening on the water. First she heard the sound of an argument, then the clatter of weapons. Through the grating of the window Fiona could see only a corner of the shore. She had to tiptoe up to get a glimpse of the battle. Some kind of giant with blue skin and golden horns, strongly reminiscent of a watery creature, was battling a huge bird. The torn bodies of the guards were washed by the surf. A moment ago all those men in armor were alive. How could an entire squad be wiped out so quickly? And where had the Earth’s King gone? All Fiona could see was a huge griffin with a crown on a bird’s head.
Was she not dreaming about all this? Fiona rubbed her eyes. Somebody who had come out of the waves and looked little like a man had already beheaded the king and was walking away, clutching the severed head by the hair with his webbed hand. The head in his hands was definitely human and crowned. But where had the gryphon gone? Fiona looked closely at the face of the dead head. There was horror on it. The eyes remained wide open. The wrinkled skin showed traces of claws.
If she was not mistaken, it was King of Sultanit who had just been beheaded, and there was no one even to raise the alarm because everyone was dead. Fiona kept waiting for a gryphon to pounce on the assassin from behind, but the bird was gone. But the victor himself resembled a king, too. He had a blue scaly body, spikes on his back, pearls sprouting in his skin like armor. A crown glittered on his eerie head, too. As he went underwater, a turquoise dragon-like tail wriggled behind him.
He looked at Fiona. It was as if he sensed she was watching him!
«Let me out of here!» She called out to him.
The water monster, however, decided that the poor prisoner was not worth his attention. And in the coastal villages there are still legends that watermen are fond of women’s beauty! Apparently, if he’s no ordinary water-boy, but the king of the sea himself, he wants nothing more or less than a princess.
Though, on reflection, it’s even good that he didn’t like her. After all, the watermen drown their chosen ones. What’s better: drowning or burning? Fiona had an unenviable choice.
The firebrands hissed unhappily at the ceiling. The proximity of the water tsar displeased them. A shout of summoning came from above the castle towers:
«Seal!»
Ornella seemed to be shouting. Fiona was not mistaken in her hearing.
She kept hoping that the water king would come back and smashed the dungeon wall with a single blow of his powerful fist, but he went under the water slowly, as if descending a ladder. The last to disappear in the waves was his pointed crown, like a starfish of gold and coral. She wondered if she was dreaming. There’s no such thing as creatures with blue skin, shell ears, and a crown that grows right out of their heads.
It was easy to see if she was dreaming or not. The decapitated body in the royal robe would have been left on the beach. Except the bars were so narrow you couldn’t look out through them. One could not see the shore. Only the sea and the thin edge of the surf are visible. The water seems to turn scarlet closer to the shore. Or maybe it’s the rays of sunset.
Curiosity leads to a dungeon and a fire
Fiona was awakened by the sound of quiet conversation. The talkers were unaware that she was already awake and watching from beneath half-closed lashes.
Ornella and one of her brothers came into the cell. They seemed like two evil ghosts in the glare of the orange glow cast by the fire fairies actively crawling on the walls and ceiling.
Fiona was used to the regular hiss of fire overhead, but the sound of Ornella’s arrogant voice was disgusting. Who would have thought the sight of that silk-clad lady would make her sick.
«Father’s gone!» Ornella said. «I cannot, as the present Queen, go out and tell the people that the Sultanit does not have the strength to reach down and behead a supernatural murderer. Such a gesture would be seen as helplessness. I will be overthrown! Better to find the culprit, who is already known to the people as a witch. You know you can’t get a sea fortune-teller.»
«But she’s not a witch!»
«How would you know, Orvel! You’ve never been able to read minds. That’s my talent. I agree that each of my brothers has their own special gift, but I’m still the most gifted. That is why I will rule! Remember your place!»
«This you say to the eldest heir of the Sultanit?» Orvel was indignant.
«You gave me your place on the throne.»
«I had no choice,» he scowled.
«Yes, you did. And you have none now. I am the queen!»
«The death of my father at the hands of the water king seems to have been good for you. And everyone knows that the Sea King was your admirer. Maybe they’ll think you’re a witch.»
«Not unreasonably, as you know! But everyone also knows that I rejected the Sea King because of his not standard appearance and lack of gifts worthy of a Sultanit’s princess. Apparently he’s already spent it all on the withered Occylvanian princess Lilothea, who he dragged off to the bottom, so there’s no money left for new courtship.»
«What’s your point?» Orvel’s worried.
«That killing our father might be an act of revenge on the part of a spurned suitor. It’s not a pretty story! I suppose someone might accuse me of provoking the wrath of the sea on the Sultanit by my intransigence. We’d better execute one witch and close the case. The people will be glad, and so will I.»
«And all your brothers won’t! She’s perfect for us to close the circle.»
«And I’m not good enough for you?»
«She has a special purpose,» Orvel said. «I just don’t know what it is yet.»
«You must be mistaken!» Ornella barked back at him.
«Then we’re all wrong!»
«That’s why I rule, not you. All my brothers, unlike me, were not smart enough to be in charge of the country. And here I am, the first woman to pull the Sultan’s power. And you still contradict me!»
The firemen hissed angrily, sending up a shower of sparks.
«They report the watermen are watching us. A whole regiment of morgens under the windows,» Orwell translated the fire fairy’s tongue. «Soon they’ll bring the worst of the storm.»
«And it is good! Executing a witch at a time like this will distract everyone. I’ve already ordered a bonfire to be built in the square.»
«Execute such a pretty girl!» Orvel was indignant. «Give her to me!»
«Didn’t you claw the last minion with your claws during love games?»
«I’ve been more careful.»
«I won’t let you do that to this one. I could catch and send some old gypsy fortune-teller instead of her to tonight’s bonfire. But that redheaded girl’s no good for your clawed amusement anyway. You can’t have her!»
Ornella cares about her? There’s something fishy going on here. Fiona had trouble waking up to what was going on and who was running the country since the King’s death. But the word «bonfire» gave her a fright. She shuddered violently.
«She’s waking up!» Orvel determined. «I’ll take her upstairs to my ex-fiancée’s quarters.»
«You swore you wouldn’t take any more harlots.»
«This one’s innocent. I can smell it.»
«She’s a witch,» Orvnella said stubbornly.
«No, she isn’t. There’s something magical about her, but not witchy.»
«But she’ll burn at the stake as a witch!»
«Why don’t you leave her to us?» Orvel was begging. «The room of the Crown Prince’s dead bride is still empty, and apparently it will be empty forever.»
«You don’t want to marry a commoner, do you?»
