A demon’s rival
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Samantha was interested and stepped toward the scarecrow, almost stepping on another small creature that she mistook for a field mouse.
«Look where you’re going!» The creature hissed angrily and released a stream of red, glistening smoke in the girl’s direction. The smoke made Samantha cough. It seemed to be poisonous. She felt dizzy.
«Look up at the sky and the red spell will dissipate,» a husky male voice advised.
Samantha looked up and gasped. Had the scarecrow really spoken to her?
«The local invaders are like locusts,» the scarecrow suddenly nodded from the pole. It was really alive and moving. «You must know how to defend yourself against their charms. Otherwise you’ll end up like me.»
«Who are you?» Samantha looked obediently up at the sky, and the dizziness immediately disappeared.
«I am a former royal advisor.»
No way! The scarecrow must be playing a joke on her. It was clear from her shabby dress that she was a country girl. Samantha expected to be laughed at in the capital, but she didn’t expect even a scarecrow from the suburbs of Ivilor to tease her.
«You called these things invaders? Why is it?» – Samantha felt silly addressing some scarecrow as «you.»
It is because they occupied the fields of Ivilor, and look what happened to the crops. Since their arrival, there’s been barrenness everywhere. Nothing else will sprout from this land but magical grains and trees.»
«It’s a shame. I love watching the harvest and then separating the grain from the chaff. I would have helped with the farming myself, but my mother forbade me to do simple labor. She thinks ladies are only entitled to embroidery and music.»
«And she’s right!» The scarecrow nodded thoughtfully.
«How is it so?» Samantha didn’t expect the scarecrow to be so prim.
«But no one can see you now, and you can try to plant something in this field.»
«But I don’t have any seeds with me.»
«You dig a hole and put one of your amber earrings in it, and then see what sprouts from it,» the scarecrow’s amber eyes sparkled slyly.
«It is some other time. Thanks for the advice!»
Samantha was already regretting that she had spoken to the strange creature, which had been a scarecrow a minute ago and now looked strangely like a man crucified on a pole. She was not going to sacrifice her earring to please her companion. She had to leave before the creature on the pole demanded something even more absurd from her.
«Don’t be greedy!» The scarecrow said. «I, too, came here because I was greedy. I refused to give my diamond cufflinks to the new royal advisor, and he turned out to be a demon. And now I’m hanging here like a sack of straw! I’m pecked by crows and my arms and legs don’t move as if they were straw. Greed leads to disaster, but generosity, you’ll see, will be rewarded. I’ll let you in on a secret. On this field, even the smallest gemstone will grow a whole tree with gems on its branches.»
«Is it really?» Samantha didn’t believe it. «Tell me, where did those strange creatures come from in the fields? Has hell opened up beneath the fields?»
«The new royal advisor let them in here,» the scarecrow explained kindly.
«The royal advisor is tangling with the evil spirits! I can’t believe it. My mother would say you’re slandering an honorable man.»
«It’s not slander! The king’s new counselor is a demon himself!»
The scarecrow must have been speaking figuratively. Samantha couldn’t believe that the king’s advisor had been turned into a talking scarecrow by magic and replaced by a dexterous demon.
She wouldn’t have believed in talking scarecrows before, but now she saw one right under her nose. What should she believe now?
As Samantha thought, there was a rustle in the sky. Three beauties in black mourning dresses and with black wings descended to the edge of the field, but they did not dare to move forward, although they were obviously curious about what was going on. For some reason they were afraid to fly further over the field.
«They are grave fairies,» said the creature from the pole.
Samantha was surprised. She had heard of grave fairies. They usually lived in graveyards and sang funeral hymns at night. Whoever hears their voice will die soon, so travelers are wary of passing cemetery fences at night. For behind them dwell grave fairies. But what are grave fairies doing in an arable field? Are there corpses beneath the barren field? Otherwise the grave fairies wouldn’t have come here. They only come to graves or funerals, and sometimes to wakes.
The fairies were whispering like conspirators:
«These are the demon’s dead fields. He sows seeds of death or raises the dead to become his dead army,» the black fairies whispered. «One day they will go to war on the world of the living. And then Queen Luciferina will return!»
Samantha shuddered when she heard the name. Wasn’t it derived from Lucifer? If there is a female version of his name, then she guessed so. In this case, only the queen of hell could be called Luciferina. Looking out over the barren field, Samantha was ready to believe that hell was right underneath it. Better get out of here. What if the earth opened up right now?
«Wait, where are you going?» The tiny creature said. It had crawled out of the hole under the pole. «Will you donate us a coin for the advice of the scarecrow?»
«But it was it that gave me the advice, not you. By the way, how many of you are there in this field?»
«There’s a hell of a lot of us here, and if we don’t pretend to let our guard down, no local scarecrow will talk to you.»
«That is going to cost me a little.»
«Wait, I’ll let you in on a secret! If you plant a coin in this field, it will grow into a coin tree.»
Samantha wanted to test it. She found one coin in her pocket. She put it in the claws of the strange creature. It jumped for joy. Probably now its words would be a lie and it would run away, but the creature actually threw the coin on the ground. The coin immediately passed through the ground like a seed thrown into a hole. The ground shook, and the fairies became wary.
Under Samantha’s feet there was a tremor, and cracks ran through the ground. Was a giant about to crawl out of the ground and crush everyone? Instead, a black sprout appeared. It reached upward and grew into a tree.
«But it had no coins!» Samantha thought she’d been fooled. What if the branches were about to grow dragon teeth? But there was a soft clinking sound, and the black branches were covered with gold coins. Samantha didn’t look surprised, but picked as many as she could. Even if the coins turned into clods of earth or leaves along the way, at least she had tried to get rich.
The fairies flew to the tree.
«Stop it! You are thieves!» The inhabitant of the field screamed, but the fairies stripped the whole tree and flew away. Only one coin remained shining on the black branches.
«Perhaps I should share it with you,» Samantha decided. She offered the creature the apron in which she had placed the coins, but it waved it away. Why was it so proud? Had the coins in her hands gotten leprosy, or was the immortal creature afraid that the Earth girl might infect it with mortality?
After a moment, the ringing sounded again, and the tree again gave golden fruit, that is, coins. This is the thing! It is inexhaustible. The dweller of the fields didn’t want to share the gold only with the fairies. Apparently, those cheeky little things had been flying around the field for a long time, looking for an easy profit.
The creature jumped to the top of the tree and began stripping the coins from it, and Samantha hurried back to the carriage. She took off the apron full of coins and tied the ends into a knot, hiding the knot under the seat. Now she had funds for emergencies. Thanks to the black fields and their inhabitants!
Fairy’s dresses
Samantha arrived in Ivilor at sunset. The guards at the entrance to the palace let her through, but the ladies of the court laughed at her.
Such a turn of events was to be expected. The socialites saw a disheveled Samantha perched on the rumps, holding the reins ineffectively. The gossip became as loud as a choir. The hillbilly had come in a carriage that she drove herself, and she was humming along the way.
«People care about everything!» Samantha grumbled as she jumped down from the horses.
It was a good thing that the young stableman who ran up to her was polite. He took the horses away to be fed and cleaned. Samantha thought vindictively that now at least someone in the royal stables would have as much trouble with unruly horses as she did.
«Look at the look of surprise on her face! I bet she was going to take the horses to her bedroom for the night instead of the stall,» laughed one lady, who was covering herself with a fan. Samantha pretended not to hear her. She didn’t want to get into an argument with a whole crowd. You could argue with one lady, but you’d lose with most of them, of course.
«I’d like to have my own personal demon in Ivilor,» Samantha muttered to herself as she heard the snide comments. «There’s no one who can punish those faggots but a demon!»
She was wrong! All the ladies were silent at the sight of the King, who had just gone for a walk. The ladies, as if on cue, sat down in curtsy. The men bowed low. Only Samantha stood at attention. The king appeared so young and so handsome that her knees trembled. She could not curtsy. Thankfully, the young King Serpin paid no attention to the indelicacy. He was whispering something to a strange animal that was sitting on his shoulder. It seemed to be a monkey. But are monkeys ever coal-black in color? It must be some special breed from the tropical islands, where the sun is so hot that the locals’ skin and fur turn black. Samantha stopped at that assumption because the monkey didn’t bother her too much. The main thing worth looking at was the king himself. He had graceful facial features, golden eyebrows and eyelashes, blue eyes, and blond curls whose tips curled up to his collar. King Serpin was dressed luxuriously, but carelessly. The expensive velvet camisole was open at the neck, the crown was slightly off his forehead, and the fabric was torn at the shoulders as if someone had clawed at it. Still, the king was the cutest guy Samantha had ever seen.
As he walked past her, Serpin glanced at her torn dress and, instead of being dismissive, suddenly winked at her.
Just then, a disgruntled snort sounded from the king’s shoulder. It seemed that his majesty’s monkey was dissatisfied with something. King Serpin strode into the garden so quickly that Samantha didn’t have time to get a good look at the beast. He seemed to be in a hurry to take it to the orange grove where it could eat the fruit.
As soon as the king was out of sight, the court gossipers began gossiping about Samantha again:
«Look at how sloppily she’s dressed!»
«She has bad taste!»
«And what an old-fashioned dress is? My grandmother used to wear one of those.»
Samantha stuck up her chin and walked proudly past the gossipers. Let them keep on practicing their backbiting. They’d probably get their tongues twisted one day. Of course, it’s not good to wish bad things on people, but if people are bad…
The butler escorted Samantha to her chambers. From his demeanor and remarks, the girl thought that she was not welcome here and that her room was not the best, but that was fine with her. She was so tired from the road that she could have slept in the barn. It would have been a haystack, but there was even a soft bed with a featherbed. It’s a royal palace! Everything’s luxurious! But the people here are mean! She wished she could get a demon on all of them! It’s a pity she couldn’t have negotiated with him on the road. There was no turning back now.
Samantha strode to her apartment.
So the local ladies are making fun of her. You see, she’s not dressed to the hilt! Proud women! They’re the lucky ones in life, so they should be modest, but they’re going crazy. Their rich parents dressed them up like Christmas trees, and she had patches on her sleeves.
Samantha sighed.
«What are you sad about?» A beautiful blonde fairy appeared out of the darkness so suddenly that Samantha almost fainted.
«You’re not a dream?» She reached out her hand to the fairy’s face, which was scattered with golden freckles that sparkled like glitter.
«I am not a dream myself, but I slept briefly in your closet while I waited for you?»
So the fairy flew out of the closet? Is this closet special because fairies sleep in it?
«How did you settle in?» The fairy’s voice was like a tinkling silver bell.
«Not too well,» Samantha admitted honestly.
«I think the room is comfortable. The closet inside is lined with silk so the dresses won’t get dirty or wrinkled.»
«It’s about the dresses.»
«Don’t you have any?»
«Yes, but look at the state they’re in: worn, patched, shabby and unfashionable!»
«Are they?» The fairy blinked her golden lashes in surprise.
Samantha looked into her closet and aghast. Her dresses had been transformed. They were now outfits worthy of a queen. They were recognizable only by their colors.
«Is this really my closet?» Maybe the fairy was joking. What if it was her personal closet? Samantha had already prepared herself for the new dresses to fall apart or tear into threads as soon as she put them on, but nothing of the sort happened.
«I made this dress», the fairy took out a hanger, on which hung bright maple leaves, repeating the contours of the ball gown.
«Won’t it fall apart if you put it on?» Samantha wondered.
«It is absolutely not! This is the work of a fairy! A fairy’s work is never shoddy!»
«Why does a fairy care about my comfort? Did the King send you to help me?» Samantha had a flicker of hope. Did the King really like her? Only a king could give such a generous gift as a fairy maid!
«The king has nothing to do with it,» the fairy shook her blond head adorned with a wreath of rye ears and forget-me-nots. «I am an old friend of your father.»
«Good thing it’s not my mother’s! All my mom’s friends are gossipy bitches!»
«Oh! You don’t like Darline either!» The fairy clapped her hands together in joy. «Then you and I will get along! Darlina once drove the fairies off the estate and stole your father from me.»
«Did she? My father had a fairy fiancée?» Samantha almost clapped her hands in joy. She would have loved to have a fairy mother. After all, fairies could do such magic! You can dress up with them even with an empty purse! It’s worth it to have one fairy friend and there will be no trouble! A fairy will solve all problems with magic.
«Well, I wasn’t exactly a bride,» the fairy’s cheeks flushed, «but I liked your father very much. He was so serious, well-read, and very handsome.»
«Now my father wears glasses and doesn’t look too young and handsome.»
«That’s because he reads too much and studies hard sciences. I, on the other hand, was a windy person. My friends and I used to fly around the estate and make jokes about your father. Once we flew into the library and threw all his books around. We laughed as we threw the heavy volumes off the shelves and then danced among the mess, and then Benjamin caught us. He and I fell in love at first sight. I had planned for us to get married. The dwarf would perform the wedding ceremony and then I’d plant daisies on the estate, but Darlina came to the country. She stole Benjamin from me in a heartbeat! I tried to fight back, but the wicked girl invited the inquisitors to put protective markers on the manor. She banished the fairies, but I got to your cradle when the nursemaids were in the garden with you.»
«Did you put the mole on my shoulder?» Samantha guessed.
«It’s not a mole, it’s a protective mark.»
«Thank you. It helped me out.»
Only fairies can repay good for evil! What wonderful they are! What a pity her father didn’t marry a fairy! Samantha’s mom, as sad as it is to admit, was selfish.
«Did you want to avoid marrying a magical creature?» The fairy hesitated.
«Actually, no one offered me marriage.»
«You see, I made the mark out of meanness. I decided that if I am not destined to marry a mortal, let his daughter can never marry elves, nixes or other magical suitors. The mark of the fairy stands on you as a barrier to magical marriage.»
«But it scares away various magical creatures that want to harm me.»
«That’s a side effect! To make sure you don’t meet anyone.»
«Ah!» Samantha couldn’t believe it. Was the fairy really evil? «I’m still sorry my father didn’t marry you. If you were my mom, would I have been born blonde?»
«I guess so,» the fairy didn’t know. «Do you want to be blonde? I can dye your hair with magic right now.»
«No, you can’t!» Samantha was afraid that the fairy would make her gray instead of blond out of meanness. «Thank you for the dresses. I hope I don’t get a skin rash if I try them on.»
«You try them on!» The fairy’s sapphire eyes glittered dangerously.
At her own risk, Samantha tried them on. She felt like a queen in a dress with a high lace collar. A minute passed, but no skin rash, dizziness, consumption, or other side effects of fairy magic appeared.
«I wish I could steal Benjamin away from Darlina,» the fairy dreamed aloud.
«You do it! My father and I would appreciate it if my mother would stay alone in a crumbling manor and curse at the walls instead of us.»
«Your mom is so selfish! Apparently the gods of the forests and fields punished Benjamin for cheating on a fairy,» the winged beauty smiled smugly.
«My mother, too, likes to say that the gods punished her with a useless daughter and a lazy husband.»
«Well, she herself is not a saint. After all, she stole the fairy’s lover!»
«I also thought that the gods do not punish anyone for nothing!» Samantha concluded.
The blond fairy nodded.
«Elves and fairies were honored by the ancient gods once, when the earth was still young,» she explained.
«Then fairies and elves must have taken it upon themselves to punish people for their misdeeds?»
«I knew a vicious earl who had his wife kidnapped by elves.»
«Too bad the elves didn’t kidnap my mom. My father would have been over the moon, and so would I! I wouldn’t have to go to lvilor in that case.»
«Isn’t it luxurious here?»
«I was more comfortable at home on the estate.»
«Your estate brings back bad memories of love triangles. I don’t like to fly over it, probably because of the trauma I suffered there.»
«My mom also often says that fairy novels traumatize her and give her thoughts of eternally youthful rivals. If she gets her hands on a fairy book, Mom will burn it in the fireplace. She must have had a serious mental trauma after dealing with fairies, too.»
«That’s what’s wrong with love triangles – everyone thinks of themselves as victims,» the fairy said thoughtfully. «I’ll tell you the truth, the only real victim in all this is me – the fairy! Your mother poisoned my sense of love for people. I used to be kind to the people of your estate, but after I broke my engagement to a man, I began to crap on them in small things: I’ll pestilence the cattle, I’ll trample the crops with night dances, I’ll make the fruit on the trees rot. In general, everyone suffers from my fairy pranks. And Darlina is the only one to blame for my bad disposition towards humans!»
«I still wondered why my mother kept saying that my father and I were her punishment. But now I see that the gods don’t punish anyone for nothing. You shouldn’t have stolen the fairy’s fiancé. Then you wouldn’t have been punished.»
«Does mom dislike you so much?» The fairy looked at Samantha with sympathy.
«She says that I don’t see my own profit in anything! For mom, profit is the main thing in life, and I am always ready to give my portion of food to the hungry and refuse to meet important people just because they behaved cruelly. Well, I refuse to marry for convenience. I would never steal a stranger’s boyfriend, let alone a fiancé.»
«Apparently, the thirteen curses I provoked the road leprechaun with should have been addressed to your mother, not you,» the fairy sighed regretfully. «Alas, nothing can be undone!»
And it was the fairy’s fault! Samantha scolded herself for being gullible. You can’t consider a fairy kind just because she gave you a dozen beautiful dresses. Gifts can hide a series of curses and tricks.
«Well, I must go!» The fairy sent a kiss to the girl. «Don’t miss me!»
«Where are you in such a hurry?»
«Fairies aren’t allowed to stay long in the local castle. The king has a very nasty advisor.»
«He’s a wizard, so he can drive the fairies away?»
«It is even worse!»
«I wish I could meet him!»
«Don’t be a fool! You should stay away from him!»
The fairy flew to the window, which opened in front of her.
«Wait! I have a wish,» Samantha called her.
«Is it your birthday to make wishes?» The fairy raised her golden eyebrows in amazement.
Samantha stiffened and mumbled:
«No, but I thought since the fairy is here today, I should take advantage of it.»
«That makes sense! So what do you want?»
«Could you cast a spell on the king for me?»
«You’re so quiet. Turns out you’re just as vicious as Darlina.»
«No, I genuinely liked him.»
«He’s no match for fairy tricks.»
«Is it because of his advisor?» Samantha guessed.
The fairy nodded sadly.
«I would have bewitched Serpin myself, but the demon is on guard. You see, as soon as the king marries a fairy or a mortal girl, the demon will have to leave Ivilor forever.»
«I don’t understand!»
«You don’t have to understand! Take care of yourself!» The fairy sent a goodbye air kiss and flew out the window.
That’s a good thing to say – take care of you! The fairy said this just after casting thirteen curses and a magical defense against magical marriage on Samantha.
Samantha had heard that fairies were frivolous, but this kind of recklessness was over the top. If it weren’t for the new dresses she would have slammed the window shut and told the fairy not to fly in again.
A strange creature
As soon as the fairy flew away, Samantha woke up as if from a magical dream. She finally realized it.
If the fairy had put her mark on her, then she was enchanted! What a surprise! Samantha pulled her dress down off her shoulder and looked at the glistening mole. From the outside, the mark looked like a piece of jewelry, but if the inquisitors noticed it, they would suspect something wrong. Only the Inquisitors were nowhere to be seen in Ivilor, as if they had all disappeared into thin air. Perhaps young King Serpin doesn’t want to see their grim faces at court. Surely Serpin is cheerful and light-hearted. And he probably has tons of minions!
That last suggestion made Samantha sick. Jealousy pierced her heart with a red-hot needle. Had she fallen in love with the king? But she was no match for him! She was just a provincial girl, while Serpin was the ruler of a great and powerful country. He may be very young, but he must be treated with respect. After all, despite his youth, he holds the rulers of all neighboring states in fear.
Samantha herself did not notice that she had left her apartment. She stopped only when she came upon a large floor vase of gladioli. Oops, she thought these were already someone else’s quarters. Fortunately, their balcony overlooked the terrace, and from the terrace one could walk across to the night garden.
There was only one girl strolling through the royal garden at this late hour. Judging from the tiara in her hair, she was no less than a princess. Except that she looked disheveled and strange. Her once luxurious dress was torn in some places, with burdock thorns clinging to the hem. The princess was picking twigs from the ground and folding them into fanciful patterns, as if she were going to leave a coded message for someone.
«Florimonda still lives in this palace!» A familiar voice whispered in amazement behind Samantha’s back.
Samantha turned around. The same blonde fairy who had recently slept in her closet was swinging on a cypress branch like a swing.
«So you didn’t fly away!» Samantha rejoiced.
«I decided to see if there was anything edible in the royal garden. There used to be sweet peaches here.»