Lilophea, the Bride of the Sea King. Natalie Yacobson

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СКАЧАТЬ peacock, meanwhile, circled around the princess’s apartments and busily looked around every room. He evidently liked the canopy of the tent-like canopy over the bed, for he could make his nest there. The wide bed itself, with its satin cushions, did not impress him, nor did the exquisite furniture. Even his own reflection in the oval mirror on the dressing table didn’t impress him much. He grunted contemptuously at the wash basin, made in the shape of a basin supported by mermaids.

      “It’s not very luxurious,” he finally said.

      Well, that’s a blatant lie! Her chambers were the most beautiful in the palace. She nearly opened her mouth to say so, but the peacock went on:

      “Even concubines have better rooms in a harem.”

      So that’s it! He must have been sent by the sultan to convince her that everything in his country was more beautiful and richer than in her father’s humble island kingdom.

      That’s what she’d suspected from the start. It was very timely that the peacock appeared in the palace garden. As if the eastern ambassadors had brought it with them and released it on purpose, so that it would find the princess, meet her, and begin to persuade her. Everything is subtly calculated. You can’t believe a man, no matter how convincingly he speaks, but a talking peacock is such a miracle that you start to get a little confused in his presence, you become amazed and trusting. After all, if the bird speaks human language, then there are miracles in the world after all. And this bird also has a voice so well put, as if he was trained to sing and babble on purpose. What a pity the sultan did not think to send this bird to Lilophea’s father. He, as the ruler of a country where no one listens to the opinion of girls, should have understood that nothing depends on the princess’ decision. Even if the peacock will talk to her so that she will dream of going to the harem and even beg her father to let her go there, still the king and his advisers have the final word. It is for them alone to decide whom the princess will marry.

      “Did you sing as sweetly for the Sultan as you did for me?” Lilophea inquired as if incidentally. “Did you also advise him not to invite mermaids into his harem, because it is dangerous to communicate with them?”

      “What do you mean?” The peacock didn’t give himself away. What an actor! “Would they teach me anything? They wouldn’t even give me any fruit when I sang under the window. Amazingly insensitive people! They have splendid palaces, but they won’t let a talking bird into any of them.”

      “Why? Don’t they value rare species?”

      “That’s not the point,” the peacock deftly picked a grape from the fruit bowl with its beak, and only continued when it ate it greedily. He appeared to be hungry.

      “There is great fear in eastern countries of spies sent from the sea. And I am blue, the color of the sea. And the stone in my forehead shimmers with all the shades of water.”

      “Are there spies from the sea?! What does that mean?”

      “Well,” said the peacock, uncertain how to avoid the embarrassing subject. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

      “Well, now go on. Why be embarrassed?”

      He ate a few more berries, grunted softly, and then shifted his gaze to the pearl in the dried out shell flaps.

      “You don’t have to look out of the window at the sea. There’s so much going on in the sea. I saw all sorts of terrible things while I was hiding in the masts of the ship on which I sailed as a stowaway.”

      Lilothea laughed involuntarily. What a pun it turns out!

      “By the way, I thought the ship sailed to another kingdom, and ended up here. Bad luck!”

      “You will know how not to pay the fare!” She joked. I should have added that he deserved it, and that he who wants to deceive others in the end remains deceived himself, but she was not cruel. It’s the maidens at court who like to let the stilettos go. The peacock will never get enough of them, and will probably pretend to be dumb so as not to have to answer their taunts.

      “Do you think that if I brought a coin to the sailors they’d tell me exactly where the ship was going?” The peacock showed unexpected seriousness.

      What could you say to that?

      “I don’t think so,” Lilophea answered honestly. “They would have taken the coin, and you would probably have been caged and sold at the first port.”

      “You see, I might not have been honest.” He spread his wings in triumph and ate almost all the grapes from the vase. What a glutton!

      “Travelling alone is dangerous in any case,” Lilophea consoled him. “It is better to sail the ship only with the mistress.”

      “Well, I’ve managed to get out of it, now you can always be my mistress.”

      What does that mean? He thought of himself as master here and her as servant? Or is he her best friend now? You can’t be mistress to a friend. It’s not like he’s a pet. The peacock had indeed chosen her for himself. He wasn’t bought. He wasn’t brought as a gift. He flew up to her in the garden and made conversation. That’s what everyone who wants to make friends does.

      “I’ll consider you my faithful cavalier,” Lilofephea suggested aloud. “By the way, do you have a name? Or should I call you something.”

      It’s not nice to call him just a peacock, like all the other birds in the garden that don’t know human speech. A talking creature, however feathered, deserves to be addressed by all the rules.

      “I am Seneschal,” he bowed respectfully. Lilophea had no idea that a peacock could bend its neck so low. He could at least be applauded. Had he escaped from the circus? The princess sometimes heard rumors of cruel trainers, from whom it was not easy to buy back rare but offended animals. A peacock with his talents could bend the bars of a cage and escape on his own.

      “There is already one seneschal in the palace. That’s what they call the chief of staff,” Lilophea hesitated.

      “For him it is a title, but for me it is a name. Though, to tell the truth,” the peacock looked conspiratorial. “I was in charge of the servants in the house of a great sorceress for some time.”

      Lilophea grinned incredulously.

      “Enchantresses and rogues are practically the same thing.”

      “What do you know, girl?”

      “I am guided by my experience at court.”

      “This isn’t the court to learn anything.”

      “But you got here somehow. Which means there’s already something unique here – a chatty peacock!”

      “I’m the most worthy creature here,” he arrogantly cocked his beak. Lilophea gazed for a moment at the stone glinting in his forehead. She wondered if it hurt him, made him feel uncomfortable with the hard jewelry growing in his forehead. Even her own tiara was starting to press on her head if she wore it too long. All jewelry should be removed before going to bed so it wouldn’t leave a mark on the delicate skin. That’s what the ladies-in-waiting used to say.

      Lilophea СКАЧАТЬ