Between the lines is written in fire. Natalie Yacobson

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СКАЧАТЬ turned to the rear window of the carriage and glared at her own guards like a thief. They did not know, of course, that the stolen carriage was carrying the queen herself. So far, Dandy had easily managed to evade the guards. But his luck might change one day.

      Rosamunda regretted again that she had not befriended the winged lizard on the column, but the cunning weasel who now sat in the coachman’s seat. How had he ever managed to convince her that she alone could cope with a dragon by the power of her feminine charms? What if he was leading her into a trap? There could be bands of bandits hiding in the mountains besides the dragon. Shouldn’t she call the guards? But something was holding her back. It was a curiosity, perhaps.

      «Something tells me that the dragon is not so easy to negotiate with,» Rosamunda thought aloud. Dandy, strangely enough, heard her, despite the rumble of the wheels, and answered:

      «And you don’t listen to the promptings of reason! You must be lucky!»

      Well said! No speaker of the council could have convinced her of such absurdities as Dandy had already convinced her of. There’s a reason he’s a supernatural being and not a man. His intelligence and cunning are of the highest order! Humans are far from him. They don’t know how to compel others to do whatever they want. But Dandy did. No matter how silly his assurances sounded, she wanted to give in to them.

      «How did you persuade the guards to let you into the king’s castle?» Rosamunda wondered.

      «I didn’t,» Dandy chuckled softly.

      «Then where did you come from? From a secret underground passage that no one knows about.»

      «Easier! It was right from under your feet. There was a crevice in the floor. Remember?»

      «But it must lead straight down into the earth.»

      «I see you’ve never heard of the Underworld and its inhabitants.»

      He’s got a point. No one had ever told her anything like that before. Dandy swerved so sharply around corners that Rosamunda was thrown from side to side. It was a blessing that inside the carriage was covered with soft velvet and plenty of cushions. Otherwise the queen would have been bruised. She should have been more careful in choosing a coachman. Or better yet, she should have stayed out of adventures, so she wouldn’t need a coachman today.

      «Did that lizard on the column crawl into the castle with you?»

      «No,» Dandy’s voice echoed hoarsely from the goat. You could barely make out the words. «The little dragon had crawled out of Rhiannon’s jewelry box. All of her former jewels eventually turn into such creatures.»

      «Who’s Rhiannon?»

      «Don’t you know?» Dandy was surprised.

      «There is no such name among my ladies of the court. Is it the name of some new maid of honor who came from the provinces?»

      A snide laugh came from the goat.

      «You are a fool, my queen.»

      «I don’t understand you!»

      What does he think of himself! Or she didn’t hear him well over the clattering 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 СКАЧАТЬ