Between the lines is written in fire. Natalie Yacobson

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СКАЧАТЬ 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 time to run!» She called out to Dandy as she saw the huge, glittering reptile rushing out of its hiding place, smashing the mountain tops in the process. So that’s what dragons are like! That’s why so many frightening and enticing legends are written about them! On the one hand is splendor, on the other is destructive evil.

      The golden dragon zigzagged in the gloomy sky above the mountains. Its breath sent a wave of fire through the surrounding forests.

      Rosamunda rushed back to the carriage. It was still possible to leave. The road had not yet gone up in flames. But both the carriage and Dandy were gone.

      You had to believe a frivolous person who’d abandoned his queen in danger. He took all six horses with him. Should she walk home or call for help?

      There was an armed troop coming down the road. It was a pity that it was approaching not from the side that led back to the castle, but from the opposite side, where the border with the enemy kingdom was.

      Someone in the cavalcade pointed at her with a hand. Rosamunda didn’t know where to go. But suddenly a dragon intervened. Its claws caught the head of the troop. It was a moment, and the fragile little man in the dragon’s claws was left without a bone. Rosamunda watched in horror as the dragon devoured several more guards. The arrows and spears flying at it didn’t even scratch its scales, but boomeranged back at those who threw them.

      Apparently, having had enough, the dragon decided to play a bad joke on the invading party. It opened its mouth and exhaled such a powerful jet of fire onto the road that it resembled volcanic lava. The rest of the squad was burned alive.

      The road was on fire. The dragon spread its wings and flew over the conflagration. How graceful it is in flight! It looked like a monster, but it was as beautiful as a jewel that had come to life. He was gold and glittering. But with one paw it can crush an entire army.

      «Look, there’s the queen!» Someone shouted from behind. «Get her! Get her now!»

      Why didn’t she take off the crown? And why did she believe Dandy? How naive she was! And how despicable those who said they wanted to help could be! Rosamunda felt so furious at the sight of the guards running towards her from behind that she could no longer control herself. If she had had a sword or a dagger with her, she would not have hesitated to attack them, even though the forces were unequal.

      Her anger made the ground beneath her feet shake again. Or was it the dragon’s fire that was to blame? Its roar could bring down mountains, let alone a mild earthquake. Only it was gaining strength. The ground beneath her feet cracked and vibrated. Rosamunda fell. She should have run, but getting to her feet proved too difficult. The guards behind her were stumbling and falling and cursing too. Their curses rang in her ears, diluted by the dragon’s roar. Cracks spread across the ground like the claw marks of a giant. The pursuers were falling through them! There was a whole regiment of them. The cracked earth greedily swallowed them all. These are not enemy soldiers. They’re wearing her insignia. Someone sent her own soldiers to kill her. It’s a plot against the queen! And there’s only the dragon. He is neither friend nor foe.

      Rosamunda herself was lucky not to fall through any of the deep cracks.

      «Magic will keep you safe, but it may not be for long,» Dandy’s voice whispered above her head. But where was he? Did Rosamunda look around for her counselor and coachman? Perhaps he had been swallowed by a dragon. She hated to believe that Dandy had left her to the mercy of her enemies.

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