Youngest Son of the Water King – 2. The queen and the purple mermaids

“She is mother’s friend.”

That sounds more reassuring. Desdemona sighed in relief.

“You can introduce me to fairies,” she agreed, “I’m a little afraid of mermaids.”

“And you can take this mirror away from here,” Moran nodded at the wall. “It’s a spy. If you want to see something, it will show you.”

“Where did it come from? Is it from the water king, too? Or is it from the fairies?”

“These mirrors are only made on the seabed. They’re called spy eyes because they can see everywhere you ask.”

“It’s a useful thing if you want to spy on someone.”

She didn’t mention that she’d already spied on her rival. The mirror showed the beautiful mermaids in the lagoon, and Moran kissed her as if he didn’t need all the beauties of the sea anymore. And neither did the lady of fire.

The idyll was dispelled by Livia, who hung outside the window like a black ghost. Apparently she had climbed up the wall, too. Her duty, after all, was to keep an eye on the queen. It was the duty of Bersaba too. She was still waiting under the door. Moran treated the slave girls as silent bodyguards who could be next to simply be ignored. But Desdemona, for the umpteenth time, felt uncomfortable under the gaze of Livia’s anthracite eyes.

“The spy’s eye must be brought to the Queen’s chambers,” Moran ordered, and Livia nodded understandingly. She flew easily through the window. Her dark webbed hands reached for the mirror. Turns out she knew what that magical thing was called. Curious how many other secrets of the sea kingdom Livia and Bersabe knew.

Surprises

Moran brought her a bouquet. It looks like lily of the valley, only it smells different.

“What are they?”

“Snowdrops are flowers from the land of winter. They bloom right under the melting snow.”

“Where do they come from? All the countries around the sea are hot.”

“I have relatives in the ocean.”

“Even there?”

Moran nodded.

“I was there once. There’s ice and icebergs all around, and even colder kin that freeze everything around them. There are mermaids the size of ships, oceanidas with the beauty of winter queens, warriors and ocean maidens who, when they feel cornered, turn into white-wood statues. You might mistake them for sculptures on the bottom, but they’re really just sleeping. I’ve awakened a couple of them and I’ve come across their gratitude as sharp thorns. We fought, and then we got along. Now we’re friends and allies.”

“Just don’t bring them here,” she sniffed the snowdrops with pleasure. The white flowers in a cocoon of large green leaves were tiny, but they had a marvelous fragrance.

“Put them in water and they’ll never wilt.”

“Are you sure?”

“I guarantee it!”

It was in his power, because the water obeyed him. As it turned out, in addition to water creatures heavenly creatures obeyed him too.

A dragon flew up to the archway. Moran carefully took the scroll from him, trying not to touch the scales. The dragon was wary of touching his hand as well. His hands, though wet, were partially covered with scales, as if he were the son of a dragon rather than a water dragon. Although fish have scales too, don’t they? Desdemona rose from her comfortable bed and walked to the window. The dragon was still hovering behind it. His mouth was hot. It almost burned her face. Now her skin would definitely turn red. How could Moran bear his proximity, he was a water dragon. Fire should be destructive to him, but the dragon listened to him.

“Get rid of him!”

“He’s going to fly away himself.”

Moran was right. The dragon turned and flew toward the horizon.

“You read his mind?”

“Why is it? He’s completed his mission and now he’s flying back.”

“Is it his task?”

“He is a messenger,” Moran unfolded a scroll mottled in orange letters. Are the letters glowing, or is she seeing double? Moran tried not to burn his fingers, holding only the ends of the scroll, untouched by the signatures.

“What is it?”

“It is a threat warning.”

“Who sent it?”

“It is the queen of Tioria.”

“You know the Queen of Tioria?”

“I knew her before she was queen. I even befriended her. It made my brothers laugh.”

“Don’t tell me about these murderers, or I’ll remember you didn’t stop them when they… drowned my brothers.”

“I can’t vouch for them. No one can vouch for them. Even my father can’t control them.”

“You mean the water king?”

Moran looked at her like a naive child. His almond-shaped eyes shimmered with mystery beneath golden lashes. How handsome he was! If only there weren’t tentacles under his robe. But not everyone could be perfect.

“Can the queen of Tioria control everything?”

“That’s not what she writes to me. And she’s no ordinary queen.”

“Then who is she?”

“She is a dragon goddess and a dragon herself.”

“She is a dragon woman.”

“I know her well.”

“What do you have in common with her?”

“What does fire have in common with water?”