Lilophea, the Bride of the Sea King

Lilophea, the Bride of the Sea King
Natalie Yacobson

Princess Lilophea lives in an island kingdom where a tropical paradise reigns during the day and fires are lit on the shore at night to escape the armies of monsters that come from the sea. The king and the sea king are longtime enemies. One day the sea king infiltrates the ball to woo the princess and present her with magical gifts. Does he want to seduce her to get back at her father, or does the sight of her make the water king’s heart flutter with ordinary earthly love?

Lilophea, the Bride of the Sea King

Natalie Yacobson

Translator Natalia Lilienthal

© Natalie Yacobson, 2023

© Natalia Lilienthal, translation, 2023

ISBN 978-5-0060-2461-8

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

Pearls and peacock

“Don’t trust the waterman, princess!
He’ll drag you to the bottom of the sea.
And no one can escape from there.”

A blue peacock flew over the rose bushes. Lilothea could see it among the white peacocks that filled the palace grounds. It seemed to have come from some distant overseas kingdom whose ruler had recently wooed her. Many thought his proposal tempting because of the generous gifts brought by the ambassadors and the prospect of an alliance with the strongest power, but the king was in no hurry to agree. The obstacle lay in the customs of a distant country. Instead of one wife the ruler had a harem.

The council of ministers over the plans for her marriage had been going on for quite some time, and Lilothea herself was walking in the garden trying to determine who was singing? No one normally walked in this part of the garden except her. Here was her secret corner with a fountain and a marvelous rose garden. And she didn’t want to leave here to join a harem or even become the only wife of a foreign king, either.

Her stubborn father was going to arrange her marriage exclusively to a king, or at least a crown prince: no more, no less. And someone’s sweet voice in the garden hummed about the dangers of a relationship with a waterman. To think! Where did anyone ever see watermen? It was all fairy tales!

Lilothea took a closer look at the peacock soaring above the bushes. Was there really a tiny jewel attached to the bird’s crest, or was it just the play of sunlight?

“Don’t trust the waterman!” Again the wonderful voice sang. “You don’t know yet how treacherous the Water Lords are.”

Lilophea defiantly straightened the hem of her turquoise dress. She loved all shades of water. Her blue brocade costume with flounces of white lace evoked the waves of the sea.

“I’m not afraid of water!” She muttered aloud, tired of looking for the singer who was hiding in such a secluded corner of the garden that he could not be found. “And I also like the element of water. The water surface is beautiful and so are the waves on it. And if in the abyss of water live some spirits as beautiful as water, then I willingly invite them into the palace.”

“You are a silly girl!” A sweet voice sang, and a blue peacock sank gently to the edge of the tiered fountain in the rose garden.

Could it be that he was singing? It couldn’t be! Lilophea exhaled noisily. Peacocks have ugly voices. And certainly they have not human voices. But this peacock was special in every way.

“Were you singing?” It still sounded fantastic to her, though the peacock tilted its head in agreement.

“I thought there was a troubadour hiding here.”

“I can be one for you,” the peacock was polite, but he’d just called her a fool.

“Did you say I was silly?”

“You wouldn’t call an executioner to behead me for that.”

“More like a cook with a knife.”

“Don’t joke like that, Your Highness.”

“So you really think I’m naive?”

“You are more like inexperienced,” he corrected her gently. “You don’t know that watermen are not to be trifled with.”

“I don’t know any watermen at all.”

“Would you like to meet any?”

“I do.”

“It is dangerous.”

Lilothea noticed that the water in the fountain was vibrating strangely. It reeked of cold. The jets seemed about to freeze into ice.

“This is all nonsense,” she yanked back the train that caught on the fountain’s edge stucco. “The watermen are fictitious.”

“And what is about talking peacocks?”

“Well, I can see you, but I can’t see a waterman.”

“Don’t make any promises! And never invite them to the palace.”

“But I already have!”

The peacock opened its beak and never closed it. There was something in the fountain, as if a big fish had got in. Someone’s wet footprints were left on the grass, as if someone had stepped out of the fountain. Droplets of water on the curb dripped together and began to take the shape of letters.

“I’m coming,” Lilophea read. “Is this all your tricks, you talking peacock? You know what they do to those who know magic tricks.”

“They put them in a cage and require them to tell fortunes,” the peacock finished grimly.

“It is true, but I won’t tell anyone you’re a talker. The main thing is not to give your away. I do not want you to be put in a cage. I like you very much!”

She gently touched the stone in his forehead with her fingers. It was growing right into the plumage. Wonderful! Is it an opal? Is it a carbuncle? Is it a third eye?

The peacock twitched with pleasure at her touch, like a dove in love.

“In no country in the world have I seen princesses as beautiful as you?”

“And you have been in many countries?”

“I can’t count. There are daughters or wives of rulers everywhere, but not like you. You’re not a fairy by any chance, are you?”

No one’s ever asked her anything like that before. But she’d never seen a talking bird before, either.