Between the lines is written in fire

«I’ve heard that the singing of fair maidens can put dragons to sleep. Sing to him!»

There’s nothing to lose. Rosamunda leaned out the window and sang a frivolous love song she’d heard from the seamstresses. Strangely enough, the dragon reacted. The fire that was about to fall on the castle towers was stopped.

Rosamunda continued to sing as the dragon flew over the castle. Only when it flew away did she close her mouth. Her tongue ached as if it were about to fall off. To contain the fire of the entire country, she had to sing for the dragon for over an hour.

«Love is a hard thing!» Dandy muttered. «It is especially dragon love!»

What’s love got to do with it? It was an enemy raid. She had a sore throat. She wished Dandy had brought wine instead of muttering about dragon love.

The dragon didn’t return for 24 hours. Is this a victory? Or is it the calm before another firestorm?

«I wish I had a strong wizard to deal with it,» Rosamunda continued to lament.

And as if by magic, a message arrived about the visit of ambassadors from the State of Wizards.

An elf in the ambassador’s entourage

Flames ran between the lines.

«I love you! I hate you! I wait for you! I am your dragon.»

It was no longer a letter, but a short note by fire. It did not burst into flames, but lay on the carpet, only the lines burning. Then they were extinguished. The note became ashes.

Rosamunda thought the note a mockery. The dragon didn’t belong to her.

It was said that Queen Seraphina of the northern state had her own dragon, but Queen Rosamunda had no dragon of her own. It is except for the dragon in the letters. Maybe someone got wind of her desire to have her own dragon and is playing a joke on her? But who would want to do that and why?

«You should have a dragon of your own,» said Dandy, sensing the threat of war. «Or tame one that already flies over the towers and shines like the dawn.»

Instead, Rosamunda wrote poems about the dragon, but the lines were in ink, not fire. Only once did something out of the ordinary happen: Rosamunda was summoned by the voice of a fairy from the bookshelves, the queen dripped blood on a line, and several fiery lines appeared, as if a dragon had breathed on the paper.

«I am here! I am near! In your palace! At your back! I am yours! And so is the fire.»

The lines of fire, alas, burned too quickly. There’s no way to prove the existence of letters of fire. They could never be reassembled from the ashes.

Rosamunda was nervous. She even felt a dragon’s claw touch her shoulder. It felt like the dragon was at court, but the heralds only trumpeted some afterthought from a magical state.

«Come quickly! Otherwise we’ll all be in big trouble,» Dandy is all shaken up. He’s about to faint.

Rosamunda hurried into the throne room. The courtiers had gathered in a crowd. They were all expecting special ambassadors.

«Was it true that their empire was populated only by wizards?» Rosamunda sat on the throne in a ceremonial gown of silver brocade trimmed with sable. Dandy sat on the back of the throne and whispered his advice to her.

«It is also called the Magic Empire, or in the lingo, simply the Empire of Magic,» he said. «The emperor is very powerful. You’d have to seduce him, and you’d be in business.»

«Does he specialize in taming dragons?» Rosamunda was keenly interested.

«It is something like that…» Dandy was embarrassed for some reason.

«But the ambassadors have come to see me, not the Emperor.»

«Arrange with them to visit him.»

«I mean a trip,» Rosamunda wrinkled her nose. «I dream that I have many faces! Imagine that! And they’re all mine. Isn’t that funny?»

Dandy, who usually liked to joke, remained silent.

«There are faces! There are all beauties! I don’t know if they’re dead or alive. But in my dreams I change their faces like masquerade masks. It’s funny and scary.»

«Magic is fun and scary,» said Dandy. «You have to learn how to use it properly, so you don’t get hurt.»

«Should I ask the wizards ambassadors for advice?»

«First, give them the impression of a wise ruler. They’re not going to help someone with a pouty demeanor. They need something to interest them.»

«Will that be difficult?»

«Of course it’s difficult! They’re magicians! You can’t bribe them with mere coquetry,» Dandy even shrieked. «Maybe you should marry a dragon. He loves you very fiercely, judging by the intensity of his matchmaking.»

«It is no hotter than that! He’s got half the kingdom burning or smoking!»

«We must take action before the kingdom burns to the ground,» Dandy leaned close to Rosamunda’s ear, tugged a long curl with his claw, and wanted to whisper some dangerous advice, but the heralds had already sounded the horn to announce the arrival of the guests. A procession of smartly dressed cavaliers entered the throne room. Not a single lady among them, Rosamunda noted to herself. It was as if they had come for marriage. Or was it? She felt suddenly sick.

«They are afraid that I will take away the face of any lady they bring with them,» Rosamunda thought, guided by her dreams.

«You’re imagining things!»

«No, I don’t. I feel as if they were trembling before me. Or maybe they’re setting traps for me, like I’m setting traps for the dragon. What if singing doesn’t scare him away next time?»

«That’s why you have to make friends with the wizards,» Dandy snuck behind her shoulder. He climbed the back of the throne as nimbly as a monkey.

Rosamunda did not know how to drive him off. She wanted to hear the ambassadors, but Dandy was hissing in one ear and out the other.

«You’re making me unable to hear anything!»

Rosamunda tried to shoo him away, but Dandy clutched at her hair, almost falling over, causing her to shriek. The ambassadors were just opening their chests of fancy gifts. One of the ambassadors was dressed like an eastern wizard. All the others were in camisoles or doublets. All dressed so luxuriously as if they were of the same rank. So which one is the leader? It is the one who read the speech.

«Dandy, why is the Magic Empire called the Dragon Empire?» Rosamunda caught on to the fragments of the ambassador’s speech. «Do dragons live there?»

«It is just a figure of speech,» Dandy muttered. «It is a metaphor.»

«What if the dragon came to us from them?»

«Come on! You have a unicorn on your coat of arms too, but that doesn’t mean there are unicorns grazing in your kingdom.»

«I have roses and gold coins. They are also in the coat of arms.»

Dandy snorted disdainfully.