Between the lines is written in fire

«And you’re about to become a burden to me! Can you imagine how angry all older, more powerful colleagues will be at a young counselor?»

«Then make me chief counselor, and I’ll control them all.»

«Why should I make you the one in charge?»

«I’m the only one who can help you deal with the dragon!»

Vincent said it in such a serious tone that the dazed Rosamunda almost fell off the throne.

«Are you joking?»

«The dragon has long since put me out of the mood for jokes,» Vincent said grimly. «But I’ve also found the dragon’s weakness.»

«What is it?»

Rosamunda suddenly believed Vincent. Only fear of the dragon could have made him look so dead. Apparently, the dragon had attacked Vincent personally. It wasn’t hard to imagine the heart-wrenching scene of Vincent hiding in the tower while the dragon’s claw shattered the windows and scrambled to get him like a mouse out of a mousetrap.

«So what is the dragon’s vulnerable place: tail, mouth, spine or belly?»

«It is metaphorically, not physically.»

«So you can’t defeat it directly?»

«But we can take a valuable hostage who will make the dragon cede everything to us.»

«I don’t believe you,» Rosamunda mumbled aloud, but she decided to keep Vincent close to the throne. He might be useful in the fight against the dragon. He knows something valuable, but his fear of the dragon has damaged his judgment, and he is behaving strangely. Now he stares at the fighting spearmen as if he saw a dragon among them. Someone in a horned helmet was indeed present in the ring and fighting quite successfully.

«King Alaric of Sultanit is said to be the most handsome and successful guy in the universe,» Vincent said thoughtfully, as if assessing a rival who could not possibly be there. The king of Sultanit didn’t come to the tournament.

«I don’t know. He’s never asked me to marry him,» Rosamunda said.

«It is no wonder. He’s a prisoner of the dragon.»

«Is he so weak that he’s surrendered? His armies seem to be the most numerous.»

«We’re talking about voluntary captivity.»

«So is he a dragon captive or a dragoness captive?»

He coughed meaningfully.

«It can happen. Sultanit is a powerful country, but ever since the handsome king befriended the dragon, it’s been a mess. The population has been slaughtered by griffins, the army has turned into zombies, and ghosts feast in the king’s castle at night.»

«It is more like fairy tales.»

«But these tales are retold by travelers who have seen everything with their own eyes. They also assure that the young king, since his friendship with the dragon, has become completely indifferent to earthly beauty.»

«The dragon probably bewitched him.»

«Sincere sympathy is not called witchcraft.»

«There are charms and magical attachments.»

«How do you know about that?»

Rosamunda didn’t remember how she knew about it.

«Probably I heard it from fortune-tellers.

She had just noticed the girls in the crowd wearing wreaths of wormwood and burdock. What’s a fortune-teller? Why else would they make such fancy wreaths? Even more unusual girls came wearing wreaths of sorrel, parsley, dill and basil. The green capes behind their backs looked like wings. Were they fairies?

«They are garden fairies!» Vincent spotted them too. «They are very useful creatures! If you’re hungry, they’ll give you free pumpkins or vegetable salad. I love their tomatoes and cucumbers. By the way, you can tell a vegetable garden fairy by the fancy decorations made of radishes, carrots or potato flowers. They are sure to pin something like that to their corsage, and dill and parsley grow right out of their skin.»

«Are you kidding me?»

«It is absolutely not. I borrowed food from them myself when I was starving.»

«You’re the son of a duke, and you starved!»

«My father kept me in a black body! He said I’d never grow up to be a real man.»

«How cruel is it!»

«But now I’m fully fit to serve you, and I have experience. For example, if the whole country goes hungry, I’ll get you food from the garden fairies.»

«Won’t they glamorize us with their vegetables?»

«It can happen. But that’s only if you forget to be friends with them. I once insulted them and got colic from their beets for a week. Since then, I’ve always been nice to the garden fairies.»

«Do you know any garden fairies? What if they live in my garden?»

«You don’t want to talk to garden fairies. They’re all arrogant upstarts, prickly as roses. Every one of them thinks she’s above the queen.»

«How am I supposed to tame them? Burn down all the gardens?»

«The dragon will do that for you.»

«Alas, the dragon does not serve me. He’s at odds with me.»

«Then bring him to your side.»

«It is easier said than done.»

«I’m a counselor. My weapon of choice is words. And you, by the way, have a woman’s charm. It can be a weapon, too.»

«You think it’ll work on a dragon?»

«Even King Alaric’s friendly charm worked like a lethal weapon on a dragon. And the result is the Sultanit is now the most powerful nation in the universe.»