Between the lines is written in fire

«It is on the contrary, I please you in every way.»

Dandy has an original perception of obedience.

«You should be flogged for being stubborn.»

«Then I’d slip away to the Underworld and never come back.»

«And you give me ultimatums like a dragon!»

«I’m only defending myself.»

«I’m defending myself against you and your insolent advice.»

Rosamunda didn’t realize how used to him she was getting. Why are ladies so keen to keep mischievous animals with them? Her ladies of honor had their own monkeys and parrots, but hers was a little monster from the Underworld. That’s probably where Dandy comes from, since he’s threatening to go back there.

Instead of the queen, of course, the dragon was given a maid of honor, a noble lady named Winona. Pity her, of course. But the dragon needs a sacrifice. Winona’s father was in disgrace, so the ministers chose her. We can’t give the queen to the dragon. Then the country would be orphaned.

But Dandy slyly noted that the throne of the orphaned country will immediately run to the good guys who want to adopt the throne, and the scepter, and the orb.

In general, it was better not to talk to Dandy..

«Are you by any chance a scholar who escaped from some city university?» Rosamunda began to inquire the counselor.

«God forbid!» Dandy was even frightened. «You found yourself a scientist! I do not sit in laboratories for experiments, but in the throne room now your ministers are doing some experiments.»

Dandy was partly right. The maid of honor sacrificed to the dragon had already been brought back. In a coffin-like box! Rosamunda almost fainted when she saw the dismembered corpse inside the large open chest. It looked like a broken marionette. Deep animal scratches stretched across Winona’s deadly pale skin.

The dead head’s eyes opened instantly, barely Rosamunda had entered the hall. The eyelashes, stained at the tips with blood, made a ghastly impression. There were no pupils left in the empty whites of the eyes.

Dandy hastily hid behind Rosamunda’s hem.

«How could this be? She was given to the dragon,» she whispered.

Dandy did not answer. The ministers were also silent. But the dismembered corpse spoke and even sang.

«I’m back! I’m dead! But I’m a little alive inside to bring a message to you,» Winona sang in a sinister, playful tone. «You can’t fool the dragon, Rosamunda! Don’t even try!»

Rosamunda! While she was alive, Winona had never addressed her so familiarly. But apparently death equalizes everyone. The dead Winona had forgotten all about «Your Majesty». Apparently, since her head was separated from her torso, her mind was barely functioning. Or maybe the dragon had cut off her head with its claws to fill it with enchantments. Winona’s bloody lips laughed stupidly. She looked like a doll from hell in her dismembered state.

What a sorcerer that dragon was! Dandy had warned her for a reason. His advice should be heeded for the future.

There was something stuck in Winona’s hair. It was strange why the dragon didn’t remove her hair like a scalp or a fleece. They could have been sold or kept as a trophy. There were claw wounds on her forehead. So the dragon had first thought of the same idea. But for some reason he only scratched her. There were hieroglyphic inscriptions scratched on the skin of the severed arms and legs.

«Get the court astrologer to study them and translate them if he can.»

«I’ll translate them for you,» Dandy volunteered, and jumped into the casket.

«It says here! The dragon will not leave…»

«Get away, dwarf!» Winona hissed.

Dandy put a claw to her forehead, and she shut up, looking at the empty whites of her eyes in the void.

«It says: until you return my wife to me, I will destroy your body, beautiful woman who bears her name from the root of the rose flower.»

«What’s next?» Rosamunda nervously crumpled her lace handkerchief in her hands. «Read it! I want to know everything.»

But Winona’s body burst into flames, as did the paper letters. Sparks rained down on the terrified crowd of courtiers. Some were burned, some swallowed sparks and burned their tongues. Some of the ladies were disfigured by burns. The dead Winona didn’t care whether she burned or not. She was acting as a message. Apparently, parchment or letters on skin and bodies from a dragon burn just like paper.

The remains of the maid of honor were being shunned by everyone. The chest full of ashes was taken to the cemetery. That’s where it belongs.

«The sacrifice was in vain,» sighed the counselors and looked unkindly at the queen.

«So, what shall we do?» Rosamunda roused Dandy, who for some reason none of the ministers called an exotic animal and did not try to put him in a cage.

«Marry you to a dragon!» He muttered sullenly.

«What do you mean?» Rosamunda clenched her fists in anger. «You’re mocking me!»

«I am not! It’s what the dragon wants.»

«To burn me or eat me for dinner!»

«Suddenly he doesn’t want an appetizer, he wants a wife.»

Rosamunda swung her scepter at Dandy.

«Calm down! Where’s your sense of humor?» He squeaked, hiding behind the throne. «I’ll tell you a secret: monsters are really very attracted to beauties, and not at all to eat them.»

«That’s comforting!» Rosamunda said skeptically.

«Don’t you want to fool the dragon by promising him a marriage for the future?»

«That’s clever! But how do you negotiate with a dragon? Who dares approach him when he’s so vicious? Did you see what he did to Lady Winona? He dismembered her with his claws! What if he breathes fire on me as soon as I go to negotiate with him? Should I just send you? You’re agile! If there’s a risk, run away or hide in one of the pits in the Underworld.»

Dandy doesn’t like that idea.

«He won’t listen to me. He needs a lady.»

«He’s already been given one, and he hasn’t expressed much admiration.»

«He needs a lady of his own choosing. It is the chosen one!»

«It’s a shame he chose me! There are so many brides to be given away, and the dragon wants me! It’s the law of meanness!»

Fire raged through the kingdom here and there. The angry dragon was flying over the country and breathing on villages and cities. How could he be tamed? Not with love! Should we call the militia? But what could the militia do against the dragon? He’ll crush them all with one paw. The size difference gives him an advantage. And his fire breath makes him all-powerful.

«He’d enslave us all like that,» Rosamunda complained. «We’d have to get a strong wizard to fight him.»