«They had not been torn down because the stonemasons hands had not obeyed them. No one wants his hands to be cut off, do they? But the governor, to whom Denitsa later appeared, did not dare to disobey him. He did not want the angel to rob him of his mind.»
She looked up. Douglas was perched at ease on one of the higher shelves. He was folding a scroll in his lap.
«Perhaps this place would someday be assigned a custodian. It would be someone as peculiar as the place itself» Douglas traced the huge curved dome above. «You dont find it strange that this tower exists at all. Its contents are valuable, but completely useless to the world. It cannot be touched or read or disposed of at will. It is unusual that a tower that has no function has remained untouched by the rulers of Loretta. It stands there as if it were a curse.»
«Perhaps it is the curse,» Rhianon twirled the globe nestled in the corner. It was unusual. The drawings on it looked more like a map of the stars Orpheus had drawn for her, rather than the usual pattern of bays and continents. It looked quite beautiful. Involuntarily she was fascinated by the symmetry of the constellations and the glittering lines drawn between them. It seemed as if the entire starry sky had been turned into one magical ball. A moment and it began to whirl under her fingers. Rhianon was mesmerized.
«Careful, this thing is capable of captivating your consciousness. Believe me, I almost got caught myself.»
Rhianon nodded reluctantly, but did not take her eyes off the globe. A harpy appeared from beneath her feet and tugged at her hem. Douglas, too, jumped down, traversing the floor-to-ceiling space in one fluid motion, and stood beside her.
«It is a lot of curious things here, but I try not to touch anything. I read it sometimes,» the wizard admitted.
«But your hands are still steady and youre not blind,» she glanced at the scroll in his hands. «Youre not insane, are you?»
«I keep nothing,» he apologized hastily. «I only look through what I am allowed to and then put it back.»
«So you take nothing away from this place except stolen knowledge.»
«I only get what my already sold soul is worth.»
«So,» Rhianon shot him a curious look. «You know a lot about them.»
«It is not all of them,» he admitted frankly.
«I could have understood it all,» she said, reaching out to take the scroll, but then ducking back in time to look at it. She neednt look at the strange symbols. She could imagine them anyway. The time of drill was over. She had become strong both mentally and physically. Knowledge that to others would be murderous was familiar to her. It seemed as if she could even penetrate Madaels mind and learn all that he himself knew.
«You are special,» Douglas said. «Its not that he chose you.»
«Then what is it?»
He stared at her face for a long moment, then he turned his gaze to her lips.
«It is something» «Douglas never finished. Rhianon turned her gaze to his pale lips. His face resembled chalk against the dark jabot, but the arcs of his eyebrows and lashes stood out in seductive dark lines. He could have been handsome, but the magical experience he had gained had exhausted him. Around his multicolored eyes appeared a dark cusp. His hair, dyed black, had lost its former silkiness. Maybe it was punishment for him for taking the heads off all his competitors. Rhianon looked into his thoughts and experienced the horrors he had experienced with him. How he had been tormented. A boy who had fallen in love with Dennitsa and discovered his hidden talents, he feared that one of his brothers or kin would become his own rival. He demanded from the king heads of his half-siblings until he executed them all. Rhianon remembered the young man being dragged to the scaffold and the star he had given her. It was Douglass brother, condemned by him who would have thought. It would have disgusted her before, but now she didnt look away, following his thoughts. They tangled into such an intricate web, and the two multicolored eyes further accentuated his singularity. One eye was blue, the other eye was emerald. Only wizards had eyes of different colors, and not all wizards, only the most powerful. Douglas was a very special, but the struggle for supremacy nearly drove him mad. What was he fighting for? Did he hope that if he became first among the damned, he would win the sympathy of his chosen one? That goal had been relegated to the back burner. Rhianon saw what he was thinking and sighed. Her lips opened like gates, ready to breathe out fire, but she already knew that Douglas would not be burned. She leaned on his shoulder and pressed her lips to his. It was just one kiss. It was sweet. The supple cold lips immediately slid open to meet hers. Experience replaced desire. Surely he wanted more, but Rhianon was quick to pull away. She had no regrets about the gift. In years of torment and abstinence, Douglas deserved at least that.
«Will we meet again here?» He gazed meaningfully around the tower beneath the high dome.
Rhianon shrugged. She hadnt thought of having a secret tryst with him just yet, especially not here. Everything here held the memory of Madael, the intimacy and kisses of the fallen angel.
Douglas was losing badly against him. Yes, he was handsome, despite his black raven robes and forced celibacy. But hes human, and while hes a little different from the rest of mankind, hes mortal, too.
«You waited too long for him,» she reminded him before she left. «Is it really all the fun in the world for you to wait even longer for me? It is all eternity, for instance.»
He only shrugged his shoulders.
«Some things are worth a lot.»
Rhianon was quite in agreement with him. Only unlike him, she wouldnt wait in vain.
Six Spinsters
When she emerged from the towers, Loretta was still drowning in twilight. The dark streets were calm. Or did it just seem that way?
As she passed the well, Rhianon stopped and glanced down, apprehensive. Could Rothbert, out of spite, have let worms like those hed let loose in the sewers down here too, to grow into dragons? Could there already be a dragon in the well? For a moment all she could see was a hunched winged silhouette, so much like Setius. Against the gleaming water below, it seemed a mirage made of moonlight. The creature lifted its head and stared at her with those same empty, moonlit eyes.
Rhianon merely shrugged her shoulders. They say that some of Dennitsas companions have fallen into crevices and wells. Those who dwelled in the water helped her take the city. The young queen was grateful to them for this. Now the underwater dwellers could get away, but they still found a place for themselves in the gutters and fountains. Perhaps, in time, a sea serpent would indeed appear in one of the wells, and a kraken would take up residence in the castle moat. Rhianon wasnt too worried about that prospect. She could handle guests seeping through the water with ease. Unless, of course, there was an ocean nearby, fire would easily scare them off. Without water, they are nothing. Their tears for Dennitsa forced them into moisture for all eternity. Every time Rhianon spotted a new pearl in her caskets, she knew who had brought it, and the wet footprints leading to the gutter or bathtub said more about the visitor than they could say for themselves. Pearls were also a symbol of tears, and also of innocence. Those who now lived under the water had compassion for Madael and paid the price for it. On the one hand Rhianon sympathized with them, on the other she was concerned about how she would keep such supporters in line if they were to rebel. In the narrow streets of Loretta, where there is little water, fire would frighten them, but what would happen in the moat. For now it was best not to think about it.
Rhianon looked into all the wells and fountains as she passed. She saw water droplets silvery on mermaid scales, unusual fish splashing in someones tubs, living pearls gliding down the gutter, supported by unusual creatures. Loretta came alive. Every drop of water in it became animate, and so did every leaf on the branches. As she walked past someones front gardens, Rhianon could hear the leaves rustling anxiously. It was as if someone was calling to her from the crowns of the trees. Sometimes she recognized the dryads, but she did not want to communicate with them today. Phyllis had long been angry with her and hid in an orange tree near the castle. Rhianon hadnt spoken to her in a long time, and the dryad was angry. She wanted to flirt and play cards with her mistress, not remain a neglected servant. She often said that the rustling of playing cards reminded her of the foliage and her home far away in the forest. More than once she had suggested that Rhianon go back into the thicket with her, to the tree that Phyllis said grew to the heavens.
Rhianon did not doubt her words now, but she did not want to leave Loretta just yet. She walked through the streets and enjoyed the feeling that everything here now belonged to her. The streets, deserted at night, were beautiful and spacious.
The figure sitting alone by the fountain would have seemed asleep to Rhianon had it not been for the scarlet trickle that trickled into the water. The girl was not asleep. Rhianon stepped closer to take a closer look. She had already expected to see Setius leaning over the corpse. He was the one who could nestle into the maidens delicate neck and bleed her.
Rhianon touched her shoulder. Her hand felt as if it had touched a helpless rag doll. The corpse fell limply to the curb of the fountain. Blond strands were wet and covered her face, but not the sign scratched into her neck. Rhianon immediately recognized it. The mark of the fallen! Someone had branded the corpse with it.
«He kills all golden-haired girls who look like you,» a small voice whispered from around the corner. «Thats because he cant touch you. And he cant touch the Master. Thats why he looks for copies and kills them.»
Near the scene, Rhianon had expected to see the black hunched over shadow of Asmodeus, but not one of the six spinsters. Madeleine, who had come around the corner, seemed to have grown in stature. She resembled a girl of twelve now, but not a little dwarf, and yet her outfit remained the same. Even the cap on her oversized head was the same, and so was her hair. But her face, under the curls of red curls, looked more grown-up.
Rhianon remembered that those who were too guilty were especially diminished after the fall. Could they have atoned for their sins and changed? It is unlikely, no one would forgive them, and they did not want forgiveness. Pride and desire for independence would not have allowed them to ask for anything.
«Only I shouldnt have told you that,» Madeleine put her finger to her lips and turned as if she were looking for witnesses.
It seemed to Rhianon that she had not come here alone.
«Why are you here?» The queen asked.
The spinster only grinned mischievously.
«We wanted to make a dress for her,» she nodded at the corpse. «It was a garment of thread that would drink the life from her. The wretch wanted to take from us the workshop, you see, she is heir to a house where we already worked We would not have tolerated her, but he left us behindt.
Madeleine raised her head on tiptoes and looked at the corpse, as if she wished to be sure that the girl would never rise again.
«Farewell!» She nodded quickly to Rhianon.
«Farewell?» She thought the word was astonishing. Wasnt all eternity in front of them? «Wont you serve me anymore?»
The spinster only shrugged her shoulders. She disappeared into the darkness faster than Rhianon could call out to her. She wandered the streets for a long time, hoping to find one of the spinsters and figure out what they were doing in Loretta, but they were nowhere to be seen. Along with them all the supernatural creatures seemed to have gone into hiding. The only unusual silhouette that separated itself from the shadows was gray and unsightly. Occasionally he would stop in front of someones door and knock on it, but the knock itself was inaudible. At first he seemed to Rhianon to be nothing more than an illusion. She did not immediately recognize the familiar face under the hood. When she recognized it, Rhianon shuddered. The gray angel was here again. Who was he looking for? She dared not go up to him and ask him that. But it seemed as if he wanted to take everyone at once. His every gesture said so. He moved through Loretta, smoothly and silently, as if he were taking the city in a ring. Rhianon followed him to watch his strange manipulations. He touched doors and locks with his pale fingers, ran his fingers over the eaves. Every stone, as if it were to soak in his touch. Rhianon would have followed him further, but she became dizzy. She had to return to the castle. Orpheus was already waiting for her there. He was shuffling cards and whistling merrily. The tune was frivolous and mischievous.
«Hello, my beautiful queen,» he grinned as she crossed the threshold. «Did you have a good night?»
«Not very much,» Rhiannon said, feeling tired. She wanted to go to the mirror and remove the hairpins from her tangled hair, but the spirit blocked her path.
«Do you look disappointed?» Orpheus took a closer look at her face. «The colored-eyed boy hasnt lived up to your expectations?»
«What do you mean?» she stared at him in amazement.
«You know, the one pretending to be a witch doctor. Damned undertrained and unsuccessful,» Orpheus almost swore.
«Ah, thats who you mean,» Rhianon was surprised at how quickly he found out. It would have been well if he had begun with the important news and then moved on to the distractions. Douglas was of little concern to her now, but Orpheus continued to badmouth him.
«If it were up to me, Id have his head on a stake in no time. It would make a fine addition to the collection that already frightens the guards in the courtyard.»
«Those heads should be buried. That reminds me,» Rhianon grimaced, remembering the eerie sight, the half circle of stakes stuck in the ground, each crowned with a disfigured severed head.
«Thats where they belong,» Orpheus snapped. «Your betrothed knows how to put fear into his subjects. Its his way of emphasizing his power since time immemorial. Personally I think that young wizards head would be a fine addition to his collection. There must be the heads of other traitors as well, of course.»
«Ive already heard that you would like to behead them.»
«Would you?»
He puzzled her with his question. A voice that spoke one word, «They are doomed,» was whispered in her ears again, loud and clear.
«Ill think about it,» she decided.
«You can think of a riot.»
«I can pacify it.»
«And this rogue warlock would help you? Your betrothed might not appreciate your intercourse with his servants. Theyre just insects under his feet.»
«And I am his favorite golden snake. I am a traitor. And he knows it.»
She wanted to hurt Orpheus, but her words hit the mark. Her spirit let them slip past his ears. He shuffled the deck so deftly that from the outside it looked as if the cards were flying in the air, caught in the wind. Then he became visible, and the mirror caught his reflection.
«Thats how you shuffle young men,» Orpheus grinned. «And you discard the superfluous ones in search of the one and only trump card.»