The saber lay in the corner of the cabin and stubbornly pretended that it wasnt magic at all. Apparently, its weak for her to attack the fairy queen.
And the fairy queen herself showed weakness. She couldnt see into Patricias past. Medea Shai probably lost some of her magical powers when her subjects scattered from her. Whats a queen without subjects?
«What if Im under some kind of spell?» Patricia thought aloud. «Why else cant she touch me and bargain with me? The fairies didnt bargain with the Sultan of Ethar. They just killed him, and Medea Shai didnt even scratch me.»
The night she flew in with Edwin, she definitely wanted to kill Patricia, but something changed. The queen of the fairies hit some obstacle she couldnt overcome. So money came into play. Bribery is the weapon of choice for those who cannot be defeated by force.
«And why do I need money and an estate to house all my evil? Sailing the seas is more fun! But the wrath of the Fairy Queen is a great risk of sinking, and some dragon is driving me from the seas! Besides, with the money, I could hire a whole army and go on Opal. All I have to do is demand magical support for the war from Medea Shai.»
The walls of the cabin, of course, did not respond, but Patricia already knew that with the support of the queen of the fairies, you can resist even the greatest magician.
The ship suddenly tilted violently. Was Aleandra rampaging in the hold again?
«It is attack!» Zeligena shouted outside. «Swamp magic doesnt work! I need your saber!»
Saber herself flew out of the cabin ahead of Patricia. The door swung open in front of her like a gust of magical wind.
Patricia reluctantly went after the saber. She wondered who could have attacked at dusk when there were no ships around. Had the Morgens crawled aboard in company? She had thought that friendship with mermaids guaranteed immunity from all sea creatures.
The deck was full of strange strangers wrapped up to their ears. You couldnt even see their faces. They fought in complete silence and stillness. No battle cries or moans of the wounded could be heard. It looked like magic!
The warriors reminded Patricia of the assassins from Opal, but their uniforms were different. Their faces were wrapped in white scarves like mummies. Curious, where were their eyes? And where did the warriors come from? There were no ships around. There was no place to jump aboard from. The creatures didnt look like Morgens either. Fighting them was useless. Once they were wounded or killed, they would rise up alive and keep fighting. So what do we do? Try to capture them all and put them in the hold with Aleandra? The fairy would be delighted! Shell have company. Aleandra can practice her charms on the prisoners.
Patricia threw herself into the battle with the intention of taking hostages. The saber flew over the deck and worked itself, so the captain had time to construct a lasso out of rope.
«Make a trap out of the fishing net we have in the hold,» she advised Netopyrina. «Then fly over the masts with Zeligena, spread the net there, and throw it down as soon as I get all of us to the edge of the deck.»
«I can do even better than that!» Netopyrina began making a gray net from her fingertips. How was it that Patricia had managed to forget that she could do that!
There were many strangers on the deck. Would that many captives make the hold burst? Oh, come on, its a magical ship.
«How gladly I would give all these warriors to a dragon!» Patricia pulled her dagger from the lapel of her boot and found the brass knuckles someone had dropped. It was useless to fight invulnerable creatures with a dagger and knuckles, but she took a chance. The saber was busy anyway. She couldnt kill the strangers, but she could disorient them. Nethopyrina had the advantage.
Somewhere in the heights, a dragons roar was indeed heard. Patricia threw her head back and saw the most beautiful dragon in the world. It was all gold. It looked like a dawn was flying across the sky, not a dragon.
«Put your pride aside and ask him for help,» Zeligena advised, who had not been able to use her magic against her enemies.
«Do you think the dragon will listen to me?» Patricia was stunned. Who did they take her for? Was she a great sorceress?
«Do it.»
«Why dont I get him to play the whistle? A lady of the court boasted of bewitching a Naga by playing the whistle. She escaped to the mountain kingdom of the Nagas! Apparently everyone there obeyed her music.»
«Just drive the dragon with your voice, not your music,» Zeligena insisted.
«And hell hear?»
«He already did, since hes here.»
«But I didnt call him.»
«I heard you did.»
Morgens and mermaids can call with a song, but not a dragon. Patricia was sure that if she threw the ring into the water and asked for help, the mermaids would come, but their help would probably sink the whole ship. And the dragon could burn the whole ship. Both options are bad. Patricia would have preferred to fight herself, but Zeligena was beating her attackers with her powerful wings, protecting the captain and waiting.
«Okay, Ill give it a try!»
Patricia hesitated, and the golden belly of the dragon suddenly disappeared behind the clouds. Where do clouds come from in the sky at night? Or was it fog? The fog was descending on the ship as well. It glowed like silver.
«Morgens hate silver, and so do I,» Zeligena muttered, looking at the silvery pollen swirling in the mist.
«Are you a member of the Morgen race? I mean to the sea civilization?»
«The swamps, rivers and seas are actually connected by common channels, rules and bloodlines. Im sort of a cousin to the mermaids.»
Zeligena squinted. The silvery mist was blinding her. Patricia began to defend the swamp fairy herself. She punched her attackers. The brass knuckles didnt hurt them much, but the hard blows made them retreat. The dagger, on the other hand, didnt hurt them at all. The blade slid across them like armor. The enemies were only wounded by the troll claws, but they did not bleed. Instead of blood, a glistening liquid appeared and the wounds healed. Well, how could they win? These faceless warriors probably wouldnt be burned by dragon fire either!
Suddenly, the crowd of invaders parted. Their ranks had not thinned, but there was a pathway between them that Patricia could follow into the thick of the battle. The warriors moved as if obeying some magician who was calling the captain to a duel.
Patricia walked forward, saber hovering ahead, chopping right and left. The magic saber could easily cut off hands, feet, and heads. The limbs grew back as if magnetically pulled to their bodies. Its like a nightmare!
«Patricia!» A gentle voice rang out from the half-light. A pale fairy stood there in the clots of silvery mist. She seemed to be the one controlling the fog. Silver glitter scattered across the fairys skin like glowing moles. Bony wings that looked like fish gills protruded from her fragile back. The fairys ball gown was of the Opals style. It felt like the fairy had flown in from a ball held in Opal. But why are the skirts soiled in the ground? Could it be a grave fairy? But shes wearing a white dress. Grave fairies usually wear mourning.
The fairys silver eyes stared fixedly at Patricia. Although the eyebrows and eyelashes on her eyelids had turned white, the stranger was recognizable.
«Beatrice!» Patricia forgot her caution and stepped toward her sister. «But you are dead!»
Lady Beatrice was found strangled by fairies in the royal garden three months ago. No one had seen with their own eyes how the fairies had lured her into the garden, whirled her around in their circle and killed her, but gossipers said that was what had happened. A wreath of forget-me-nots and roses was torn around Beatrices neck. Judging by the thorns on her throat, thats what the girl was strangled with. Who else can strangle with a flower wreath, if not fairies. After all, flowers are their symbol.
Fairies are able to teach their chosen ones how to conjure with flowers and herbs, and use the magic of plants against unwanted people. Apparently, the fairies considered the beautiful Beatrice a dangerous rival. Or maybe there are more serious enemies and intrigues involved?
«How did you end up here?» Patricia stepped over the stumps of the invaders bodies, which no longer joined or stood up. Apparently Beatrice had diverted some of the magic onto herself. Shes the one who brought the mist. Had she become a sorceress after her death?
«I flew in,» she answered. Her voice sounded like a bell, but there was no echo.
«Are you a ghost?»
Beatrice laughed.
«What difference does it make? Come to me, sister!» She held out her skinny arms to Patricia, which also showed silver sparkles. The glowing moles reminded her of a map of constellations on her skin.
Patricia obediently stepped toward Beatrice. Her sister was definitely not a fairy. Then why does Beatrice have something like stiff patterned wings protruding from her back? Maybe its just making a masquerade costume, like the long white claws on her toes, like the white butterflies tangled in her hair. Only the fog could not be called part of the masquerade. The silvery mist came with Beatrice and hypnotized everyone: enemies and supporters alike. It was as if everyone who fought had fallen asleep. The ship became as quiet as a grave, and the fog shimmered and thickened.
«Are you Mistress of the Mists?» Patricia asked dazedly, approaching her sister. Beatrices face glowed like a true star fairy. She could easily be seen even in the fog.
«Are you the mistress of the ship?»
«It is a sort of.»
«Do you know why I hid your ship from the dragon?»
«Did you do that?» Patricia was genuinely surprised. Why did Beatrice dislike the dragon so much? Its so beautiful!
«I know the risk your association with the dragon poses to all of Opal,» she whispered. Her bloodless lips were also filled with sparkling sparks like mist.
«How did you escape from Opal?»
«I escaped from the crypt, not Opal. The grave fairies got jealous of how beautiful I turned out to be.»
Patricia didnt understand, but hugged her sister anyway. The saber hovering above her head hissed unhappily. Why did she dislike Beatrice so much?
Her sisters curls had lightened to an almost grayish hue, but were softer than silk to the touch. But Beatrices skirts were indeed clumps of earth. Had she really been buried alive? How did she get out of the crypt? No one in Patricias family had ever fallen into a lethargic sleep. Was Beatrice a newcomer, or did the King of Opal deliberately bury her alive? But Beatrice wasnt involved in any conspiracy. He probably decided to punish the whole family by destroying the youngest of the sisters. The parents always loved Beatrice more than Patricia. After all, Beatrice was sickly and very delicate. In the old days she would have been tortured with nausea even while boating on the pond, but now she felt fine even on the high seas.
«The King of Opal is not a villain,» Beatrice whispered in Patricias ear. «He loves you. Go back to him and he will forgive you.»
«What are you saying?» Patricia wanted to pull away, but Beatrices slender hands clutched her waist with a deadening grip.
Where had the soft, velvety skin gone? Her sisters hands turned to bone. Patricia wanted to break free, but the bony fingers held her tightly. On one cheek Beatrices smooth bone was also exposed. Flesh and skin fell from her face like the face of Queen Esperanza rotting in a crypt. In contrast, the wings behind Beatrices back glistened and gained power. She soared above the deck and lifted Patricia with her. Though Beatrices body was thinner and more fragile than her older sisters, a weight like Patricias did not seem heavy to her. After dying in the arms of the fairies, do even graceful ladies become strong willed?
«Forgive me, sister, but I must take you to Opal to see my master,» Beatrice smiled. The teeth beneath her bloodless lips were sharpened to resemble white needles.
«So you are a fairy after all!»
«It is not quite!» Beatrice laughed again. «You dont know so much! You dont even know what Ive become!»
«Let go, traitor!»
«Id rather carry you away than a dragon!»
Beatrice soared higher into the starry skies and came upon the very dragon that appeared to be hovering over the ship. The mist concealed it, but did not drive it away. Barely noticing the mist fairy, the dragon showed aggression.
Beatrice howled as the dragons claw touched her body. From the mere dragons touch, the pale fairy began to burn. She unclenched her bony hands and released her victim. Patricia would have fallen from the height and could have crashed or broken her bones, but the dragon did not let her fall. Its claw picked her up and gently planted her on the sentinels stall on the mast. Had the dragon really shown gallantry? Patricia was stunned, but she could no longer get a good look at the dragon and Beatrice in the fog.
A tangle of secrets
Along with Beatrice, the squad of night invaders disappeared from the deck. The crew had fought them all night and was exhausted. It turns out that even magical creatures can be exhausted. Patricia thought they were tireless.
Why did the dragon save her? Could it be a different dragon than the one that planted the fiery threatening letter on the deck? Are there not many dragons flying over the sea?
And why did she think the letter was from a dragon? A dragon could have been signed by some rogue wizard who created the flaming letter with enchantments, not dragon breath.
The golden dragon was magnificent! He was her savior! Patricia sent an air kiss to the heavens and belatedly remembered that as she was now, no one would consider her a sign of favor. Her clothes were torn, her breeches had replaced her aristocratic attire, and her old cloak was tied around her waist like a ragged skirt. Her hair was still beautiful. The dragon probably mistook them for flames, which is why he saved her. Dragons respect fire goddesses, after all.
Patricia has heard that fire goddesses live on the shores of Tioria. Because of them, all the waterfalls along the shores became fire falls, and they are now called fire falls.
Maybe the dragon ship came from Tioria and was ruled by a fire goddess? But no one had ever heard of fire ships, even in Tioria.
The night invaders were definitely sent by the King of Opal. Only he, who gathered magic and magical creatures around him, could conjure something like this. One could expect anything from a king, but Patricia did not expect treachery from her own sister.
The glowing footprint of the mist fairy was left on the deck. It was like the glow imprints of the moon fairies. Patricia wanted to touch it, but someone suddenly grabbed her arm.
«Nethopyrina! Let go!» Patricia struggled, but it was impossible to fight off the huge wings of the fairy bat.
«Youll die if you touch it,» warned Netopyrina. «This is the mark of a dead fairy.»
«Its the mark of my own sister!»
«Shes not your sister anymore.»
«You think I cant recognize my own sister?» Patricia was indignant.
Sometimes Nethopyrina takes on too much. The Bat Fairy wrapped herself in her wings like a dark cloak and hissed, squinting at the glittering trail on the deck.
«These are dangerous creatures. They come with the fog, the storm, or the moonlight. They themselves come from the world of the dead and their purpose is to lead the living away. But the one on our ship is even more dangerous than they are. Its unnatural, as if it was created artificially. Even magic can be untypical at times.»