ISBN 978-5-0060-3451-8 (т. 3)

      ISBN 978-5-0060-2969-9

      Создано в интеллектуальной издательской системе Ridero

      Water Dragons

      Lilophea was left alone in the azure garden. The paradisiacal place darkened in an instant. It was now as terrifying as hell.

      Could the twins have deliberately lied to her, to make her frightened and disgusted? How did it feel to be related to monsters? Probably it is no better than being married to an underwater creature. It’s kind of scary, and you realize that you have to get used to it to survive.

      Lirena had one of her tentacles tied with a scrap from Lilophea’s dress. So these girls really had been motionless, wooden statues a short time ago. Lilophea remembered perfectly well the first time she had climbed onto a mermaid ship and torn her dress there.

      Could it be that all the other animated statues from the ship would come here, too? Only, perhaps, they would come no longer as guests, but with a declaration of war. They are from the ocean. It seems that it was the creatures from the ocean that the Morgens fought all the time. That’s the reason Seal might have been missing for so long: some powerful enemy was approaching its borders.

      «Could you show me the way to the ocean?» Lilophea fiddled with the sun pendant around her neck.

      Hearing the question, the sun instantly was alive right in her fingers, rounded her dainty lips, and chanted:

      «Don’t!»

      So it really is very dangerous in the ocean. Lilophea was more surprised that her fears were confirmed than that the pendant could also give advice, and not just point the right way.

      What should she do now? Go back to the palace and rely on the power of the Triton guards and an army of water dragons who would jump off the arches and pillars to protect the queen of the sea from any attack. And an attack from the ocean dwellers might be just around the corner.

      To sit at home was humiliating and unpleasant. If the kingdom of the sea was in danger, she must do something. But what?

      Lilophea climbed out of the azure garden and swam downstream. The mere sight of the familiar creature on the anchor of the wreck frightened her so much that she almost turned back. But it had no intention to attack, only staring at Lilophea with multiple pairs of multicolored eyes. It was content. On the ship, which, by all appearances, it had recently dragged to the bottom, were gleaming chests of gold coins. Lilophea recalled what Seal had said about the creature. It clings to the anchors of ships, unsuspecting sailors pull it up, and once on board, it attacks them and sinks the ship for its valuable cargo. Such a creature can be called nothing less than a cunning parasite or underwater pirate.

      Somehow it was able to see through the bottom to see if there was treasure on board a ship that had passed by. The bottom of the large ship was just visible on the surface. The creature winked at Lilophea with ten eyes, let out a long whistle, and suddenly, out of the blue, someone above ordered to lower the anchor. It is supposed to be thrown out only near the shore for the time of anchorage, but not in the open sea. But the rules were broken. The clever spy hooked himself to the anchor and whizzed off again. He was pulled up. The chain was quickly wound onto the winch above. The creaking sound reached even into the underwater realm. The men on board were unaware that they were pulling their doom from the sea.

      Lilophea became curious as to what exactly was going to happen up there, so she decided to watch. Naturally it was from a safe distance. To do so, she had to swim a little away from the ship. This proved difficult. The short anchor chain never reached the bottom, so the ship kept moving forward. Lilophea was too far out. And the sides of the ship were too high. You couldn’t see what was happening on the ship no matter how you jumped out of the water.

      «You would have been better off with wings than a tail,» someone scooped Lilofea up from behind and lifted her over the water. What was happening on deck was so terrifying that she wanted to dive right in.

      «Hush! Don’t move so much!» A woman’s offended voice sounded.

      Lilophea found that she had been helped by the same morgena with snow-white, multi-layered, flower-like wings and white curls. It was the one she had seen once before floating on the sea in a palanquin. This must be the white fairy or the sea fairy. What was her other name?

      She had a face in relief, like a morgena. But the patterned wings suggested the legends of snow fairies.

      «Your mother has wings!» The white fairy put webbed fingers to her lips. «Don’t say anything! But you could have saved them. Just pull your train!»

      Lilophea only now discovered that the fairy was no longer supporting her. Her feet are held on the water by themselves, as on solid ground. Only it was softer and more pleasant to tread on the waves than on land. She moved a little and the train of her dress spread like foam over the surface of the surrounding waves. It was as if the sea was her train! Lilophea tried to do what the fairy had advised her and pull the train. It turned out something like a small storm. Foamy waves rose along with the train. The ship was already sinking. If only she had intervened earlier, it would not have sunk, but the spy would have been thrown from the deck by the tremendous jolt.

      «I wish I’d had another doubloon of his profit,» the fairy opened the white marrow fan in vexation. But no! It was not a fan, but one of her webbed hands. There were pairs of hands-one holding the hem of a lace dress that seemed to rise from her own pale skin, one pair correcting her hair, one pair gesturing. All of them had openwork webs that made a normal hand look like a fan. She seemed to have more than five fingers. Standing there with her mouth open and counting was uncomfortable, so Lilophea turned away.

      «What would one do with doubloons at sea?» She wondered.

      «Have you ever been to a fish market?»

      «Yes, in Aquilania. There’s a main square there, and there’s a market.»

      «Not the one where they sell the fish, but the one where the fish put out their own goods.»

      «I’ve never been there. What interesting things can the fish sell that you can’t get for free on the bottom?»

      «Well, the fish scientists offer a large assortment of things you can’t invent without their help.»

      The fairy looked greedily at the bloody splash and the wreckage of the ship in the distance.

      «You are able to tread the waves, and my wings are tired,» she apologized, and was so. There’s a reason her wings are layered! Even birds don’t fly at that speed.

      Her newly discovered ability to walk on water was so unusual that for several minutes Lilophea enjoyed it. The ripple of small waves under her feet tickled her skin pleasantly. It was sheer pleasure! The train, merging with the sea, did not weigh her down or slow her down at all. If one tugged it, the whole surface of the sea would be stirred by the storm.

      You could only feel so good in a dream. Dinny Shea flew over the water. Usually these tiny faeries gather in a flock near fishermen’s boats and vigorously offer the fisherman favors if he’ll do their bidding. For example, if he refuses to fish for good. Then they will make him rich. They must have some sort of agreement with the Morgens.

      Only she couldn’t see any of the small fishing boats in the vicinity. No one had even had time to lower the lifeboats from the sinking ship. So what were the Dinny Shea looking for here? They glittered like a scattering of stars over the water.

      A stroll forward across the surface of the sea made it clear who they were waiting for. The luxurious boat was sailing slowly downstream, uncontrolled by oars or rudder. The same painter in the boat was painting a morgen with a brush in the air. He must have run