ISBN 978-5-0064-4367-9

      Created with Ridero smart publishing system

      Thirteen curses

      Samantha looked out of the carriage. Night had fallen over the provinces of Ivilor, and the moon shone as brightly as if the moon fairies were dancing around it. The journey to the capital was not a long one. The carriage sped along the road, bouncing over bumps. A leprechaun squeaked under the road and was carelessly hit by the wheels of the carriage. A hiss of curses came from the coachman.

      «Trouble is with you! I send thirteen curses after you all!»

      Samantha shuddered. She thought she saw thirteen ghostly silhouettes separate from the trees and flapped their whitish wings. The figures resembled the ghosts of the plague. Samantha didn’t get a good look at them, but she remembered that a plague was roaming the outskirts of Ivilor, and that warlike nomadic tribes that looked suspiciously like werewolves were coming from the other side of the border. It’s as if thirteen curses have fallen upon the land. Pestilence, drought, crop failures, and some superstitious people claimed vampires were in the cemeteries. Who could be responsible for all these curses?

      Samantha wondered for a long time. She believed in leprechauns, who lived in holes under roads and paths like moles. Only unlike moles, leprechauns kept gold and precious stones in their underground holes. She wished she could catch a leprechaun! Then she would be rich in no time and would not have to go to the capital. Samantha’s vain mother suddenly decided to send her daughter to court to find a rich groom. Her father, who spent his days in the library of the family estate, did not interfere with his wife’s plans. So Samantha shook in a carriage that bounced over every bump. She cursed the road, all the rich suitors, and her mother’s selfishness. It would have been good to stay at home and pick flowers in the garden of the manor. No, her mother wanted to arrange her daughter’s fate as favorably as possible. How unfair!

      «If you had been born into a less ambitious family, everything would have been fine,» Samantha said to her reflection in the carriage window. «And some insolent leprechaun has managed to curse me thirteen times for being unhappy as I am! Had he known that I was only a puppet in the plans of a vain parent! What a pity you can’t choose your parents!»

      «But you can choose a patron,» whispered a melodious voice outside.

      There was no one in the carriage, except for the grooms on the saddles. But the grooms were young men, and the voice was definitely female. Samantha opened the window. Now there were several voices whispering outside.

      «I swear to you, I would fly to Ivilor, but it’s useless. They won’t even let us on the edge of the parapet of the royal balcony.»

      «How can you not let the fairies in? The King has been polite to the magical people so far. He respected us! Why the sudden change of heart?»

      «It’s because of the King’s companion! The King is untouchable now!»

      Are those fairies whispering? Samantha saw translucent hovering silhouettes in the heights. If they are fairies, they are always right. Only why are they saying it next to her with the express intention that she should hear them? Does her fate have something to do with the fate of the king himself? And the king, according to the fairies, is out of reach. All right, she’s not aiming at the king.

      Samantha lowered the velvet curtain of the carriage, but the voices of the fairies still reached her ears.

      «Serpin is poor!»

      «Yes, poor King!»

      How could the king of a rich country be called poor? Samantha was tempted to open the window and get into a debate with the fairies, but she held back. She’d already been cursed thirteen times today. She didn’t want to get cursed fourteen more times.

      «Imagine!» The voices of the fairies sounded outside, melodious as bells. «The king will never have a sweetheart, a maid of honor, a bride, or even a wife.»

      «Will he go to the Red Constellation Monastery?»

      «It is no way! The strong demon won’t let him go there. He drinks and sleeps next to the king, but no one knows about it. That’s why the beautiful young king will never have a bride or a favorite. No girl can be with him.»

      «What must he do?»

      «He must cast out the dodgy demon.»

      «Isn’t that the same thing: breaking the curse and casting out the demon?»

      «No, neither! You’ll see I’m right! Such a strong-willed girl will not be found. The King will be alone forever. There is not even a fairy strong enough to rescue him from the demon’s grasp. And whoever tries to save him will die!»

      «You’re just scaring us, Rosafeira, because you want to take him away yourself!»

      The voices of the fairies were like an operetta under a carriage window. Samantha couldn’t stand it any longer, so she lifted the curtain and opened the window. The scent of wild roses wafted into her nostrils, as if a rose fairy were flying outside the window.

      «There are dangerous borders beyond! We’re not going that way,» several winged silhouettes chanted. In the darkness Samantha couldn’t see them properly. They soon fell behind the carriage.

      A demon on the road

      The voices above the carriage seemed like a dream. Could she have dozed off on the road? Samantha looked out the window for the fairies. Were they really following the carriage? No, it must have been a dream. Who was she to get the fairies’ sympathy? Rumor has it that fairies suddenly appear out of the void to advise only special girls. And she is an ordinary provincial noblewoman. Her manners, education and appearance leave much to be desired. An unusual mole in the shape of a star on her shoulder is the most unique thing about her. For some reason, superstitious people called this mole a mark of fairies, so Samantha tried not to wear dresses with open shoulders. It’s uncomfortable to have fingers pointed at you. In the Inquisition, they might call it a witch’s mark and send Samantha to the stake. There’s an inquisition in the capital. Samantha hated to go there, but she couldn’t turn back. Her mother had told the coachman, when he complained of frequent attacks by robbers, that even if he met a demon on the road, he couldn’t go back.

      «We won’t meet a demon, but the bandits might attack us,» Samantha grumbled, hoping the fairies would respond again, but they were silent. Or were they not even here anymore? If the fairies didn’t follow the carriage, then the boundaries were indeed dangerous.

      Samantha became despondent. Even though the fairies hadn’t spoken to her specifically, they had indirectly given her advice: don’t go to Ivylor. It’s dangerous! It would have been better if they had given such advice to her mother. Only Samantha’s mother could decide where her daughter would go. Samantha was tired of feeling powerless, but not having a penny to her name, she could not do what she wanted.

      An owl hooted somewhere. It was normal for nighttime, but the disturbed cries of day birds were not supposed to be heard at night. Samantha recognized the startled trills of nightingales, kingfishers, and skylarks. A flock of birds was flying away from the forest. Their wings hit the roof of the carriage. Samantha recognized woodpeckers, thrushes, magpies and orioles. Were the birds migrating? Or had something frightened them so much that they were hurrying away from the forest? The forest animals also ran away with such speed that they almost got under the wheels of the carriage. The coachman had to slow down. Samantha watched in amazement as foxes, squirrels, hares and even moles ran away from the forest. Could there be a forest fire raging ahead? No orange flames could be seen in the distance. Could the animals and birds have gone mad?

      Suddenly the horses in the carriage reared up. The carriage almost overturned. Samantha fell from her seat and hit her shoulder against the wall.

      «It hurts!» Someone nearby