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Gryphon dynasty
«You can’t joke with mermaids,» Leroy remarked.
«Is it with live ones or with bony ones, like in Rokuela’s domain?» Warwick asked, irascibly.
«It is with both!» Several of the brothers answered at once.
Fiona couldn’t even see which princes were speaking. She glanced in the mirror. The crown and long emerald earrings made her look like a real queen herself. If only she could find a fancy dress somewhere else! Then she would be just like her new friends, the princes.
She found the jewels herself. Pity that satin and silk, unlike precious metals, do not last. And, consequently, buried along with the jewelry also the chest with the dresses could not.
«Your jewelry is no worse than that of the queen of the seas, Lilophea,» Orvel commented.
«It’s a good thing Ornella can’t see me now. She would think I was a witch if she found them,» Fiona thought aloud.
«Aren’t you a witch?» Orvell was genuinely surprised.
«Am I a witch?» Fiona sounded frightened. All witches are old and ugly. How can she be compared to them! – I am not a witch!
«I think you are,» Leroy said casually.
Fiona didn’t even have time to be offended.
«If you weren’t a witch, you wouldn’t have spent an hour with us,» said Archibald. «Ordinary girls go crazy if they’re in our company. The ones who turn into griffins tend to die. You’re still alive. So you’re a witch. Or are you a clairvoyant? Or a chosen one of the magical powers whose path leads to the School of Witchcraft?»
It was something Rokuela had said. Fiona wondered.
Another gryphon flew over the sea. She wondered if it might be Condor. Fiona’s heart quickened with excitement.
The gryphon lowered itself onto the sand and turned into the furious Ornella instead of Condor.
«She must be a witch!» Ornella pointed a clawed hand at Fiona. «If she doesn’t burn, she must be drowned!»
«Well, no!» Orvel was resolute this time. All the princes surrounded Fiona. Ornella only pressed her lips together angrily. The squad of guards was not with her at the moment. Besides, griffins were more powerful than an army.
«I am in charge!» Ornella insisted. «I alone decide who lives and who is executed. She is dangerous! She’s a redhead!»
«This prophecy about redheads is nonsense,» Orvel cut his sister off. «You’re so hung up on it you’ll drive yourself mad.»
«Let Fiona come and live with us!» Lestan suggested.
«This is intolerable!» Ornella stomped her foot and her shoe sank into the sand.
«One less lady at court, one more, what difference does it make?»
«But she’s just a peasant girl!»
«So dress her up like a lady and no-one will know the difference,» Lestan could not take his eyes off Fiona and Ornella grew more and more furious.
«Our ancestors would roll over in their graves with shame if they knew of such frivolity.»
«When have you ever had any respect for our ancestors?» Orvel snapped at her. «They’re just people. Griffins are just us!»
Fiona was astonished! She had thought the curse was old, but it was fresh.
A large cavalry party was galloping toward the shore. Ornella’s guards followed her everywhere. Fiona was frightened.
«The witch must be put to death or we shall all regret we were sentimental!» Ornella kept on persisting.
«She is useful!» Orvel stood up for Fiona, pointing to a chest lying in the sand. «Look what she has found! She is the only one who can see the light of buried treasure!»
«Is she a treasure hunter?» Ornella became alarmed. «And this was not the first time?» She remembered. «The valuables you had with you when you were taken… Did you find them in the earth or in the sand?»
Fiona nodded.
«That changes everything!» Ornella immediately showed her greed. «Better to keep her alive for now and test her. If she shows her talent as a treasure hunter in the future, you can consider her saved! I love it when people are useful!»
Ornella went to meet the party, talked to their leader about something, and took his horse. She liked riding as much as she liked flying through the sky on her own wings.
«We’ll be under escort to the palace, I suppose,» Orvel concluded, justly. «The important thing is that we’ve asserted our rights to our friend.»
Fiona watched as the guards gathered the jewels and coins from the chest and could not understand why Ornella was more important than the whole group of Prince Heirs. Why was she the queen? And why are all the princes beside her practically powerless? After all, apart from her they have the power of giants. There lies some mystery here.
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