LUNA : Bride of the Ice Dragon

"He is a murderer! I have seen everything!" Luna ran to the guards entering the house. She awkwardly tilted her head to meet the constable's gaze. "It was Giberth who poisoned my father; he Add poison to the wine, check the bottle! And he threatens to kill Kevin. Please!" All day she waited for them to tell them about what she had accidentally overheard. She pretended she didn't know anything. lest Giberth suspect something was wrong. The constable frowned, twisting his mouth. "Mister Young, are you in trouble?" He said through clenched teeth. "Apparently, yes". The groom suddenly turned out to be near and tore the girl off the ground by the scruff, like a naughty kitten. "I knew you were listening". He whispered in her ear, and then again turned back to the police officers. "Don't worry, gentle people. I'll deal with her." "If she talks, there may be troubles." Giberth sighed dramatically. "She lost her father. The All-good Mother cursed her with madness. It’s a grief. She just lost her mind. Happens to be with women." He dragged her to the second floor literally holding her hair and clamping her mouth with one hand so that she doesn’t screamed, and with the other, winding her braid around his palm. He pushed hard, tossing her onto the bed. Luna fell, losing her balance, and hit the canopy bar. "Well, I really thought that we could get along" She looked and didn’t recognize the courteous and kind man she was going to marry. "I did it for you. Your father was against our marriage." "I would have run away with you, but you Kill him! And you want to kill Kevin ..." The voice was almost breaking into a scream. Kevin was Luna's five-years-old brother. Now he is supposed to be with their mother in a summer house located at the far end of the estate. But are they okay? The salty taste in the mouth made it difficult. to concentrate. Apparently, when she fell, she bit her tongue. What can she do against a man hanging over her? if he has foreseen everything? "Run away? Why the hell do I need you? without money and a title to your last name?" Giberth laughed. disgustingly. "You know, I'm even glad that everything is exposed. Now I can stop pretending." He walked up to her, grabbed her collar, and put her back on her feet, forcefully shaking her. Luna pressed against the wall somehow Increase the distance between them. "I'll tell you straight. I need the title of Grand Duke. And I will do anything for this. You are just a means to an end. And if necessary, you will go down the aisle fully breathing with a dream-pollen." "Do whatever you want to me. But don't touch Kevin." She felt a lonely tear slide down her cheek. ‍​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‍"I’ll do whatever I want anyway. And your little brother is an obstacle to getting the title" He reached out his hand to her, roughly grabbing her breast, but Luna drew back and spat right in Giberth's face. She felt the pain right after he hit her in the stomach, throwing a fist forward. She doubled over and immediately received Another hit, this time to the head. "I need you alive just until the wedding. Remember this." Dark circles blurred in her eyes. Luna sat down on the rug by her own bed and curled up. For the first few hours she cried, but not so much from pain and not even from betrayal. Most of all, at that moment, she hated herself for believing the villain, letting him into the house. And she destroyed her whole family. Father. Mother. Little Kevin. What's stopping Giberth? from going and killing her mom and brother right now? The All-Good Mother did not hear her prayers. And even if she had, as the priests said, she would punish criminals only after their death. Her sight fell on a thin book that lied under the bed as if it was from another life. It was a book of fairy-tales that her Brother had brought it to her room yesterday. They lay together on the bed, and She read to him the legend of the far north, where an immortal monster lives. among ice and snow. A flying lizard that was once human. Once a year he comes to their regions too, and when the wings of a giant cover the sky, it snows. It's summer outside now, but according to the legend, Ice Lizard can fulfill any desire if you offer him a good enough payment. You need to spell his name thirteen times and blow out the candle. These are fairy tales, fables. Everyone in their childhood tried to summon Ice Lizard at least once. But at that moment, Luna realized that she needed a miracle so much, that she was ready to believe in anything. And even if nothing happens and the wish will not come true, but for a few seconds, while she utters the cursed name with which people frighten their children, she would hope. Because she has nothing more to hope for.