In the company of the peacock

Morissa was glad that she had successfully traded the monkey. The amusing little beast was worth nothing more than a kiss. She had trained him to sit on her narrow shoulder, where he could only fit with difficulty, and always had his tail around her neck to keep him from falling over.

“I’ll call him Traitor, because he only wants to jump on someone else’s shoulder where there’s more room,” she said.

“Better the Cheater,” said Lilophea, noticing the way the monkey had deftly removed the ring and pearl from the gift chest.

“Traitor sounds more romantic, it’s as if I were a fairy who bewitched the cheating lover into a monkey and now takes him with her,” joked the girl.

Cheater meanwhile offended snorted and dropped the ring, as if burned on it. He even blew on his paw.

“Your jewelry chills me,” said Morissa reluctantly. “I tried it on while you were away, and it looked as if I were freezing at the bottom of the ocean, snow and angry swordfish. It was horrible! I took them off right away, and I felt warmer. Aren’t you cold in them?”

“No!” Lilophea wore a pearl bracelet made of many strands, and she felt no cold at all.

“You’d better be more careful. The pirates in the harbor are wondering if it’s easy to kidnap the Princess,” Morissa hinted.

“And they weren’t teasing you.”

“I could betray them to the harbor-guard, but they gave me Traitor for that. And he’s so pretty!”

“Not for nothing, it is for a kiss. Which means you didn’t get him for free.”

“A kiss is not money. It didn’t make me poorer.”

Lilothea did not remind Morissa that she couldn’t get any poorer, because she was penniless. Her father was losing everything. She would have been better off looking for a worthy match at court, rather than tangling with dubious individuals at the wharf. She even got herself a telescope so she could watch the smugglers from the gallery by starlight. Strange how no one had ever caught them in the dangerous vicinity of the royal castle. Dashing fellows! She even began to respect them for their courage and recklessness.

“They’re in a hurry to earn their keep,” Morissa explained. “Not everyone loves a girl for free.”

“How do you know?”

“They only socialize with those who wear a bright yellow and red dress, and that’s what only portly whoremongers dress like. They always have brightly colored faces. If we can get them, we could walk through the town incognito, and no one would suspect us of being noble ladies.

“It’s too risky,” Lilophea began to suspect Morissa. She might be conspiring with the pirates to sell the princess to them. A penniless freedwoman at court is sometimes capable of all manner of intrigue to secure a well-fed future. Morissa’s prospects were grim. As soon as she was old enough no one would hold her as a lady-in-waiting or a maid of honour. And her father had bankrupted the estate. Where could she go? Except marry a pirate or a smuggler and sail the seas with him.

“I’ll go to the ball,” said Morissa, smoothing her canary yellow dress with puffed shoulders and spreading the feathers of her lemon-colored mask. “I will go with the Traitor. He’s my beau tonight, and let everyone else be jealous.”

She already knew that no one would be jealous. Stately and rather handsome, Morissa was not particularly popular with refined courtiers, but she was easy to get along with all sorts of criminals: pirates, bandits, smugglers. They all tried to oblige her. But at the masquerade ball, where she was going, most likely no one would even notice her. Perhaps such an exotic appearance as hers only appealed to rugged men.

“She looks like a mulatto,” said the peacock, as soon as her maid left.

“Who is she?” Lilophea wondered.

“Well, let’s say, even a Creole or a Quaternary.”

“What does that mean?”

“That she has an admixture of black people’s blood in her.”

“Are there people with black skin?”

“People are rare. Mostly wild island tribes that try to enslave. But I have seen with my own eyes black-skinned wizards and peri.”

“Tell tales!” Lilophea was indignant. It was curious that somewhere there were creatures so unlike the usual people around her.

“There are whole islands in the sea with black peri.”

“What are peri?”

“They are Genie girls. They twirl around the fires at night, like pillars of fire, and lure sailors with their charms to the slaughter. And they are supposed to be kind. That depends on whom! One plucked feathers from my tail to make herself a fan. Can you imagine?”

“You could write a whole novel of adventures about your life before you came to my prosperous palace under the guardianship of a royal daughter.”

“By the way, I was the one who came under your tutelage, not the one who got in. You frowned for the first minute, wondering whether I should be invited to live in your chambers or sent straight to the pigeon-house with the other peacocks.”

“It’s not a dovecote, it’s a greenhouse,” said Lilophea, who had some difficulty in guessing that he was referring to the glass structure in the garden.

“If the peacocks are white, it’s a dovecote.”

“No one’s ever seen a blue one here before you.”

“And in countries other than Aquilania, peacocks are mostly blue or blue with green flecks.”

The Seneschal flew around the room worriedly.

“So are we going to the masquerade ball?”

“I don’t feel like it,” Lilophea went through the pearl and coral jewelry in the chest. It felt so good to touch them. It was as if water were gurgling inside them. And the miraculous mirror showed ever new vivid pictures of the amazing underwater world, where the tridents of newts shoot lightning bolts, and mermaids ride in a chariot drawn by sharks or stingrays. Truly magical stuff!

“By the way, I got you a mask to match that beautiful mauve dress with the cape you never wore.”

Seneschal had indeed got a mask of feathers and sequins. It resembled the tufts of a peacock. Lilothea put it to her face. It really looks magnificent, and the princess is unrecognizable in it, except for the tiara. And the purple bouffant outfit is worth wearing for once. The peacock helped her tighten the lacing in the back like a caring chambermaid. The corset was so tight it was hard to breathe. You wouldn’t think a peacock could pull the laces down like that with one beak.

“Come on, let’s go!” He flew ahead, of course, and talked nonsense until they reached the door of the ballroom. Here the Seneschal fell silent as usual. He does not want to be caught and put in a cage for chattering so that in the future he will entertain the king and his ministers exclusively. Perhaps even give them some advice for everyone’s amusement. The scholarly peacock is an unheard of wonder. It can be bragged about in front of ambassadors. He circled over Lilophea’s head like a devoted cavalier.

How long since he sang that she didn’t believe the waterman? He could even now sing for the amusement of all the guests and visitors. They, too, must be warned not to believe the watermen and water waders, or suddenly they crawl right out of the sea.

Instead of water girls, Nereida was carelessly bathing in the fountain near the entrance to the ballroom. Her graceful head stood out against the border of balls and shells. She had lost all shame. At court one must be mindful of propriety. She smiled defiantly at the princess.

“You’re in a hurry to have fun!”

“Yes I am, and what is about you?”

“I prefer to watch from a safe distance.”

“Bathing in the fountains is not permitted.”

“But it’s not forbidden either.”

“That’s because no one’s thought of climbing into them yet.”

“Don’t worry, the guards won’t catch me.”

Lilophea really noticed that there were no guards around for some reason. Usually they were standing guard at the door. Maybe they’re having fun, too.

“Swimming in the sea isn’t enough for you anymore?”

“I like all kinds of portals.”

“What do you mean?”

Nereida was slow to respond, and Lilophea remembered that before entering the ballroom, the mask must be put on her face, otherwise everyone would recognize her as a princess and the fun would not be so interesting. The beauty of a masquerade is that no one will recognize you. A masquerade is like a game of hide-and-seek. Will anyone guess your identity or not? Nereida was in no hurry to go to the masquerade, and Lilophea passed her by.

“It’s not nice to leave a friend,” came a resentful cry from the fountain and the princess was followed by a splash of water.

“So you’re already friends,” the peacock whispered indignantly. “You’ve only talked to her twice, and she’s already asking to be your friend.”

“Don’t you like her?” Lilophea noticed that the peacock kept well away from the fountain while she talked to Nereida. And for some reason Nereida was still squinting at him angrily. Apparently their dislike was mutual. There are some ladies who dislike even very beautiful birds. Personally, she liked it better in the company of a peacock than a cavalier or a friend. The peacock is much easier to handle. He has a funny way of talking. And if he becomes too annoying, he can simply be locked up in a cage. But you can’t get rid of the Sultan that easily if he comes to visit.

It’s a good thing only ambassadors have come from across the sea so far. None of them has approached the princess in person. All negotiations for a possible alliance were conducted only with the king and his ministers. Even all gifts were passed through the king. Lilothea received rolls of fine brocade, spices and silk. She could assume that the Sultan himself, arrived in Aquilania disguised as an ambassador and demanded a masquerade ball to suit the bride-to-be. Also, all the gifts left at the fountains might have been from him. Only this assumption was contradicted by the boxes of jewels from Etar, which turned out to be quite ordinary jewels of opals, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, even amber. But among them were neither unusually large pearls, nor coral, nor rare sea stones. Not to mention the coldness of the water and the visions that did not emanate from them. So it was not the sultan who had given the chests of pearls as a gift after all. But that would be a fairy tale.

“Don’t make friends with just anyone,” the Seneschal advised. “It can turn into trouble.”

“Is it in your case?”

“Have I ever caused you any trouble?” He flapped his luxurious wings vigorously, trying to keep up with her.

“Well, except for the chatter…” she tried to remember. What had he done wrong already? The princess herself had admired his abilities and taken him in. Had he behaved with dignity? He was certainly not grateful to Lilophea. He took her shelter for granted.

“It was dangerous to meet strangers!” He repeated like a parrot.

“Well, I met you!”

Lilofea expected that such insolent and truthful remark will be followed by a barrage of objections, but the peacock somehow dejectedly hushed. Did he really think he was a danger to her?

She felt unusual in his company, but he certainly couldn’t be dangerous.

“Those creatures of the water…” he murmured.

“Nereida is just spoiling. She probably wasn’t allowed to do that at home. I think she came with ambassadors from Etar, which means that in her homeland, she even had to cover her face with a veil. By the way, we should go back and ask her about her country.

“No need!” The peacock was frightened. “You shouldn’t talk to crazy people who bathe in fountains. She might want to drown you in it!”

“Stop it!” Seneschal was understandable. Having found a worthy hostess, he feared he would not lose his nourishing place. If anything happened to her, where would he find the second princess, and how could he become her pet? No wonder he was jealous of everyone.

“Tonight you’re the only one who’s my beau! I promise not to dance with anyone else.”