Thats what Rhianon was going to do. No one, not even Madeel himself, could stop her.
Her shoulders trembled a little with inner tension. She was already preparing for the fight and everything inside her trembled. Ferdinand interpreted her gesture in his own way.
I must have a warm cloak in my saddle-bag. I will fetch it to you, my lady, to keep you warm.
Rhianon gestured for him to stop.
Leave it. Im not cold.
But
He was taken aback when he saw the beautiful lady lift her fingertips and a flame flicker above her fingernails. At first it might have been an illusion, but gradually the flame took shape and hung like a hot ball over her palm. Now it would be unnecessary to remind her that it was quite chilly in the woods at night, and her shoulders were bare. Rhianon proved that she could warm herself.
I dont need warmth, especially human warmth.
It would be a trifle for her to make a great fire in the evening. But she watched coldly as the others piled brushwood and searched their surviving luggage for drones, flints, and splinters of flint. They could not find anything. She had to sleep without the warmth of a crackling fire. Rhianon felt no remorse for refusing to help her knights. She had no intention of demonstrating her abilities in public. Why should she need to be called a witch? Some people were already mistrustful of her because they remembered her coming out of the woods, alone, without a horse and no retinue. A noblewoman should not be alone in the woods. Not a princess, or rather a queen. She needs companions, chaperones, ladies-in-waiting, bodyguards and pageboys. And its not customary for ladies to walk. Its easy to step in light satin shoes on impassable forest roads. No one, after all, knows that for her it is now nothing to overcome long distances at the speed of the wind. People who meet her must have many questions. Where are her attendants, where is her carriage, her servants? To all this she could not give an honest answer. And even when she could, no one must know who she had spent the last months of her life with. Fairies company, life in the company of unearthly creatures, and embracing the devil were not adventures worth telling everyone about. Its better to keep it a secret so as not to compromise herself. But what if the descendants from another world following her, already by their mere presence near her, will brazenly compromise her in front of people? A queen followed by an impostor Rhianon wondered. Before the deadline it was forbidden to tell anyone about her friends, but Ferdinand had been so honest with her. She didnt want to lie to the man who had laid his soul bare before her, and yet she cautiously glanced in the direction where Fate had appeared recently. She wondered if he was still there, waiting for the moment when he could come at her again with his threats and incitements.
Ferdinand would have been shocked by this dwarf alone. But luckily he wasnt around at the moment. Thats who really follows her around like an evil fate. She wished hed just left her the pendant and disappeared on his own. But no, he had to torment her with vile remarks. Now she had to live with the constant tension of knowing that an unwelcome companion might appear out of nowhere at any moment. Considering that she now had companions, it was very uncomfortable.
You are unusual.
Rhianon shuddered at these quiet words addressed to her. Ferdinand must have blurted it out spontaneously, not wanting to hurt her at all, but everything stirred inside her.
As unusual as those burned at the fires of the Inquisition? She even laughed, short and bitter. The laughter echoed dryly through the leaves. I can burn anyone myself, and you can see that. Are you afraid of me?
She looked directly into his eyes, even in the darkness they were dazzling blue and clear. What an open look for a man who has to hide his political games. Does he look at everyone or just at her? Involuntarily she thought about it. Just one effort and she could read all his thoughts. Even an open book is not as accessible and easy to read as the human mind had become to her. And yet she was in no hurry to look into his mind. Perhaps it was because she herself was frightened to discover such insincerity?
I admire you, he leaned so close to her that he must have felt the heat of the fire emanating from the ball in her hands. His brow furrowed painfully, but he tried not to suppress the look of pain. Rhianon noticed the beads of sweat protruding on his smooth forehead. He wasnt just hot around her, he felt threatened, but he didnt pull away.
You could be adored.
In spite of the fire? She looked at him feignedly innocently, and meanwhile the ball of fire above her palms began to grow in size and even hotter. Just as easily she could squeeze the solar core in her fist, just as she had once held in her hands the heart of Dennitsa, once in love, but still like a red-hot fire. What is it to her to crush the soul of a mortal king? It is a simple game, not an effort. Only she didnt want to hurt Ferdinand at all. She felt that he was already hurting his whole life before he met her.
The women in Vinor are afraid of fire themselves, he frowned. I tried to tame the Inquisition. But my father always said it was necessary. It is necessary to keep the people in fear, and the unholy are far beyond the borders of the kingdoms. For this there is religion and its monstrous spawn: dogmas, rites, witch trials.
And yet in the kings palaces the astrologers take refuge. Theyre as important to you as your advisers. Oh, how easy it was to read his mind. Ferdinand didnt even catch her at it, didnt ask her how she knew that. But he tried to justify himself.
They are useful, the Inquisition almost not. The fires of the mortal martyrs dont shut the magical creatures out of the forest he paused and looked expressively at her.
Rhianon understood and nodded. Meanwhile, the fireball in her hands had grown to the size of a childs ball. If she hurled it forward, the flame would be enough to burn down a house or start a forest fire.
The fire was hot, but it didnt burn her palms. Ferdinand, on the other hand, felt hot, almost to the point of pain. Let him know what it was like to be in a furnace. Rhianon grinned wryly.
I am fire, she whispered confidentially. The element of fire is in me. Sometimes I think so. But Im not going to turn innocent people into martyrs, only my enemies.
Ive seen how those diabolical creatures, the dragons, react to you.
She nodded.
You dont think I could burn them more, do you?
He only shrugged.
Maybe theres something different about you.
Not looking for a halo over my head or hooves and a tail under my dress. I dont have a martyrs crown or devils horns under my hair. And I hope I never will.
So who are you?
Now she shrugged her shoulders. To confess would be to break the fragile trust that had developed between them.
Better tell me about the Inquisition. How long ago it appeared. Is it as long ago as religion itself. Or much later, people began to notice that there were those among them who tried to summon spirits at a time when faith and God should ward them off. Even in villages there are illiterate maidens who learn and draw witchcraft symbols on the road to summon and tame evil spirits, and then set them on the villagers. How to fight such witches, if not by lynching and bonfires? The Inquisition absolves others of guilt by exterminating witches or abusing their duties by dragging to the stake those who are in the clergys desire.