NIGHT, I. Rin [ebook reader with highlight function TXT] 📗

“Maybe it won’t suit you, but until your clothes dries, you can wear it.”

 

Then she waved her hand and said:

 

“Follow me!”

 

Leila quickly ran somewhere in the nearby rock. Then she climbed like a cat on a huge boulder and shouted:

 

“Come here! The hot spring is behind this stone.”

 

Lica was very tired, but the desire to wash off the road dust prevailed. The girl climbed onto the boulder and saw a small lake with lovely green grass on the bank.

 

“How nice!” Angelica admired.

 

She threw the clothes on the grass, went to the lake and touched the water with her hand. The water was warm, as if it was specially heated.

 

“Well, have a bath and I’ll go!” Leila said. “You can use these stones to wash your clothes. They are soapy!”

 

She gave her a pair of white rounded pebbles. Then Huron’s daughter turned ready to leave.

 

“Leila, wait!” Angelica called her. “We have not seen with you for almost a month. Tell me about you and Isa!”

 

The girl blushed and said quietly:

 

“I’ll tell you if only you swear that you won’t tell my father!”

 

“I promise!” Lica nodded.

 

“We... I... To make the long story short, we are like husband and wife,” Leila whispered.

 

“So it’s wonderful!” Angelica exclaimed. “I’m very happy for you! But why do not you want to tell your father?”

 

“According to our tradition a girl cannot be intimate with a man before marriage. My father will kill me! Or he will kill Isa!”

 

“Do not be afraid, he won’t! And tell Isa to propose to you!”

 

“This is the problem...” Leila said sadly. “I think he does not want to marry me!”

 

“How do you know?”

 

“I asked him! But he said that it is not the time! I think he loves you!”

 

“Bosh!” exclaimed Lica. “He can’t love me! After he was with you!”

 

“He is a man! He can. According to our traditions, men can have as many wives as they want.”

 

“No, that’s not good enough!” Angelica said firmly. “And you, Leila, I think, won’t want to have competitors. It’s not your character! I will tell you a little secret... Your father insists that I will persuade Isa to stay here with you as long as we carry out our mission.”

 

“It would be good!” Leila was delighted.

 

“That’s what I am going to do tonight,” promised Lica. “Okay, I’ll go! And you have a bath!”

 

Leila quickly climbed on a boulder and disappeared behind it...

 

Angelica took off her clothes and went to the small lake. The water was so nice that she screeched splashed into it. She was  swimming and enjoying the peace and quiet. Suddenly a small stone rolled down the boulder. It seemed to Lica that somebody was watching her. She carefully looked around, but saw nothing suspicious. The girl dived and then she heard a loud splash nearby. Angelica surfaced and saw Isa beside her! He was naked. Strong muscles played under his dark skin, spray droplets sparkled in the sun in his jet-black hair.

 

“Isa!” exclaimed the astonished girl.

 

“It’s me, my love!”

 

“Are you crazy? I am undressed! Do not look at me!”

 

The guy laughed, turned away and swam a little away from Angelica. Lica quickly went out of the water and put on the clothes, Leila had given her. It was an awkward long dress. However, it was clean, and now it was the most important thing for the girl.

 

“How did you find me?” she asked Isa.

 

“I heard from afar the neighing of your horse. I left Edward to stalk pheasants, and rushed bypass path here. You weren’t near the cave, so I decided to look around.”

 

“You’re a real hunter!” Angelica smiled. “You can turn! But if you are going to talk to me, then you have to get dressed!”

 

The young man swam to the shore, and Lica defiantly turned away.

 

“Okay, I’m ready!” finally she heard his voice.

 

She turned and saw that the man had only flimsy trousers. Water droplets were glistening on his broad shoulders and thick black hair.

 

“What clothes are you wearing?” Isa asked with a smile. “Leila gave it to me!”

 

“Ha ha ha!” the man laughed. “This is the national dress of our women but you put it on backwards!”

 

He was trilling with laughter so much that Angelica also burst of laughing with him. Calmed down, Isa said:

 

“Angelica, honey, I’m so glad you’re finally back!”

 

He rushed to the girl and held her tightly to his chest.

 

“I’m crazy about you!” he whispered.

 

“Isa, dear,” Lica said, trying to pull away from the passionate man. “Many things have changed while we are away!”

 

“What have changed?” he was surprised.

 

“Isa!” Angelica said firmly. “Leila told me about you and her.” Isa’s face instantly became very serious. He let Lica from his hands and sat down on the grass.

 

“Yes, it’s true!” he said slowly. “But you need to understand that sometimes a man needs a woman! It does not mean anything! I do not love her!”

 

“Yes, but she loves you! And it’s much worse! Remember, she is the daughter of the sorcerer and his pupil.”

 

Isa put his head in his hands and whispered:

 

“I know. I thought about it. The sorcerer will never forgive us!”

 

The man looked at Lica and said:

 

“Let’s run away!? Let’s go to the world’s end where no one can find us!”

 

She shook her head and said:

 

“No, Isa, I haven’t completed my mission yet! I, the sorcerer and Edward have to go to the Kingdom of Night.”

 

“And what about me?”

 

“You’ll have to stay here with Leila!” “Never!”

 

“But you are not indifferent to her; otherwise you would not be with her! I don’t believe, that you can leave this poor girl alone here, can’t you, Isa?”

 

“But you have bound me hand and foot!”

 

“It’s not forever! The sorcerer promises to take Leila as soon as we win!”

 

“And if you lose?”

 

“Then Leila will become a full-fledged mistress here and you’ll have to decide what to do next!”

 

“No, I cannot leave you!”

 

Angelica went and sat next to the man.

 

“Isa,” she said quietly. “Do you love me?”

 

The young man nodded and pulled her to him.

 

“You are the most precious thing in the world for me!” he said. “Then you should stay with Leila, for our sake! Otherwise, everything goes upside down... And I cannot complete the mission.”

 

“But...”

 

“Isa, you need to stay alone and think. I know that you will understand me!”

 

Lica quickly leaned over to the young man and kissed him on the lips.

 

“Now go!” she said, pushing him away. “We do not need that somebody has seen us together!”

 

“Okay,” nodded Isa. “I am leaving! But it does not mean that I’ll throw you out of my heart.”

 

The young man stood up and, without looking back, disap-peared behind the boulder.

Friends again

 

Angelica decided to wait a while before she came back to the cave. She washed her clothes, and spread it on hot stones. Then she lay down on the grass and began to look at the clouds. She didn’t notice how two hours passed. Her clothes nearly dried up, and Lica changed her clothes. All the other things she carefully folded to bring them back to Leila.

 

Approaching the cave, Angelica saw two riders. It was Isa and Edward. The Prince had changed in some way. First Lica could not understand what happened to him, but then realized that Edward had sunburned. In the Kingdom of Night where never sunlight, the Prince’s skin was white as milk. Now he was quite brown and looked like a real macho. The riders dismounted.

 

“Edward!” cried the girl. “I’m so glad that you have recovered!” “Angelica?!” the Prince Night surprised. “What a joy!”

 

He threw the reins and ran to the girl. Lica put the things in her hands on the grass, and hung with a squeal on his neck. Edward hugged and spun Angelica.

 

 “I can’t believe it,” he whispered.

 

Neither Prince nor Lica notice what an evil light shone in Isa’s eyes. The young man took the reins of both horses and took them away. At this time, Huron came out of the cave and exclaimed:

 

“Greetings, Prince Edward! Leila has already prepared dinner. So wash hands and sat at the table! We have a lot to talk about. Angelica, could you invite Isa, please.

 

“Welcome back!” Edward exclaimed, referring to the sorcerer. “A few minutes later I’ll join you!”

 

The Prince kissed Lica’s hand and went to the spring. The girl ran to the rock to call Isa. She saw him tying the horses to a tree.

 

“Isa!” Angelica called him. “Dinner is ready!”

 

“So, you love him, don’t you?” the young man said quietly, without turning around.

 

“Who? Prince?” repeated Lica. “Honestly, I do not know. But he is very dear to me!”

 

“And me?”

 

Isa turned to the girl and looked straight into her eyes. “You are also very dear to me!” “And who is more?”

 

“Do not torture me, Isa!” said Lica. “I’m terribly confused. Do not make me chose right now!”

 

“What can I do? To watch in silence you hug and kiss another man? For me it is like a sharp knife in the heart!”

 

Angelica felt terribly ashamed. She came over and hugged the young man‘s shoulders.

 

“Forgive me, Isa!” she whispered. “One thing I can tell you for sure, I’m not going to marry the Prince.”

 

“It looks like a beacon of hope!” the young man smiled. “Honestly, Edward is a nice guy, and I wouldn’t like to quarrel with him!”

“And what about Leila?” asked Lica. “She is not a bad girl too. In addition, she loves you, and you, as I understand it, was her first man. She is unlikely to share you with me.”

 

“Let’s not talk about it right now!” asked Isa.

 

He pulled the girl and kissed her. At this time, they heard  voice:

 

“Isa, Angelica! Where are you? Dinner is ready!”

 

Leila looked behind the boulder. She saw them kissing. Huron’s daughter broke, said something through her teeth, turned and ran away.

 

“What have you done?” Lica exclaimed, pushing Isa away. “You’ve just ruined everything! Now she’ll tell everything to the sorcerer and he will refuse to go with us, the evil will destroy the Kingdom of Night and then others!”

 

The girl hid her face in her hands and burst into tears. “Take it easy!” the young man said quietly. “I have spoiled  everything, and I will put it right!”

 

He stroked Lica’s hair, smiled and said:

 

“In any case, no matter what happens, remember - I love you!” Saying that, Isa ran after Leila. Angelica calmed down a bit

 

and came to the cave. Edward and Huron were at the table.

 

“Where have you all gone?” asked the sorcerer. “First Isa, then you went to look for him and disappeared too and then Leila followed you and never returned! Magic!”

 

Huron burst of laughing.

 

“Sit down, Angelica!” Prince Edward smiled. “Today, Leila did her best. Dinner is just superb!”

 

She sat at the table, but her appetite had completely gone. “While you were looking for Isa,” proceeded to tell Prince Night. “Huron told me about your adventures and we began to discuss further details of our campaign. So, you have arrived just on time!”

 

“And what did you decide?” asked Lica quite indifferently.

 

“We go to the Kingdom of Night immediately! Just give you a little time to have rest!”

 

“I’m not tired,” she shook her head. “We can go right now!”

 

“Tell me, have you talked to your friend Isa about what I had  asked you?” Huron said.

 

“Yes!” Lica nodded.

 

“And what was his answer?”

 

“I