evil. She was riding her horse next to Dagor, who listened to the reports, looked at the seemingly inaccessible walls of the castle behind the moat.

The castle stood on a high hill, the base of which was dug in, turning it into a ditch, and took water from the river into it. Water was taken from the same river in the castle. The forest around them was cut down and burned out so that they would not get to the walls without being noticed, and the army of Dagor settled here with all the comforts, moving away only so that arrows and stones from the walls would not reach.

After making sure that his people had everything according to plan, he took Roxana's horse motive.

- Wait here, but be ready to cover us.

They drove to the raised bridge.

- Hey up there! - Dagor shouted. Roxana glanced at him: he probably could be heard through all the walls, she wanted to clean her ear. A lop-eared face peeped out of the loophole.

- What do you want?

- I need your king! Tell him I'm with his daughter!

The face hid, clinging to the stone by the ear. Dagor and Roxana heard a muffled argument, then another person popped out, older:

- What do you prove?

“Immediately tell my father what has been ordered and deliver me from your society,” Roxana said in the best traditions of a spoiled princess with an icy undertone of contempt. Face puzzled, and disappeared.

Nothing happened long enough. Then the bridge began to fall, and at the end slammed on the ground, having covered them with dust. A detachment of knights, chained from head to foot, rode into it, and Roxana suddenly felt the defenseless skin of Dagor under a jacket. She felt her heart beating all night through a dream, and now it is almost not covered by anything from these peaks ...

The girl forced herself to look only straight. She is a princess. She no longer succumbs. She is at home, the adventure is over. Her face was petrified, because any expression would show what she was really experiencing.

The king gestured the knights to let him pass. He was also in armor, beautifully decorated with gold, with a ceremonial sword. “He has no chance against Dagor. If only he would yield. ” He wanted to impress with the gold armor the savage, whose defense is his courage, and the loyalty of his friends. We are all doomed. We will die out, all the aristocracy, because under the gold we have nothing, Roxana thought.

“I returned home, father,” the girl delicately bowed her head.

“I see,” the king muttered in displeasure, looking at Dagora, “did not expect, did not expect ... What do you want for her?”

“Your surrender, of course,” Dagor chuckled. “Send the princess behind the walls, she has no reason to hang around under the arrows.” Then we talk.

The king grimaced, but Roxana could really be dealt with later. He waved his hand.

Roxana drove onto the bridge without looking back. She was afraid that she would cry, and everyone would see that her heart was broken. Therefore, she kept her back straighter than usual, and looked only forward, until the door of her chambers closed behind her back. Only then did tears run down my cheeks.

The conversation with my father was long and difficult. Roxana did not deny that she had lost her virginity - why be humiliated, trying to hide it. Her father was frantic, the girl suspected that it was not only that he was angry with her for allegedly raping her, most likely Dagor had angered him with demands.

- Nothing, I will marry you today. We met your fiance on the way here, didn't you know? Get ready. In the evening there will be a wedding.

“The faster, the better,” Roxana thought dead. The king was furious, but she thought it was because of her captivity. It is not clear, however, why such a rush with the wedding, but perhaps the father is afraid that she is pregnant by Dagor, and wants to quickly put her in a legitimate bed with the right bridegroom, so that if you have any questions, you could at least save face .

Roxana imagined a possible son of Dagor - tall, strong, blue-eyed - and her fiancé, as graceful and thin as she. Let her try to convince herself that they are alike, she thought vengefully.

One she did not stay long: the dressmakers came into the room with rolls of white cloth. Roxana stood on a stool in the thinnest shirt, arms outstretched while they took measurements and tried on blanks, and looked out the window. From this height, she saw only the sky, and a piece of wood.

That's all. She will remain on this side of the window for life. If father wins, she will be queen.

That will only mean the death of Dagora. Therefore, let it be better to be a simple citizen, one of those who live in a hateful marriage with unloved children ...

Down on the ground, it was noisy. It was not like the noise of a battle.

The girl realized that the sky had noticeably darkened, and the dressmakers asked her to try on a dress. She obediently put it on, allowed everything to hem, straighten, comb her hair, shove a bouquet into her hands.

Accidentally seeing herself in the mirror, Roxana shuddered: there was no blood in her face, only huge dark eyes that seemed to be much older. The face was inanimate. Dressmakers and maids tried not to look at her face.

But I'm still alive, it's too early to bury me! I am in this dress as in a shroud, I have already been sentenced, but I'm still alive! She squeezed the bouquet when the door of the room opened in front of her.

To hell with all of it. I'll run. Right now, the main thing is to get to his people. I will not be a trophy, not a captive, I will come myself! And let some whirlwind try to look at him! I am not a doll to be revived with love, then thrust into a cold bed for someone else's ...

Roxana looked around, shoved a bouquet of an elegant girl tucked under her arm:

- Hold on.

She turned, swinging her skirts, when she heard a child’s voice:

- Wait, Roxanne!

- Mika! - the girl also turned back sharply, - I'm glad to see you! But how did you get here?

The girl was laughing. She was washed and in a new dress, funny with a bouquet of the bride in her hands.

But the truth is, where does she come from? She could only bring ... but he would ...

- Come on, - Mika pulled her hand, and Roxana allowed herself to be led away. Her heart pounded so hard that she pressed her hand to her chest, trying to calm him down. The path seemed infinitely distant.

The doors of the hall swung open.

People crowded the edges. Everyone was grim. The king was the gloomiest. All were guarded by tall, strong men in boiled skin with swords naked, the knights stood in the corner with their hands tied. The groom was huddled to the side. The priest, who was supposed to hold the marriage, could barely hold his book, his forehead glistened with sweat. Beside him stood, grinning, Dagor.