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– Hooray! Home! – With joyous shouts, the warriors, homesick for their families and homes, streamed toward the stairs. Armor clinked, swords rattled, and men laughed loudly.

Satisfied with the general joy, the king of men grinned and, coming even closer to Sylvia and Bergil, said quietly:

– Bergil, see to discipline. I don't want the army to suddenly become chaotic.

– As you say, Your Majesty. – Bergil bowed to the king and left: he realized that the king was angry at his prank, and decided to silently retreat.

– And you, Sylvia, will ride in the carriage…" Derek turned to his bride.

– I'm glad you haven't forgotten about honor… – the flattered demoness began.

– In a carriage for my servants, – the king finished his thought.

– But… – The princess tried to object, but was stopped by a quick wave of her hand

– One more word and you will walk to Kaldwind. – Derek unceremoniously grabbed Sylvia's arm and led her down the stairs. – Didn't you have a more modest dress in your rag-stuffed closet?

– Please, let me say goodbye to my parents! – the princess begged.

– You have had plenty of time," her fiance replied sternly.

Derek immediately let go of the girl's hand as if it was burning his skin.

– What's that… There on the wagons? – Sylvia frowned when she saw the king's horses drawn in wagons loaded with rather large chests.

– This is your dowry," the groom announced with a wry grin. – And your father's payment for peace. Now get into the carriage! – He walked to the huge, luxurious carriage that belonged to Sylvia's father and climbed in, remembering to slam the door loudly.

One of the maids, who had come with the king from Kaldwind, timidly put her arm around Sylvia's shoulders and hurriedly led her towards the sturdily-built, but rather uncomfortable carriage for the servants who always followed their lord on his military campaigns. The princess took a seat by the window and turned her back to the glass so that people would not see her tears. Sylvia wanted to weep with bitterness: this cruel usurper wouldn't even let her say goodbye to her parents! After all, it wouldn't have taken long! She was ready to bear all the trials and humiliations, even traveling in the same carriage with her fiance's servants, but not this… And hatred for her fiance took hold of her heart even more.

Bergil jumped up on his horse and jerked the reins angrily. The horse galloped obediently to the end of the line.

The whole ride to Kaldwind was silent for Sylvia. But the army, returning home from war and with victory in their hands, jingled their armor and talked loudly, sharing with their friends what they would do with the King's reward and the loot from Flammehav. Derek sat alone in the comfortable carriage, studying the papers he had accumulated during the campaign and trying not to think about the conflict. Usually the king led his army on horseback, but this time the urgency and importance of the papers did not allow him to put on his armor again and be like everyone else. Also Derek did not want to scandalize his fiancee and especially not to offend his friend. Everyone in Kaldwind's army and palace had long been accustomed to Bergil's special status, and he was allowed more than the others, and here he was being punished because of some red-eyed girl! Derek hated demons as much as Bergil did, so he understood his anger and desire to humiliate Sylvia, but now the demoness was on her way to his kingdom as his future wife, and he didn't want her to be humiliated by anyone. She was, after all, his future queen. The mother of his heir. Bergil could mock her in private all he wanted, but he had to keep his mouth shut in front of witnesses. Be that as it may, Sylvia was the king's choice, and no one in Kaldwind, not even Bergil, dared challenge that choice.

For the night, the army would make a huge camp wherever darkness overtook them. A large royal tent was set up for Derek, but there was no room for his bride. Sylvia, the future queen of Kaldwind, slept in the same tent with the servants, but not a word of complaint came out of her mouth. Besides, she realized that Derek Merkswerd would hardly be interested in her complaints. During the daytime, the princess huddled in a corner of the carriage and, looking sadly at the ruins of cities and dead trees killed by fire, thought about what awaited her in a foreign kingdom. The girl had never been naive, so she knew that every inhabitant of Kaldwind was ready to tear her to pieces, to pelt her with stones and rotten vegetables, every one of them longed for her execution, every one of them wanted to be her executioner. She was the demon everyone hated. And just how would Derek get his people to accept his choice?

"Ah, yes," Sylvia recalled with a sneer. – After all, he is a usurper, and is feared like the devil himself!"

All along the way Sylvia had been humiliated and ridiculed many times, and yet before the war and the fall of her kingdom she had met with only raptures for her intelligence and delicacy. How many of Flammehav's inhabitants had fallen at the hands of men, how many times she had cringed, how many tears she had shed, but it seemed that these barbarians were not enough. They took away her home, her parents and forced her to agree to marry a usurper, a savage and a libertine, is that not enough? How much agony lies ahead of her? Will she be able to overcome all the difficulties and hardships? If only her parents were near and could give advice and support, but alas, Varma cared only about her appearance, and Lamar was grief-stricken, humiliated and, at the departure of his daughter to a foreign land, did not even come out of his chambers to say goodbye. Sylvia was left all alone, and she would have to solve problems on her own. That was the conclusion she had drawn when she left R?vann.

When the army finally left the devastated lands of Flammehav, Sylvia looked out the window with interest to see the nature and architecture of the kingdom she would soon rule, and the contrast of the calm colors, the modest stone houses, the clouds of diverse livestock grazing on the peasant lands, the friendly faces of the people shouting with joy as they welcomed home the victors, struck her. How different Kaldwind and its culture was from the one in which she had grown up! From birth, Sylvia had been surrounded by licentiousness, lust, and vulgarity, and she had to admit it to herself. Yes, she had never found interest and amusement in the endless love affairs so common in her father's palace. She had never had an affair with any demon or lain down with any man. And yet the girl was unwittingly beginning to understand why humans despised demons so much.

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