The Prince’s gift

The young man turned around, went to the desk and sat down on the chair. Angelica started and opened her eyes. She felt terribly embarrassed.

"Well, now the Prince thinks I'm awfully frivolous and thoughtless," flashed through her ​​mind.

And she said aloud:

"All right! Let's discuss. I'm over to you."

"Do you remember the day when we were rescuing from the vampires? Anyway, one of them had wounded me. And, apparently, some of the vampires' blood had got into my wound and infected me. As soon as I came to the castle of the Prince Night, I began to notice some strange habits, which I hadn't had before. I had liked under fried meat with blood. When the moon is full I have a desire to jump on a horse and rush into the Ghosts Fields. I have almost stopped to sleep but I do not feel tired... Any cuts heal such quickly that I have never even dreamt of. So, I have summed up all facts and came to the disappointing conclusion - I'm turning into a vampire. Without telling anyone, I went to the witch and she confirmed my fears. Then I asked her to help me but she said: 'You must go to the land of your ancestors, fight with the Wizard and find the Magic Crystal. It is your destiny! Remember, what happened when you had gone to the Wizard, being an ordinary mortal goblin? He had cheated and fatally wounded you. Now you have a trump card – you are turning into a vampire, then, in fact you are immortal! For the Wizard it will be very difficult to win you. If only he will not use a silver bullet or an aspen stake. But he still does not know anything about you, so the advantage is in your hands.'"

"Has she refused to heal you?" Lica exclaimed.

The Prince nodded.

"So, are you a vampire now?"

"Not really... The witch said that the process of turning would take quite a long time. And she promised to heal me after I had brought the Magic Crystal. But she warned me about something. She said that if I did finally turn into a vampire until the end of the mission I would forget about it and in general everything. That is why I have come, "broken into", as you had said. I wish someone would know my secret because if I became a vampire, I would not be able to control myself. At first I wanted to tell Henry about that but then thought I'd better not worry him. Therefore I have chosen you. Today I'm going for the Crystal and you'll keep in touch with Henry. If I am not back in a couple of months, tell him everything!"

"But I cannot contact Henry. He always finds me himself!"

"You know that I'm not shy of being a magician," the Prince smiled.

He got up and took a long and narrow dirk in elegant scabbard out of his wide black cloak.

"Take it!"

"What is it?"

"It is the thing which will help you to keep touch with Henry! When you want to get into the castle, just go to your mirror and put the dirk in the place between the glass and the frame. You will open the door to the castle. But when you go through the mirror, do not forget to pull it out and take the dirk with you, otherwise you will stay in the Kingdom of Night forever."

Angelica took the knife carefully, got it out of its scabbard and examined. It was narrow and very sharp. Its handle was made of chrysolite and had the form of some obscure monster with two heads.

"It is beautiful!" Lica said.

"Well, I've got to go my dear lady!" the Prince said quickly. "I told Henry to prepare the horse. Just in case, good-bye, Angelica!"

The girl was ready to hug him on the neck, but stopped herself. Then he walked quickly to the dressing table, went up and jumped into the mirror. After a second the mirror fogged up and when the glass was clear, Lica saw herself and her room again...

Angelica would think that it just had seemed to her. But the sharp dirk, which she was holding in her hands, did not let her doubt.

"Oh my God!" she thought. "Poor Prince! At first it was Swein, now the vampire! What will happen next?"

She put the dirk on the table and walked around the room nervously.

"What if he turned into the vampire before he would find this stupid Crystal? No, I cannot let him go alone! This could end badly!" Lica decided.

She quickly went to the kitchen and wrote a note for her parents:

I will stay with Sveta! We are going to study for tests!

Lica

Then she called her friend Svetlana and prevented her of telling Lica's parents the truth.

After that Angelica went to her room and quickly changed clothes. As her suit, she traveled in the Kingdom of Night, was depraved, she put on her usual jeans and a pullover. Then she made her hair in a ponytail and looked in the mirror. Satisfied with the result, she put her trainers on, took the dirk and went to the mirror. She stuck the blade in between the glass and the frame, as the Prince had told you. For a minute, nothing was happening. But then reflection of Lica's room was darkened and she saw the luxurious room with a fireplace again. Now not hesitating, Angelica climbed on the table and stepped into the mirror. Remembered the Prince's warning, she put her hand back and pulled the dirk out.

Jumping down, she looked around. A large antique mirror was hanging over the carved wooden nightstand. Lica still could see her room in the mirror but after a few seconds the image became dark and vanished. And she saw the surrounding furniture and herself in the mirror.

The girl hid the dirk in the pocket of jeans. However, it was too big and she had to make a hole to put it in. having finished with this, Lica immediately rushed to look for the Prince or Henry.

When she ran into the big room she heard the sound of hooves through the open window. Angelica came to the window and looked out. She saw the Prince riding out of the yard of the castle and Henry standing and looking at him.

"Henry!" Lica screamed as loudly as she could. "Stop the Prince! Can you hear me, Henry?"

But the old servant did not even turn around.

Then she rushed to the door. She ran out into the wide courtyard and literally bumped nose-to-nose with Henry.

"The young lady?" the old man was taken aback. "Oh, what clothes! But how?"

"Not now, Henry! Tell me if there is a saddled horse in the stables?"

"Actually, yes... I have saddled two horses to choose from. The Prince has chosen the white one; it's friskier. The black one I have not unsaddled yet."

"Excellent!" Angelica nodded.

She ran to the stable, jumped on the black horse and rode up to the discouraged Edward's servant.

"Henry, I have no time now. But I swear, I'll explain everything later!"

The girl spurred her horse and went out of the yard. The old man just waved his hand.