The Shining Falcon

«Give me a chance to think!» Maria snapped, but she was thinking, What an ill-omened riddle. What a deliberately ill-omened riddle! She hesitated, considering. Could the answer be Death? The seemed too obvious. And the answer could just as easily be Plague! She fought down a shudder. I'll only have one chance at this, and if I pick the wrong answer…

«Why, what's wrong, little human? Why so silent? Do you yield?»

«No, damn you, I do not yield!»

«Oh, pretty maid, we are already damned! Your little curses cannot harm us! Come, choose! Answer— or die!»

At least it would be quick. The rusalka had promised her that it would be quick, the lake waters closing over her head, a few moments of fear and pain, swiftly over.

And then an eternity spent as a soulless lake spirit? Learning to hate the mortal folk? Learning to stalk them, deadly and inevitable as—

«Good God!» Maria cried out, and the rusalki stirred uneasily. «That's it!» She broke off, staring defiantly into her challenger's empty green eyes, and began again, deliberately, «The answer to your riddle, rusalka, is you, you yourself, you, rusalka!»

The lake-woman's eyes were full of malice. She said nothing.

Oh, no! You're not getting away with that! thought Maria, and insisted, «Well? Isn't that right? Don't just look at me! I know enough about riddling games to know that you must answer me, or forfeit the game! And I did guess the proper answer, didn't I?»

«Yes.» It was almost a hiss. «Oh, wise little human, let me hear your third riddle now. Be sure that I shall guess its answer before you can take a dozen mortal breaths!»

You want me to fear you, don't you? Maria asked silently. Well, you've succeeded. I do fear you—but not so much that I'm going to let myself be rattled! «No…» said Maria aloud. «No, I really don't think you shall. Here it is:

«I sit in judgment in the court,

Or fly with shining wings for sport.

The sunlight is no foe to me.

Day or night, I'm equally free.

I walk, or fly, or, sporting, swim.

I play with storm winds for a whim.

Sometimes one form, sometimes another,

I call the leshy‑man my brother.

On foot, on wing, I am the same.

Come, tell me, if you can, my name!»

She finished with a grand flourish, although she was thinking wryly, Akh, what dreadful poetry! Still, considering that she had made it up on the spur of the moment, maybe the thing wasn't so bad—particularly since it had made the rusalka sink down into the water till only her green eyes showed through the tangle of pale hair, eyes blinking quickly in confusion.

«There's no such creature, human!»

«No?» Maria forced a smile. «Believe me, rusalka, there is! Why, I, myself have seen… ah… it.»

«But nothing walks and flies and swims!»

Maria, still smiling, said nothing. The rusalka eyed her suspiciously for a moment, then continued, almost to herself:

«It must be magic. No mere human could befriend a leshy!» The rusalka gave a hiss of impatience. «Yes, but no magical being rules three of the four elements! And no magical being can walk by day and night and take no harm! Aie, impossible, impossible!»

«Are you giving up, then?»

«No! No!» There was tense silence for a time, then Maria heard her opponent muttering, over and over, «A being that walks and flies and swims!» The rusalka broke off» abruptly, glaring at Maria. «There is no such creature!»

«Ah, but there is!»

«No!» The rusalka's eyes were ablaze with savage frustration. «There is no such creature! This is a lie you tell, only a lie!»

«It's no lie.»

«It is! It is! A creature that walks and flies and swims— Bah! Your riddle has no answer! You cheated, you cheated! You've doomed yourself and forfeited the game and — "

«Are you finished?» asked Maria mildly. «There is an answer, rusalka. Would you care to hear it?»

«If you would live, speak!»

«The answer is a—a 'mere human,' as you put it — "

«No!»

«Yes. Rusalka, the answer to my riddle is: Finist, Prince of Kirtesk.» She saw the lake-woman draw back with a hiss, heard the others stir uneasily, murmuring among themselves, «The magician, of course, the magician…» and added wryly, «I see you know him.»

«We know," said her opponent shortly. «We should have remembered. You have won. Go.»

With that, they dove into the lake with smooth, silent grace, one after the other, and the water closed behind them, still as glass. Stunned by the suddenness of it, hardly daring to believe the ordeal was over, Maria backed away from the lake, wary at first, then gave up any pretense of caution and simply turned to run—

Right into arms that caught her roughly and held her fast.

Chapter XXXIX The Heir Apparent