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There was soft laughter again, like the ringing of porcelain bells.

«Look,» the girl exclaimed cheerfully, «from the very first time…»

The tentacles reached out toward the shore. For a brief moment, the mermaid’s entire body appeared above the surface of the lake: wriggly, serpentine.

An unknowable force had blown him out of his place. Lendun couldn’t remember how he got over the rubble, how he climbed the horse, how he left the ominous grove.

He arrived at the voivode’s farmstead completely white, unable to string words together.

However, Lady Gemma’s – landlord’s wife – honey tincture had gotten him back on his feet in a couple of days. He tried never to think of swimming in the Maiden’s Pond, as the locals called it, though he was unable to exorcise the image of the beautiful golden-haired monster from his dreams.

Italannia pulled the fish closer, grasping the carcass with her delicate hands and sharp claws.

With a slight perplexity she looked after the guy who was running away.

What a weirdo! And he didn’t want to try. He must have remembered something important, so he rushed off.