There is perhaps no greater sorrow than to commit a foolish act and be rebuked by the woman you love. Astulfus was not in love, but he did suffer Aesara's rebuke for the stunt he pulled against the king of Sarmatia. Well, every cloud has a silver lining. At least now he knows what it means to be married.
They rode for days, seeking hospitality where they found it, or carving out a place in nature where there was no home for the human eye to reach. Step by step they reconstructed, as far as possible, the route taken by Marfisa and Rolandus. Without incident they reached the other side of the Tanais, where the first hills stretched out, marking the beginning of the Caucasus, and then, day by day, those hills became first mountains, then snow-capped peaks on the horizon.
They travelled along the coasts, where there were more towns and more hope of news of Marfisa, but perhaps by mistake or misfortune (or perhaps a green-haired witch) they diverted their route into the forests of the interior and again, by misfortune or good fortune, they circumvented the enchantments that protected Dragontina's palace.
Exhausted and happy to have found an inhabited place after wandering through the forest for so long, they entered Dragontina's garden without fear or doubt.
If a man is not cautious and prudent, he will be lost by evening. Neither daring nor weapon will be worth anything to him, for within Dragontina's domain nothing moves without her command. No mortal can cross her borders unless he has sooner or later drunk that filter that makes all things forget or the other that turns him into an animal. Therefore, it was grievous that Astulfus and Aesara let down their guard.
But there was no other place to spend the night, nor any other way to cross the stream in front of Dragontina's palace, for on each side there was a high mountain. From one to the other side there was a wall: two fortresses held together by a bridge.
There Dragontina stood in the middle, admiring the beautiful landscape, under a tower that guarded the bridge. Feigning surprise at these two strangers, she invited the two young women to enter and refresh themselves with what her land had to offer.
Without suspicion, they accepted the local custom that one could not ask for overnight hospitality without first being offered the local drink.
Perhaps because he was less tired, or perhaps because he was more curious, Astulfus slowed his pace and took a moment to gaze at the garden with its thousand flowers and thousand bees. At the centre there was a silver trees with red leaf an earie fruits, but Astulfus lingered on the mosaic history that was crisply constructed on the walls. There he read of Dragontina's loves, betrayals and endless sorrows.
Aesara, more tired, drank immediately, without knowing about the love potion. It was then that Aesara's dull gaze reawakened, for the gaze always reawakens when one sees the beloved again after a long time. Tired as she was, our maiden of Libya wondered how she had failed to notice the beautiful Dragontina, whom she had always loved, though she had only just met her.
Without a doubt, Astulfus too drank the love potion and noticed the beautiful lady he had ignored until then. He forgot about Aesara and Marfisa, even as the latter entered the garden to greet the newcomers.
"Be welcome my unexpected visitors..." said Dragontina, "...no maiden will be abandoned here. As long as I will have love from you, you will have love from me."
Marfisa embraced Dragontina and gave her an affectionate kiss on the cheek. This was followed by an equally affectionate kiss on the other cheek from Aesara, but the idyllic scene was interrupted when Astulfus' turn came.
There was something strange about this girl, who was beautiful too. Some may say even more so than Aesara and Marfisa. A beautiful black braid, fine shadow around her eyes and colourful nails; an androgynous face, deep black eyes and delicate lips.
She was beautiful. Why insist? And yet there was a flaw that Dragontina's gaze could not define until (perhaps a little unkindly) she placed her hand on Astulfus' chest.
"??? ♀ ⇒ ♂ !!!" (Aesara).
"Oh, come on! You can see that I am a male. Narrow hips, broad shoulders..." said Astulfus offended. However, Dragontina did not seem to find the joke funny at all.
The nymph's eyes grew terrible and, in a fit of rage, she forgot her human disguise and revealed her fey nature: two beautiful dragonfly wings unfolded and Dragontina took flight. With her antennae erect, her hornet's tail upraised, and a gorgeous blue cloak with black stripes made of hair, cloth and fur, the nymph stood in the air under a stormy sky. There was no potion holding now, and the veil that clouded Astulfus' mind was swept away.
Confused, and with Marfisa and Aesara trying to capture him, he instinctively ran in the only clear direction and found help from an unlikely ally.
I don't know, gentlemen, why he did it. Perhaps because he sensed something was wrong with Marfisa, but once Astulfus was near the stables, Phazanius stepped in and let Astulfus ride away from the building.
Marfisa took a horse and followed Astulfus at full speed, spurring the horse on as hard as she could, but to no avail. Phazanius ran beautifully and no other horse would have beaten him: Marfisa would have sworn she had never seen anything flee so fast, perhaps because the one holding the bridle was Astulfus, who was an expert at escape.
She saw him flee to the east, for though it pained his heart to leave Aesara, he knew he could not return without help. He feared Marfisa so much that he would have left Aesara as long as there was any hope of returning to rescue her.
Marfisa followed him for a long time into those unknown woods, watching him get further and further away from her (he was practically out of sight). It was useless for her to stay there, so she ran back to the garden, where her Dragontina was waiting.
"Don't worry for now," said Astulfus, as if Aesara could hear him. "I'll be back with help."
He said no more. Then, reluctantly, he ran off at full speed, as if Marfisa were still at his heels, and disappeared into the darkness of the forest.
Aesara was far from waiting for him. She didn't remember anything except the beautiful nymph and how she got there.
Be dreaded the drink and the unfortunate liquid that wipes out one's loves! Now Aesara was free of the affection that had made her worry about Marfisa and fall in love with Madalgarius, and Astulfus no longer seemed a man worth remembering.
She had no hope, no fear of losing praise or gaining shame. She had only Dragontina in her heart, and she didn't care about anyone else.
Marfisa returned to the garden, knelt before Dragontina and with her head bowed apologised for not having caught the intruder. She stood there so subdued and guilty that she looked like a child. But let's get back to Astulfus, who still thinks he had Marfisa behind him.
For days Astulfus pleaded for help, but no one would approach the forest of Dragontina, nor would there have been any hope, since there is no way to reach her palace or realm except by the nymph’s will or by the will of fortune; nor could Astulfus blame them.
While he remembered clearly the route he had taken and every natural landmark he had encountered during his flight, he could not recognise any of the places or roads he had travelled on his return to seek Aesara.
A strange will seemed to be working against him, forcing him not to find the right path.
This time there was no fey spear to help him, nor could he do anything but sit in the shade of an old pine tree, disconsolate, knowing that the only way to find the palace of Dragontina was not to leave it in the first place.
"Damn my cowardice! Damn my weakness!" said Astulfus. Astulfus wiped away his tears and stood up, looking resolutely at the spear in his hand, grasping it, seeking strength and courage in it, when a thought occurred to him. I cannot say whether it was luck or whether he remembered the events in Rome at the beginning of our adventure, but he thought of Marfisa and Madalgarius.
Marfisa was trapped in that palace by who knows what spell, while Madalgarius was travelling far away, trying to make himself worthy in her eyes, unaware that he would not find her when he returned to Rome.
He had to warn Madalgarius. Perhaps he would know what to do, or at least save him from a futile and tiresome undertaking.
He mounted Phazanius and rode east, hoping to find him. Let him go, it will take him some time and I want to return to Marfisa for a moment. Yes, I know I have told you little about Astulfus and Aesara, but we are in the Caucasus now and it is more comfortable to talk about those who stayed in the palace than those who left.
As we said Marfisa rode in haste to return to her love and to ask forgiveness for Astulfus' flight. She felt guilty about letting Astulfus escape. She crossed the sweet garden where, among fresh herbs and colourful flowers, Dragontina, in her fairy form, lay in the arms of an Aesara in love, as only a love potion could do. Aesara kissed Dragontina tenderly and cuddled her, while Marfisa approached with slow, shameful steps to kneel and beg forgiveness.
"You did what you could..." said Dragontina in a friendly tone, but betraying a slight boredom, "...now go, I want to enjoy the newcomer."
Dragontina took Aesara in her arms as a Marfisa left the garden, happy with the forgiveness she had received from her beautiful lady.
The days that followed were quiet and peaceful for Aesara and Marfisa, who enjoyed each other's company and Dragontina's attentions. The palace was splendid: a hive of nymphs and satyrs who fluttered around, for business unknown to them.
Aesara and Marfisa devoted themselves to Dragontina until she grew tired of them, and in those moments they too devoted themselves to their hobbies or enjoyed the company of animals, who once were men who inadvertently entered and were mutated by Dragontina’s potion.
There was so much hatred and sadness in Dragontina that even without the love potion, our two ladies felt the need to give her comfort and companionship.
It was on one of these days of inactivity that Dragontina visited Marfisa, who was reading a book in the library in the company of a little lion. She was about to order her to join her when Marfisa smiled at her, and Dragontina did not have the heart to impose herself on her in such a cowardly and rude manner.
"How are you?" she decided to ask.
"I'm fine, thank you. I'm a bit unused to reading in Greek and Persian, but there are some interesting things in Latin in your library..." said Marfisa before standing up and giving her a kiss on the cheek, "...you have a truly magnificent collection of books."
Marfisa leaned her forehead against hers and Dragontina allowed it. She was a little uncomfortable having her antennae touched by a human, but she let them be touched. Marfisa was so loving and innocent that the nymph felt she could make this concession to her.
"Changing the subject..." said Marfisa, "...I noticed that you always have Aesara and I do the laundry."
"...!" (Dragontina).
Dragontina kissed Marfisa's forehead and then took the jug of wine from a nearby table. She half-filled a glass and made Marfisa drink it all. Her eyes became those of a girl who had just fallen in love with her.
"Thank you..." said Marfisa, "...but to go back to the question of the laundry. You too should contribute to keeping the house in order."
"...?" (Dragontina).
The nymph tasted the wine. Everything seemed fine, the potion worked as usual. She handed Marfisa more wine, which Marfisa drank without saying a word.
"Are you trying to change the subject, honey?" said Marfisa, a little confused by Dragontina's behaviour.
"...?" (Dragontina).
That's strange. That's not how it's supposed to go... at least I think so, I'm not an expert on love potions, but I don't think the victim should have no say in the relationship.
Dragontina turned away from Marfisa and secretly checked the wine again. At that moment she felt Marfisa's arms around her body: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, but there are two of us in a relationship. If you don't want to do the laundry, I can take care of it, but you have to contribute too” said Marfisa before giving her a kiss. “I love you.”
"I love you too," said Dragontina, confused by the emotions stirring in her soul. Then she felt Marfisa's hands caressing her skin.
Dragontina felt a hand move up, slip under the fabric and play with her breasts, while the other hand moved down, where...
"...!" (Dragontina).
"What do you think? Maybe I can make it up to you in bed?" said Marfisa.
"M-maybe later!" said Dragontina.
Marfisa kissed her on the cheek, then went back to the table to read her book. Dragontina left her alone and walked away, rather surprised at how... affectionate Marfisa could be.
Dragontina left the library full of thoughts. She certainly hadn't expected her relationship with Marfisa to develop in this way. She began to be more curious about Aesara and moved to where she had often seen her meditating.
It was a corner of the building, no more important than others, where a water clock leaned against the wall. It was large, with a circular disc showing hours, minutes and seconds, days, months and years. It played beautifully, emitting the sounds of finches by day and owls by night at every hour, and it never missed a sunset.
Aesara often stood there, cross-legged, pondering thoughts that Dragontina found boring, but at least Aesara stopped talking about mathematics when she drank the potion again.
But now she was doing something else. A few days ago, she had taken her tools and started cutting wood and sawing metal.
"May I know what you are doing?" said Dragontina, for the first time interested in what Aesara was doing.
"Wait! I'm almost done," said Aesara, finishing the last details.
She did something with her pliers that Dragontina couldn't understand, then Aesara handed her a box.
"Come, touch the centre," said Aesara.
Hesitantly, the nymph touched the centre of the box, and it opened like the corolla of a flower, revealing a space in which to keep objects and revealing metal bees, which rose, emitting a buzz caused by the opening mechanism.
"It's magnificent..." said Dragontina, "...where did you learn to build such a thing?"
"I worked in a factory in Carthage for a while. You know, we people from the provinces of Africa are not very good at craftsmanship. We tend to import these kinds of products rather than export them. Wheat, wine, oil and fruit, they make more for us, you see, maybe even the salt that comes out of the desert. But in Carthage there is this factory that makes little things like this.
We mainly limited ourselves to building a few of the pieces: others we ordered, and we put them together. But in my spare time I tried to learn to build something on my own.
That was after Marfisa took me off the street and became my first teacher, giving me a good classical education. Thanks to her, I discovered the beauty of mathematics. I may never be a teacher in a museum doing scientific research, but I did manage to find a job that made me happy".
"If you liked it so much, why did you leave Carthage?" asked Dragontina, who was becoming increasingly curious.
"I wanted to be close to my teacher because she was close to me in my time of need. Maybe one day I would have had my own watch shop in Rome..." Aesara stood up, "...and anyway, if I hadn't left Carthage, I would never have met you. You allowed me to become a better craftsman by letting me study the wonders you keep in your palace. I want to be like my teacher: a person who always wants to know and become better and better".
"Yes, Marfisa is a very curious woman," said the nymph.
Aesara took Dragontina's hands in hers and kissed her on the lips, then said, "I hope you like your present.
Dragontina remained silent for a moment to savour this sweetness, then she said: "Marfisa wants to meet me tonight to do... things. Will you join us?"
From Aesara's reaction, I think she wanted to say yes, but she was too ashamed to admit it, so she politely declined.
Dragontina left the room more confused and fuller of thought more than before. A giant bee touched her cheek and then learned on the back of her hand.
"Tell me. What is it? Is there another intruder?" said Dragontina, questioning the bee. "We've had quite a few visitors these days."
The nymph looked out of the window and saw our Medulfa approaching the garden. She had come to offer her help in getting revenge on the evil Lycomans, and to ask her advice on how to find Madalgarius. Not unlike her predecessors, she didn't know what trap she was walking into, nor would she.
"Well, let's see if we can do this drudgery too," said Dragontina, placing her foot on the balustrade and taking off.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, she assumed human form: antennae, tail and wings disappeared, while her clothes took on a more ordinary appearance for a mere mortal.
"Welcome, maiden..." said the nymph, feigning kindness, "...what good wind carries you to such an isolated place?"
Medulfa dismounted, advancing more aggressively than previous visitors had done. She wore her own armour and, though unarmed now, was fearsome, but some of that was due to her impatience and long riding rather than any ill intent.
She stopped abruptly in front of Dragontina and said: "I'm here to find a nymph, I'm here because I need to talk to her."
Obviously Medulfa's intentions were good, but Dragontina didn't react well to such an aggressive tone. Perhaps she wouldn't have reacted well to kinder words either. I don't have to tell you why if you remember the bad experience she had with Lycomans.
Dragontina almost decided to turn her into an animal, but since she was in a good mood thanks to Aesara and Marfisa, she decided to turn a blind eye.
She gave her the wine with the love potion: she didn't care if Medulfa had good or bad intentions. Either way, she would serve her, and when she grew tired of her, she would turn her into an animal.
But alas, love loves to ruin plans. I don't have to tell you that I didn't expect three maidens from Rome to end up so far from home for the love of Madalgarius. But the way things turned out surprised even me when I found out what had happened.
"Is that a greenhouse?" said Medulfa as she walked towards it, ignoring Dragontina.
Don't look at me, I'm just as surprised by this reaction as you are, and if Dragontina had any doubts that the love potion wasn't working, she was almost certain of it now.
"Darling, this place is beautiful. There are plants here that I've only seen in books. Did you grow them?" said Medulfa, "Huh? I studied this! It's for fever."
"Sometimes plants and animals are crossed, but mostly they are here for their beauty or their medicinal properties," replied Dragontina, still confused by the newcomer's reaction.
"You are truly amazing; you must have put so much effort into this" said Medulfa.
Gentlemen, to put it in vulgar terms, you too know how lovers say silly things about their beloved, but all this interest in a greenhouse amaze even me, let alone Dragontina. I mean, I don't see despising such interest in her work, but still... there she was, her face flushed, and despite her disinterested words, she seemed to be asking for more of such compliments.
"Are you sure you don't like me?" said the nymph, surprised at the strange turn of events. Dragontina returned to her true form, showing off her beautiful nymph body, perfectly proportioned to make any artist jealous.
Medulfa moved away from the plants and in a less agitated tone said: "Forgive me, darling, I didn't mean that this greenhouse is more beautiful than you. It's just that I like to study plants and it seemed kind to me to compliment you on all the work you've done here."
If Dragontina hadn't been sure she wanted Medulfa before, now she wasn't even sure she knew what she wanted from a lover. It was... nice to have one's efforts recognised.
Suddenly, Medulfa's gaze became mischievous and insolent.
"Well, well, well. It seems our little nymph prefers the more mundane compliments. What do you think? Perhaps we can shake the sheets together tonight. Just to show you how much your body please my eyes."
“...!”
Dragontina blushed. That was... a more normal reaction for a human to the beauty of a nymph. Certainly, more normal than the one Aesara had when she asked to measure her body to mathematically calculate her proportions (I suppose that counts as a compliment, but...).
Dragontina snorted. Three humans had sneaked into her domain and all three were strange to be mere mortals.
"It's all right, dear" said Medulfa, worried at seeing her so thoughtful and she wasn't the only one because after a while Aesara and Marfisa also entered the greenhouse.
"It's all right, it's just that... you're weird. I think maybe you're more like nymphs than mere mortals."
Dragontina looked up to see the sun setting. Confusing feeling were shaking her. Let us Leave her alone for now, for she needs her time alone. But don’t worry my lord, we will be back to her soon. Just not today.
