Gorynych turned away, leaving me next to the massive door to the library. Gathering up my courage, I knocked on the door. There was a muffled rumble, but no one opened it. So I decided to act more confidently. The door gave in to me with difficulty, and finally, I entered the library. I have never seen such a collection of books in my entire life. Everywhere I looked, there were big shelves of books that rose high to the ceiling.
At first glance, the entire library was surrounded by countless ladders and small platforms, on which there were also shelves of books. The sight was so incredible that it was almost impossible to describe it in simple words. From studying the library, I was interrupted by a muffled groan from somewhere behind the first row of shelves. Walking towards the sound, I came across a massive pile of books. Under which I heard the muffled moans. I began to take books to the sides to help the imprisoned underneath. When, finally, I freed the prisoner, I thought that he could not be The Immortal Koschei!
Before me stood a young man a little bit thin with a unique charm, his black hair was cut short and carelessly, which didn't diminish his attractiveness. Dark, slightly sunken eyes, spoke of his passion for reading. His white skin was somehow was in the colour of marble, not to mention the fact that his hands were icy cold. When the young man got up on his feet, it turned out that he was half a head taller than me. He was dressed in a grey shirt, black trousers in some places frayed, and in a long dark green raincoat.
"Thank you for helping me out of this pile of books. I heard someone knocking on the door and decided to see who was it, but accidentally touched a stack of books that I had been putting aside for several months. It fell on me and practically buried under. I already thought that I wouldn't be able to get out of this trouble soon, but then you came and pulled me out." The man looked at me carefully and asked: "So who are you exactly?"
"I'm, Alina, and I came to you for help..."
"Are you here so you can marry me on your own free will?"
This question stunned me so much that I couldn't find anything to say.
"Um, no. I want to return home, and Gorynych said that Koschey could help me with this because he is the greatest sorcerer."
"Oh!" 'The young man burst with a wide smile, showing his white teeth. "The greatest!"
"Well, as far as I know, he knows a lot, so I think he can help me. Are you his student or librarian?" I asked timidly, fearing that my thoughts that he was the Koschey would be confirmed.
"Oh, I'm that very sorcerer who can help you - The Immortal Koschey."
"You somehow look young for Koschei."
"So you, my pretty girl, would like me to look like this?"
And the young guy instantly turned into a decrepit bony old man, whose seemingly blind eyes looked right through me. He reached out his skinny hand, grabbed my shoulder and in a hoarse low voice asked:
"Is that how you prefer to see me?"
"No," I squeaked. "It was better before."
And at that very moment, he became young again. Koschei again smiled at me with his snow-white smile:
"In that case, can we discuss the details of the deal over a cup of tea?"
His voice was so sweet that I was attracted and afraid at the same time. Koschei grabbed my waist and gallantly led me out of the library. We walked along luxurious corridors, and Koschei told me how sickening he was to have all this wealth. He complained about his loneliness. The fact that all the princesses he brought to his kingdom, ran away with some princes.
Moreover, the funniest thing in his opinion was that all these princes brought chicken eggs with them, shouting that they were holding "Koschei's death" in their hands. Just for fun, Koschei acted surprised and then posed as a dead man a couple of times, when the princes broke the egg. As a result, he was left with nothing but the mountains of wealth. And who needs them when there is no one to share it with?
I could hardly believe all this. After all, as far as I remember, children's fairy tales - everything was completely different. Everything in my head got mixed up so much that for some reason I didn't understand anything. I suddenly began to cry. This confused Koshchei, and he stopped telling me another story about how he played dead for the tenth time.
"What happened?" He sounded worried.
"All this is not true," I said through tears. "All this is just a dream... just a bizarre dream. I want to wake up, I really want it! But I can't. For some reason, I'm stuck here! I want to go home... I want to see my sister, my mother, I want to return to work... I want to go to college. I want to achieve a lot to myself because I have no one else to count on..."
Almost every my phrase was interrupted by sobs that I couldn't calm down in any way.
While I was crying, Koschei calmed me down. He patted me on the head and was silent, waiting for me to calm down. When, finally, I stopped the sobbing, he escorted me into one of the rooms, sat me down in a chair and, with a wave of his right hand, a big table appeared in front of us. There was a lot of dishes from all over the world on it. I sobbed one last time and was surprised by what I saw. Koschei again waved his right hand, and I realized that I was no longer myself. Looking around, I saw a mirror, went up to it, and gasped.
A real princess stood in front of me. Her brown hair was tied with a silver ribbon and fell softly over her pale shoulders. The princess's grey eyes were wet with tears, but a light makeup emphasized the beauty of her face. Around the princess's neck was a small, neat chain with a triangular medallion, the earrings were the same shape as the medallion. She was dressed in an outfit of unimaginable beauty. The strict scarlet dress was decorated with silver embroidery, which seemed to specially emphasize the slim figure of this incredible beauty in the mirror. A transparent scarlet fabric, fixed at the chest with a silver brooch with a ruby, covered the princess's shoulders. Her chest was decorated with a silvery cloth. On which, like dew in the sun, played the glare of diamonds, giving a certain lightness to her image.
I held out my hand to the princess, and she did the same. Tears flowed from our eyes. It could not be me, but the mirror showed that it was me after all. Never in my life have I seen or felt so beautiful. At that moment, I became even more heartbroken because I had to remember that this was just a dream and all dreams someday end.
I closed my eyes, and at that very moment, I became ordinary again. I looked in the mirror and saw that that beautiful princess was no longer there. A simple twenty-year-old girl looked at me, with long brown hair, grey tear-stained eyes. She was a little bit pale, tired and in a simple green dress. I smiled at myself, recognizing the one with whom I lived all these years.
"If you want, I will return for you the image that you just saw," Koschei said tenderly.
"No," Still smiling to myself, I answered. "I'm glad to see the real me."
Turning to Koshchei, I couldn't say anything more, I just smiled. He gestured me to the table, but I refused. For another minute, I tried to figure out what to do, and finally, I decided.
"You said something about the details of the deal. I would like to know what are you offering me in return for my way home."
Koschei waved his left hand, and the table with dishes disappeared. Smiling, he came a little closer to me and quietly said:
"Not much, just your heart. I give you the word of the Underworld King that I will return you home safe and sound."
"My heart?" I was scared.
"Neither more nor less..."
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