Louise

  "I'm bored!" Nanette sat on Louise's bed and pouted. "I want to go swimming!"

  It was evening and the sun was already setting. Golden light immersed Louise Zimmer in a world of glitter. The grains of sand in the room sparkled, just like the pretty mosaic. Soon it would be dark.

  "Go swimming!" murmured Louise. She sat on the floor and sewed a thin jacket for Lou from one of her old, fine robes. The coat was almost finished. It would reach to Lou's ankles, just like the sweeping sleeves. The fabric was silvery-white and decorated with a few red flowers. Pretty. Like Lou. He will look cute with it. "I'm not allowed to leave the room."

  "It's stupid without you!"

  "Then I can't help you!" Louise also wanted to bathe. Although she could wash herself, a bowl full of water or a bath in the pool were not the same.

  "I know!" Nanette snorted. "Without you, everything is boring outside this room! I hope you're right. Or better not? No, then you would be punished! To accuse a Wise Man of lying! You fool. What were you thinking?"

  "I said the truth. Lou will not bring misfortune upon all of us. He is not cursed. Just different." And too sweet and nice for this world. How can a BOY be so cute? It's not fair. Louise shook her head with a smile. Her friend did not notice this.

  "Hm." Nanette grimaced and tugged at her beige robe. The fabric was a bit too long. She stumbled over the hem from time to time. But she found the robe as it was too beautiful to have the fabric shortened. "No curse? This can't be. There was already a cursed person. A long time ago."

  "This unfortunate person was not cursed either, I think. Only, well, regrettable. Or the story is fictitious." Louise got up to look out of her window. Outside, the people she had known for years were happily running around. They seemed to be observing something. One of the young men pointed upwards. Louise looked around. She looked in the direction the man was pointing.

  What had they seen?

  It wasn't long before she spotted a small, beautiful bird flying excitedly from window to window. From time to time it flew up and circled the young and old priests. Then it let out a loud, somehow annoyed-sounding scream. The white feathers of the animal shimmered silky. The fanned, long tail feathers gave the bird an extremely elegant appearance. It rushed excitedly, nded on one of the roofs, and scolded. Finally, their eyes met. The bird tilted its head and looked directly at Louise. Then the animal rushed directly towards her and into her room. Nanette cried out in shock when the bird nded on one of the bedside tables.

  "A bird?" she called. "It has to get out! Out with you!" Nanette jumped up to scare the bird away, but the little animal only scolded loudly and avoided her. Nanette could not scare away the white figure. No matter how hard she tried. The bird flew away, but never out of the room. Now it sat angrily on Nanette's bed. "Out with you!" Nanette reached for a pillow on Louise's bed to throw it at the animal. Louise was about to stop her when the bird pounced on Nanette with a scream. Enraged, it grabbed her hair and pulled it. Nanette shrieked. "Get rid of it!"

  But Louise didn't know how to help her friend. Frozen with fright, she stood at the window. She saw the fluttering bird, the sharp cws on its slender bird feet, the strong and very pointed beak...

  "Louise!" cried Nanette piteously, holding on to her hair, which the bird almost tore out.

  "I..." Louise shook her head helplessly. What could she do? Keep the animal at bay with a broom? But she didn't have one in her room. And something was strange about the animal.

  The bird finally decided for her. With a shrill scream, he let go of Nanette's hair and nded on the floor. Right in front of Louise. The air began to shimmer. Magic filled the room. Then an angry girl of fourteen stood before Nanette. Nour.

  "Rude!" she hissed.

  Nanette, on the other hand, lost all complexion. "Dragon!" She sat down on her bed and held her hair tightly.

  Louise blinked. "Hello, Nour. What are you doing here?" she asked timidly and slightly trembling. She knew the girl, but she had never seen her so angry. An angry dragon was very dangerous. Even small children knew that. Having an angry dragon in the room was not necessarily a reason to celebrate.

  "You know the dragon?" Nanette let go of her hair and crawled close to the wall which her bed stood against. "Why do you know a dragon?"

  Nour, on the other hand, lost interest in Nanette. Instead, she smiled with a short, annoyed snort, and looked at Louise with her head held high. "Lou sends me. I’m supposed to ask if we have to save you."

  "Saving her?" said Nanette.

  "Yes, rescuing her! Of you terrible people!" Nour hissed and looked at her warningly. "I warn you! A word about my visit and this conversation, rude human, and you're dragon food!"

  "Thank you, Nour. But please, leave my friend alone. She won't say anything!" Louise touched Nour timidly on the shoulder. Her hands were still shaking. "Please."

  Nour looked at her again and nodded. "Fine. But just to be clear, I don't let things be thrown at me! Well, Louise. Do we have to save you?"

  "Not yet." Louise chewed her lower lip, then shook her head. "Maybe. If all goes well, one of the Wise Men will soon be exposed as a traitor. But if theY believe him, it would be nice if you would save me." If there was one thing Louise could do without, it was a long stay in a dungeon or an execution... "Please. If they don't believe me, then you'll get me, okay?" But how were the dragons supposed to know?

  "Hm." Nour rolled her eyes. "I can just eat the Wise. Then he's gone."

  Nanette drew in a sharp breath when she heard this. She looked imploringly at Louise.

  Louise was also shocked, but also amused. The fear vanished. Silly dragon. She smiled. "That wouldn't help, Nour."

  "If you think so. Actually, Harper wanted to come here, but Lou wouldn't let him. He mumbled something about a broom. I had to promise Lou not to turn into a mouse. I don't know why. What did you think of my bird shape? Is it cute? I definitely took my chance to share my opinion with you humans!" Proudly, Nour put her hands on her narrow hips. "I don't like people!"

  Your opinion? When she scolded outside as a bird? Louise frowned. "I'm also a human. Just like Lou."

  "But Lou is cute! And he smells good! Delicious!" Nour grinned broadly. "But I'm not going to eat him. You also smell good, but not quite as delicious! Aren’t you lucky? Your friend, on the other hand..." Nour turned to Nanette. "You smell unpleasant. Like one of those oils that Lou also has. He smells terrible when he uses it! Bah! Not tasty!"

  "Ah", Nanette squealed. "Good to know..." She looked as if she would faint at any moment.

  "I think so too! May I tell Lou to leave away this oil?" Nour turned away from her again. The question was addressed to Louise. "He stinks with this stuff! Oh, and! Louise? How do we know if we should save you? I could fly here any day, but... That might be noticeable. Unless I transform... No. No bugs! I don't like them!"

  "Bugs?" Louise asked curiously. "Why bugs?"

  "Well, when an animal visits you every day, it is noticeable. But bugs are tiny. And DISGUSTING!" Nour wrinkled her nose. "I once turned into a dog. For Lou. When he arrived at our pce, he was so anxious and pale. But as soon as I was a dog, he took me in his arms. And never let go. That was nice."

  "Did he?" Louise smiled at the thought. "As a child, he always wanted a dog. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep one."

  "I'm a wonderful dog!" Suddenly, Nour hissed and turned into a bird again. She sat down on Nour's bed and began to clean the white feathers.

  "Louise?" someone shouted. "Is everything okay? The bird!" One of the older priests appeared at the window. "Are you having trouble getting the bird out of the room?" Then he looked at Nanette, who was crouching on her bed against the wall, pale as chalk. "Nanette? Is everything okay?" asked the priest.

  "Oh! Yes. The bird is just particurly nasty..." she murmured. "Very nasty!"

  Nour fpped her wings indignantly and shook her magnificent tail feathers. Then she demonstratively turned her butt at her with a soft hiss. Louise tried to hold back her ughter.

  "It will find its way out on its own. Thank you. We'll just wait", she told the priest with a grin. Nour took this as an opportunity to whiz past Louise Kopf, directly toward the priest's face. He backed away in fright. Nour flew over his head, just past his nose. She scolded again. Louise ughed softly. "Look. It's already gone... Are you okay?"

  "Of course..." Shaking his head, the priest walked away. Louise, on the other hand, sat down next to Nanette and took her in her arms.

  "Nour won't hurt you. She's friends with Lou", she said.

  Will she come by every day? I'm not sure if Nanette can cope with that.

  sasi