Sana returned two hours later with a whole bag of herbs and bottles according to my order. I didn’t waste time on trifles and wrote a long list of what was needed, and my sister laughed and told me how Truver grimaced. But he didn’t dare refuse, as far as I understood, with her prediction Sana saved something very valuable in his garden.

Everything turned out extremely well, the father retired with wine in the library, Lately he often took a sip of the bottle, complaining about his villainous fate and his traitorous wife. But today, it seems, he had a different reason - he had long said goodbye to the idea of ​​​​successfully settling his daughters, and here was such a gift in the form of a count. It’s strange, did the rumors about my mother or the desire to marry Nayana, and probably at a relatively low price, not really seduce him so much? Oh, my sister fell in love with the wrong one...

Having laid out the pot and everything I needed on the floor, I checked the next list and swore in frustration. After all, she knew that the mistletoe was over, and completely forgot about it in the morning! I was afraid that my father would catch me drinking another potion, and I was in too much of a hurry to get home. And without her, I won’t be able to start the eighty-eighth spell. Well, it’s my own fault, I’ll have to go into the forest again.

Sana volunteered with me, but I decided it wasn't the best idea.

“You better keep an eye on your father, in case he decides to check what I’m doing, if anything happens, you’ll warn me,” I ordered. Sana nodded in agreement and went downstairs to spy at the library, and I, tucking up my skirt, climbed out the window.

I mastered this method of leaving the bedroom several years ago. Right in front of my window there was a spreading oak tree, one of whose branches was literally asking to be used. The first time, however, I almost fell off and tore my dress, but, hanging upside down on the fabric bursting at the seams, I learned dexterity and almost didn’t get hurt when landing in the nettles. I only itched for a long time. Over the course of several years, the method was brought to perfection, otherwise the clapping front door the father heard in any state and was always interested in where his daughters were going.

Quickly going downstairs, I straightened my skirt, straightened the bag hanging over my shoulder and walked briskly towards the forest. Our house stood almost next to the village, and the forest began immediately behind it. My father bought this crumbling mansion eight years ago, when he finally went broke and was forced to sell it. family estate. He got it cheap: no one wanted to settle so close to the forest; according to legend, an unprecedented monster lived there and various small evil spirits lived there. They're lying. I looked all over and didn’t find a single monster lying around. Well, they didn’t mean Bert, did they?

Bert was the best flying lizard in the world. I couldn’t dare call him a dragon, although he was born precisely by a dragoness, but from whom... history is silent. It did not take root with the dragons - they did not consider it theirs, so it settled in our forest and whiled away the time alone, until a year ago I began my active forays into the forest for the missing herbs. Bert, however, decided to scare me, I suspect, like many others, but this time the attempt was unsuccessful - while diving down, he broke his wing. But it was not in vain that I took my serum then, I cured his wing, and we became friends. And most of the tall plants, like mistletoe, were brought to me by Bert.

I learned to whistle quite quickly, and the lizard learned to recognize my whistle. And he flew right there, he already knew how to go into a tailspin and dodge branches.

This time I didn’t even have to whistle - Bert was waiting for me at the very edge of the forest. Over the past months, the lizard had grown significantly, although it was still too small for a dragon, and its wings were disproportionately large. By the way, he promised that someday he would even take me for a ride, but I didn’t really count on it.

“Lexa, I didn’t think you’d be back today!”

Probably only I could mistake this grin of a double row of teeth on a green muzzle for a smile. By the way, I thought Bert was very handsome, he was much better than any arrogant dragon, which, however, I only read about.

“I forgot Mistletoe,” I admitted. - Will you help?

“What are we talking about,” Bert smiled again. - I'll be there in a minute.

A flap of green membranous wings, a loud crack – and a bunch of the necessary branches already lies in front of me. I gratefully stroked the scaly muzzle, causing Bert to growl in his gut, which meant a satisfied purr for him. At that moment he always reminded me of a cat.

“Thank you,” I was delighted and sat down next to him on the fallen trunk. By the way, this tree was not seen here yesterday. -Are you playing around?

“Here you go,” Bert snorted. – Two boys came today with an ax, and this is the result... Maybe you can return my promise not to attack people, huh? I really wanted to devour these.

I shook my finger at him:

- You promised! And why eat them, it would scare them, that’s all.

“Then they would have seen me,” the lizard sighed. - And why do I need this? No, you either exist or you don’t, there is no third choice. Next time I’ll eat it, even if I have to break my word - they made me very angry.

- And who will you do better for? – I was surprised. “Representatives of the Department for Control of Magical Creatures will arrive immediately, and you are an unregistered individual of an unknown species,” I chuckled. “They’ll let you in for the experiments, is that what you want?”

- But will you protect me? - AND yellow eyes, the size of my palm, made such begging that I laughed.

- How? Douse them with serum?

The lizard cocked his head to the side.

– And the ninth spell of the fifth ten? There's a real explosion there, I remember!

– Are you seriously suggesting that I blow up representatives of the Department? – I was amazed. - And who will then get me out of prison?

- I! – Bert proudly spread his wings, and I laughed again. Entertainer.

- Look! – the lizard suddenly hissed. - They're coming back!

Indeed, two bright heads flashed behind the trees, and I recognized the Dinor brothers, the sons of our fortuneteller. Bert, of course, got excited about the boys; these idiots are already over twenty, although they have the minds of five-year-olds. Harmful and evil, they were capable of anything. And why did they need to cut down the trees?

“Sit down,” Bert suddenly said, exposing his back, “there’s nowhere to hide here, unless you go further into the forest, but then we won’t see anything.”

I looked at him doubtfully:

-Can you stand me?

“Easy,” he waved it off. “You’re like a piece of fluff, but you don’t trust everything.” Sit down, I say. At the very least, in an hour you’ll be as good as new, with your regeneration, nayana.

“Comforted me,” I chuckled, but quickly climbed onto the scaly back and sat down between the wings, hugging Bert’s neck. I always wanted to ride a lizard, but I was terribly afraid.

“Don’t strangle me,” he wheezed, and I thought that it seemed like I had agreed in vain...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrh0b000000000000000

The lizard flew into the air and hovered, hiding in the crown of the trees, and then settled on the branch of one of them, and I instinctively grabbed the trunk. Well, I definitely got excited when I agreed to this!

“Don’t puff,” responded the lizard. “And don’t yell, otherwise you’ll scare the victim away.”

Is he planning to attack them right now?!

The Dinor brothers heard either my scream or our squabble, because they turned their heads around in bewilderment. Having found no one, they calmed down, not even thinking to raise their heads. After spitting on their palms, they grabbed axes from their belts and, looking at the tree closest to them, began to chop it down. The lizard beneath me shuddered, as did I. We settled down on this very tree that was being cut down. Why did they need it?

The sound made by the axes, unfortunately, drowned out the quiet conversation, but even without it I guessed what the brothers were up to. Bert and I settled down on a tanaria branch, which was also a tree that had already been cut down. She was not found very often in our forest; The first ring in the barrel had narcotic properties - when added to alcohol, it caused long-term euphoria and heightened feelings, judging by the entries in grandma’s book. This means that this is why they are cutting down the tree, Dinor no longer has enough ordinary wine for predictions, now give him dope! This way his sons will destroy all the tanarii in the forest...

Anger took hold of me and was transmitted to Bert. He cowered under me and was clearly about to dive down on the destroyers of the forest, which he had long considered own home. I was in solidarity with the lizard, but I didn’t want to reveal my presence, and even less so Bert’s existence. And murder was not part of my plans. I was upset at my own powerlessness and clenched my fists, mentally wishing that the brainless brothers would immediately get out of the forest. But I never expected what would happen next. Suddenly, tanaria roots burst out of the ground behind the brothers, which they, engrossed in chopping, did not notice, and, shooting up, wrapped themselves around the legs of the hapless woodcutters. They screamed loudly, dropped their axes and waved their arms. And the roots did not spare them, hanging them upside down, and even pressed them against the trunk a couple of times. Blood splashed onto the ground, and the brothers screamed louder. I covered my mouth with my hands in fear, and the roots immediately released their victims. Having splashed into the grass, the brothers, still screaming, jumped up and, limping, took off running. I watched in delight as they left the battlefield, hoping that they would never return.

“Congratulations, Lexa, I was wondering when this would happen,” Bert said contentedly, releasing the branch from his paws and carefully landing. I crawled off the scaly back with relief, but when I heard the lizard’s words, I looked at him in surprise.

- What do you mean?

“Earth magic,” he explained, smiling. “I always suspected that you had it, it was high time it showed up.”

I shook my head in disbelief.

- Why? No Nayana has ever mastered the elements.

I carefully fished the remaining serum out of my bag. Even though the bottle was at the bottom, I didn’t hesitate for a minute, donating the potion to the unfortunate tree. The wounds on the trunk healed, and new bark grew in their place. Someone touched me on the shoulder, and I was surprised to notice a raised tanaria root. The tree thanked me, but I couldn’t believe it.

“You are an unusual nayana,” the lizard remarked confidently. “At least the fact that you don’t want to get married already distinguishes you from your relatives.”

“I don’t want to,” I agreed. “Father, however, doesn’t understand this and has decided to give me away.”

- For whom? – Bert widened his eyes, and with a sigh I told him the morning conversation. The lizard frowned, it looked touching. - I hope you can think of something?

“I’ll try,” I sighed and immediately felt the bracelet on my hand warm up. Touching him with her fingers, she quietly called: “Sana?”

- Going! “I touched the bracelet again and looked guiltily at Bert. - I have to go.

- I'll miss you. – The lizard rubbed his head on my shoulder.

- Me too.

Smiling, she ran towards the house. I just missed my father’s next displeasure; I didn’t speak too politely today anyway. I'm afraid I'll pay for this.

The bracelet came to life again when I was already approaching the mansion.

“Count Otten has arrived,” Sana whispered. -Are you coming down for dinner?

“What else,” I protested. “I’m out of shape, and my father knows it very well!”

- I'm afraid he will insist...

“I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint him,” I snorted. “I’m already there, make sure my father isn’t in my room.”

- Fine.

Bracelets turned out to be an irreplaceable thing for my sister and me. They were left over from my mother, or more precisely, from the magician with whom she ran away when we were eight years old. He stayed at our family estate for a couple of days, and two nights later we woke up in a house where my mother was no longer there. And the day before, this strange man, whose appearance was not etched in our memory, gave me a bracelet, saying that in this way we could communicate with my mother at any time. True, I didn’t understand then what he meant, and Sana, almost for the first and last time in her life, broke the rules of behavior and stole the second bracelet from the magician’s pocket. I found out this on the day when my mother disappeared, and, obeying the words of the magician, I tried to contact her. And my sister answered me next room. How I swore then... Then news reached us that mother and her companion were spotted on board a ship sailing to neighboring Lyonia. Unfortunately, the ship was wrecked, and since then we have not heard anything about mom.

I grabbed a tree branch and pulled myself up with my arms as usual. You need to get to your bedroom as soon as possible.

I hid in the bathroom at the last moment. Next, my father burst into the room - I heard the door slamming and his quiet roar, apparently so that the guest would not be afraid of the manifestation of parental love ahead of time:

– Where are you going, Alexia?! How long will you hide?

I quickly grabbed the scissors lying on the sink and heartily chopped off half of the curls from the front, and then wet them with water. And she looked out of the bathroom.

My father almost choked when he saw my head.

- Who do you look like?! – he hissed.

“To myself, of course,” I replied sarcastically. – Or did you think that I would change dramatically for the sake of some count?

Well, here I am again being disrespectful. But for some reason I’m not the least bit ashamed.

- Alexia! - the father rumbled. “I don’t care how you do it, but in an hour you’ll be downstairs in decent shape!” I know very well about your magic serum, use it and get yourself in order.

“Alas,” I batted my eyelashes, “I ran out of it.”

- So cook it, I allow it! - the father barked. “You have an hour, Alexia, otherwise I won’t be responsible for myself!” And for the fate of your sister too!

Well, the threats began. The father came out, slamming the door, apparently no longer embarrassed by his own behavior. It seemed that the count's presence did not bother him now. Sana sidled into the room.

- Why are you making him angry? – she sighed. – I would like to meet the count, what’s wrong with that...

“So go ahead and meet your fiancé,” I grumbled.

- He is not my fiancé! - my sister flushed.

“But he will become one,” I noted confidently. - That’s it, go, don’t bother me, I’ll call you when I’m finished. It’s better to overhear that daddy will lie to the count, okay?

“Okay,” Sana smiled. She was clearly pleased with my reluctance to meet Count Otten, and I myself already wanted to look at the one who so struck my sister’s gaze. However, oh well, I’ll make do. The eighty-eighth spell is much more interesting. And I, without wasting time, sat down on the floor in front of the pot.

To start, I quickly prepared a large bottle of life-giving serum. Who knows what awaits me after the next spell, maybe it’s time to order a wig? Daddy's got a blow. And how surprised the count is... the bald Nayana, he will run away from here, dropping his boots. Okay, let's leave this killer remedy as a last resort.

Apparently, grandma heard the passionate pleas of both granddaughters, because the eighth spell of the ninth decade was still successful. The promised silvery cloud and the liquid of the same color were pleasing to the eye. I carefully poured it into a small bottle and, without thinking twice, smeared it on my hand. In the end, there is a serum, I hope I will have time to use it if I suddenly find myself without skin. But nothing of the kind happened, moreover, the liquid accidentally fell on a tiny mole on the wrist - and it disappeared! I couldn't believe my eyes! Did it really work?!

Immediately touching the bracelet, I whispered:

- Sana! Let's run here!

My sister flew into the bedroom a few seconds later. Out of breath, she looked me up and down and sighed with relief. Apparently, the image of the bald Nayana arose not only in my imagination. Yes, it’s not for nothing that they say that twins feel each other like themselves.

- What's happened? – she exhaled, leaning back against the door. I stood up with difficulty, rubbing my legs that were numb from sitting for a long time in an uncomfortable position, and resolutely approached my sister with the bottle. She recoiled involuntarily.

“Don’t be afraid,” I said confidently. - Coward. I have the serum. And I have already tested this remedy on myself.

- And what is it? – she asked incredulously, and I, without thinking twice, smeared my frightened sister on the birthmark on her cheek. Sana gasped and slid down the door in surprise. How impressionable is she, or does my always unpresentable appearance affect her like that?

However, after a second her emotions were of little concern to me. I looked at the clean pink cheek and couldn’t believe it.

- What? What's there? – my sister became worried, but I didn’t even have words. I just grabbed her hand and dragged her to the mirror. It took at least a minute before Sana woke up and sat down on the floor again. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

“This can’t be,” she wailed, peering into the reflection in the mirror. And I looked at my sister’s ideal appearance and was quietly glad that now we are absolutely the same. However, I got excited about the sameness; my appearance was far from ideal. - Thank you!!!

Sana hugged my neck and burst into tears from the bottom of her heart. I patted her on the back, although my eyes stung treacherously. I have always been less sensitive than my sister, and I can’t give up, I need to warn you about the pitfalls of this spell...

“Darling... wait... this is not forever... unfortunately,” I squeezed out.

Sana raised her head sharply and looked at me with fear.

- How?! - frightenedly grabbed hold of left cheek, where it once was birthmark. - How long?!

I sighed.

“Look, it says here: in danat – that means for a day,” I translated. – You will need to smear your cheek at least once a day. Unfortunately, I haven’t come across an eternal spell yet, but as soon as I find it, I’ll add it to this potion, and you’ll get rid of your stain forever. At least now you can go downstairs and meet your beloved count,” I smiled.

But for some reason Sana was not happy.

- What if you don’t succeed? Will I really fall in love with him? I can't marry him!

- Why? – I was surprised. “Well, you’ll be smearing your cheek all your life, in my opinion, it’s better than going to the Academy you hate, don’t you think?”

“You forgot about the Arch of Truth,” Sana said with fear, and I frowned. Indeed, I forgot. The Arch of Truth is installed in every Temple, and they must pass through it in order to remove all spells and illusions, and each of the spouses appears before the goddess in his original form. But granny mentioned in her book that the eternal spell helps to bypass even the Arch, which means we must make it at all costs! Which I did not fail to tell my sister about.

- But what if…

- Sana! – I shouted. - Let's assume that everything will work out for me. You're not getting married in a week, but at best a few months later, first there will be an official engagement, then meeting your parents and being introduced to the court - it seems like the count is not the last person in the kingdom? I think that during this time at the Academy I will have time to try the hundred and twelve remaining spells and get you this eternal potion,” I finished confidently.

Sana closed her eyes:

– Will you go to the Academy instead of me? To the Faculty of Diviners?

“Here you go,” I snorted. – What did I forget there? I’ll say that my father made a mistake in the request, and I’ll go to the potions department. I hope that I will learn something necessary there, and my eternal fuss with pots will not surprise anyone.

“Thank you,” Sana was touched. “You do so much for me, and I... I’m completely useless...”

“You’re stupid, that’s for sure,” I smiled, hugging her. - But the best. And in general, you will do the main thing - marry your count and save me from this, because I don’t need your Otten for my soul,” I chuckled.

“His name is Randor,” Sana sobbed.

“Even His Highness Martin, it doesn’t matter to me,” I typed. - That's it, stop snotting, quickly wash your face and run downstairs to pretend to be me. Don’t forget that from this day you answer to the name Alexy.

“And you look like Aleksana,” my sister smiled.

- Agreed. “I hugged her again and pushed her towards the door. - Go, I have the eighty-ninth spell coming up. What if granny gives you something else useful?

“I doubt it,” Sana shook her head. “She was harmful... although I have to thank her.” But especially for you!

I feel like she will thank me for hours now. It’s nice, of course, but there’s no time left.

“Sana, hurry up before dad goes looking for me.”

- By the way, don’t you want to tell him about this potion? – she suddenly asked.

- No, and don’t even try! – I waved my hands. “Father will never deceive the count; he still doesn’t believe in my potions and he definitely won’t risk his marriage.” And if a miracle happens and he still admits that I am worth something, then I will still not see school, his dream of two married daughters will come true, and I will be left with my nose, that is, with my husband. There is only a week until I enter the Academy, and I don’t want to miss my chance.

“Okay, whatever you say,” Sana answered conciliatoryly and looked at herself in the mirror again. However, she almost did not take her eyes off her reflection the entire time we were talking. I completely understood my sister - after all, her dream came true, even if not completely.

“Everyone, run, hello to Otten, who is Randor,” I giggled. “And make sure your father doesn’t guess that you are you.” Don't look at the floor, okay?

- As you say! Thank you! – Sana kissed me loudly on the cheek and fluttered out the door. Great. I hope my father doesn't suspect anything. However, I am sure that he has already drunk more than one bottle of wine and is unlikely to be able to distinguish his daughter from a maid. I hope the Count isn't too shocked.

And I again sat down in front of the pot in anticipation of what kind of surprise my grandmother had prepared for me once again.

A satisfied sister burst into my bedroom just at the moment when I was inhaling the bitter-spicy aroma of the ninety-first potion. I read the spell, nothing happened, at least a purple explosion, like in the eighty-ninth, or a poisonous pink cloud, like in the ninetieth, did not happen, and the smell interested me extremely. But for some reason my eyes stung a lot.

- What... what are you doing? “Sana’s bright mood immediately left her, and she stared at me in horror: “Your eyes...”

-Are you there? – I was seriously scared. Although what a stupid question, I see her.

- Yeah... but they're gray now!

- Can't be! “I jumped up and rushed to the mirror. Indeed, the bright blue color changed to mouse-like, the size of the eyes decreased significantly, and the beautiful almond-shaped shape turned into round and expressionless. Even the eyelashes seemed to become thinner and shorter, and disheveled hair, dyed partly yellow, partly violet, completed the new image. Now no one would recognize me as Nayana... So this is for the best! I found an elixir to change eye color, which means I have nothing to fear at the Academy! At least, matrimonial plans of the strong half of the adherents. Did her father want to send Sana away under someone else’s name, so that no one would guess that she was Nayana? Great, so be it!

– Will they remain like this forever? - Sana asked upset, and I looked at her in surprise and pointed my finger at two words she already knew - in danat. The sister nodded understandingly. - And you don’t feel sorry for this beautiful color?

“Firstly, this is for a while,” I reassured her. “Secondly, Nayan’s beauty will only bother me there.” What if someone wants to get married, this was not enough yet, the father will find out and immediately discover the substitution. By the way,” I looked thoughtfully at my sister, “Granny had some kind of spell for drawing moles in the third ten potions, if I work on it properly, I can draw the same birthmark on my cheek as yours...

Alexana stared at me in horror.

– Do you voluntarily want to stick this dubious decoration on your cheek?!

- Why not? – I smiled. - Disheveled multi-colored hair, a birthmark, glasses, nondescript eye color - but no one will even look at me! But I will study, and not fight off a flock of anxious adherents. All is decided! I will go to the Academy with a wonderful miracle, a wondrous miracle, so that no one will recognize me as Nayan.

“You’re crazy,” Sana shook her head. “I always dreamed of getting rid of the stain, and you voluntarily want to disfigure yourself.”

“Well, my father said today that I’m completely defective,” I giggled. - True, I wouldn’t agree with him, it seems that he has it... okay, better tell me how your meeting with the count went.

My little sister blossomed literally before our eyes.

“He’s amazing,” she breathed. - Handsome, polite, helpful... And he talks so interestingly, he’s been to a lot of places...

“You fell in love,” I stated.

- Yes! – my sister answered fervently and immediately flushed. - That is, probably...

“Advice and love,” I admonished. - Just don’t forget to respond to Alexia, otherwise you never know...

“I remember,” Sana smiled. - Thank you for everything. “And she hugged me tightly.

“Well, that’s enough already, I’m completely embarrassed,” I snorted. - Go to bed, I still have half the night to sculpt a birthmark, it’s time to get used to your role. Yes, and the most important thing,” I shoved the eighty-eighth potion into my sister’s hands, “don’t forget to smear yourself!”

Happy Sana wished me Good night and finally left. True, I looked with doubt after my sister, who was in euphoria, and was afraid that she might fail our plan. However, it is in her interests not to allow this to happen, since she dreams so much about Count Otten.

I went to bed in the morning. But she coped with the task - the birthmark turned out just right and stuck tightly to her cheek. For the same day. Then I scrubbed myself in the bathroom with serum - returning my hair and eyes to their original appearance. And now I was sure that my own father would not distinguish me from Aleksana. And hers - from me.

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Reading Marshal Zhukov Peter Mezhiritsky

Hoaxer: Mezhiritsky’s book, although called “Reading Marshal Zhukov,” nevertheless does not concentrate only on the personality of the marshal (and therefore it is in “Research” and not in “Biography”). I do not agree with some of the author’s conclusions, but I will make a reservation: I completely agree with only one author, his name is Hoaxer. Hoaxer (04/09/2002): The book has finally been updated (the first publication, according to the author, needed additions). In my opinion, today’s version can be considered the 3rd edition, corrected, as they say, and expanded. From the point of view of an offline publisher,...

Magical Disaster Agency Olga Myakhar

She was expelled from the Academy of Magic and Wizardry, she destroyed the palace of the elf king and changed the appearance of a beautiful elf princess with a tail, horns and vertical pupils, and to top it all off she agreed to work for the assassin to whom she was ordered two years ago. And do you think that the troubles of the mischievous elf Elka are over? No! Orcs, gnomes, fire-breathing dragons and cursed ghosts, as well as a whole bunch of monsters and toothy monsters, await the main character, who has agreed to become one of the squad to combat magical disasters.…

Academy of Pan Blobs Jan Brzechwa

This book will introduce you guys to the work of the famous Polish writer Jan Brzechwa. He is no longer alive, but his talented books continue to live. Brzechwa wrote for children and adults, in poetry and prose. But he especially loved to compose fairy tales, and, perhaps, the most interesting of them were the tales about Pan Klyaksa. Two of them - “The Academy of Pan Klyaksa” and “The Travels of Pan Klyaksa” - are published in this book. Pan Blob is absolutely unusual person. Nobody knows whether he is a wizard or a magician, whether he is fat or thin, an adult or a child. He can be all sorts of things: wise...

Secrets of the Pyramids (The Secret of Orion) Robert Bauval

Who actually built it Egyptian pyramids? Why modern architects cannot create such structures, even using Newest technologies? What were the pyramids really for and how old are they? Based on many years of research, the English engineer and researcher Robert Bauval and the famous Egyptologist Adrian Gilbert made a sensational discovery that completely changes our ideas about world history and Ancient Egypt. Developing their hypothesis, the authors come to another amazing...

Don't share your secrets with me Joy Fielding

Joy Fielding is a famous contemporary American novelist working in the genre of psychological detective fiction. Her novel Don't Share Your Secrets with Me was a resounding success. The heroine of the novel, Jess Coster, a lawyer by profession and a government prosecutor, is pursued by her own accused, the released murderer Rick Ferguson, who turns her life into a nightmare. The complex, fascinating plot of the novel unfolds dramatically and ends with an unexpected ending.

Rated the book

I have already read so many books about the Academy that new ones often do not arouse any particular interest. But there is definitely something in this series!

I guess I'll start with cons , fortunately, in my opinion there were not many of them.
It was very infuriating that there was confusion in the name of the neighboring state, either it was Japan or Lyonia. And these names could appear literally on adjacent pages. I don’t know how it all started and who is to blame, but it was terribly infuriating, which is why I lowered the rating. It seems that this is where my obvious dissatisfaction in this part ends.

A little plot .
Two twin sisters Alexia and Alexana lived and did not grieve. Their mother ran away ten years ago and left them with their father. Lexa was terribly fond of experimenting with potions, she took after her grandmother. Only my father was categorically against it. And she drove him so crazy that he decided to marry her one day... to sell her. Oh yes, I forgot to say, the sisters were Nayans, a race similar to people, but an improved version, indescribable beauty and with excellent health, any wound healed on them almost instantly. Only the sisters had their own opinions about their future. And yet fate was able to surprise them too))

I liked that the plot was quite twisted. There was no feeling that from the first page you already knew what would happen at the end of the book. And there were quite a few surprises along the way. The main characters don’t exactly make you fall in love at first sight, but they have a certain zest. Darren won me over, despite all his recklessness, he turned out to be a completely responsible young man. Lexa... what can I say, she looks like a grandma. But I was extremely happy to take care of people dear to her.

Overall, the first book is not bad, despite the obvious mistakes.

Rating 9 out of 10

Rated the book

- And where is your “I won’t do it again”, adept Rain?
- I will not say. Because I hate lying.

I didn’t think I’d say this, but I seem to have found a book about a magic academy that has an interesting and well-worn approach - well, or I’ve read such a small percentage of all kinds of academies that I haven’t yet encountered such an approach.

In Academy magical secrets Twin sisters are at the center of the plot. This is not to say that this is an innovative move. I remembered the movie “Me and My Shadow”, where something similar happened. The girls swapped places, which drove everyone crazy, only in our case they had specific goal. One sister is eccentric and noisy, the second is shy and quiet. One wants to learn potions, the other wants to get married successfully. It’s a pity that the first one is beautiful, as befits representatives of her race, and would be a good bride, and the second one is so ugly that no one wants to marry her. It would seem like a set of stereotypes, and it is clear in advance how our heroines will behave, but suddenly it turns out that everything is completely different.

The book took a long time to get going, and at first it seemed not only uninteresting, but somehow colorless or something. Fedotovskaya’s style is so drawn-out that it took some time to get used to, and it doesn’t take long for the events to become exciting. At first there is only exposition - the tyrant father, the urgent need to get married, and the half-breed dragon looming somewhere in the background. But then the plot twists so rapidly that it is simply impossible to go to bed without finishing the last page - which, of course, somehow hints at fifty more books in the series and does not give any answers at all. Nevertheless, I sincerely believe that at least the second book will not be completely terrible, and Fedotovskaya will not merge everything that she started so well here.

Rated the book

And it all started interesting and unusual. Two twin sisters, but so different both in character and beauty. The tyrant father decided that it was time to give one - a beautiful and promising daughter - a successful marriage, and the second - with a defect, quiet and calm - to be sent to the academy. But my sister had exactly the opposite goals in life! But they are almost identical, which means you can pull off a substitution trick!..
So our eccentric heroine entered the academy under the guise of an ugly girl. And somehow she started to irritate me from the very beginning. She behaved like a bitch, although she sincerely believed that everyone was hurting her poor soul. Should I remain silent once again? Come on, how can you?! Behave more modestly in relation to rectors-teachers? Why?! Moreover, she clearly has a problem either with vision or with coordination, but she crashes into other people indecently often.

In general, I love books where someone falls in love with an ugly girl. good guy. I like to read specifically about the development of relationships, about how feelings manifest themselves, because there is usually no smell of love at first sight in such stories. But in this book I just missed this period. It wasn’t always clear to me why such a cool and cocky guy, who always spoke disparagingly about our heroine, suddenly immediately started kissing? Or does he have such a sophisticated taste? In general, I am more inclined towards love that arises not because of a beautiful appearance, but because of what is inside a person. But the heroes have not yet had time to really look at inner world each other when they had already begun to show affection.

Despite the originality of individual details, there were also pianos in the plot. What about our main character without super-cool-magic-power? And you can’t do without a unique animal friend that no one should know about (as soon as this beast made its way to her at the academy, damn it, unnoticed?! It’s not the size of a fly, eh). Well, in addition, there is a prince in the book, otherwise he is everywhere, but not here.

As a result, the impressions are mixed. A good idea, an overall interesting plot, but some details let me down.