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«Aren’t you afraid of death?»
«I’m immortal!»
«Aren’t you afraid of getting hurt?»
«If you’d been in the fairy queen’s dungeons, you wouldn’t be afraid of anything.»
«Are you speaking in riddles?»
«So let’s change the subject to a more understandable one,» the elf flew around Gloria and touched her hair. «It’s like red gold thread. And you’re red yourself, like an autumn fairy. But you’re prettier than fairies.»
«Is there anyone prettier than a fairy?»
«Well, it turns out they are!»
«I am Lady Gloria!» She introduced herself again, emphasizing the word «lady» rather than «fairy,» and wanted to curtsy, but changed her mind. First of all, it was uncomfortable to curtsy with a sword, and secondly, the elf could hardly bow to her, hanging in the air, but he managed to do it.
«And I am Fior! I used to be called the Wind Messenger because I delivered love letters from the castle of the Elf King to the castle of the Fairy Queen. They had to be carried at the speed of the wind.»
«Did the Elf King and the Fairy Queen have an affair?» Gloria was keenly interested. Well, how not to believe in fairies, if the case takes such an interesting turn.
«It is sort of! But love played a third role in it. The first place was the benefit from the merger of the two kingdoms. I flew with the song to the queen and was seduced by her sweet promises. I decided to defect. I wish I’d never thought of it.»
Fior took out a harmonica in the shape of a golden caterpillar with a heart and played. The beautiful melody was enchanting. Everything swam before her eyes. The floor became a carpet of roses again.
«Enough! You’re bewitching me!»
Fior stopped playing immediately.
«Look!» He pointed to the tapestry. «It’s a gift from a lovesick elf king to the wife of a mortal earl.»
«I thought it was a wedding present for the Earl.»
«That was the original plan! The elf king and the mortal earl became friends. Then the friendship was cruelly betrayed. It was all because of a woman. Where there’s a woman, there’s war.»
Isn’t she the one he’s mocking? She’ll learn to fight and show all the elves where it’s at! Fiore’s so arrogant.
«You’re smirking at me like I’m walking into a trap.»
«Aren’t you? Look at the tapestry.»
«It looks like a map.»
«That’s right! There’s an elves’ castle! And that black patterned palace is the fairies’ castle! And here’s the trolls’ domain! And these are the magical forests!» The elf poked his golden fingernails into one and another section of the map. «And here is a grove of moon fairies. Do you want to dance there?»
«And how do we get there?»
«It is very simple. It is through the tapestry.»
«It’s also a portal?»
«Let’s go!» The elf grabbed her arm.
«No, I don’t think so,» Gloria pulled away. «I don’t want to get sucked into some creepy place.»
«You’re scary!»
«I’m careful!»
«If you want to be a knight, it’s not their policy to be cautious.»
Gloria didn’t say a word. It was not for him to tell her how to become a knight. The elf himself can’t fight, only fly back and forth. He could only be used as a messenger. He’ll lose a battle unless he flies away before it starts. But he’s very nice to look at.
«You’re special! Not like all the girls before you.»
«What girls do you mean?»
«There were a lot of them: peasants who delivered milk and fruit to the castle, maids, governesses, ladies who came to visit.»
«But why is there none left?»
«And once the young Countess brought with her a whole retinue of young maidens,» the elf recalled self-consciously.
«So where did they all go? Did Angus send them all away?»
«Only the ones he could save. Or rather, he thinks he did.»
«From what did he save them?»
The elf smiled slyly.
«I have a feeling you’re not going to be as easy to deal with as they are. You’re very suspicious and unnatural for a mortal girl, as if you weren’t even human at all, but a cunning fairy. Are you trying to seduce me, poor man?»
He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her off the floor, and danced her through the air across the hall. Gloria gasped. Spinning through the ceiling, almost hitting the ceiling with her head, was not her style.»
«Let me go!» She insisted, and was silenced when she met Fior’s eyes. They shimmered and shimmered like rainbows. She had never seen such beautiful eyes in anyone.
«Another elf tried to recruit you before me, and you were nicer to him,» Fior said resentfully.
«How do you know?»
«I watch everything from the top of the tower roofs. Sometimes my wings get stiff from sitting near the tapestry, and I fly around the castle. You know elves have dragon sight. I saw you flirting with Elar on the road.»
«He came on to me. It was like you are now. At least you’re not wearing a mask. He didn’t even take his mask off.»
– Elar doesn’t wear masks. He’s an elf.
«Yes, he does!»
Gloria felt victorious, but Fior only laughed. Apparently he knew something she didn’t.
The sword remained hanging in the air, not falling to the floor when Gloria released the hilt. As if he wouldn’t lunge at them with the point. He knows how to attack on his own, after all.
«If you want to learn how to wield it, you’ll have to ask me for help. I’m the only one who can handle enchanted swords. I can give you swordsmanship lessons.»
«I can teach myself!» Gloria said proudly, and the sword swung nimbly against her own throat. How indomitable!
«It’s already tried to kill you!»
«Weren’t you directing it at that moment?»
«You are clever!» The elf pulled the blade of his sword away from her throat. «I don’t understand why a beautiful girl needs to wield a sword. You can do more with a smile than a long fight.»
Gloria wanted to give him a furious rebuke, but realized in time that the elf was trying to compliment her. He found her beautiful! A blush flooded her cheeks.
«I, too, can do better with charms than with stabbing weapons,» the elf threw a handful of something shiny in Gloria’s direction. He’s trying to cast a spell on her!
«Stop it!»
«How else am I supposed to seduce you?»
«You can’t. I didn’t come here for romance. I came here to solve a family problem.»
«But every girl who sets foot in enchanted territory must be seduced by an elf. Otherwise, Dagda’s cauldron will run dry and we’ll all starve.»
«What cauldron is it? And who is Dagda?» Gloria remembered Angus saying that name to scare the strangers away from her. It had a stronger effect on them than a sword. The whole company scattered. Apparently, sometimes a spell is a more powerful weapon than a sword.
But the sword in her hands is magical! To handle it, you need magic lessons from an elf in addition to dexterity and strength.
«All right, you can teach me,» she graciously allowed.
«And what do I get in return?» The elf decided to bargain.
«What do you want?»
«Let’s start with a kiss!»
The elf brazenly fell to her lips. The kiss was sweeter than honey. But Gloria felt shame and anxiety. It wasn’t a boy, it was an elf! To kiss an elf was to betray the humans. Gloria pushed him away.
«I don’t give advances.»
The elf took offense.
«First train me, and then there will be payment,» she softened.
After flying over the hall, it was nice to feel the hard floor under her feet. Negotiating with the elf was unexpectedly difficult. As soon as someone approached the entrance to the hall, the elf instantly disappeared into the tapestry as if he had never existed. The conversation was not over.
A carpet of roses
Time passed and the elf did not return. How could she make him reappear? For some reason, Gloria ached to see him again. What was so special about him, this elf? Only that he was an elf. A real one!
Gloria paced around the tapestry until her behavior was considered strange. Knights and servants began whispering about her as if she were crazy. Their words were ear-splitting, even though they were standing far away from her. How could it be that she could hear quiet speech at a great distance? Her hearing had not been so sharp before. Had the elf infected her with magic?
Could magic be infected? Gloria frowned. She didn’t know much about magic, and she wasn’t interested in the magical arts. But the promise to teach her how to fight professionally stuck in her mind.
Anyway, the elf promised and disappeared. There was a reason they say all elves were liars. Maybe he was deliberately trying to tease her, when he noticed that she wanted to learn how to wield a sword.
Gloria struggled to find her way to her own bedroom. It was spacious, with a large boudoir and dressing room. It looked like Amaranta’s former quarters. Even her things were still here. Gloria recognized her combs and tiara stacked on the dressing table.
But her biggest surprise was in the bedroom, where everything smelled like a garden. The bed was braided with red roses. The canopy had become a flower garden. The smell was intoxicating. Gloria didn’t mind the roses, but the thorns hurt. For some reason, the only roses in her room were red.
«It’s because of passion,» was a whispered voice to Gloria. «There was only passion here.»
Gloria listened. It was like a whole chorus whispering.
«It’s not a bed, it’s a needlepoint,» she complained as she examined the bed. All the roses had very sharp thorns. But are there roses without thorns? What had she hoped for? The sight of thorns broke the idyll. The bed of paradise was unfit for sleep.
So what to do? Sleep on the floor? Or try to pick roses? There were a lot of them. If you scrub the bed of them like weeds, it’ll take all night. Maybe cut the roses with a sword?
The sword wouldn’t cut them off. The blade only slid along the stems, which didn’t even leave a scratch. Gloria despaired. Should she ask for other quarters? Everyone had already gone to bed. And she didn’t want to break through the closed doors of the castle herself. She didn’t own the place, after all.
«Lie down! Don’t be afraid!» Someone said. «The thorns only hurt outsiders. And you’re Amaranta’s cousin.»
Gloria turned around nervously. She could tell from the tone of the voice that a young man was speaking. He shouldn’t be in her bedroom. But the bedroom was empty.
What the hell is going on? Why was she hearing voices in empty rooms? Gloria never decided to lie down on the spiked bed. Better to sleep on the floor. The couches and sofas in the boudoir were too narrow for a full-length sleeper.
Why should she bother? There are plenty of uninhabited towers in the castle. No one would even notice that she’d broken through the door of one of them. Gloria secretly hid a lock pick in her luggage. What could it be good for? Well, it finally came in handy.
She walked down the corridor, spotted a spiral staircase leading to a tall tower. The tower’s oak door was locked. The doorknob was covered in cobwebs. The keyhole was covered in a strange yellowish mold. Not even a lock pick could open the lock. Gloria was about to look for another tower when suddenly a voice above her ear whispered.
«Just press your palm against the door and say, «I am the elf’s lover, I need your help.»
What a joke! Or fantasy? Naturally no one was standing behind Gloria’s back, but she decided to try her luck, put her palm to the door and stupidly repeated:
«I am the elf’s lover, I need your help.»
It was silly to talk to a door, that is, to an inanimate object. Only a magician or a madman could do that. Gloria felt like a prankster and laughed at herself, but the keyhole suddenly shone brightly. The door opened. The interior of the tower was far from luxurious and very dark. Gloria was afraid to go in. What if it was some kind of magic trap? Was it a joke of the elves, for example? Probably they wanted to lock her in this tower forever, and no one would hear her screams.
Out of caution, Gloria backed away, but a golden light suddenly flashed inside. It drew nearer and formed itself into a figure. And there on the threshold stood a slender lady who seemed to be all gold.
«Good evening, or good night,» said Gloria, stammering. «I didn’t know you lived here. I’m sorry to intrude! I thought there were no women in the castle at all.»
Did the cunning Angus have a mistress living here? Or is it some mad relative who’s been kept locked up on purpose? The lady was behaving strangely. She looked like a golden ghost. Without answering Gloria, she walked past with a look of regal dignity. Her cape whipped Gloria’s shoulder, leaving scratches on her shoulder as if she had stepped on something metal rather than cloth.
Gloria stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded. While she stood there pondering, the tower door slammed itself shut. So be it! Sleeping in such a mysterious tower was risky anyway.
Gloria went down the spiral staircase. There was no sign of the golden lady. But maybe now, in the night, the elf would sprout again from the tapestry in the great hall. Gloria hurried there. Her feet were tangled in something. Had weeds sprouted in the castle floor? In ruins, weeds often sprouted between the stones, but Angus’s castle had not yet become a ruin. The abundance of dust made her sneeze.
