Masquerades of fairies

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That’s the way to make a dragon angry! The castle burst into flames like a matchbox. The burning towers collapsed. The fairies of the garden scattered with screams. They were robbed of their home, that is, the garden that was, in fact, their home. The castle also burned and collapsed. It’s chaos!

Only the ash fairies from the fireplace rejoiced and danced on the conflagration. There turned out to be not one, but dozens of them. Apparently, there was a fairy in every fireplace in the castle. The poor fairies will be disappointed when they realize that together with the castle the fireplaces burned down. The ash fairies will also be left without homes and will curse at the dragon.

Flora also lost her home, and with it her freedom. The dragon managed to grab her with his claws and carry her out of the burning castle.

«Stop it! There’s my brother and my living mask!» Flora shrieked and started to resist, but she could see that Raphael was being dragged out of the burning castle by Drusilla. She was also carrying away Flora’s things, among which was a glittering fairy mask.

Then all was not lost! At least some relief! Flora still tried to kick the dragon. He had tricked her! How to get back at him? Trying to bite his paw, she burned herself on the scales.

«You are wild beast!»

The dragon didn’t even realize it was a swear word. He carried Flora beneath the starry skies. Below lay Argania. The entire kingdom seemed toy-like from the height of flight. Flora gazed in wonder at the villages and hamlets. The houses seemed no bigger than peas. The roads between the settlements and the forests twisted in thin ribbons. Then something tall and sparkling appeared ahead. It was a volcano! Why is the dragon carrying her straight into the volcano? Couldn’t he burn her himself? Or did he run out of breath while he was burning the castle? The dragon rose smoothly above the volcano and circled it from above. The fiery lava of the crater only flashed below. Beyond the volcano stretched valleys and some dark growths like the giant’s crooked teeth. It seemed to be a mountain range.

The dragon carried her into the mountains, lowered her onto the plateau, and suddenly he was Edwin.

It can’t be! It’s a dream!

Flora still couldn’t believe that it was Edwin who had turned into a dragon, but his scales still glistened on his palms under his cuffs.

«Why did you bring me here?»

Flora recalled with horror the tales of dragons kidnapping and eating girls alive. He had not harmed her at the masquerade, but had saved her. What if he was just waiting for the moment? Could it be that dragons can only feed on beauties during the full moon? Right now, the full moon was shining over the mountains. Suddenly there was a tinkling laughter.

It was a few masked fairies who had come to the plateau. They have gathered in a corner in a sparkling flock. Was there another magic masquerade in the mountains?

When they saw Edwin, the fairies flew away quickly. They probably know he’s a dragon, that’s why they’re afraid of him.

«That’s it! My masquerade is over,» Edwin proclaimed. He had indeed shed his dragon form like a mask. «You’re found! I could tell by the way the rose on the table in front of you began to grow. You’ve always commanded roses.»

«I think you have me confused with someone else. I’ve never been lost.»

Edwin gallantly extended his hand to help her up. Is this a trick? Will he grab her and tear her apart if she accepts his help? But there was nowhere to go. Flora hesitantly placed her palm in Edwin’s strong hand.

He gently pulled her toward him, helping her to her feet. This time Edwin was silent. There was nothing to talk about. She could already see that the dragon was him. Talking was no longer an excuse.

Instead of pouncing on him with reproaches and demands to restore the ruined ancestral castle with magic, Flora simply clung to him. Edwin is near, all evil ceases to exist. There is only him, and it feels good to be near him, as if he were an angel, not a dragon. He is especially beautiful today. Flora gave in to the impulse and kissed him. One moment of happiness is worth a ruined castle.

The kiss was magical. She guessed all wizards’ kisses are magic. Provided the wizard is as handsome as Edwin.

Edwin quickly pulled away from her lips.

«What’s the matter? Aren’t you in love with me?» Why would the dragon want to save her if he doesn’t love her? He doesn’t want to just eat her or sacrifice her, does he? If he did, he could have done it a long time ago.

«You smell of crypts and decay.»

Is he joking? Flora sniffed at the lace cuffs of her dress.

«It is an expensive Aluar’s perfume. Aunt Hortensia brought me it as a gift the last time she visited us at the castle. She chose jasmine and rose for me. It’s considered the most exquisite.»

«I can’t stand roses. They’re treacherous, thorny flowers, and if you’re seduced by their beauty, you’ll only cut yourself.»

«It is because roses often grow in crypts, you’ve mistaken the scent,» Flora explained patiently, having decided that dragons were illiterate in the most basic matters. Yes, they can do sorcery, they can topple a castle with their claws, but they don’t understand anything about perfume and fashion. «Rotting corpses stink, but roses, even if they grow on graves, smell sweet. It’s not the scent of death.»

«I don’t mean the smell of roses, there’s something rotting inside you.»

«Is it perhaps my soul? Only a girl with a rotten soul could love a dragon. You’re a destroyer and an arsonist.»

Edwin took no offense. Women must have said that to him many times before.

«Your body is rotting,» he explained. «It is not alive!»

«How can it not be alive if it talks to you and moves? It can even give you a kiss, and you say it’s not alive! Now you’re going to say it’s not mine at all.»

Flora faltered. She had been told that so often before. Both Drusilla, and the mask, and the elf from the masquerade had made similar hints before. Could there be some truth to them? Or is her scent disgusting to predatory creatures for some reason? All magical predators mistake her for a corpse for some reason. Her father’s friends probably put some kind of protection on her against dragons, vampires, witches, and demons.

«You brought me to the mountains to eat me, and now you’re disappointed that I’m not edible and you’re making excuses,» Flora snickered.

Edwin laughed. His laugh was as iridescent and sonorous as the fairies’.

«What’s so funny?» Flora was indignant. «You just burned down my entire family.»

«That family wasn’t your family.»

«I should know better than you.»

«You’re wrong!»

Flora bit her tongue. Edwin was a magician. And magicians know everything. Maybe he knows something she doesn’t know about herself. Like the fact that she was adopted. She didn’t want to believe that she was only the Marquis’s ward and not his daughter. She was used to thinking of herself as his daughter.

«He is not your father,» Edwin read her thoughts.

Her mother had probably been unfaithful to the Marquis at some point. That’s the answer! Flora calmed down a little. In any case, the Marquis de Rione considered her his daughter and gave her his name.

«And what is about my mother?» Flora became alarmed. «Was she kidnapped and killed by you?»

«It was not me!»

«Are you sure?»

«Why does everyone think I’m the villain?»

«You’re the dragon!»

«There are plenty of other murderers around here, too. You should know how many creatures are lurking around, drinking the blood of random people.»

«My mother was killed by fairies?» Flora guessed. «Is that why they attacked me at the masquerade?»

Edwin shook his head negatively.

«Fairies are vicious, but not that vicious. And what makes you think your mother is dead?»

Flora felt as if a thunderclap had sounded above her, not a measured voice.

«Why should I believe a dragon? All dragons are liars!»

«Do you know any other dragons besides me?»

«No, I don’t. There are rumors.»

«It is well. Otherwise, you’ve made me jealous.»

A golden claw grew on her dainty hand. Flora backed away. The dragon masquerade had stumped her. One minute Edwin is wearing the dragon’s guise like a mask. The next he’s back to being a handsome fellow. Of course, he is dangerous even in his handsome guise, for he can turn back into a dragon at any moment.

Flora was five steps away from him as long as she could. There was a cliff behind her. Edwin held her back as she almost took a step into the abyss.

«Be careful! You don’t have wings anymore!» He warned her.

«What do you mean? Didn’t they used to be?» He’s probably confusing her with some kind of fairy.

«But I can always lend you my wings. Would you like to fly? Or dance over the abyss?»

«And then you’ll throw me down?»

«Just because a girl has a dragon suitor doesn’t mean she’ll end up dead,» Edwin said sternly. «I knew a case when a princess’s romance with a dragon ended in marriage. You don’t remember that?»

«No!»

Why would she remember something like that? She spent her whole life in the backwoods of Argania. Nothing interesting ever happened here. Flora often regretted that her father wouldn’t let her into the royal court, and there was no one to meet in the provinces. And then came the fateful hour when she met the dragon! Who would have thought that such a magical beau would fly into such a wilderness! There was only one downside to the encounter: it might end in Flora’s death or in Edwin bewitching her. It seems he had already intended to do so. Glittering star dust formed on the tips of his fingernails.

Flora shrieked, afraid that he was about to turn her into a toad and complete the magic masquerade, but Edwin gallantly handed her a necklace of stars and a bouquet of roses. The roses were black as night, but velvety to the touch.

«You always liked black roses,» Edwin explained.

«I don’t remember such a thing!»

«No wonder! You don’t remember anything! You don’t even remember me!» Edwin put his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. The rose thorns couldn’t hurt him, but his burning breath could burn Flora’s face. Too bad she didn’t have the marvelous living mask with her right now. That one would scandalize but protect her from dragon fire. Though the mask itself was frightened of fire, Flora noticed that it was fireproof.

«You’re so cute even in a dead body!» Edwin whispered.

It was an insult again, but Flora let it pass her ears.

«Do you want to fly to a magical empire?»

«Is that where the entire population is made up of fairies?»

«Not just fairies. It is home to elves, dwarves, goblins, trolls, nymphs, naiads, mermaids, woodlanders…»

«It’s too fairy-tale! I’d prefer something more real, but luxurious. Take me to King Argania’s castle!» Flora decided to make the most of her encounter with the dragon. She had long dreamed of going to court. It would take at least a week to get there in a carriage, and even then it would take a long way, but on the back of a dragon you could fly there in one night.