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Flora didn’t know how to chase the witch away from the sofa. Drusilla had her leg over her foot and was playing with her broom.
«That’s right!» She determined, glancing at the wreath. «Now you must put it on your head and wrap it around your axis three times. Then the spirits will appear and surround you in a circle.»
«And then?»
«Then you can ask them anything you want.»
Flora didn’t want to ask the spirits anything. She would gladly have thrown the wreath away and forgotten about it, but how to put the witch’s guard down? Drusilla watched her like a gendarme. How to chase the witch out of her bedroom? Send a letter with her to the town manager or even the king? Drusilla would just get on her broom and deliver the message.
«I have an idea!» Flora wanted to throw the wreath into the fireplace. As she stood up from her chair, a dragon’s curious face poked through the window. Its golden hide glittered so brightly that it hurt her eyes. Flora shrieked.
Apparently the dragon was expecting admiration, not panic, so it retreated resentfully. Now only the starry sky was visible through the window, but Drusilla was wary.
«I told you not to sing! Look, you’ve attracted a dragon!»
«It’s already gone.»
«No, it hasn’t!» The witch shook her head.
Flora looked out of the window. There was no sign of the dragon.
Drusilla’s deft hands placed a wreath on Flora’s head.
«This will protect you.»
Flora felt the thorns prick her forehead. Good protection!
«Guard my mask for now, while I take a walk around the castle,» Flora tried to get rid of the annoying witch.
«Do you wish to summon spirits alone?» Drusilla grinned understandingly. «Good! I don’t have any witches’ sabbath on my schedule today that I need to fly to, so I’ll stay here.»
How easy it was to fool the witch! Flora hurried out of the bedroom and slammed the door behind her. If the witch started visiting her every night, she would probably go mad.
The castle hallway was quiet. No servants were seen on the way, but Flora had a mania for stalking. She thought she saw a dragon’s powerful paw following her, and a dragon’s tail dragging across the carpet.
Couldn’t the dragon have gotten into the castle? At its size, it was unrealistic. Unless it can shrink at will.
From behind, the clawing of dragon claws could be heard. Flora chickened out and turned around. There was no dragon in the corridor of the castle, of course, but here she was, like a naive fool, fulfilled the witch’s condition – made a turn around its axis. And the unfortunate wreath of blue roses was on her head. She had to take it off immediately, but the translucent figures had already separated from the walls and circled around Flora. One would have thought they were ghosts that emerged from the portraits of her ancestors, but looking at them, Flora didn’t recognize any familiar faces. They were really spirits of the night, not ghosts from portraits.
«Beware!» They whispered. «If you go any further, your plan will fail! The dragon will expose you. You’re going straight to your past now. Better go back to your bedroom and sleep till morning. Then the danger will be over.»
Why would the spirits warn her? Flora didn’t believe them. After all, spirits are notorious liars.
She turned her back on them and walked away. The spirits immediately left her behind. It was probably because she turned around her axis once, not three times as Drusilla had instructed. Otherwise the spirits would have haunted her all night.
There were strange noises coming from her father’s study, as if her father were doing another alchemical experiment. Mother’s portrait hung right next to his study, as if mother was still alive. Usually the portraits of deceased marquises and marquises were moved to the portrait gallery.
Flora cast a quick glance at her mother’s portrait. Somehow it seemed that the portrait was looking at her with living eyes. Maybe she should turn around three times near it to summon the ghost of the Marquise Archibalda and question it. What on earth had happened to her? Flora was curious if the witch’s magic would work. She adjusted the wreath on her forehead and wrapped herself around her axis three times.
«Spirit of the Marquise Archibalda de Rione, I summon you!» She said.
And nothing happened! The magic didn’t work! How could it?
Flora looked at the empty corridor and saw no more spirits in it. But the wall clock showed midnight. It was echoed by the tower chimes.
In the dining room, oddly enough, dinner was being prepared. The silverware was clinking and the cook’s assistants were bustling about. Dinner after midnight was commonplace at the Marquis de Rione’s castle. Flora’s father, who tangled with alchemists and astrologers, often hosted a late-night feast for his friends. Flora didn’t want to sit between her father’s guests all night long and listen to the most boring descriptions of alchemical experiments. But she was suddenly hungry. The tantalizing aroma of spit-roasted lamb wafted from the hall. It was as if the castle was preparing for a dragon’s feast! Would Edwin come to dinner? No sign of him yet. But dishes of roast pheasant and quail were placed on a long table. Someone had decorated the table with a vase containing a lush bouquet of forget-me-nots. This is not typical of the Chateau de Rione. There are no forget-me-nots around here.
«Don’t forget me,» a whisper came from the flowers.
It seemed to Flora that all the forget-me-nots had not flowers on their stems, but the heads of tiny pixies. She hurried away from the dining room and hid in an alcove. She mustn’t let the servants notice how frightened she was. And the wreath of blue roses should be thrown away, so as not to cause trouble. It’s a witch’s wreath!
«This way is it! Hurry up!» Whispers came from the window that opened. «Let’s give the marquis a lot of inconvenience for not fulfilling the terms of the deal!»
Four beautiful star fairies flew in through the window. One of them had a golden crescent moon ornament glittering under her braid, while the others wore veils and dresses of starry sky colors. Flora held her breath. She had never seen star fairies before, not even at a masquerade.
It turned out that the star fairies were not the only ones in the castle. There were plenty of forest and field fairies, too. They flew, hitting the wings of chandeliers, hopped on the furniture, hid on top of cabinets, hung from the ceiling. One meadow fairy even tried to get into Flora’s niche, but noticed that it was already occupied and changed her mind.
Wow! The fairies came to the castle at night. They flew in. They flew into the windows as if they were doors. With wings, it’s easy to get into any castle. You don’t even have to break down the doors. Just fly in! No problem! Too bad she doesn’t have wings.
«I have wings! I can lend you some. Or carry you,» said an elf who had flown in after the fairies, eagerly responding to her thoughts.
He wanted to hug her, but Flora recoiled.
«Well, as you wish,» the elf flew away resentfully, and Flora was left alone. That was even better! She already knew that no elf could protect her from the fairies. What if they attacked her again? They don’t care that this castle belongs to her, not them. Fairies make themselves at home everywhere. Did they really come here looking for their prey? Flora eluded them last time, but this time there’s nowhere to go.
«I won’t let the fairies drive me out of my own castle!» Flora boldly climbed out of hiding as the fairies were already circling the supper table and the cooks scattered fearfully.
«Look!» One of the fairies pointed with her hand to the portrait of the Marquise Archibalda. «That’s her! I’d love to transfer her soul into that portrait so she won’t bother us anymore.»
«And how would you do that?» The river fairies, whose clothes and wings resembled flowing water, asked.
«I don’t know yet!» The spruce fairy thought for a moment. Green needles were growing on the skin of her hands, making her look like a hedgehog. «There must be some way to reason with her.»
«You’d better accept that she’ll never get back the ones she took away,» said the flower fairies. They dropped fragrant flowers on the floor, but their claws glittered dangerously.
Flora was wary. What did the fairies mean? They knew something about her mother that she didn’t know herself.
«Let’s punish the Marquis!» The pretty snowdrop fairy suggested. «It’s about time! Let’s all fly to his office!»
«It is not yet,» The rye fairy with a wreath of ears in her hair listened warily. «The castle master is expecting guests.»
«They won’t protect him,» squeaked the mushroom fairies, from whose presence the sofas in the corridor began to be covered with mold.
Flora stared in amazement at the wreaths of mushrooms. How had the fairies managed to weave them?
In the wreath of roses she looked like a fairy herself, so for now she was not touched.
«There will be one special guest,» said the rye fairy.
Flora’s heart began to race. Would Edwin really be coming? She couldn’t bear to see him again.
The portrait of her mother suddenly winked at Flora. Had she imagined it? Flora pinched herself. The fairies were definitely not her imagination. They danced in a round dance over the table until one of the fairies smelled something.
«It’s for the master!» She shrieked, taking a bite out of the roast pheasant. «He’ll be here tonight!
«So he will deal with the Marquis, not us!» All the fairies decided at once. In a moment they were all gone. Flora had time to see only a motley flock flying out of all the windows of the castle.
The fireplace fairy
«Are you the fairy of witch roses?» A voice called out to Flora from the fireplace.
It turned out that there was an ash fairy hovering above the fireplace screen. She was grayish-black. Ashes were falling from her wings.
«I smell a dragon!» She whispered. «I’m not afraid of the dragon, but you all might be.»
«I’m not afraid of the dragon,» Flora said with bravado. «I invited the dragon and his master to dinner tonight.»
«You are reckless!» The ash fairy laughed. She had a dry coughing laugh and ash was falling from her mouth. «Stop it! The dragon has no master! You’re a liar!»
The ashy hand reached for Flora. Flora recoiled.
«Do you want me to give you my wreath on the condition that you fly away?» Flora bargained with the fairy.
«Give me the wreath, even though it’s too big for me,» the ash fairy came out of the chimney and turned out to be the size of a cat. «But I’ll stay here until dinner is over. I want to be close to the dragon.»
«It is because he can’t burn you?» Flora teased her.
The fairy chuckled understandingly. Handfuls of ash sprinkled from her laughter. Flora covered her face with the fan she carried as jewelry. For once it came in handy! Usually the fan was useless because of the chilly weather that reigned around castle de Rione all year round.
«Soon the dragon fire will warm up the neighborhood,» the fireplace fairy replied to Flora’s thoughts.
Greedy gray hands grabbed the wreath and dragged it down the fireplace chimney. Flora still stood in front of the empty fireplace and wondered how fairies could read thoughts so cleverly. They barely have time to think about something, and they already know everything.
A snide laugh came from the fireplace chimney, and a warning sounded from there as well:
«The dragon is on its way!»
«Thank you!» Flora nodded.
«You should not thank for such news, but run away!» The ash fairy whispered.
«Didn’t the dragon accidentally burn you?» Flora snickered.
«I wouldn’t think so! I was born in ash. You can’t burn me!» The fairy replied smugly.
«But what if he gets his way?»
«You put him up to it!» The ash fairy crawled up the chimney. Surely the blue roses in her hands had long since turned gray. So be it! Flora didn’t need them anyway. Witch roses are nothing but trouble! Drusilla may think otherwise, but she’s not a witch to dabble in such things as a wreath that summons spirits.
«I felt like I was in a nightmare, not a fairy masquerade. And that’s where all my misfortunes began!» Flora complained to herself.
«What is it, mistress?» Charles stood beside her as if he’d sprung up from under the floor. He had replaced his gardener’s attire with an elegant coat.
«It is nothing. What are you doing here?»
«I’m taking you to dinner.»
«I don’t want to walk into the hall with you on my arm. My father will ask where you came from.»
«I’m good at faking it. The Marquis will think I’m his nephew or the son of his friends.»
«That’s the last thing we need!»
«We won’t be exposed,» Charles promised.
Exposure! Wasn’t that what the spirits who surrounded Flora in the corridor were whispering about? What did they mean? No matter how one looked at it, the spirits could see something in the future, even if only in fragments.
Flora reluctantly leaned on Charles’ arm.
«Fine, let everyone think you’re my cousin. Just hide your wings!»
Charles was taken aback by such an impudent request.
«Without wings, I’ll feel like a cripple!»
«You’re going to argue with me! Then I’ll go to dinner without you.»
«All right, I’ll hide them!» Charles folded his wings behind his back so that they resembled a shining hump. «They’d be mistaken for a cloak anyway.»
«Father’s guests are not blind!»
«Humans can be blind to the Elves’ mischief. You’ll see! I’ll demonstrate at the table.»
«Don’t dare!»
«If I want to, mortals don’t notice my wings and mistake me for an ordinary boy.»
«Father’s guests are stargazers and astrologers. They’ll definitely look at your wings.»
«They’re just charlatans.»
Flora agreed with the elf, but she was still cautious. It would have been better to put a short cloak on Charles’s shoulders, but that’s the problem – it’s considered tactless to sit at a dinner in outer clothes. The only excuse is that Charles is a relative from a wild mountain kingdom with its own customs.
«Well, if my father doesn’t remember the names of all my mother’s relatives, then we’ll say you’re my maternal cousin,» Flora glanced out the window and noticed that one fairy was still strolling through the garden. Though it didn’t seem to be a fairy exactly, but some sort of sorceress. Next to her was someone dark and gloomy, like a troll, wearing a fine camisole and a velvet triangle.
«What a strange couple! Did my father invite them?»
«No, they came for the fairies,» Charles looked out of the window.
