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«There’s the princess all the elves are in love with! It was because of her that they made a commotion and began bewitching the townspeople in the streets of the capital, and the peasants in the fields! All evil spells have been summoned by her!»
The Church! What to expect from them? Marianne cracked open the fan. Somehow she wanted to hide her face behind it. And the accusations were groundless! Witchcraft tricks like that are usually done by fairies, not elves.
«You’ve been too capricious, and they blamed all their troubles on you,» one of the maidens whispered to Marianne. The princess brushed her off.
Someone had left a magnificent Menuel’s dagger with an intricate hilt beside the throne. She picked it up, drew it from its sheath, and then heard a whisper:
«I want your blood!»
Who said that? Marinna looked around the stands helplessly. Everyone was busy watching the tournament. No one would speak to her. Except the maid of honor! But this voice was distinctly masculine and hoarse. It sounded as if it were coming from a blade of steel. Blades cannot talk, can they? Though there were many legends of Menuel’s steel. The doors of the armory where Conrad kept his Menuel’s swords were forever locked by order of the king. This could have meant that they were either very expensive or very dangerous. Once as she walked past the armory, Marianne had already heard the same hoarse whispering that urged her to break open the door and steal one of the swords. Naturally she did not, though the voice had a hypnotic effect.
«I want your blood, Princess!» Someone whispered again. She no longer doubted that the insolent whisper came from the dagger. She wanted to sheath it again, but the hilt slipped from her hand as if by itself. The blade of the dagger pricked her finger.
How painful! Marianne had not expected that a slight prick with the tip of a dagger could be so painful. A drop of blood dripped onto the ivory and jade throne. A scarlet and white rose instantly grew right on the armrest of the throne.
Marianne watched breathlessly. The two lush roses seemed for a moment like two women’s faces, one under a scarlet veil, other under a white one.
Some slender girls in fancy airy robes appeared beside the throne. They were hugging one another by their thin waists. Surely they must have been two friends who had come from distant exotic lands. One lady was dressed in a scarlet dress, the other in white. And both had real wings fluttering behind their backs. Marianne gasped. Surely these must be two fairies in the entourage of the Fairies’ Queen Medea Shai.
It seemed that no one but Marianne could see them. They both winked at the princess.
«Tonight is no reason to fight,» the two fairies said in chorus. «Ordinarily, our alliance is a tournament, but with you it is already decided. You should not have summoned us.»
«But I didn’t call you!»
The two fairies pointed to her sore thumb.
How could you tell? A pair of roses did sprout from her blood. Maybe the roses were a signal to the fairies.
«I’ve been dying to see a real fairy,» said Marianne. «Why don’t you sit beside the throne?»
The velvet covered pedestals were for guests of honor, but two fairies shook their heads in disapproval. Marianne noticed that their feet in gold sandals did not touch the ground. Both winged guests hovered an inch above the bleachers. And both of them were watching Marianne so intently that she felt uncomfortable.
«It’s definitely not passion!» said the scarlet fairy, waving her wings as bright as blood.
«It is love!» joyfully determined white fairy. «It is pure love! How I like it!»
She was staring into the ring where the elves were fighting.
«It is a poor comparison!» Marianne muttered. «I can’t stand those impudent elves!»
Her eyes fell on the victor, the one who had won the contest. They say that love is like an arrow through the heart, but Marianne felt as if she’d been scalded with boiling water, head over heels.
«Who is he?» She clutched at the lady in waiting behind her.
«Which one is it?» Lady Hilaria, the blonde-haired lady, could barely get her hand out of the princess’ grasp.
«It is that one! It is the one with the winged helmet!»
«They almost all have winged helmets!» Hilaria determined, bewildered. «Only a few had helmets made of golden leaves, ornamented with horns or winged snakes.»
«It is the one with the gilded armor!» Marianne pointed forward, though the gesture might have seemed indecent. This was a royal tournament, not a marketplace. And she was a princess, not a bazaar girl.
«It reminds one of dawn! And he has notches in the shape of golden maples running down the side of his cuirass.»
«Ah! It is this one!» Hilaria opened the fan with a bang. «At the sight of him I too am ready to faint, as most ladies. He is an elves’ prince! Lurel.»
«It is an elves’ name for sure, but looks like an angel.»
«And he fights like the devil! All elves look like angels, but they fight like demons. So much magic,» Hilaria was both indignant and delighted.
«Do you know if the Fairies’ Queen’s knights will be in the tournament?»
«They already did. The elves’ prince defeated them. Didn’t you see that?»
Marianne was ashamed to admit that she had missed most of the tournament because of the conversation with the fairies. However, they quickly disappeared. Only the scarlet and white roses were left, which were fragrant on the armrest of the throne. The magical dagger, which Marianne had retracted into its scabbard, hissed unhappily.
«I was dreaming!» Marianne fidgeted nervously with her peacock feather fan. «You do not know how to call the winner to me? I want to make a solemn speech in his honor instead of the king.»
Hilarie hesitated.
«You think it would be difficult, after all the fights I’ve had with the elves?»
«They don’t like you now, Your Highness, and the people agree with them.»
The commoners would have been about to throw rotten vegetables at Marianne if the fence and the guards hadn’t separated the crowd from the tribunes where the nobles sat.
But the handsome elf prince suddenly looked at her sympathetically. Marianne felt as on hot coals, as if the throne beneath her turned into a roaster. And Lurel just got a wreath of golden laurel, which is customary to give the lady of the heart. Such a lady will be called the most beautiful all day long just because the winner of the royal tournament gave his reward to her.
Who will Lurel choose? Is it fairy? By the way, there were no fairies in the audience. There were only mortal ladies. Elves are renowned as magical benefactors. So Lurelle might give a golden crown to some beggar from the city.
He did not hesitate to choose. Earth etiquette was broken, too. Instead of picking up the trophy with the tip of his spear, as earthly knights do, he dismounted and took the wreath with his hands, then confidently headed forward. At once, clearly, he already knew which lady he was hurrying to. Marianne tensed.
«The tournament is not yet over by any rules,» she muttered grudgingly. «The elves have not yet fought the humans.»
«But a fight like that would be suicide!» Hilaria protested.
«So what is it!» Out of jealousy and envy of her unknown rival, Marianna had easily overstepped her own principles.
«The elves had defeated the monsters of the fairies’ queen! That meant they had won!» Hilaria was on their side.
Marianne merely pursed her lips and rose from her throne.
«I will demand a new round of the tournament!» She resolved, but before she could summon a herald to proclaim her will, the most beautiful elf imaginable was standing at her side. Marianne’s wrists began to shake. Without helmet Lurel was even more beautiful than she had previously seen.
Elves are unbelievably brave. The slits in their helmets were so wide they barely covered their faces. Not surprising for invincible warriors, though. After all, any wound on them would instantly heal.
The handsome elf bent one knee in defense of her. He was neither more nor less than an elf prince! And she still thought Cassian handsome! Marianne suddenly regretted that she was already engaged.
Prince Lourel presented the victor’s crown to her. That meant he had chosen her to be his lady. Victory on the one hand, defeat on the other. After all, she already has a fiancé. And why was she in such a hurry to choose.
Hilaria sighed enviously behind her back, and the elf rose leisurely. He had looked arrogant when he had fought, but now he was suddenly modest, even timid. But Marianne grew bolder.
«How is it that I did not notice you before?» She asked flirtatiously. – «Either I was blind, or someone put a magical blindness on me.»
«But you chased me from the window of the throne room a week ago,» Lurel admitted with a half smile. «Don’t you remember? You had my companions doused with boiling pitch.»
«Were you one of them?»
Perhaps she should apologize to him. But Marianne could not get over her pride. The chancellor, who had heard her speaking to the elf, was red as a lobster and began nervously fidgeting in his chair. What kind of a fly bit him?
«You don’t look burned,» Marianne looked at the elf’s clear skin. Elves don’t seem invulnerable. The burn must have healed instantly, but she pretended not to know that they healed fast. But how good-looking they were, she realized only now. People don’t have skin as delicate as lily petals. Nor do humans have golden eyelashes and eyebrows.
«Elves can’t be burned, not with pitch, flaming arrows, or boiling water,» Lurel explained kindly.
«Did I ever poison you with any of that? And you are not angry with me?»
«How can you be angry at the most beautiful princess in the universe?»
That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to her! It seemed that a kiss with him was a reward for her, not the other way around.
Marianne suddenly realized that her heart was already captive to the winner of the tournament. The fairies weren’t lying. This is love! Until now, the capricious princess had never suspected that she was capable of such feelings.
Only after the magic kiss did she notice how jealously Prince Cassian was looking at her and the elf. He grew increasingly gloomy and clutched the hilt of his sword nervously. He seemed to have encouraged the knights to chant some frivolous ballad about how it wasn’t proper for elves to steal girls away from Earth boys. The elves, who had long been eyeing the ladies in the stands, were visibly offended. The next round of the tournament was looming, in which mortals would surely lose. Marianne wanted to take some action. If she did not want Conrad to be without his knights, she could not delay. However, Lurel was the first to rush into battle. What if he wins? Marianne had a stray thought: what if he kills Cassian and frees her from her promise? She had heard something about how elves had no right to marry girls who were already betrothed to men. Let the duel decide.
«You’d better tell them to stop the tournament,» Hilaria whispered nervously.
«Why is it not? Let them compete with each other.»
«There’s a magic rule. I can’t remember exactly! But I think there’s a rule that says an elf must never fight A bridegroom of a girl he’s attracted to. Otherwise, something bad will happen.»
«How do you know that?»
«I heard about it when I was a child from my nanny, who was a witch doctor.»
«They hired a nurse who was a witch doctor?» Marianne was indignant. «Witches are not welcome in feudal castles.»
«Except those who heal and drive away evil spirits from the cradle,» she said.
«But no one chased the elves away from me, and now I feel as if I am in captivity.»
«Such are love spells!» determined an observant Hilaria.
Was it charms? No, it isn’t! Marianne sensed that her love was genuine. And the contest was gathering momentum. Magic had not yet gone against swords, but elves were still stronger than humans.
Yet the rules were not broken. There was nothing to be faulted. The mortal knights had volunteered to wrestle with the elves. Yes, this is tantamount to suicide. But a valiant knight has the right to go out to fight even against a giant. Stopping him without cause was not an option.
Marianne was troubled by one thought. She was like a bird in a cage, beating in her head. Hilaria had a point, even if she did not make it explicit. The tournament must be ended before the first kill. After all, there is some ancient law about which the old soothsayers, familiar with the elves, have so much to say. Something ruling out happiness if one kills the fiancé of the one the elf has glimpsed.
Lurel and Cassian faced each other in a duel. The mortal prince fought against the immortal elf prince. The audience screamed with delight. And the red and white roses on the armrest of the throne were dripping with dew as if they were tears.
Just then Conrad returned, pale as a dead man. He sat silently on the pedestal beside Marianne, as if the throne were no longer for him. What was the matter with him? She would have roused him with questions, but other things were more important now.
«Stop them!»
«Why is it?» Conrad looked up at her with a face the color of white chalk. Marianne shuddered. It felt like some evil fairy drank all the life out of her brother with her kiss.
«Fighting with elves is pure suicide! You are the king! It is your duty to prevent senseless bloodshed.»
«Forgive me, Marianne, but in a tournament everyone chooses who they fight. Even a king has no right to interfere. The knights must be brave, or if war breaks out with the elves, all the warriors will be hiding in the bushes.»
«Why do you speak of war with the elves?» Marianne became agitated. For sure her brother was hiding something from her. She was well aware of his habits. Now he was acting as if he had a guilty conscience.
«I am not saying that!» Conrad brushed her off.
A black mist, like a teain of darkness, stretched across the stands behind the king who had come to the tournament. The elves had cast magic against the humans. It was unintentional. In the heat of battle, no one thinks of methods. Everyone wants to win at all costs. Some wizards tried to stop Lurel and Cassian. Vines grew on their crossed swords, which intertwined between their blades and prevented them from fighting. Lurel whispered some magic word, and the vines burned.
Before Marianne could see, the duel came to an end. Cassian was dead. His auburn locks were strewn across the bloodstained place. The helmet flew off. Lurel was not triumphant, but victory was important to him.
«He didn’t notice the wedding ring on your hand,» whispered a voice coming from the roses.
«The elves broke the law of hospitality by killing the knights,» Conrad muttered. Menuel’s dagger decided to back him up on that and released from its sheath. It soared like a bird of steel and launched itself at everyone. Hilaria cried out in fright, but Marianne was more concerned with Lurel’s victory. Now she was free. She could remove her earthly diamond engagement ring from her finger, and the elf prince would give her a magic ring in return.
