Masquerades of fairies
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«All cursed castles are besieged by wickedness,» Flora heard bits and pieces of the head gardener’s assistants talking.
Flora knew what the servants were whispering about and realized that they were right. The fairies had indeed been here at night. They waltzed in flight over every flowerbed and mound.
The fairies’ ball would have resembled a fairy tale if the winged beauties hadn’t turned out to be predators.
The bush of blue roses also resembled a hunched predatory troll, which the fairies forced to serve, digging the ground with its nose.
There was some kind of creepy creature living under the bush. Right in the roots! Or was it roots? And next to it was a smiling elf. Only he was dressed all in black.
«Good morning, my lady!» He said hello, taking off his velvet beret. The ears under the beret were as sharp as fish gills.
Flora recoiled from the elf. The same elf had lured her to the fairy masquerade yesterday, only he looked much more unattractive in the daylight.
«What are you doing here?»
«Come to see how you got back?»
Well, what should she say to him? Slap him in the face?
«You threw me to the fairies!» Flora rebuked him.
«I was hurt myself,» the elf showed strange marks on his skin in the form of letters and symbols. «Fairies scratch a lot.»
«What do you want here?» Flora didn’t trust the elf anymore, so she wasn’t being polite either.
«I want to hire myself out as a gardener to be closer to you, my lady.»
It was more like a joke. An elf gardener! Who would believe such a thing?
«My father’s castle has enough gardeners. One more would be too many, and there’s not enough wages for all of them.»
«I can work for nothing. I’m an elf!»
«The garden fairies are already working for free.» Flora pointed at the fighting gardeners’ assistants. The boys were arguing over the cause of the blue roses. The argument ended in a scuffle.
«I’ll just live in the hollow of an elm or poplar tree,» the elf said, uncertainly crumpling his beret in his hands. His fingers were as thin as spider’s legs
«All the hollows in the garden are occupied by fairies,» Flora said sternly. Well, maybe she exaggerated a little.
«I don’t think Poplar Alley is uninhabited yet.»
«Live in the poplars if you like, but I’ll be off.»
«Wait! You can call me Charles if you like, milady.»
«You have a common Earth name,» Flora said warily.
«My real name is Sharneel, but you’ll be more comfortable calling me Charles.»
He’s right! Flora couldn’t pronounce Sharneel, no matter how hard she tried. It must be enchanted.
«Is the dragon coming for dinner?» Charles asked.
«What makes you think that?»
«A starling whispered it to me.»
«You should listen to birds more,» Flora hesitated when she realized. «Do you understand bird’s language?»
«It is a little,» Charles admitted.
«Then I could use you as a servant.»
«So I can move closer to your apartment?» Charles was pleased.
«No, you can occupy any poplar,» Flora smiled kindly. If an elf has the talent to make a house out of poplar, let him try.
«By the way, could you chase away that disgusting creature crawling under the rosebush by the gate?»
«I can’t, ma’am,» the elf immediately changed to a pleading tone. «It must stay here. It was assigned to the castle as a lookout from the magic kingdom, but it’s a garden secret.»
The elf winked slyly at Flora.
«An important person took a great liking to you, so you are being watched.»
«So I won’t run away from my own castle?» Flora snickered.
«Nothing bad may happen to you.»
«Could the fairies attack me again? Then they’d have to trespass on my domain.»
«There are many dangers besides fairies.»
«I’ve only encountered fairies!»
It was better not to have encountered them! Flora recalled with horror the aggression of the winged beauties that had swooped down on her. These are not fairies, but savages! They should have aristocratic manners.
«Why doesn’t anyone educate them!»
«It is because the empress of the magical empire has run away,» the elf explained dignifiedly. «This is a great tragedy for all of us. Without her supervision, all the fairies have disbanded.»
«Damn that bastard!» Flora cursed. «She had the misfortune to leave this wild pack unattended.»
«Without her, all the fairies are homeless,» the elf nodded. «It is except for the garden ones.»
«Why is it? Does she visit them?»
«The garden fairies have a mistress – you!»
«Why is it me?»
«Probably it is because they fly in your territory,» the elf squinted slyly. There was something he wasn’t telling me.
«I don’t think they obey me.»
«If they haven’t attacked the guest, i.e. me, they must be trained by you.»
«You’re logical!» Flora walked through the garden past the blooming acacia trees, and the elf soared after her. Soon the gardeners would notice that the mistress had a new admirer. The main thing is that they should not notice that this admirer is hovering over the path, not treading on it.
However, the elf disappeared into the hazel thicket as soon as Drusilla appeared on the road. It was daytime, but she looked like a lady, and she was reprimanding her broom for something.
«Oh, you are idle broom!» She wailed, plucking twigs from her broom. «You fly where you’re not asked! You’ve got a nerve! You don’t listen to me!»
The elegant lady with the broom would have looked ridiculous if it weren’t for her pointy hat. A hat like that always identifies a witch. And the black cat sitting next to her only adds points to her witchy reputation.
«The broom was helping me!» Flora stepped towards Drusilla. «She was covering the dragon’s tracks.»
«Ah, so that’s it!» Drusilla crouched in a curtsy.
Today, a necklace with a large sapphire glittered around the witch’s graceful neck. Had the Marquis given it to her? Flora didn’t think her father could have an affair with a witch living in the castle, but suddenly Drusilla was aiming for the Marquise’s seat.
The old decrepit housekeeper’s appearance slept like a mask. Drusilla in her younger guise turned out to be a very attractive woman. Her extravagant black attire aside, she could be called a refined lady. It was no surprise if her father had a crush. He’s always been into alchemists and astrologers. So the witch is quite his type.
«Why did you take off the old woman’s disguise?» Flora asked her directly.
«I was tired of looking decrepit and toothless.»
«It’s better than looking dead like the last Marquise,» Flora hinted. «I think anyone who tries to take her place will be dead too. Rumor has it that the local marquises are cursed.»
Drusilla giggled.
«What’s so funny?»
«It is nothing, my lady. I was just thinking that secrets to mortals are no longer secrets to you and me.»
The witch must know everything. She could fly over the towers at night on her broom and overhear any secret conversation. Flora couldn’t resist asking:
«Do you know where my mother has gone?»
«You mean Flora’s mother?» Drusilla squinted suspiciously.
It was necessary not to misspell things from now on. The witch was beginning to suspect her. It wouldn’t be far from trouble.
«Let’s call everything and everyone by their official names,» Flora said.
«You mean human?»
«And in turn, we call the human ones the common ones. Do you understand the terms?»
«You amaze me, madam!» Drusilla even whistled, and Blackie meowed and twisted her paw at her temple. «I don’t want you to take rules and terms for granted! Apparently, running away from the dragon, you lost respect for yourself.»
«What do you mean?»
«I’m sorry,» Drusilla was immediately startled and bounced behind a pillar of the garden gazebo. Only her pointy hat now peeked out. «I didn’t mean to be impertinent. I didn’t mean it!»
Who did the witch think she was, to be so flattering to her? Flora was too shy to ask directly. She’d give herself away with questions. If she’s so powerful that witches are afraid of her, then she’s supposed to be all-knowing.
«Would you pick me some blue roses?» Flora didn’t know where to send Drusilla. «I want to make a wreath of them.»
«Do you want to summon the midnight spirits?» Drusilla wondered. «It’s not worth it; your skin will turn blue before you start weaving the wreath.»
«I’ll take my chances anyway.»
Drusilla didn’t like it, but she obediently went to the rosebush by the gate and had a long argument with the creepy creature living in the roots.
«The roses should have been torn at midnight,» she protested. «But the mistress had lost her mind!»
The blue roses were difficult to pluck, even for a witch. It wasn’t until the evening that Flora got a dozen blue roses and noticed that they really turned her fingers blue. It was better to throw them away, but Drusilla stood with a broom like a guard and waited for Flora to weave the promised wreath. To tame the witch’s suspicion, she had to weave it.
A round dance of fairies
Flora wove the wreath and hummed. The thorns hurt her fingers. The roses were predators. They wanted to dig into the skin until it bled. By the way, the blood that dripped on them immediately dissolved in the petals. Are they vampires?
«Don’t sing, my lady!» Drusilla waved her broom toward the window, where it was getting dark. «Otherwise you’ll summon the dragon.»
«I don’t think so!» Flora looked out the window. There was no golden glow in the dark sky. So the dragon has not flown yet.
«The dragon loves your songs.»
«You mean the songs of innocent girls? I heard that somewhere.»
«No, it is yours exactly,» objected the witch.
«But he’s never even heard me sing, unless he’s been listening, lurking under the windows like a mouse. That’s not typical dragon behavior!»
«You drove him crazy and made him behave like a dragon!»
«Why am I the bad one?»
«Is that a bad thing?» Drusilla is wary. «What’s bad is that you’re singing now. It’s better not to sing! Otherwise we’ll be exposed.»
«Anyone who enters this room will expose us,» Flora glanced at the living mask and the fire rose. Only a drunken Raphael could miss those two magical objects.
The mask squeaked and shunned the fire rose. She had no objection to the witch with the broom.
«I can’t do this!» Flora tried to tie the ends of the wreath with ribbon and couldn’t.
«You have to tie the leaves in a knot,» Drusilla advised.
«How is it?» Flora was surprised, but the leaves suddenly knotted themselves together. The wreath was complete. «It’s still not magical! I did something wrong!»
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.»