В«And now you give me my order!В» The lady held out her hand, her fingers were unnaturally long and thin. It looked as if the membranes between them were laced together. Or was it just aВ fancy piece ofВ jewelry? Janet did not know what toВ think.
«Here, ma’am,» the young man handed her not colored ribbons but some sort of jars. He did not appear to be a peddler, but a druggist. So she had mistaken the young man for Quentin.
В«Will that be enough for one unruly mind?В» The lady inquired, peering at what appeared toВ be living worms inside the vials.
В«It is more than enough!В» The young man bowed.
В«You said it the last time too,В» the lady scoldedВ him.
«But this potion is stronger. And if it isn’t, you’ll have to work it out for yourself, and it’ll cost him his head.»
«I’ll trust you one last time! Off you go!»
The young man bowed again.
Janet bent down toВ pick up aВ coin that looked like aВ living disc ofВ sunshine rolling right at her feet. The coin did not burn her fingers, though it seemed aВ real flame. The face on the tail winked at its new mistress. Or did it just seem thatВ way?
Janet looked out at the square and saw no one else inВ it. No lady, no groomsmen, no footmen with monstrous bodies. The square was empty. On the stones ofВ the sidewalk, where the train ofВ fire stretched, there was no ashy trace ofВ the recent burning, either.
Could it be that her visit to the fortuneteller had influenced Janet in such a way that she began to see strange things? The girl stepped into the empty square. Somewhere there should be a carriage waiting to take her back home, but there wasn’t. Janet walked through the empty square and turned nervously at every sound. Sometimes she thought she heard someone calling her name.
Suddenly she bumped right into Quentin. He was there all ofВ aВ sudden, like an elf popping out ofВ aВ snuffbox. AВ second ago the square was empty. And now he was standing right inВ front ofВ her. There was aВ teasing grin on his face. And his box was gone.
Janet stared at him, not immediately startled when she heard aВ noise behind her. AВ carriage was hurtling across the square toward them.
В«Look out!В» Quentin covered her as the gilded carriage raced past.
«There are two great frogs instead of grooms,» said Janet, stammering. It seemed to her, somehow, that Quentin could confess everything she’d seen. «Tell me, did you see it, too?»
Quentin was strangely silent. The freckles on his face blazed with the fire of shame. He even shuffled unsteadily from foot to foot. Janet noticed how unusual his shoes were: they had upward-curved toes, buckles shaped like crescents of the month, and bright green leather inserts, as if they were frogs’! What an absurd suggestion!
«There are some things you’d better not talk about with your tongue, or you might end up with no tongue at all,» muttered the young man. «And no head, either.»
He drew a meaningful line down his throat with his finger. It reminded Janet of a ball that seemed like someone’s head had been lifted off his shoulders.
«Talking about inscrutable things is unnecessary,» he added with a touch of bravado. «You’d better not fill your head with silly thoughts. But I have something to give the beautiful lady.»
He plucked a sparkling necklace out of his sleeve. It had two pendants in the shape of a crescent moon and a sun. It’s doubtful that the necklace was made of real gold, most likely of cheap yellow copper, but Janet liked it. Quentin put it in her hand.
В«Another rarity from the famous pedlar,В» Janet smiled.
В«ToВ protect you from her!В» uttered Quentin, suddenly becoming serious for aВ moment. The mischievous twinkle inВ his eyes faded, replaced byВ aВ pensive expression.
«Does it protect me from whom?» Janet didn’t understand.
The boy moved backward instead of answering. The moonlight flickered across his face, and suddenly Quentin’s figure multiplied, as in a mirror with many compartments. He seemed to be standing both right and left, front and back. His monotonous figures, created by the moonlight, danced around her.
Janet looked here and there, trying to distinguish the true young man from the multitude of doppelgangers. Suddenly they were all gone. The girl looked around in vain for the boy, who was no longer there. Again all she could see was the empty, dark square. And the jewel was still clutched in her palm. Quentin hadn’t even charged her for the necklace.
It would soon begin toВ dawn. InВ the distance, aВ bright streak appeared inВ the dark sky. That means, over the city, the sun is rising. Eternal night has not filled it forever. The spellbound people began toВ lazily wake up. Would they remember that they had been forcibly put toВ sleep, or was there aВ lapse inВ their memory?
Janet wondered why she hadn’t fallen asleep with them all. The guards were the first to regain consciousness, and they began to stand up, their armor rattling. Probably the guards that her father had sent to escort Janet had awakened somewhere. She must fetch Nyssa from the fortuneteller’s house. Perhaps they could both make it home by noon.
The forestВ elf
Janet had aВ dream. She was walking through the woods. AВ creature was beckoning her into the thicket. It wore aВ mask ofВ golden leaves, and behind it moved transparent green wings. Was it not an elf? He turned around and then disappeared around the bend inВ the path. Janet had toВ run toВ keep up with him. The forest around her grew darker and darker. The trail broke off, and the girl had toВ hack her way through the thicket. The thorns clung toВ her train, but she moved on anyway. Somewhere ahead she could hear clatter ofВ hooves, as if aВ cavalry party was galloping this way. So there was aВ road nearby. There was no way aВ cavalry could have ridden through the thicket.
The branches scratched Janet’s hands. The birdsong suddenly stopped. A gnome ran right under her feet. He was in a great hurry.
В«Her knights are coming!В» He turned around and shouted toВ Janet as if it meant something toВ her. В«The time ofВ sacrifice is coming, now that they are here.В»
Janet didn’t understand him at all. What knights? What sacrifice? No sacrifices have been made in the woods since the days of the pagan gods. And they had been here so long it seemed legendary. Maybe he was confused about something.
She looked around, but saw no more ofВ the elf inВ the golden mask. The dwarf had disappeared from view, too. And the clatter ofВ hooves sounded quite close. Janet did see the galloping knights. But the road on which they rode, she could not see, as if the horses were treading on air, not on the driftwood. Suddenly the ground trembled beneath her feet. Thorns clung toВ her dress, and the knights rode past on their horses and paid no attention toВ her cries for help, as if she was inВ aВ looking glass from them. Or did they simply not care that another victim was dying inВ the woods? The ground began toВ suck her down like aВ viscous swamp, and one ofВ the knights suddenly turned toВ look at her. His eyes were familiar toВ her: blue with golden speckles. She knew him and remembered the dragon-head helmet well.
Janet woke up inВ aВ cold sweat. Someone had just knocked on her window. The knock must have woken her up. It was quiet but insistent. At first she thought it was rain drumming on the glass, but the sky was clear. The moon shone with aВ measured pale light.
«Let me in, Janet,» it was Quentin’s voice. There he was, himself, outside the window, or rather, just his red head. «You don’t want the sentries to shoot me. They have very formidable crossbows. I can see it from here.»
How the hell did he get up that high? And what does he want? He may have remembered that he gave her the bracelet and the necklace for free, and now he comes to the castle to ask for money. Would it not have been wiser in this case to come in the afternoon and contact to her father. Another salesman who had contacted the Earl’s daughter would have done so, but Quentin was different. The guy was out of this world! Blessed! Janet felt sorry for him, and hurried to the window. She didn’t even have time to put on her negligee. Good thing her nightgown had a high neck and puffy sleeves. Quentin had nothing to stare at.
В«How did you get inВ here?В»
The answer came of its own accord. When she opened the window, Janet caught sight of him holding on to the wattles of scarlet and white roses, which had grown so overnight. Yesterday they had been stunted, but today they were all around the tower. She can’t believe Quentin didn’t bleed his hands clinging to them. Roses have sharp thorns.
«You’re out of your mind!» Janet watched as the young man sat down on the windowsill. He was very good at climbing to heights.
В«IВ wish IВ had wings,В» he admitted.
В«Had you wings before?В»
He looked at her with mild reproach, as if she’d hurt his pride.
В«Forgive me for calling you byВ your first name, Madam.В»
«You’d rather call me Janet than Mistress. Why did you risk your life to try to reach me by the wall? It’s dangerous. After all, the sentries could have seen you and shot you. Or you could have fallen down and crushed to death.»
«I don’t think so. I’m very handy,» he boasted, not unreasonably.
«If you think I’m going to let you sleep in my bedroom, you are very much mistaken. I like you, but not that much.»
В«IВ understand that. Young maidens usually like my merchandise better than my advances. AВ poor man like me can only dream ofВ gorgeous ladies ofВ noble blood, but never go near them.В»
«You’ve already been there,» she reminded him reasonably.
«It’s business,» he said, looking intently at Janet. The moonlight was reflected in his eyes, which made them slightly sinister. The sharp ears weren’t hidden beneath his beret this time. It must have slipped off as Quentin climbed the wall like a wildcat.
В«Have you come toВ offer those special ribbons you told the girls inВ the square about? IВ heard it as IВ droveВ by.В»
«I want to tell about the fairies’ kingdom,» he corrected her, businesslike.
«About what do you want to tell?» Janet thought it was some kind of joke. «Is it about the fairies’ kingdom! Are you serious?»
«You don’t believe in it!»
There was nothing toВ contradict that. Janet somehow even felt guilty and took aВ step away from the window. InВ the meantime, Quentin carefully tucked aВ lock ofВ reddish hair behind his ear, as if he was trying toВ draw her attention toВ his pointed ears.В»
В«You may not believe inВ the realm ofВ fairies, but there is aВ realm,В» he suddenly shifted back toВ aВ respectful tone, as if her mistrust had put distance between them. AВ second ago he had acted like an old trusted friend, but now he was playing deference toВ his mistress again.
«Suppose I believe you. What’s in it for me? You’ve already given me two gifts for nothing, even though I didn’t believe in anything.»
В«The third gift you will get on your own,В» he promised. В«You must go into the forest.В»
Wasn’t that what the fortuneteller had warned her against? Janet frowned. The moon was suddenly too bright, hurting her eyes.
«Go beyond the line; there’s someone waiting for you,» Quentin asked in a low, hopeful tone.
For some reason she remembered the knight from her dreams. The line was a brook that gurgled near the edge of the forest. It was as if it separated the Earl’s lands from the dense woods. Perhaps Quentin was referring to some other magical line besides it. He speaks of a realm of fairies.
«He’s been waiting a long time, and he needs you,» the young man whispered quietly. «Because no one else can help him.»
A bird with a red spot on its forehead was circling the tower, croaking strangely, with a hoarse caw. Hearing it, Quentin beckoned Janet to be quiet, and began to descend slowly. This time the twigs of the roses hurt his palms, but it was as if he didn’t notice. There was blood on the thorns.
«It’s Blackness!» He whispered goodbye, evidently referring to the restless bird. «Beware of it!»
Beware of some bird? Janet couldn’t understand why. Birds can’t hurt people, unless they swoop down in a flock and strangle them to death.
Still, the girl decided to close the window tightly, and did the right thing. A bird’s beak immediately began pounding on the window frame. It was very insistently. The bird was clearly angry that it was not allowed in, but Janet, paying no attention to it, just tightly closed the curtains.
Already in the morning Janet remembered the night visit and the bird. Blackness! If that was the bird’s nickname, then the bird itself belonged to someone. Like a hunting falcon released after its prey and then lured back. Is her assumption correct? How she could to check.
Her friends were still playing ball inВ the garden, as if there was nothing else toВ do inВ the castle. Janet herself was sitting byВ the fountain inВ the courtyard ofВ the castle. She did not even notice how someone sank down on the stone bench besideВ her.
В«Are you pensive, young mistress?В»
Janet looked up. It was the old knight Ambrose. Unlike her father, he had grown old with years, not from grief, and he still maintained aВ dignified, proud look. He must have been handsome inВ his youth. The gray hair and wrinkles seemed like aВ mask which, when scraped away, revealed aВ pleasant young face. It probably seems that way because ofВ his young mischievous eyes.
«I’m thinking of the fairies kingdom,» Janet admitted.
«That’s a very serious thought!» He said with a chuckle in his elderly voice. «I knew a young lady who used to fill her head with thoughts of fairies.»
В«And what became ofВ her?В»
В«She withered and died inВ the prime ofВ her life. Like aВ rose wilted.В»
Janet looked at the wattles ofВ scarlet and white roses growing ever larger around the castle wall. They crawled upward like magnificent snakes with thorns. One rose had indeed wilted.
В«AВ drop ofВ blood on it and it will bloom again!В» The knight caught her gaze. В«These flowers are like leeches.В»
В«What do you mean?В» Janet looked astounded.
«I just want to warn you not to think too much about the realm of elves and fairies, or you’ll be lost, like so many before you, or you’ll wither away with black ennui.»
В«Are thoughts ofВ fairies really that dangerous?В»
She did not have time to hear the old man’s answer because young knights, her father’s vassals, were already walking toward her. Many of them tried to woo the daughter of the earl they served. They often brought Janet some small gift. Now a handsome-looking knight, named Howard, brought her a fine mother-of-pearl comb. Janet accepted the gift, but her heart did not waver. A strange emptiness settled in her heart. She wanted neither to be friends with girls, nor to accept signs of attention from knights. Perhaps the rainbow bird had flown in from the realm of the fairies and bewitched her. It had not appeared over the castle for two days, and Janet longed.
Waiting until she was alone, she quietly ran away from the castle and made her way to the creek, where she found the keys. There were no more keys at the bottom, apparently she had collected all of them last time, but the colored pebbles remained. As she bent down to retrieve them, someone’s sharp claws suddenly scratched the back of her head. Janet felt the mother-of-pearl comb she’d just given her slip out of her hair.
The rainbow bird flew up toВ her suddenly and visibly. Stealing the scallop, it clutched it inВ its beak and fluttered up on aВ branch.
В«Wrong one!В» She sang. InВ aВ human voice?! Janet was still amazed that there were birds that could speak human. She had heard from one ofВ the merchants from across the sea that there were rare gifted people who could understand the language ofВ animals and birds. Could she really understandВ it?
The bird managed to sing without letting the teeth of the comb out of her beak. Well, isn’t she magical? The sun played highlights in its iridescent plumage.
В«Rainbow,В» said Janet, the nickname given toВ it. Rainbow was too different from the black bird that had been pecking at her window at night. It flared its tail, and it mottled on the branches ofВ the willow tree inВ all seven bright hues. The impression was as if aВ seven-colored rainbow, which appeared after the rain, descended from the sky and became feathered.
В«Come with me, you coward!В» The bird sang it as it flew down from the branch.
В«Did you call me aВ coward?В» Janet was used toВ referring toВ the talking bird as aВ girlfriend. В«Well, wait!В»
And she followed the bird, completely oblivious toВ the dangers and warnings that were regularly given toВ all the inhabitants ofВ the castle not toВ go into the woods.
It might be dangerous toВ go there at night, but the sun was shining brightly now. The green ofВ the trees gave rest toВ the eyes. The forest looked like aВ fairytale kingdom, not aВ dangerous place where something could threaten aВ human life.
Janet even enjoyed being all alone on the forest path. The bird flew aВ little ahead. Its bright tail was clearly visible among the green crowns ofВ trees. Janet followed it, stepping over fallen trunks and moss, and eventually stepped off the path.
She had toВ hold on toВ her hem, walking through driftwood and thistles, jumping over streams. She noticed aВ rainbow stream inВ her path. The water inВ it shimmered with seven bands ofВ different colors, like the plumage ofВ aВ bird. How beautiful! Sunbeams danced on the water with golden highlights. It was probably just the play ofВ light that made the creek seem like aВ water replica ofВ aВ sky rainbow.
Janet would have thought so, but there was aВ blood-red stream ahead ofВ her. It happens! It looked as if the water inВ it was soaked with red clay. How could that be? Janet had never seen thick red water before. It felt as if it was blood.
В«Is it aВ blood stream?В» Janet looked questioningly at the bird flying ahead, as if it could give her aВ satisfactory answer. But it only flew forward even faster.
«Wait for me!» Janet suddenly realized that she couldn’t find her own way back. She had gone too deep into the thicket. Should she call for help? But who would hear her here? Now the bird is her only hope of getting out of the forest, she just needs to talk to it and convince it to fly back. It knows the way, for it has flown to the castle so many times before.
«It is Dead Water!» The bird chirped as it descended over a spring. No, it was no longer a spring. As she came closer, Janet spotted a well. Was it a well in the woods? She’d never seen anything like it before. Who would think of digging a well in the woods? There was probably a woodsman’s or lumberjack’s hut nearby. But no matter how much she looked around, Janet saw no sign of habitation.
В«Look inside!В» The bird advised. Janet struggled toВ pull the wooden lid off the well hole and involuntarily squeezed her eyes shut. The water at the bottom ofВ the well glistened too dazzling.
«Don’t look too closely, or you’ll go blind. The water is dead,» the bird chanted again, circling at a distance from the well.
So why look at it at all? Janet noticed aВ round object floating inВ the water. It looked like aВ head, cut off from aВ statue and gilded. The thing was quite beautiful. Janet even wondered if she should fish it out ofВ the water, when suddenly the lips ofВ the head moved. They were trying toВ say something.
В«Turn back around!В»
