Tamlane – Prisoner of the Queen of the Fairies – 2. Release
Natalie Yacobson
Janet has fallen in love with a beautiful elf named Tamlane. So how do we pluck him from the clutches of the fairies’ queen? Tamlane is strong, but not free. The armor of dragon scales he once stole gives him the power to turn into a dragon, but it also shackles him with enchantments. The queen of the fairies holds a tournament. Janet must sneak into it to save her lover.
Tamlane – Prisoner of the Queen of the Fairies – 2
Release
Natalie Yacobson
Переводчик Natalie Lilienthal
© Natalie Yacobson, 2022
© Natalie Lilienthal, перевод, 2022
ISBNВ 978-5-0056-5551-6 (С‚. 2)
ISBNВ 978-5-0056-5552-3
Создано в интеллектуальной издательской системе Ridero
Rose Girls
The dagger with the emeralds was the only means ofВ self-defense Janet had. It might not be enough if aВ pack ofВ wolves or any monsters surroundedВ her.
The woods grew quite dark, but the glowing fruit inВ her hands was aВ substitute for aВ lantern. At least it was ofВ someВ use.
When the moon rose in the sky, its light too was suddenly very bright, though pale. It fell upon the thicket of roses, and it became visible that all the flowers, both scarlet and white, had women’s faces.
Pretty faces were hiding in the thickness of the petals. The prickly shoots of the roses began to move like crawling snakes. They intertwined with each other, like hands in an embrace, then separated, grew, and suddenly… Janet looked and could not believe her eyes. Instead of roses, she saw before her a crowd of beautiful girls in white and scarlet dresses. They gathered around her like ghosts. Could it be that these were all the same girls Tamlane had bewitched?
InВ the moonlight they were themselves again. AВ host ofВ ghostly figures surrounded the astonished Janet. She looked around them inВ amazement. They were pretty. Could it be that Tamlane kissed each one inВ the moments before they died.
«It is his favorite!» One of the girls held out her pale hands with shimmering skin to Janet’s face. The girl recoiled. She liked these beauties much better as pink fences, though even then they could do harm. But now their outfits didn’t have roots in the ground; they could get off and move toward her. All dressed either in white or scarlet, though the outfits all had different styles. You can guess a lot by the style of clothing. For example, what country the person is from. Judging by the dresses, there were both inhabitants of Rodolit and those who came from far lands or even from across the sea. And all were seduced and ruined by the wood elf. Why did they only enter the reserved forest?
В«Not everyone is given toВ choose their destiny like you,В» remarked one, В«they can also read minds!В»
В«And not everyone knew the forest was reserved,В» added another.
В«What do you want?В» Janet was frightened. What if they all jumped on her and hurt her. They were jealous. You could feel it inВ the tone ofВ their voices, rustling like leaves. They were all inВ love with Tamlane. And he was inВ love with Janet.
The girl knew that the beauties wanted toВ strangle her. Eloise, hiding inВ the hem ofВ her dress, for some reason did not become aВ girl again, but also did not hurry toВ protect her with her thorns.
«Free us,» said one of the rose-girls, the prettiest one. «Or take us to Corund, where we will claw our thorns into the body of the fairies’ queen and strangle her to death. We will drink her blood.»
«And then? Then what happens to you. You’re all already dead. Without the enchantments of the fairies’ kingdom, you’d just wither and fall to dust,» said Janet.
«The magic in Corund won’t die even if the queen dies. But we could pretend to be human again, not just for the night. It would be much more comfortable.»
В«For even inВ human form we now retain thorns,В» said aВ pleasant voice behind Janet. She turned around and noticed that the white rose had disappeared from her dress, and instead there was aВ lady inВ aВ gorgeous white outfit, with blond hair and aВ gold hoop on her forehead, standing on the grass.
«Eloise!» Janet did not immediately recognize her. She had simply never seen the rose-lady in human form before. But now she looked and was amazed. Eloise turned out to be a dazzling beauty. And Tamlane had the stamina not to fall at her feet. Instead, he turned her into a rose instead of going crazy with love and trying to run away with her from the fairies’ kingdom.
Janet noticed that the beauty had thorns growing from the skin ofВ her hands, the same thorns that replaced her finger nails. You could stab toВ death with thorns like that.
«It’s a clever idea, taking us all to Corund, we could tear the queen apart. She’s the one who tells her knight to turn seduced maidens into helpless flowers. She should pay us for it.»
Janet disagreed with the definition ofВ helpless, but prudently remained silent. The beauties looked too embittered and dangerous, and the thorns on their fingers were too sharp.
В«How could IВ carry all the roses toВ Corund. There are so many roses.В»
«And there will be more,» Eloise said sadly. – She tells Tamlane to bewitch everyone, so as not to miss the one chosen girl who, according to the prophecy, will enter this thicket and who is destined to overthrow the queen of the fairies to take her place.»
В«And where is toВ find such aВ girl?В» Janet wondered.
«Tamlane thinks Rainbow has already found her. But you don’t exactly seem the type to dethrone Medea Shai.
Medea Shai! The name filled the mind with gloom. Janet was uncomfortable toВ hear it. She fumbled for the star wreath on the grass beside her. It slipped off her head. Maybe she should put it back on and become invisible toВ the rose beauties.
«If I am the chosen one, I promise to do everything I can to overthrow her,» she murmured, turning to the ghostly ladies. Janet was ready to say anything as long as they wouldn’t touch her. The beauties looked at her with great distrust.
«Don’t let us down,» Eloise sighed. – We don’t want to be roses forever.
They probably thought it was better to be corpses. After all, if Tamlane hadn’t turned them into roses, they would be corpses now. Magic is magic. It can do anything. They would simply never be allowed to leave the country again, lest they turn to dust, which, in fact, they would have been had it not been for magic.
The rose-girls didn’t touch Janet, didn’t prick her with their thorns. They seemed to have hoped for her, however fragile that hope might have been.
They wandered around her all night and whispered. Their voices sounded like the rustling of leaves. Janet dozed off, and when she awoke, it was morning. The roses were just roses again. They were fragrant, white and scarlet in a fringe of green leaves. The hedge, in the center of which an archway formed, seemed part of a fairies’ garden. Janet stood up and walked over to the roses, touching them with her hands.
«It’s not true, you couldn’t be alive…»
As if inВ response, their thorns stabbed so hard into her palms that the girl cried out. Eloise, clinging toВ her hem, hissed unhappily,В too.
Blood came out of her palms. Janet wondered if she should burn the entire rose hedge of such willful flowers. But just at that moment Tamlane pulled up. His hair gleamed gold in the morning sunlight. It would be the color of ripe rye by day, amber later, and red at sunset. And only late at night would he be a brunette. The amazing thing is not the magic that changes the color of his hair and eyes depending on the time of day, but that all these shades go equally with his beautiful face. Even if he became white-haired like the bloodhound elves, it wouldn’t diminish his beauty one bit. Janet’s heart sank habitually at the sight of him.
Tamlane dismounted and walked under the arch ofВ roses, crossing the border ofВ the magical realm. Today he looked pale, tired, and worried about something.
Janet didn’t tell him she’d been here all night so he wouldn’t worry. She just pressed her lips to his in a long kiss. His lips felt as cold as water in a forest spring, but they were sweet. How sweet the kisses of an elf are! Janet could hardly tear herself away from his lips. If only it had been possible, she would never have left his embrace in her life. But Tamlane was not free. The fairies’ kingdom held him captive. He had no control over himself or his time. And what could be done to make it different? Janet racked her brain and could think of nothing.
«My forest elf,» she whispered rapturously, snuggling against him. «Could a girl who had torn herself away from her friends and followed a wondrous bird into the woods have thought she would meet you here. And that your curls change shade depending on the time of day: they are light in the morning, golden at noon, reddish at sunset, dark in the evening. And at night they should turn charcoal black. Am I right?» – She touched them with her hand. «How fickle you are! But I know you in every form.»
В«Are you sure?В» How strangely he asked that.
Janet suddenly remembered the bear, the deer, and the unicorn with eyes likeВ his.
В«You can turn into beasts?В»
В«Not only that!В»
В«Is that bad?В»
В«It is bad that IВ am not inВ control ofВ myself at such moments. IВ can hurt even you, and then, when IВ come toВ my senses, regretВ it.В»
Now he felt faint from the potions Medea Shai had long ago tinctured upon him to rob the knight of his own will. Lately she had begun to offer him more and more elixirs, foaming in a magic crystal goblet adorned with the scales of a sea dragon. It was impossible to refuse them. She made sure he drank them all. And the ghostly miniature dragon on the rim of the glass was moving, as if it also wanted, along with the elixir, to penetrate Tamlane’s body and enslave his mind.
«What do you know about me, Janet?» Tamlane sighed. – Would you still love me if you knew everything about me?»
«Then don’t hide it! Tell me!»
She waited, but he was silent. Tell this girl everything, like inВ aВ confession? And then she would run away from him and never come toВ see him again inВ this thicket. Without her visits the world would fade, and the magical captivity would become even darker and more burdensome. Still, Tamlane decided toВ take the risk.
«I shouldn’t have taken those cloaks,» he admitted.
Janet ran her hand across his chest, cautiously, and almost grazed herself on the sharp scales ofВ his armor. В«It resembled aВ dragon cast inВ steel, taking the size ofВ aВ human body.В»
«They are not steel,» he protested. «They are of a material only the Zwerg can mine. An ancestor made a pact with them and was given the armor as a gift. They make a warrior invincible and as strong as a dragon, but not everyone can wear them. The dragon armor chooses who gets to wear it. The armor, safely locked in the armory, seemed to call to me, and I took it without asking. I put it on with difficulty. The steel dragon seemed to resist me. But strength came afterwards, and devilish strength. I had won the war. Legends began to be made of my strength. And then on the way back to my father’s castle, someone whispered to me that I had done violence by wearing armor that was not meant for me, and now violence would be done to me. And so it was. The queen of the fairies, flying over the forest on her black dragon, spotted me and decided to take me prisoner. Perhaps she was attracted to my unusual armor, forged by her own people, or maybe she was just looking for some entertainment. I fought desperately, but you can’t beat supernatural creatures. No matter how much you burn or cut them down, they rise from their own ashes, form themselves anew out of bloody pools, and become more and more vicious. All my comrades-in-arms are dead, and I now live as a prisoner in a magic kingdom. By day I guard the borders, by night I entertain the queen. She is cruel. She loves to torment both prisoners and her own subjects. What else do you want to know?»
Janet frowned. Something in his story didn’t add up.
«You speak as if you were a man, but you are an elf,» she glanced down. He’s got green sprouts under his camisole instead of legs, alive and snake-like. It made her recoil in fear from him. One could tell at once that he was not human.
«It happens to those especially chosen by the fairies’ queen. Or with people who have a bit of something supernatural in their blood. Once in the realm of fairies, such people themselves begin to become magical beings.
В«And how can aВ person get aВ little bit ofВ magic blood?В»
В«It is from aВ distant kinship with aВ magical people. Suppose your great-great-grandfather was once seduced byВ aВ fair, then she disappeared, but aВ child with aВ share ofВ magical blood remained. Or someone inВ the family married someone who had once been born ofВ aВ supernatural being. There can be many variations, but they all lead toВ one thing: aВ fraction ofВ the magical blood inВ the family. Members ofВ such aВ family would either be afflicted with strange ailments or differ inВ some other way from mortals, but not so much that they could be immediately unmasked. My ancestor did wrong byВ accepting the armor from the Zwerg, but apparently he needed it toВ protect his duchy from invasion byВ unearthly foes. Legend has it that the dragon inВ whose blood the armor was forged tried toВ steal his bride from him, and my ancestor killed him inВ aВ fair fight. Perhaps the armor have been cursed ever since. But he who wears them never loses aВ battle.
В«But you lost the battle with the evil one if you were taken aВ prisoner.В»
«I was just tired of fighting. You couldn’t kill them, they weren’t tired, and I was only human… I was only human then,» Tamlane could not tell her that the outcome of the battle had been decided by the appearance of the beautiful fairies’ queen who had immediately bewitched him. Janet didn’t need to know that. The presence of a dark rival might scare her off. But sooner or later she’ll find out anyway.
«Janet, there’s one day to break me out of my captivity.»
«Yeah?» Janet’s all tense. The hope that Tamlane could be taken from the fairy realm forever was truly uplifting.
«Before I tell you everything, think about whether you want to break me out of my captivity and take responsibility for it. If you succeed in freeing me, the fairies’ queen may take revenge, and then a series of magical tragedies will ensue in your county: her dragon will begin to burn fields and villages, the water in wells will turn to poison because of her snakes, the fire in hearths and fireplaces will burst forth in the form of fire elves.»
«The fire elves I’ll have to deal with somehow,» Janet interrupted him.
В«What do you mean?В» Tamlane arched an eyebrow incredulously.
«They’re really nice people, you just have to find a way to get through to them, and show them the anklet of fire in time to keep them from burning.» But she wouldn’t say anything about the latter. «I’ve noticed that the elves if they don’t live in your realm aren’t too fond of your queen.»
«No one likes her, but you can’t disobey her. And I, too, have to obey her, though I don’t want to. I wish I could break free, but I can’t. I need your help.»
He touched her cheek with his hand, and Janet cried out. It was not aВ hand, but green living shoots. The whole Tamlane suddenly became an unimaginable green creature for aВ moment, like aВ living bush or aВ tangle ofВ snakes hugging her. It only lasted aВ second. After aВ moment he was himself again.
«If you want to free me, don’t believe I’m an elf, even if you see otherwise. Believe that I am human, like you. I am with a bit of magic blood, but human. Don’t let me out of your grasp, even if I become a trembling serpent. If you, clutching the monster in your arms, continue to believe it is me, you will set me free.»
«Even now,» she hugged him and waited for him to turn into a snake or a monster, but he didn’t.
«It is not now,» Tamlane corrected her. «It is on the night of the elves equinox. It happens once every thirteen years. It’s only a week away. It is the only night you will be able to rescue me from my captivity.»
«I’m ready.»
В«InВ any case, you have aВ week toВ think aboutВ it.В»
Rainbow, who had been listening intently toВ the conversation while sitting inВ the tree, was very unhappy with what she had heard.
