В«It is aВ black love,В» he wanted toВ strangle her, but he could not, her throat seemed iron, and all the attempts toВ kill her were like aВ love game.
«You won’t get any better on earth. The love of a fairies’ queen goes only to a select few.»
В«They are elves, not humans.В»
В«But you are my beautiful mortal, and IВ love you,В» she ran her webbed hand over his cheek, В«though you are rebellious.В»
«That’s what attracted you to me in the first place. You love to tame wild dragons and harness them to your chariot.»
В«And IВ love toВ tame wild elves and make them my lovers, but IВ like mortals better. Why? IВ do not know myself.В»
В«Let meВ go!В»
В«Why? Your old father forgot you long ago.В»
«He wasn’t an old man when I left on that hunt. Or was it a fight,» he could no longer remember much himself. Medea Shai’s potions were corroding the fragile human memory. When he had forgotten, he would no longer claw his way out of her captivity, but would be an empty shell, fit only to give pleasure to the queen of the fairies. If only that moment had never come. Better to die. But she would not let him die. He had already tried. There is no escape from the captivity of the fairies’ queen, dead or alive.
Medea Shai gently stroked his forehead, as if testing when the man’s memory will be gone forever.
В«IВ love you very much indeed, my beautiful knight. IВ remember when you rode your horse through the thicket at the head ofВ your frail human troop and without your helmet. Your hair was like the sun, and IВ knew inВ that moment, as IВ flew over the forest road, that you must be mine.В»
The wretched helmet! If it hadn’t scratched his cheek, Tamlane wouldn’t have taken it off and drawn the fairies’ queen’s attention. The unusual helmet had been given to him by a legendary warrior, his ancestor, and was kept in the castle, a rare chosen few could touch it and not cut themselves on the dragon spikes on it. Tamlane was able to take it and fight in it, but ended up hurting himself. Apparently the helmet was not meant for him. He took it off and was captured. The creepy creatures flooded the thicket and pounced on his warriors so quickly and with such ferocity that it was almost impossible to resist them. Tamlane killed many of them in battle, but they rose from the dead even more embittered, reattached their severed limbs, and raged on to attack again.
«Love is an amazing thing. When you see someone, you realize that there is no other creature in the world so beautiful. I was flying on a black dragon over the forest when I first saw you, and the dragon realized that he would never lie with me again in a bed of love, strewn with rose petals in the king’s bedroom.»
«That’s probably why he’s so angry with me,» Tamlane surmised. The dragon has been watching him forever, even now slumbering under the door of the hall, waiting for an opportunity to burn him in passing. «He hates me and wants to incinerate me.»
В«That is impossible! After your nights with me you have become invulnerable toВ fire.В»
Tamlane did not believe her. There is a fire that can strike down a magical creature as well. The supernatural fire of the flame elves, but they dance in the hills too far from here to be reached. He had already tried, but it was painful to go farther than the edge of the forest. Medea Shai’s power was pulling him back with invisible chains.
В«You wanted me toВ spare the guilty servants. IВ did. They were not executed. Out ofВ love for you, IВ am capable ofВ much.В»
В«Then let me go back toВ the humans.В»
В«LeaveВ me?В»
В«Yes.В»
В«Out ofВ my kingdom?В» It was as if she was playing around, asking questions.
В«ToВ the world ofВ humans, where IВ was born. IВ am not aВ creature ofВ your world, you have no right toВ keep me here,В» he pulled her hair, but it became living snakes that hissed around hisВ arm.
«Don’t resist! You can’t leave. You have been with me too long. Legend has it that a man who stays too long in a magic realm will grow old and die before he sets foot on mortal land again.»
«I have not been with you long enough to be an old man. I was still young, if I’d lived my life in the mortal world.»
Medea Shai sighed.
«Don’t be so torn back! There’s nothing there that I couldn’t give you either. It’s just that things are better and more magical for me.»
There’s a girl, Tamlane wanted to say, but he prudently didn’t. Medea Shai has no reason to know about his new crush. Lily, turned into a tree because of her sympathy for him, was still groaning heavily in the hallway of the magical palace. Various dwarves and trolls plucked leaves from her, hurting her. And once he caught a whole group of laughing fairies doing this. They were even breaking branches off of it. It was the same as ripping off a man’s fingers, for the tree trunk had become her body. Medea Shai had punished her like that for falling in love with Tamlane. Janet cannot be allowed to suffer the same fate.
If aВ fairy queen is even capable ofВ destroying aВ rival he never desired for one liking, what will she do toВ the girl he has already managed toВ fall inВ love with?
Fairy Girlfriend
Janet felt lonely because she herself knows about the world of other creatures and others don’t know about them and can’t keep up the conversation. The maidens were playing in the garden, but she would not join them. They would not have been thrilled, either, to be approached by a girl who was branded by everyone as a lost, seduced by elves, et cetera, et cetera. People judge too superficially.
В«If only IВ had aВ friend who understood me inВ everything,В» she made aВ wish, looking out the window, and aВ tiny fairy appeared on her desk. It was as if she had been formed out ofВ thin air. She had wings and aВ dress that looked like aВ flower. Her face and body resembled that ofВ aВ grown-up girl, though she was no bigger than her little finger.
В«Well, did Tamlane send you?В» Janet wondered.
«Not him. I came to get you, and I decided to live here. I’m actually a garden fairy, not a forest fairy. I’m cozier here, and I can be your companion.»
В«Were you the one who spoke toВ me yesterday and stuck aВ lost pin right into my pillow?В»
The fairy nodded cheerfully.
«Don’t do that again,» Janet asked. «I might have pricked myself.
«But you didn’t prick on a live rose,» objected the fairy.
В«IВ pricked oh her congeners,В» said Janet, showing her scratches and wounds.
В«Go toВ the water elves. They can heal anything with water.В»
«I don’t believe it.»
В«They can heal anything with water, but they can do irreparable damage, too. Water inВ their hands is both aВ cure for all diseases and aВ terrible weapon.В»
The conversation with the little one began toВ take interesting turns. You can learn aВ lot about the magical world and its inhabitants from this littleВ one.
В«What about the fire elves?В» Janet wondered. В«What can they do with their fire?В»
«Oh, they’re not to be messed with,» the fairy said. «They burned my flowers long ago. Cannes. They grew by the waterfall. They called me Canna, too, after the flowers I lived in. So it’s nice to meet you.»
В«IВ am glad toВ meet you too!В» Janet wanted toВ ask the little girl aВ lot ofВ things, but she hesitated.
В«Are you inВ love with Tamlane?В» The fairy shamelessly inquired.
Janet nodded.
«It’s dangerous!»
В«So what is ofВ it?В» Janet was getting tired ofВ everyone warning her about the danger coming from him or anyone else holding him captive.
But the fairy, as it turned out, had something else entirely inВ mind.
В«Your father would not approve ofВ this choice. He himself once stole aВ mortal from her husband and now, as aВ sign ofВ remorse, tries toВ dissuade others from repeating his daring deed. Ridiculous! He did it himself, and he tells others that mortals and immortals must no longer make love.В»
«You’re confused,» Janet interrupted her. «My father is a mere mortal and so is my mother. None of them are fairies or elves. We are human. It’s Tamlane who looks like an elf. Well, at least in part.»
«I’m not confused,» the fairy frowned. «I’ve been around a lot longer than you, and I know a lot more. But you only know what you’ve been told. That’s all you know. How could you know who your parents were? You weren’t smart when you were born, but I’ve seen it all and understood it all. And I’ve seen your parents on secret dates, too.»
«That’s enough,» Janet didn’t like hearing lies. Even if a fairy liked to make up all sorts of stories, she shouldn’t pass them off as truth. It wouldn’t make the conversation any more interesting.
В«ByВ the way, your friends are coming toВ get you. AВ knight named Ambrose has persuaded them toВ take you toВ the village toВ see an old hag who is an illegal witch, and often gets inВ our way. He thinks it is time toВ rid you ofВ the child you conceived byВ an elf, who may well be born aВ monster, or at any rate aВ creature with unusual and dangerous powers for mankind. IВ myself have seen such children from the union ofВ humans and elves, they are capable ofВ destroying entire cities with their spells, and they do not understand why they do it themselves. They are driven byВ instinct, which is why they are called monsters inВ both our worlds and yours. But sometimes they can be very beautiful.В»
Janet’s ears perked up from her babble. Soon Nyssa and Latonia actually came after her and began to persuade her to go to the village with them. It was as if they had unexpectedly gone there themselves to see some kind of celebration. They did not mention that Ambrose had sent them. Janet thought it was nice to have a fairy friend who could fly over and spy on everything and report back to her. So getting to know the tiny creature seemed useful.
All the way toВ the village, Latonia tried toВ hide her face, which was swollen and puffy, as if its features were being washed away byВ water. She hid all her other previously naked body parts: arms, shoulders, even her fingers, under her long, wide-sleeved outfit, buttoned up toВ her ears. She would also do well toВ put aВ veil over her face, so that no one would notice that her skin had turned aВ watery color, and her ears and eyebrows resembled the curves ofВ seashells. Had the water elves bewitched her? Janet looked at her with apprehension and sympathy.
Nyssa, on the other hand, had been looking in the mirror she’d once bought from Quentin the whole way. Was that unusual, too? She’d never been so narcissistic that she couldn’t tear herself away from her own reflection for even a moment. She even seemed to talk to it. Her whisper, addressed to the mirror, could be heard all the way. How could you talk to your own reflection? It certainly wouldn’t have occurred to Janet. Talking to Tamlane or the fairy Kanna was much more pleasant. Nyssa didn’t think so. Her whispers reeked of passion, and in response, from the mirror, it was as if someone was whispering something. The voice was different from Nyssa’s. Janet noticed that the golden face of the supernatural being in relief on the back of the mirror sometimes seemed alive and moving. It even winked at her. Janet immediately looked away. Magic objects can be dangerous. And this mirror definitely contained some kind of magic. No wonder it did. After all, Quentin had sold it to her, and he had something to do with the magic world himself. Maybe she should have warned Nyssa that the thing in her hands wasn’t easy. But Nyssa was so engrossed in her dialogue with the mirror that she paid no attention to anything else.
On the way, Latonya began to feel sick. They had to stop the carriage for her to go out to the stream and get drunk. The girl complained that she couldn’t stand being away from water for long periods of time.
«It gets too stuffy, as if I’m going to melt,» she excused herself for her behavior as they drove on. Her behavior was strange, indeed. No well-mannered lady would stoop to the stream and drink directly from it like a doe at a watering hole. Latonya didn’t even ask to have the goblet, so she hurried to the water.
The old fortune-teller in the village received Latonia first and spent very little time alone with her. Judging by the look on the girl’s face as she left her, it was clear that she could not be helped. Nyssa did not go to the fortune teller. She stood by the roadside and talked to the mirror. Her curiosity about fortune-telling ended the moment she found herself holding a magical object. And she had once warned Janet to beware of magic and not to be friends with elves. What a hypocrite. Kanna flew beside her and laughed at the affected creature. The fairy was so tiny that no one paid any attention to her. As the earl’s daughter’s new friend, she followed her everywhere, while remaining, herself, unnoticed by anyone.
For some reason Janet was afraid to go to the fortune-teller. The last time she had been here was when she was a child, with her mother. She remembered the shabby little house, standing in the middle of nowhere, just over the cliff. It was dangerous to live here. If you stepped any farther away from the house, you’d fall straight down into a crevasse. But the old witch, as the locals had dubbed her, was obviously happy with the location.
Nothing had changed inside the house. It was dark even inВ the daytime, the hearth was burning, aВ cauldron ofВ some kind ofВ brew was hanging on chains from the ceiling, and the skins ofВ slaughtered animals were everywhere.
«You came at last,» Belladonna seemed to be waiting for her. She approached Janet, shaking her gray hair, and suddenly placed a wrinkled hand on the girl’s waist.
В«IВ knew it! Just like your mother. Do you really want toВ get rid ofВ him?В»
Janet jerked away, and backed away a little. She stumbled back toward the cauldron and stopped. The smell from the cauldron was not appetizing; it wasn’t cooking food, but something that smelled disgusting and irritated her nostrils. It even seemed to Janet that something shapeless but alive was reaching for her from the cauldron.
В«IВ only wanted toВ see you.В»
The old woman gave aВ distrustful snort.
В«No one around here wants toВ see the witch again,В» the old woman grinned incredulously.
В«Are you aВ witch?В»
The old woman was even embarrassed by Janet’s direct gaze.
«Oh, your lover is strong. Even now, in your presence, I can feel his green claws strangling me,» she complained. «I wish you hadn’t come.»
«I didn’t want to,» Janet admitted honestly. «I only wanted to reassure the people in the castle. They would have thought I was cured after they’d come to see you.»
«Is it from your love of elves, from your friendship with water and fire, from the handsome man in the thicket, or from your magical bloodline. What exactly would they want to heal you from? Almost none of these things are curable. Even the temptation you succumbed to in the thicket cannot be cured. You can only banish its fetus,» she ran her stubby finger along Janet’s waist again.
«I don’t think I want to cure anything. Love is not a disease.»
«But you’d better think of it,» said Belladonna, «for Aspasia spoke of you as a young, naive creature who thinks of nothing but amusement. And thus you lose a great deal. You’re naive! For example, I could drink all your youth and strength out of you right now, and you wouldn’t even think anything of it. Everyone would think you’d have withered away from your illness. But your friend from the forest won’t let me. It’s good to have a lover who cares about you and can do anything. Well, almost anything. If he was king of the elves and fairies, Amaranta’s story would be the same as yours. He would have come after you to the earl’s castle with his army of evil spirits.»
«Who is Aspasia?» Janet was more alarmed by the name than by the old hag’s chatter.
«She is my sister. She’s in Rodolit now.
«She is a fortune teller,» Janet guessed. But how could that be? Belladonna was an ancient, gray-haired old woman, and suddenly she had a young, attractive sister. Yes, she’s old enough to be her granddaughter.
«Don’t think I’m lying,» Belladonna warned her, sensing her doubts. «You see, one abuses magic and feeds on other people’s powers more often than the other. But I can do something, too.»
She turned for aВ moment toward the hearth, where orange sparks flickered. Her body trembled, and she turned back toВ Janet, already young and enchanted. Even the fortuneteller inВ Rodolit was not so pretty.
«Have you seen enough?» Belladonna was a moment later a hunchbacked old woman with long gray hair. «I don’t like to deceive people for a long time.»
В«Does Aspasia like it?В» Janet inquired.
«She’s an aristocrat,» said Belladonna. «She appreciates fancy things. She wants revenge on the Queen of the Fairies for petty quarrels that aren’t worth a damn.»
«How do you feel about the fairies’ queen?» For some reason Janet became curious.
«I’d rather know how you feel about her. After all, she does whatever she wants with your lover. She owns him like he owns you. And she can destroy you both unless your father comes to the rescue.»
«And what can a mortal earl do against a fairies’ queen?»
В«Am IВ talking about an earl?В» Belladonna was greatly surprised. В«IВ am talking about the king ofВ the elves.В»
Janet almost laughed.
«Don’t you know your mother is with him now?»
«You’re confused about something.»
В«Girl, IВ never confuse anything. Not the past, not the future. IВ know everything,В» with these words the old fortune-teller took out aВ roll ofВ some kind and put it inВ front ofВ Janet. The roll was moving. Claws were coming out ofВ it.
«Take this! It’s your mother’s bastard and King Dagda’s bastard! They both don’t want it. You can take him with you.»
«You don’t like it, you’ll have to take care of others. Medea Shai has bastards, too.»
With what a sneer she said it, as if she hoped to hurt the girl’s feelings.
В«You should know that she bore children toВ her mortal captive!В»
Janet ran out of the distraught fortuneteller’s cottage, fearing that the creepy creature from the roll might come out and chase her.
She was leaving the village in a hurry, and she suggested she stop at Rodolit on her way. We must try to find Aspasia there and get her to refute all this terrible news. Unless the fortuneteller had left town, she could dissuade Janet that she was the old witch’s sister and reassure her that she didn’t agree with all this nonsense.
