And here’s the castle at the end of the path! It was not as gloomy as it looked in the picture. Its walls were thickly lined with wattles of red and white roses. Gloria looked closer. Those roses weren’t in the engraving. The engraving isn’t that old. And if they had been planted recently, how had they grown so large? The flowers seemed to be whispering:
«Go away! This is a place for Elves’ sacrifices. Run, mortal!»
The horses snorted. The coachman could barely hold them back. Gloria had once seen a trampled victim of a carried horse and now lived in constant fear of being carried by horses.
No one had ever called her mortal until now. With her waist-length mop of red hair, she herself resembled a mischievous fall fairy. She was the only redhead in her family. No one knows who. And what does her niece look like? She was actually on her way to see her niece. After all, the cousin she needed to visit was supposedly kidnapped by elves.
Legends and legends! Most likely, Amaranta was the victim of jealousy. She loved to provoke men into duels. Someday she was going to get in trouble for it herself.
«Go back!» This time the voice came from the branches of an oak tree, somehow colored in autumn. It was summer! Why were there brightly colored autumn leaves on the tree? They swirled and fell beneath the wheels of the carriage. Gloria saw tiny pixies on each leaf. It was probably just imagination. She’d been frightened by the legends of Amaranta’s abduction by the elves. That’s why she’s imagining all this nonsense.
«Go away!» The insolent voice sounded from the branch of an oak tree where someone was sitting, though you couldn’t see it behind the lush foliage. «The Sea King will let you back through his domain. You won’t drown! But they won’t let you out of here!»
A creature the size of a lynx was dangling its legs on a branch. It was white as snow. The wings behind its back were made of snowflakes. Did the coachman see it? And why had the carriage stopped?
Gloria got out of the carriage. Puddles glistened under her feet, and yet it hadn’t rained. The weather had been clear since morning. The coachman wasn’t on the coach either. Where had he gone? Gloria looked around helplessly. There was no one around but fantastic tiny creatures. But a stately gentleman suddenly separated himself from the thicket of trees and stepped right into the road. He was dressed in all green. Because of this, Gloria almost mistook him for a living tree.
«Don’t listen to them! Don’t go! We need you here! Every beautiful girl here counts! And there are never enough of them.»
Gloria didn’t know what to say. The stranger spoke to her simply, as if he were an old friend. A mask of gold leaf glittered on his face. Behind it, only eyes of an unusual iridescent hue and golden eyebrows were visible. For some reason it felt like the mask was growing right out of his skin.
«Let’s dance!» The stranger wrapped his arms around Gloria’s waist in a frivolous manner. His arms, too, appeared to be covered with gold leaf. It was probably a fashionable piece of jewelry in Ilior.
It was indecent and absurd to dance with a stranger right on a traveled country road, but Gloria had no time to refuse. The gold-masked cavalier whirled her into a dance. The fall of leaves from the autumn tree intensified. Leaves fell on the road, got tangled in Gloria’s hair and became golden in color. Music seemed to be playing somewhere in the distance. Gloria listened. It sounded like a procession of lutes, flutes, and tambourines.
«Is there a festival in Ilior today?» Gloria asked her dance partner.
«No, just an ordinary day,» he replied nonchalantly. His voice was melodious, and his iridescent eyes were mesmerizing.
«It feels like you have a holiday every day.»
The stranger laughed and suddenly lifted Gloria in a dance above the ground. It didn’t seem like it to her. Her feet didn’t touch the ground. For a minute they floated, twirling in a waltz while the leaves swirled around them.
«They say only fairies and elves have a feast every day,» Gloria reminded herself.
The Chevalier’s face darkened. He set Gloria back on the ground and touched his fingers to her cheek.
«Beautiful mortal girls are always at a premium. And there are always too few of them. My lord’s cauldron craves new beauties every day. I’d tell you to run, too, if I wasn’t afraid of losing you. You know how hard it is to suffer for someone for all eternity when that person is no longer alive.»
Gloria was frightened, but the stranger pulled her to him, and suddenly she felt calm and good. He bent down to kiss her. What if he really was an elf? Gloria fumbled for the cape-like wings behind his back.
The cavalcade was indeed coming this way. Gloria saw cavaliers, ladies, unicorns, and even some monsters.
«It is another one!» A lady applauded when she saw Gloria, and then she suddenly frowned. «She’s a redhead! That’s against the law! Elar, let her go!»
