The dagger with the emeralds was the only means of self-defense Janet had. It might not be enough if a pack of wolves or any monsters surrounded her.
The woods grew quite dark, but the glowing fruit in her hands was a substitute for a lantern. At least it was of some 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?
In the moonlight they were themselves again. A host of ghostly figures surrounded the astonished Janet. She looked around them in amazement. They were pretty. Could it be that Tamlane kissed each one in 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?
«Not everyone is given to choose their destiny like you,» remarked one, «they can also read minds!»
«And not everyone knew the forest was reserved,» added another.
«What do you want?» Janet was frightened. What if they all jumped on her and hurt her. They were jealous. You could feel it in the tone of their voices, rustling like leaves. They were all in love with Tamlane. And he was in love with Janet.
The girl knew that the beauties wanted to strangle her. Eloise, hiding in the hem of her dress, for some reason did not become a girl again, but also did not hurry to 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.»
«For even in human form we now retain thorns,» said a pleasant voice behind Janet. She turned around and noticed that the white rose had disappeared from her dress, and instead there was a lady in a gorgeous white outfit, with blond hair and a 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 of her hands, the same thorns that replaced her finger nails. You could stab to 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 of helpless, but prudently remained silent. The beauties looked too embittered and dangerous, and the thorns on their fingers were too sharp.
«How could I carry all the roses to Corund. There are so many roses.»
«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.»
«And where is to find such a girl?» 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 to 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 to the rose beauties.
