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.»
«Are you sure?» How strangely he asked that.
Janet suddenly remembered the bear, the deer, and the unicorn with eyes like his.
«You can turn into beasts?»
«Not only that!»
«Is that bad?»
«It is bad that I am not in control of myself at such moments. I can hurt even you, and then, when I come to my senses, regret it.»
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 in a confession? And then she would run away from him and never come to see him again in this thicket. Without her visits the world would fade, and the magical captivity would become even darker and more burdensome. Still, Tamlane decided to 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 of his armor. «It resembled a dragon cast in steel, taking the size of a human body.»
«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.
«And how can a person get a little bit of magic blood?»
«It is from a distant kinship with a magical people. Suppose your great-great-grandfather was once seduced by a fair, then she disappeared, but a child with a share of magical blood remained. Or someone in the family married someone who had once been born of a supernatural being. There can be many variations, but they all lead to one thing: a fraction of the magical blood in the family. Members of such a family would either be afflicted with strange ailments or differ in some other way from mortals, but not so much that they could be immediately unmasked. My ancestor did wrong by accepting the armor from the Zwerg, but apparently he needed it to protect his duchy from invasion by unearthly foes. Legend has it that the dragon in whose blood the armor was forged tried to steal his bride from him, and my ancestor killed him in a fair fight. Perhaps the armor have been cursed ever since. But he who wears them never loses a battle.
«But you lost the battle with the evil one if you were taken a prisoner.»
«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.
«What do you mean?» 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 a hand, but green living shoots. The whole Tamlane suddenly became an unimaginable green creature for a moment, like a living bush or a tangle of snakes hugging her. It only lasted a second. After a 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.»
«In any case, you have a week to think about it.»
Rainbow, who had been listening intently to the conversation while sitting in the tree, was very unhappy with what she had heard.
«Who would dethrone the fairies’ queen if you two just ran away?» She laughed. «Come to your senses. You can’t leave Corund in the lurch. There are many others suffering besides you, and you only want to save yourselves.