she wanted to hide her face behind it. And the accusations were groundless! Witchcraft tricks like that are usually done by fairies, not elves.
«You’ve been too capricious, and they blamed all their troubles on you,» one of the maidens whispered to Marianne. The princess brushed her off.
Someone had left a magnificent Menuel’s dagger with an intricate hilt beside the throne. She picked it up, drew it from its sheath, and then heard a whisper:
«I want your blood!»
Who said that? Marinna looked around the stands helplessly. Everyone was busy watching the tournament. No one would speak to her. Except the maid of honor! But this voice was distinctly masculine and hoarse. It sounded as if it were coming from a blade of steel. Blades cannot talk, can they? Though there were many legends of Menuel’s steel. The doors of the armory where Conrad kept his Menuel’s swords were forever locked by order of the king. This could have meant that they were either very expensive or very dangerous. Once as she walked past the armory, Marianne had already heard the same hoarse whispering that urged her to break open the door and steal one of the swords. Naturally she did not, though the voice had a hypnotic effect.
«I want your blood, Princess!» Someone whispered again. She no longer doubted that the insolent whisper came from the dagger. She wanted to sheath it again, but the hilt slipped from her hand as if by itself. The blade of the dagger pricked her finger.
How painful! Marianne had not expected that a slight prick with the tip of a dagger could be so painful. A drop of blood dripped onto the ivory and jade throne. A scarlet and white rose instantly grew right on the armrest of the throne.
Marianne watched breathlessly. The two lush roses seemed for a moment like two women’s faces, one under a scarlet veil, other under a white one.
Some slender girls in fancy airy robes appeared beside the throne. They were hugging one another by their thin waists. Surely they must have been two friends who had come from distant exotic lands. One lady was dressed in a scarlet dress, the other in white. And both had real wings fluttering behind their backs. Marianne gasped. Surely these must be two fairies in the entourage of the Fairies’ Queen Medea Shai.
It seemed that no one but Marianne could see them. They both winked at the princess.
«Tonight is no reason to fight,» the two fairies said in chorus. «Ordinarily, our alliance is a tournament, but with you it is already decided. You should not have summoned us.»
«But I didn’t call you!»
The two fairies pointed to her sore thumb.
How could you tell? A pair of roses did sprout from her blood. Maybe the roses were a signal to the fairies.
«I’ve been dying to see a real fairy,» said Marianne. «Why don’t you sit beside the throne?»
The velvet covered pedestals were for guests of honor, but two fairies shook their heads in disapproval. Marianne noticed that their feet in gold sandals did not touch the ground. Both winged guests hovered an inch above the bleachers. And both of them were watching Marianne so intently that she felt uncomfortable.
«It’s definitely not passion!» said the scarlet fairy, waving her wings as bright as blood.
«It is love!» joyfully determined white fairy. «It is pure love! How I like it!»
She was staring into the ring where the elves were fighting.
«It is a poor comparison!» Marianne muttered. «I can’t stand those impudent elves!»
Her eyes fell on the victor, the one who had won the contest. They say that love is like an arrow through the heart, but Marianne felt as if she’d been scalded with boiling water, head over heels.
«Who is he?» She clutched at the lady in waiting behind her.
«Which one is it?» Lady Hilaria, the blonde-haired lady, could barely get her hand out of the princess’ grasp.
«It is that one! It is the one with the winged helmet!»
«They almost all have winged helmets!» Hilaria determined, bewildered. «Only a few had helmets made of golden leaves, ornamented with horns or winged snakes.»
«It is the one with the gilded armor!» Marianne pointed forward, though the gesture might have seemed indecent. This was a royal tournament, not a marketplace. And she was a princess, not a bazaar girl.
«It reminds one of dawn! And he has notches in the shape of golden maples running down the side of his cuirass.»
«Ah! It is this one!» Hilaria opened the fan with a bang. «At the sight of him I too am ready to faint, as most ladies. He is an elves’ prince! Lurel.»
«It is an elves’ name for sure, but looks like an angel.»
«And he fights like the devil! All elves look like angels, but they fight like demons. So much magic,» Hilaria was both indignant and delighted.
«Do you know if the Fairies’ Queen’s knights will be in the tournament?»
«They already did. The elves’ prince defeated them. Didn’t you see that?»
Marianne was ashamed to admit that she had missed most of the tournament because of the conversation with the fairies. However, they quickly disappeared. Only the scarlet and white roses were left, which were fragrant on the armrest of the throne. The magical dagger, which Marianne had retracted into its scabbard, hissed unhappily.
«I was dreaming!» Marianne fidgeted nervously with her peacock feather fan. «You do not know how to call the winner to me? I want to make a solemn speech in his honor instead of the king.»
Hilarie hesitated.
«You think it would be difficult, after all the fights I’ve had with the elves?»
«They don’t like you now, Your Highness, and the people agree with them.»
The commoners would have been about to throw rotten vegetables at Marianne if the fence and the guards hadn’t separated the crowd from the tribunes where the nobles sat.
But the handsome elf prince suddenly looked at her sympathetically. Marianne felt as on hot coals, as if the throne beneath her turned into a roaster. And Lurel just got a wreath of golden laurel, which is customary to give the lady of the heart. Such a lady will be called the most beautiful all day long just because the winner of the royal tournament gave his reward to her.
Who will Lurel choose? Is it fairy? By the way, there were no fairies in the audience. There were only mortal ladies. Elves are renowned as magical benefactors. So Lurelle might give a golden crown to some beggar from the city.
He did not hesitate to choose. Earth etiquette was broken, too. Instead of picking up the trophy with the tip of his spear, as earthly knights do, he dismounted and took the wreath with his hands, then confidently headed forward. At once, clearly, he already knew which lady he was hurrying to. Marianne tensed.
«The tournament is not yet over by any rules,» she muttered grudgingly. «The elves have not yet fought the humans.»
«But a fight like that would be suicide!» Hilaria protested.
«So what is it!» Out of jealousy and envy of her unknown rival, Marianna had easily overstepped her own principles.
«The elves had defeated the monsters of the fairies’ queen! That meant they had won!» Hilaria was on their side.
Marianne merely pursed her lips and rose from her throne.
«I will demand a new round of the tournament!» She resolved, but before she could summon a herald to proclaim her will, the most beautiful elf imaginable was standing at her side. Marianne’s wrists began to shake. Without helmet Lurel was even more beautiful than she had previously seen.
Elves are unbelievably brave. The slits in their helmets were so wide they barely covered their faces. Not surprising for