you must all the more believe me that I saw some people on the road.»
«All the people who are here live either in the castle or in the village. And the village is a long way from here.»
«It couldn’t have been ghosts.»
Angus remained silent.
The castle up close was even more magnificent than in the engraving Amaranta had sent Gloria. Even though she had married a foreign ambassador, she often sent gifts home. And now Amaranta has disappeared. How could a young, healthy woman just disappear? Was she murdered? Gloria was suddenly afraid. What if she was on her way to a bandit’s nest? Although all the knights looked decent, except a little gloomy and very silent. You can’t get a word out of them. Angus was the only one who spoke to her, and that was because she was boring him with questions.
The roses at the entrance to the castle, tightly wrapped around the arches and columns, even one of the doors, so that it was impossible to open it. How they had grown! Isn’t there a gardener here to cut them back? And should they be trimmed? They smell so wonderful! Gloria inhaled the fragrance. It was the smell of paradise. So why does Angus wrinkle his nose at the sight of roses, as if he sees a monster in them? Men in Ilior can’t stand roses?
«Here she comes! She is another elf bride!» A low whisper came from the roses, as if there were pixies hiding among them. Gloria looked closely at the white roses. They all seemed to have female faces. She must be having sunstroke to be seeing these things.
«She is a lover, not a bride. Elves should not marry mortals!» This time the whisper came from the red roses. Their buds seemed to be scarlet mouths. «Nothing comes out of the relationships of elves and girls but passion and poisoned fruit. Look at Dagda’s children.»
Gloria has heard that name before recently.
The accompanying knights squinted at Gloria strangely.
«You’re a redhead!» Angus explained leading her into the castle hall through an entrance lined with wattles of red and white roses.
«Is it a crime to be a redhead?» Gloria wondered. In the hall she noticed two figures, a scarlet one and a white one. The ladies themselves resembled roses, but once they entered the lobby, they were gone.
«Red hair color is associated with prancing fairies. They came to seduce and drive mortal men crazy,» Angus explained with a serious look. He wasn’t flirting with her at all. Gloria even felt offended. Usually men were always flirting with her. Angus, for all his attractiveness, was as cold as ice.
«I’m not a fairy, or I’d have wings,» she snapped.
«There are wingless fairies, horned fairies, and even fairies with hooves instead of feet.»
Gloria defiantly lifted the hem of her lush green skirt as she crossed the threshold, showing her slender ankles.
«I’m not a fairy,» she repeated. «Or even a mermaid.»
She found the joke mischievous, but Angus didn’t even smile.
«Why are you a redhead if you’re not a fairy?»
«How would I know? I was born a redhead, and many people think it’s very beautiful.»
«But Amaranta was blonde.»
«She’s my cousin, not my own sister. But there’s a family of baronets in my homeland where the sisters have different hair colors. One is blonde, the other is brown, and I’m friend with both.»
«You shouldn’t have come,» Angus said, turning the coals in the fireplace with a poker. Gloria thought it odd that the fireplace was burning in the middle of a hot summer. It was cooler in the castle than outside, but not so cold as to be freezing.
«Why should it be?»
«The forests of Ilior are full of wild animals, aggressive birds, poisonous insects, and brigands. Don’t go into the forest at dusk. It is no way!»
«Or else I’ll get mauled by wild beasts?»
«Or wild elves,» said one of the knights behind him.
His words sounded like a cruel joke, but no one laughed. How strange everyone was! Gloria looked around, and Angus suddenly put his arm around her waist and put his palm to her forehead as if he were going to peel her skin off.
«What’s matter with you?» Gloria was outraged.
«I’m sorry!» He let go of her immediately. «I wanted to see if you were wearing a mask.»
«Is it a mask? What makes you think that?»
How could he mistake a clean, pale face for a mask? Gloria didn’t even have freckles.
«Fairies wear human faces like masks,» Angus shrugged.
Everyone here is crazy! What fairies are they talking about? There aren’t even any maids around.
«Don’t be so familiar to me again,» Gloria shook off her dress. «Remember that I’m not your wife or even your fiancée. Don’t confuse me with the missing Amaranta.»
For a moment there was an oppressive silence. Gloria looked at Angus. He was young, and there were already strands of gray in his hair. What had he seen in the woods to make him gray before he was thirty? Was it true that sacrifices to the gods of the ancient tribes were made in the forests?
«Gloria!» Angus sank tiredly into the chair by the fire. «I’m not going to marry again. So if you’ve come to take Amaranta’s place…»
«I had no such intention. I’m a relative. How can you marry a relative!»
«Amaranta’s friend Adelina was like a sister to her, and as soon as Amaranta disappeared, she started trying to marry me.»
«I’m more delicate. And I’m not getting married at all! I’m a feminist.»
Angus furrowed his beautiful eyebrows.
«What do you mean?»
«It is a woman who fights for her independence from men.»
«Apparently it’s a new-fangled word. It hasn’t been heard in Ilior yet.»
«You live in the middle of nowhere!»
«And I’m happy here!»
«But there are terrible tales of bloodthirsty elves and sacrifices to the ancient forest gods. I heard on the boat that a certain goddess, Dana, is still honored here.»
«It is enough!» Angus put the sword down on the table with a clatter. The hilt glittered dangerously with some strange symbol that looked like a pentagram. «I’ve had enough talk of elves. They stole everything from me.»
Is it everything? He lives in a castle, in luxury, has an army of his own knights, and thinks he’s deprived!
«I don’t believe in elves,» Gloria hissed. «Some gang of jokers and pranksters hiding in the woods and taunting you.»
Angus only snorted dismissively. Why argue with a fool?
Gloria stomped her foot and went into the library, its doors open. Angus didn’t follow her. She’d have a good day on her own. Gloria pulled the first book from the shelf, opened it, and a rose-blossomed meadow appeared instead of pages. Gloria felt the silky petals under her feet. Was she dreaming or was this happening? Where had the library gone? She walks through a meadow overgrown not with daisies but with roses. The variegated meadow resembles a carpet or a tapestry. But in the middle of the meadow, a deep hole appears. Someone is calling from the hole. Someone’s black clawed hands reach up, grabbing grass and roses. Their touch makes the roses wilt.
«Pull me out, mortal!» A voice hissed from the pit.
Gloria held out her hand, and suddenly there was a clatter, like a shovel hitting the lid of a chest buried in the pit. The vision was cut short.