as if shaking hands with an old friend. The sword didn’t hurt him. I guess elves can’t be hurt. Or can they, but the sword doesn’t? Gloria was confused. She knew so little about elves that she was confused. Were there possible in the castle library some encyclopedia about the secrets and habits of the elves? But such reference books were unlikely to exist. If some scholar had compiled them, he must have cheated and invented them. After all, elves are unpredictable people. You’ll never understand them. Do they understand themselves?
Gloria understood one thing. It’s useless to threaten an elf with a sword.
«Aren’t you afraid of death?»
«I’m immortal!»
«Aren’t you afraid of getting hurt?»
«If you’d been in the fairy queen’s dungeons, you wouldn’t be afraid of anything.»
«Are you speaking in riddles?»
«So let’s change the subject to a more understandable one,» the elf flew around Gloria and touched her hair. «It’s like red gold thread. And you’re red yourself, like an autumn fairy. But you’re prettier than fairies.»
«Is there anyone prettier than a fairy?»
«Well, it turns out they are!»
«I am Lady Gloria!» She introduced herself again, emphasizing the word «lady» rather than «fairy,» and wanted to curtsy, but changed her mind. First of all, it was uncomfortable to curtsy with a sword, and secondly, the elf could hardly bow to her, hanging in the air, but he managed to do it.
«And I am Fior! I used to be called the Wind Messenger because I delivered love letters from the castle of the Elf King to the castle of the Fairy Queen. They had to be carried at the speed of the wind.»
«Did the Elf King and the Fairy Queen have an affair?» Gloria was keenly interested. Well, how not to believe in fairies, if the case takes such an interesting turn.
«It is sort of! But love played a third role in it. The first place was the benefit from the merger of the two kingdoms. I flew with the song to the queen and was seduced by her sweet promises. I decided to defect. I wish I’d never thought of it.»
Fior took out a harmonica in the shape of a golden caterpillar with a heart and played. The beautiful melody was enchanting. Everything swam before her eyes. The floor became a carpet of roses again.
«Enough! You’re bewitching me!»
Fior stopped playing immediately.
«Look!» He pointed to the tapestry. «It’s a gift from a lovesick elf king to the wife of a mortal earl.»
«I thought it was a wedding present for the Earl.»
«That was the original plan! The elf king and the mortal earl became friends. Then the friendship was cruelly betrayed. It was all because of a woman. Where there’s a woman, there’s war.»
Isn’t she the one he’s mocking? She’ll learn to fight and show all the elves where it’s at! Fiore’s so arrogant.
«You’re smirking at me like I’m walking into a trap.»
«Aren’t you? Look at the tapestry.»
«It looks like a map.»
«That’s right! There’s an elves’ castle! And that black patterned palace is the fairies’ castle! And here’s the trolls’ domain! And these are the magical forests!» The elf poked his golden fingernails into one and another section of the map. «And here is a grove of moon fairies. Do you want to dance there?»
«And how do we get there?»
«It is very simple. It is through the tapestry.»
«It’s also a portal?»
«Let’s go!» The elf grabbed her arm.
«No, I don’t think so,» Gloria pulled away. «I don’t want to get sucked into some creepy place.»
«You’re scary!»
«I’m careful!»
«If you want to be a knight, it’s not their policy to be cautious.»
Gloria didn’t say a word. It was not for him to tell her how to become a knight. The elf himself can’t fight, only fly back and forth. He could only be used as a messenger. He’ll lose a battle unless he flies away before it starts. But he’s very nice to look at.
«You’re special! Not like all the girls before you.»
«What girls do you mean?»
«There were a lot of them: peasants who delivered milk and fruit to the castle, maids, governesses, ladies who came to visit.»
«But why is there none left?»
«And once the young Countess brought with her a whole retinue of young maidens,» the elf recalled self-consciously.
«So where did they all go? Did Angus send them all away?»
«Only the ones he could save. Or rather, he thinks he did.»
«From what did he save them?»
The elf smiled slyly.
«I have a feeling you’re not going to be as easy to deal with as they are. You’re very suspicious and unnatural for a mortal girl, as if you weren’t even human at all, but a cunning fairy. Are you trying to seduce me, poor man?»
He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her off the floor, and danced her through the air across the hall. Gloria gasped. Spinning through the ceiling, almost hitting the ceiling with her head, was not her style.»
«Let me go!» She insisted, and was silenced when she met Fior’s eyes. They shimmered and shimmered like rainbows. She had never seen such beautiful eyes in anyone.
«Another elf tried to recruit you before me, and you were nicer to him,» Fior said resentfully.
«How do you know?»
«I watch everything from the top of the tower roofs. Sometimes my wings get stiff from sitting near the tapestry, and I fly around the castle. You know elves have dragon sight. I saw you flirting with Elar on the road.»
«He came on to me. It was like you are now. At least you’re not wearing a mask. He didn’t even take his mask off.»
– Elar doesn’t wear masks. He’s an elf.
«Yes, he does!»
Gloria felt victorious, but Fior only laughed. Apparently he knew something she didn’t.
The sword remained hanging in the air, not falling to the floor when Gloria released the hilt. As if he wouldn’t lunge at them with the point. He knows how to attack on his own, after all.
«If you want to learn how to wield it, you’ll have to ask me for help. I’m the only one who can handle enchanted swords. I can give you swordsmanship lessons.»
«I can teach myself!» Gloria said proudly, and the sword swung nimbly against her own throat. How indomitable!
«It’s already tried to kill you!»
«Weren’t you directing it at that moment?»
«You are clever!» The elf pulled the blade of his sword away from her throat. «I don’t understand why a beautiful girl needs to wield a sword. You can do more with a smile than a long fight.»
Gloria wanted to give him a furious rebuke, but realized in time that the elf was trying to compliment her. He found her beautiful! A blush flooded her cheeks.
«I, too, can do better with charms than with stabbing weapons,» the elf threw a handful of something shiny in Gloria’s direction. He’s trying to cast a spell on her!
«Stop it!»
«How