Читать книгу Amaranta’s Tapestry - - Страница 5

There was a war manual in the castle library. Gloria quietly snuck it away. It would probably tell you how to wield a sword. But it was hard to get the roses off the sword. It was like they were stuck to it. And as soon as she pulled them off, they grew back.

«I guess it’s not our destiny to fight! We’ll have to be friends!» A voice sang in the heights.

Gloria looked around. No one was in sight.

No one noticed her stealing the book from the library. She doubted any of the knights would approve of her swordsmanship lessons. In Ilior, there was no question of a girl knowing how to wield a weapon. At home, in Aluar, Gloria had been trained to shoot, but even there fencing was forbidden for women. And she dreamed of learning to swordfight. Of course, it was foolish to worry about self-defense in a castle full of knights, but they didn’t keep Amaranta safe. If someone kidnapped her, all the knights of Angus were powerless to protect her. But if Amaranta had known how to wield a sword, she could have fought back on her own.

Her cousin was a sissy and a dreamer. Gloria grew up more practical. She realized that being able to stand up for her was the most important thing in life.

A lush scarlet rose bloomed again at the tip of the sword. Gloria struggled to tear it off.

«What is the hell?»

«It’s not devilry. It’s magic,» the invisible man’s teasing voice whispered in her ear.

«They are the same thing!» She snapped back, not knowing who she was talking to.

The sword didn’t turn against her anymore, but it didn’t want to obey her. The dragon handle kept slipping out of her fingers. Perhaps it was best to read the martial arts manual carefully before training. Gloria opened the dilapidated book. She wondered if the castle has a magic manual. After all, the sword seemed to be enchanted.

Someone chuckled briefly behind her shoulder, as if catching her thoughts. What a seductive voice! Gloria looked back. Behind her back was the familiar emptiness, but someone’s presence was felt nearby.

«Come to me!» The same voice called out.

– Where are you?»

No answer.

«Well, where to go?» She couldn’t take it anymore.

«It is inside the tapestry!»

What tapestry? She’d only seen trellises and lambrequins. There was a large tapestry with a hunting scene in the hall, and a couple of other tapestries with pastoral scenes in the corridor. So which tapestry is the invisible man hiding behind? Gloria didn’t believe that someone could be lurking inside the tapestry. But behind the tapestry is very convenient to hide, especially if there is a niche in the wall under it.

Gloria went out into the corridor to look at the tapestries. There were at least a dozen of them. One could get confused as to which one to look for.

Voices came from the feast hall again. Angus was arguing with someone again. And that someone was very scandalous. He was smashing dishes, jingling cutlery, clawing at the table. Maybe there’s an animal in there. But the voices were only human, no growling.

«I thought you agreed to let Amaranta go, and now you want her back. That’s insensitive,» said someone sly and arrogant.

«I was under a spell. Now I’m awake.»

«Are you awake?»

Gloria listened. The second voice was unfamiliar to her. It certainly didn’t belong to any of the knights. Curious, who was Angus talking to? Gloria peered into the hall. Angus was standing there alone near a large tapestry.

How strange! Could there be someone hiding behind the tapestry? But the second voice had gone as if it hadn’t even been there.

«Do you need something?» Angus saw her and became alert, as if he’d caught a spy in the act.

«I’m looking for Janet,» Gloria said.

She strode defiantly into the room and looked in every corner, even under the table, before pulling back the edge of the huge, luxurious tapestry with a trembling hand. The tapestry was very beautiful, colorful and covered with intricate designs. It resembled both a map and a painting with many characters. And besides people, it depicted fairies and elves. But behind the tapestry was a void. Gloria gasped in disappointment. She had thought that behind it was a niche where Angus’s mysterious interlocutor was hiding.

«This tapestry was a gift for my wedding to Amaranta!» Angus explained, and laughed as if he had said something very witty.

Gloria felt a chill run down her spine at his sinister laugh. It was the laugh of those who summoned demons into their dwellings.

The tapestry was indeed embroidered with a wedding scene, but not a human one, but an elves’ one.

«Whose gift was it?»

Angus didn’t answer. Maybe he’d lost his mind. How could he forget the name of the person who had given him such an expensive gift for his wedding? The tapestry was probably given by King of Ilior himself. Amaranta loved to flirt with and charm kings. She was a coquette. Her husband, on the other hand, was a grim character. Angus is a tough warrior. What could he be?

On the pretext of looking for Janet, Gloria managed to search the place. The hall was definitely empty. Unless there was a secret passage somewhere. Then we’d have to come back here and look for a sliding panel in the walls. Gloria was familiar with the secret passage system. She herself had spent her entire childhood in the old castle.

«It is another duenna!» Angus grumbled after her.

Good thing Janet didn’t think she was a duenna. Gloria walked on, puzzled. How to explain to the child that she was neither a nanny nor a governess? She was a relative and a friend. Gloria didn’t have much experience in dealing with children. Perhaps she should behave directly to instill confidence in the child. Maybe try reading stories to Janet. The girl’s red-haired head flashed in the castle courtyard. Gloria went there and was stunned.

Janet was playing ball with strange, ugly creatures that seemed to have crawled out of the ground. It looked wild! Janet is a dainty girl, and her friends have claws, tails, and rough feet, but they are not animals. They deftly catch the golden apple-shaped ball and laugh, even making some jokes. They’re monsters!

«Get away from her!» Gloria grabbed the whip, apparently forgotten by the stable boys, and rushed at the freaks.

Janet looked at her surprised and angry.

«Go and mind your own business!» She said as if she were an adult. «My brothers and sisters have a right to visit me.»

These things have indoctrinated her that they are her brothers and sisters! The horror! Many of them have scales stretching across their skin and wretched wings fluttering behind their backs. Can’t Janet see that these are creatures from another race – from a non-human race!

One creeping monster sprang up, wrapped its claws around Janet’s shoulders, and whispered something in her ear. Its breath was black smoke. But the ball they were playing with was a real golden apple.

Is there such a thing as a tree that grows golden apples? It must have been made by a jeweler from Rhodolith. After all, the nearest town to the county, Rhodolith, is famous for its jewelers. But a gold object must be very heavy. You’d have to have a lot of strength to toss it around like a light ball. Janet had that strength. She was a child, but she could probably lift a sword without help.

The game with the monsters continued on the sidelines. The whole company quickly moved away from Gloria. Gloria did not even notice how they crawled away. They were just suddenly a few meters away from her, as if they had been transported there by magic.

Should we leave them alone? One of the monsters playing with Janet crawled into the well and hid there. One thing to keep in mind for the future was not to drink the water. Gloria had gotten used to drinking wine on her voyage, because there was not enough drinking water aboard the ship that had brought her to Ilior.

Suspicions about Amaranta’s so-called daughter only grew stronger. What if it wasn’t Amaranta’s daughter at all? First of all, she’s not blonde. Secondly, Angus is too cool towards her, as if he is not her father at all. Thirdly, she looks like a changeling, of which there are so many scary stories. But changelings are usually ugly, and this girl is beautiful. Janet has silky red hair, curly at the ends. She has red eyelashes, iridescent eyes, and bright freckles on her heart-shaped cheeks. This really is a child of fairies! All that’s missing are the wings behind her back.

«Hey! You forgot something!» Janet tossed Gloria a ball, not gold, but red and blue, covered with sharp scales.

Gloria ducked, caught it, and gasped. It was not a ball, but a miniature cannonball. It looked like it had been taken out of the dragon’s mouth and was about to explode.

«It is a dragon’s apple!» Janet explained.

«What is it?»

«It helps innocent maidens defend themselves against castle storms, and it can help someone get an annoying companion out of the castle.»

Janet laughed contagiously. Maybe she was trying to get Gloria into the game. She should throw the ball back to her. But as Gloria swung the ball, sparks flickered across the scales. No, we shouldn’t throw it. It could be explosive and hurt the baby. It might be a good idea to teach those freaks around Janet a lesson, but there was a risk of hurting her, too.

Gloria decided to keep the scaly ball. It was about the size of an apple, and its skin was like dragon scales.

«So, you are a dragon’s apple! Is that what Janet called you?»

The ball sizzled in her hand like a real dragon and got hot. Should she throw it down the well? Gloria pondered, but her hand burned. She couldn’t stand the heat any longer. Gloria unclenched her fingers and the ball fell into the well water. A pillar of fire erupted from the well.

«What did you do?» Janet stared at the explosion, which was part water, part fire. Something huge and flexible, like the scaly body of a dragon, crawled up from the well toward the windows of the towers. Gloria did not immediately realize that it was not a dragon, but a tree. It was covered with branches and scaly fruit like the ball Janet had given her.

«You gave it to me!»

Gloria felt like a fool. She’s a grown-up dolt accusing a little kid of something! That’s ridiculous! Except that the child, judging by the eyes, looked more like an ancient dwarf creature from the world of fairies, which was not the first hundred years old.

«From one apricot seed grows a whole tree, and from one dragon apple a whole dragon!» Janet whistled, looking at the scaly tree stretching from the well to the spires of the castle. «That’s what Iveyna told me!»

«Who’s Iveyna?»

Naturally Janet did not answer, but ran off laughing. And Gloria was left alone to give explanations to the sentries already rushing into the castle courtyard with pikes and halberds. Apparently, because of the trembling in the ground, they thought that a giant was breaking into the castle. And there was only a scaly tree growing here, looking like a gaunt dragon. For some reason, even the guards felt sick at the sight of it. Gloria suddenly realized that she’d done something that would get her kicked out of the castle. Maybe she should blame it on Janet. The child can be forgiven. But blaming her mischief on a child, even a supernatural one, was too mean. Gloria prepared to take the blame. Only no one blamed her for anything. No one even realized that the dragon tree growing out of the well was her doing.

The guards were whispering about the elves’ jokes and some guest still upstairs. Gloria hadn’t seen a carriage or riders ride up to the castle. So where had the guest come from? The guards certainly didn’t mean her. Taking advantage of their confusion, Gloria quietly left. Let them deal with the dragon tree themselves.