Next to this pollen, even the flowers in the vases wilted. Even though the pollen is glowing, it seems to be a tool of black magic.
«Get out!» Ashes and cinders fell from the fireplace. They fell directly into the glittering pollen and onto Babette’s luxurious dress. The lady was gone in a flash. The garden was empty, too. No troll dressed as a beau was there, but the fairy of ashes looked out of the fireplace and clenched her fists victoriously.
«If she comes here again, I’ll fill the whole castle with ashes!» said the fireplace fairy.
«Wait! And why did she annoy you so much?» Flora called out to the fairy, but it was useless to hope for an answer.
The sneaky ash fairy had already cleverly climbed back into the fireplace chimney.
Dinner with the dragon
From the fireplace came the cheerful songs of the ash fairy, which obviously had to be considered victory hymns, because the fireplace fairy had chased away the dangerous guest. But what was Babette dangerous about?
No one would dare to receive in the castle a guest whose companion is a troll. Not even the Marquis, who messes around with astrologers, would refrain from such a thing.
Today at dinner to the Marquis de Rione was a whole group of alchemists, astrologers and stargazers, among whom there was even one fortune-teller. Obviously, the fortune-teller worked exclusively for the elite, because her dress was fashionable and expensive, and around her neck she wore a pentagram pendant made of pure silver.
«This is Lady Serpina,» whispered Charles, whom everyone present either did not notice or took for a distant relative of the Marquis. «She predicted the fate of the king himself and received a considerable reward. In confidence, I’ll tell you that all her predictions do not come true. But she is good at making dust in the eyes.»
Charles chuckled, but no one heard him. Not even the fortune-teller herself.
«That’s very interesting,» Flora looked among the guests for Edwin. His golden-haired head would have been easily spotted in the gray mass of guests, but he wasn’t here. How could he have been so indelicate? He had promised to come to dinner and he hadn’t! Flora was so angry that she almost hurt herself with the tines of her fork. She had no desire to eat when she remembered that fairies had recently danced on this very table where the guests were sitting. No one else knew that the table had recently been the scene of dancing, so the other guests ate with gusto.
Charles ate for ten. Flora hadn’t realized that elves liked simple human food so much. Father was whispering animatedly with the stargazers. Raphael arrived late for dinner and immediately reached for the carafe of strong wine. Flora sighed, realizing that her brother was an incorrigible drunkard.
She took a cabbage pie from a wicker vase and nibbled at it with boredom. Her napkin was immediately covered with crumbs.
«Look at my children!» The Marquis demanded from the stargazer sitting next to him. «Do they have any potential?»
The stargazer nervously adjusted the cap on his head, which he did not remove even in the dining room.
«If there was, I probably would have noticed it long ago,» he muttered.
The Marquis had obviously expected a different answer.
«What do you think,» he tugged at one of the astrologers. «Will my son, or at least my daughter, be able to show any magic talents in the future?»
The astrologer tried to determine, even looked through the lorgnette.
«No, both of your children do not have the slightest bit of magical potential. I am absolutely sure of it!» The astrologer disappointed the Marquis.
Charles did not hold back his laughter and urgently covered his mouth with a napkin.
Why was he laughing so hard? Flora looked at the elf with judgment. Her father was obviously very worried and didn’t hide it. Why did he need her or Raphael to be able to do sorcery? If he wanted to protect the castle from the raids of evil, he could always hire some wizards.
«I had hoped that Raphael would have some magic in him,» the Marquis admitted.
«Your son may still have the rudiments of star study and magic,» the lady Serpina hastened to reply, «but your daughter certainly does not. She has no talent for magic. I guarantee that even the lessons with her of an experienced wizard will not bring any results.»
Here Flora was ready to applaud the fortune-teller’s acting talent. Astrologers and stargazers are good too. How can you sit next to a potential witch and not even consider that!
«Did you hear them?» She whispered to Charles.
«Why are you so surprised?» He smiled broadly. «They are only human!»
«They are men who have mastered the forbidden arts!»
«They are clever charlatans,» Charles objected and put a large piece of roast quail into his mouth. «The Marquis has no knowledge of magicians, but his cooks are excellent. They make the best lasagna here, and the mushroom pies are delicious, too.»
Elves can be gluttons! Flora moved away from Charles, who called himself a gourmet and was in a hurry to try all the dishes. Lady Serpina had a sweet tooth and devoured one dessert after another. The other guests preferred strong drinks. Only Flora neither ate nor drank anything. She had a bad feeling. It was like a tight spring in her stomach. Could all the food be poisoned? Drusilla could have put poison in her cooking. She is a witch, after all.
Drusilla herself appeared at the edge of the table, looking young and in a gorgeous black dress. She was mistaken for a companion of one of the guests. She made some sign to Flora, but Flora could not interpret it.
«He’s flying!» The ash fairy hissed from the fireplace. «He’s already over the castle!»
Was she talking about the dragon? It would be a trick if the dragon came to dinner without Edwin! She was tired from the feast, having barely sat at the table for half an hour.
The flowers in the vase on the table suddenly burst into flames and shrank. In a moment, only a husk remained of the bouquet. Oddly enough, instead of the smell of burning, the scent of forget-me-nots wafted through the air. Drusilla’s whole body shuddered as the doors to the dining hall opened with a jerk. The last guest had arrived. No one was expecting him except Flora, but one seat at the table was suddenly free for him. It seemed to have been taken a second ago.
Flora blinked in amazement as she watched her guest remove his cloak. Edwin had come alone, without a dragon. That should have been rejoiced, and she was saddened. The dragon would have protected him from unpleasant company. Often her father’s friends acted like a pack of wolves. Today, they had swooped in to question the new guest. Edwin just snapped his fingers, sending out golden sparks, and the guests suddenly went numb.
Drusilla covered her face with a black lace fan that came out of nowhere in her hand. She avoided looking at Edwin. Apparently she had done something to annoy him and now feared revenge.
Charles, too, hastily covered himself with a napkin. You could tell from his look that he wanted to hide. The joking mood was gone. The elf was in a panic.
«What’s wrong with you? You’re not sick?» Flora touched the elf’s shoulder and felt him shiver.
The guests stared in bewilderment at Edwin, who had not touched his food or wine. Lady Serpina liked the handsome guest and tried to flirt with him, but she choked on her wine and coughed. Flora was sure it was no accident. Rafael sobered up immediately when