The floor is sprinkled with golden pollen, in which evil pixies circle. The mirrors reflect ladies and gentlemen in ghastly scarlet and black masks, like ghosts, though the room itself is empty. There are no guests. But in the flames of the candles sit tiny fire fairies. They hiss unhappily at the sight of Clement.
The steps of the throne are lined with skulls. There were several skulls in crowns. These are his brothers and his father!
«You are the last, but you are the most valuable!» There is an ominous voice over the hall. «I will get to you in any one piece. Even over the corpse of the one I love. Even through the flames of the strongest dragons. Your life belongs only to me!»
On the throne sits someone dark, he was resembled a monster formed from ashes. The teeth of his crown are so sharp you could cut yourself on them. Red eyes burn rubies in the shadows face.
«Come to me yourself?» A dark clawed hand beckons him forward. «Stop to play hide and seek! You were born a hero, but you run from your destiny like a hare. It is time to face your destiny.»
A wave of darkness rushes from the throne. The darkness turns into claws. They slide across Clements body, leaving scratches like seals. In reality he cannot bear to fight with a sword; in his dreams the sword is his only defense.
«I need a fifth crowned head, and then I will have the most beautiful and powerful bride in the universe! You want to help me, dont you? Do you want her to be queen of Aluar and queen of Shai at the same time?»
The darknesss hypnotizing voice is convincing. The claws of the darkness snatch the sword from him. Clement is ready to put his neck under the blade to join his brothers. But then the mirror on the wall shatters. The reflection of the dragon and Raymonda is seen in the shards that scatter across the hall. The sight of Raymonda lifts the spell of darkness. Clement understands that he is prepared to do some heroic deeds for her.
And that is all. The awakening is painful, like falling from a height. All around is not a hut but a dense forest. As it turned out, he sleeps right on the road and only by some miracle did not fall under some farmers cart, carrying hay to town.
«Its all the invaders charms! They make his mind wander somewhere far away,» said a familiar female voice.
Even without opening his eyes, he recognized the tenderness of Raymondas fingers as they brushed strands of hair away from his forehead. Her fingers had sharp scales on them. He winced. He must be hallucinating! Why would there be scratching hot scales in a maidens pampered skin?
«Its bad enough the enchantments from Shai caught up with him on the road,» answered an unpleasant male voice with a lisp that made his ears hurt. «Think what would happen the next time they caught him unawares on the field and he fell asleep beneath his enemies axes.»
«The Shais ruler has tapped into it heavily,» Raymonda agreed. «Hes looking for a power source. But hes not a fighter anyway. Im disappointed in him, I admit. If he werent so handsome, Id have broken the contract. But I have a weakness for handsome young men.»
«This one is not for burning!» The husky bass warned her defiantly. «For roasting you have his enemy troops. You can do what you want with them. You can burn them on a spit, but the boy is our liberator-to-be.»
«And what if youre as disappointed in him as I am? Hes not even a knight. Hes just an archer. Theres no sword hidden in his things. Ive already checked. Hes a very good shot, though. But hes no better shot than any elf.»
Raymondas voice was pleasant, but the bass was like the rattle of twigs snapping in a storm. An owl howled. Clement opened his eyelids cautiously. She had already moved away from him. She looked beautiful in her new silver dress with its lace trim and waistband. But the hunched creature that galloped around her looked more like a living bush of moss, clusters of leaves, and branching horns. This is how the late, frightened travelers describe the wood spirits that attacked them. Could this be the wood spirits? Theres no other name for this creature.
Not that Clement was frightened, but the sight of a woodland creature near a stately elf maiden startled him. What could such an ugly creature have to do with a forest beauty?
The green monster and Raymonda seemed to be formally acquainted.
«Arent you ashamed of misleading a boy?» The woodsman interrogated, nodding his disembodied, horned head in Clements direction.
«I want to test him.»
«But hes that special!» The green creature scratched the back of his head with twiggy fingers.
«Im starting to wonder if he has a gift. You have to patronize him, like a teenage brother.»
«But hes got a purpose, thats for sure.»
Raymonda looked back at Clemente questioningly, and he promptly pretended he was still asleep.
«Is he The Chosen One?» She snorted. «Doesnt sound like it! Hes handsome but not very strong.»
«But hes the only one of the four princes who didnt die. Its fate!»
«I think he was just lucky.»
«You just want to burn him, just like all the other suitors.»
«It is the groom, not the beggar. And all because hes supposedly special! But how do you test him for that special gift?» She snapped her fingers together, sending out golden sparks from the tips of her fingernails.
«For now, you have to support him, not test him. He needs a hold, but only until he can shake off the charms of Lord Shai.»
«And then he will know who I am and put me in a cage?»
«What if he can unseal you?»
«It is not likely! The boy is completely naive. Why is it that all the most handsome princes are either tyrants or weak-minded?»
«Hes not weak-minded. Hes just worried that his whole familys been burned. So dont show him your talents just yet.»
«Why should I have to be secretive? I always do what I feel comfortable doing.»
Raymonda lit a fire on the ground with a single breath. She didnt even need the logs. The fire was lit from scratch.
«It is a magical flame!» The creature, composed entirely of moss, horns, and leaves, darted cautiously into the bushes. Clement rubbed his eyes in bewilderment. Had he really just seen a dryad or a fairy? Or was he just imagining it. The forest path was empty, not counting the campfire and the pretty girl. No more creatures of the leaves were around. Raymonda herself could be mistaken for a forest nymph. Maybe she is a nymph. Clement wasnt sure exactly how nymphs differed from elves and the most common of woodland fairies. The latter seemed to be distinguishable by flowers growing directly in their hair or by their greenish skin. Clement raised himself carefully on his elbows. He did lie down on the tracks left by the wheels of a recent wagon. The tire tracks went deep into the ground, and there seemed to be tiny, shiny pixies in them, like glittering insects. Clement remembered that it was good luck to see pixies. But where would he, a fugitive, find that luck?
Raymonda didnt see that he was awake. She was dancing around the fire and humming softly.
Her feet did not touch the ground. She danced directly over the fire, and her feet did not burn. She took off her beaded slippers. Apparently they were uncomfortable for dancing over the fire. Clement noticed some jewelry on her feet. Or were they scales? They surrounded her heels like armor. He rubbed his eyes again. If that was magic, his uncle didnt know how. Perhaps Raymonda wasnt a nymph after all, but an elf princess. Elvish princesses are the best at magic. The magic made up for the songs lack of rhyme. Raymonda may not be a poet, but she is the greatest sorceress he has seen in his short life.
«Oops!» Clement felt a dry branch crunched under his hand. Raymonda immediately landed and quickly put on her shoes. The fire was instantly almost extinguished. Only a faint orange trickle remained blowing in a column like the silhouette of a genie.