to look at his face, but instead I stared at a gilded staff in his hand. In one moment, all the surrounding seemed to me to be a ghostly, unnatural, fog and remained only the stately figure, dressed in black fur.
«There is a stranger here,» the accusatory speech has come to me from a magical emptiness, topped with a transparent glass of the dome. «Someone broke the ban and allowed a stranger to go through the sanctuary.»
I have already thought that I have to get ready for defense, but suddenly the same domineering voice announced.
«It seems I was mistaken. The stranger has the full right to be present here.»
A man dressed in fur several times stuck up on the floor. Sharp sounds brought me out of a stupor. I pinned myself to make sure that all this is not a dream.. Several suspicious eyes turned to me from the slots of masks.
«Leave!» whispered in my ear someone. Even without looking at the speaking, I obediently backed up to the exit. Passing by the statue, I noticed that the position of the marble statue changed a little. Probably, the mirrors have played a joke with me again. After all, the sculpture can not move. The shuttle still swung on the water next to the staircase. I jumped into it, without even thinking about the need to find a paddle. But it was and no need. The shuttle itself moved across the flow. I could only observe how the arches and stony shores slip.
Despite the fact that it had to go against the current, the shuttle gained speed. Fearing that it would not take me too far, I jumped up and went to a high arch. It, as a gloomy guard, was bent around the lower stage. I did not want to go through arched opening, but I decided to bypass the arch and step immediately to the second step. I stepped into a staircase cut down in a mountainous stone, but stumbled upon an invisible barrier, as if a glass barrier appeared on my way in the blink of an eye. I went around the arch on the other hand, but groped there the same smooth glass wall. To get out of the gorge, I had to go under the arch again. Stages crumbled under my feet, small pebbles rolled down. A superstitious peasant would call all my adventure an evil joke of elves. I myself could not find a logical explanation to everything that I have seen. When I came out from the gorge, I hurried to the place where I promised to wait for Claude.
My brother, at the same time, arrived at the glade. He brought a beautiful white stallion for me.
«The gift of the baron’s people,» he explained.
«His people are very generous,» I stroked a silky mane and jumped into the saddle. “ The baron already knows that the wild boar is killed.»
«No,» Claude dismissed. «He does not go anywhere from his castle. It will take some time before he is reported about us. But here nearby is a small village where we can spend the night.»
«Then we go to a local tavern, if, of course, such a place is in a small village,» I decided to joked a little over Claude. He, as always, instead of smile nodded quickly and drove ahead, pointing the road.
Soon we sat at the table at the window in the cozy room of the tavern. In front of me in the tin mug smoked some hot drink. The aromatic fluid taste turned out to be tart and astringent. As long as the hostess prepared lunch for us, I decided to tell Claude about my adventure. Of course, I risked to get in response to my revelation alone ridicules, but I had a proof – a carnival mask, which I put in a wide pocket of my camisole. In proof, I took it out and showed it to Claude.
«Well, what will you say now?»
«Edwin, this is an ordinary leaf of fern. Perhaps the sprout made its way under the snow,» on the face of Claude was written a complete bewilderment. «I am afraid that the superstition of the messenger was contagious.»
I looked at my palm and I was surprised to find that I keep not a mask, but a leaf of fern. Strange, I just had a mask in my pocket. With an annoyance, I threw a fern on the windowsill. As soon as the sheet spikes with glass, several color sparks exploded in the air. Claude flinched and moved away from the window.
I plunged into meditation and woke up only when the hostess put two plates with hot meat before us. I was hungry, but I was waiting until Claude begins to eat the first. However, he didn’t touch the food.
«How do we explain the disappearance of the knights and the messenger?» He suddenly asked.
«So let’s say that they threw us,» I replied, although I have long been tormented by doubts about this.
«They didn’t think to throw us in the dense forest,» said Claude. «They were the most loyal knights of the father. They would never have broken his order.»
«In this case, I can not explain their disappearance of anything else, except…»
«The intervention of witchcraft,» finished Claude for me.
«That’s it, but everyone knows that witchcraft is limited to those focus, which are shown on holidays in the cities.
«As you know,» Claude blurted out in response.
The tavern’s door opened. The gust of the cold wind swept over the tables and threw the snowflakes to me in the face. There were several armed warriors on the threshold. I noticed on the shield of one of them the same coat of arms of the baron as on a messenger’s clothes. I looked at the coat of arms attentively, there were intertwined branches of the thorns, roses and other plants, the baron crown at the top, and under it several scrolls. However, I could not admire the coat of arms for a long time, the guard moved to us and after ordinary polite bows, reported about the desire of the baron to thank us personally. We had to say goodbye to a cozy tavern. The fortress, the black silhouette of which has fallen over the distant hill, was the place of our overnight.
Treasure of Baron Raoul
The castle was dark and deserted. Daily light barely pierced through narrow windows – loopholes and brightly colored stained glass windows. The servant held us through the spacious hall and guests’ rooms. In the rectangular hall there were tables for a feast, but there were no guests on this feast. All places at the tables were empty, except the chair with a high carved back, set in dangerous intimacy from the melted fireplace.
From the chair, the old man rose to meet us. White curled strands relate to the collar. Wrinkling hand reached my face. I thought the baron is relatively young, and he turned out to be a memorable elder. He hugged me welcome as a son.
«Welcome, winner of the wild boar!» He whispered in my ear.
I was confused, pre-thought-out words of greetings were frozen in my tongue. I did not think that someone from the feudal will take me in his castle as an old friend. The only thing that the winner could count is, so it is an ordinary dinner arranged from the need. And the court etiquette did not allow the manifestations of any feelings at all.
The baron suggested us to take places at the main table. All other chairs remained empty. There was no guest on the feast, except for us. Only servants poured wine in glasses and immediately retired.
«Baron… Your lordship,» I looked into his bright, radiant eyes and I forgot how to turn to the baron. But his face was glowing such a serene wisdom that I was unable to take my eyes away from him, and was silent.
«Call
