to Raymonda. «Oh, I mean, hostage…»
The mistake in the speech was deliberate, Lourel grinned defiantly.
«He is my fiancé!» She corrected him.
«Is he your fiancé?» The pretty elves’ ladies jumped up in surprise and froze in midair. «You have a fiancé! And you still have not burned him!»
«He is not even burned!«The elf-woman with the rainbow wings, panted, and groped him. Though he was afraid of being tickled, he tolerated the touch of the elf-woman. He couldn’t keep the magic lady away from him.
«Leave him alone, Clariel!» Raymonda said.
Reluctantly, Clariel flew away from Clement. Her friends, wearing colorful wreaths and glittering wings, began whispering vigorously.
«Raymonda’s fiancé! Even the inaccessible Raymonda, who had only mocked everyone, was capable of falling in love with someone! It’s true that love is even stronger than magic!»
«These are my cousins, Narcissa, Freesia, Irisa, Heather, and Clariel,» Raymonda said.
The pretty elves surrounded Clement in a jiffy. They scented wildflowers and wings sprinkled with glittering pollen.
«What was so special about him?» Freesia pouted, crankily. «What makes him so different from all the others you’ve rejected?»
«He’s a Prince of Aluar.»
«Is he a prince?» They changed their attitudes toward Clement at once. Indifference was blown away like a magic wind and flirtation began.
«He is Prince of Aluar, he is not elf!» Lourel corrected with a jealous intonation.
«But he is a real prince all the same!» Fresia expressed her delight. «Raymonda was quite understandable.»
«I should like a prince too!» Irisa gasped.
«So would I!» Heather picked up on that.
«I would too!» The elves all chirped. «Because the only people who come to the forest are peasants, rarely messengers. Could you find us all a prince to bring here?»
Lurel snorted irritably.
«Suddenly there was such a big demand for princes on earth! It is because the boy is handsome. Raymonda loves a good-looking brunette or brown-haired boy. Blondes, on the other hand, are no good to her.»
The elf shook his mane of blond hair angrily and suddenly turned a brunette.
«You can’t impress me with tricks like that,» she rebuked him coldly.
Lourel turned red with anger and cunning. She had to hand it to him. His fiery red hair looked lovely, though it was distantly reminiscent of fox hide. He was just waiting for an angry elf to turn foxy and maul his rival.
«I’ll challenge him to a duel!» The elf prince gritted his teeth. «Then we shall see what a hero he is!»
«Don’t dare!» Suddenly Raymonda was nervous. Apparently, Lourel had become quite famous for his fighting skills. Had the Princess not been a dragon herself, Clement would have believed the jealous elf prince had killed every man she wanted to marry. Lourel was itching to go to the fray. He clutched convulsively at the armrests of his throne. Evidently, elves’ tradition forbade combat without a formal challenge and seconds. A formal challenge, however, was quickly followed. The elves surrounding Clement whispered in his ears that he could not refuse. Clement freed himself from their clinging hands and noticed that some of their fingers had turned into twigs stuck to his shirt. The whispers of the beauties also resembled the rustling of falling leaves.
«So what is it?» Lourel showed impatience. «Shall we fight like knights? And see if you, mortal prince, are worthy of such a prize as the beautiful Raymonda.»
Clement felt trapped. He would lose with a sword, but he had a chance with a bow. All he had to do was twist so that he could leave the choice of weapon up to himself. Usually it’s the one who challenges, which in this case is Lourel.
«Leave him alone!» Raymonda frowned. «Everyone knows that fighting against you is suicide. Are you so unhappy that I am back that you want to greet me with bloodshed?»
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