The dragon’s advice
There was a note waiting for Flora in the morning, scribbled on an autumn leaf. Some tiny elf riding a kingfisher had slipped it through the crack of an opened window. The event felt more like a dream, so Flora wiped her eyes.
«I think the tiny elves are called pixies,» she mumbled in her sleep.
«They are,» sang the mask on the bedside table.
«Ouch!» Flora woke up immediately and completely. If the living mask was not a dream, then the elf on the kingfisher was not a dream either.
The kingfisher and the elf flew away as soon as Flora picked up the note, that is, the bright orange maple leaf.
«Is it already fall? Or do elves know how to color leaves?»
«It’s from the regions of fall,» the mask determined. Apparently it didn’t need sleep, as it didn’t look sleepy.
«Where are these regions of fall?»
«They are in the Empire of Magic, of course.»
«Do I have any acquaintances there?»
Flora unfolded the sheet. The letters were scratched on it as if with claws, but the calligraphic handwriting gave away Edwin’s hand.
«Yes, it looks like I know someone there now,» Flora said, but as soon as she began to read, the note was not from Edwin. There was only one sentence written in it:
«Don’t attend any more fairy masquerades!»
And a signature:
Dragon’s Advice
Wow! Edwin has an intelligent dragon! Who would have thought?
«I wonder if this dragon can talk. He wasn’t very talkative with me last night.»
The mask laughed snidely. Flora didn’t pay any attention to her. Who would understand these magic items! Maybe the mask is crazy for laughing at something all the time. Flora couldn’t even figure out what it was laughing at.
«I guessed it!» Flora guessed. «Edwin was too shy to write me the note himself, so he decided to sign it with a dragon. After all, a dragon is only a beast, albeit a magical one. He won’t be accused of courting a lady.»
«Do you think Edwin is so shy?» The mask squinted sneeringly.
«He’s young. All young boys are shy.»
«He just looks young, and he’s a wizard. Do you know how many different magical offenses he’s had on his conscience? He once put an entire kingdom to sleep with magic, and his dragon burned down so many cities!»
«You’re lying!» Flora straightened the ball gown she had slept in without undressing and fixed her hair. Now she could go out into the garden to see if there were any traces of the fairies.
There was a surprise waiting for her in the garden – another note from the dragon. This time the inscription was scorched by fire on the trunk of a centuries-old oak tree.
«Do not be frivolous! Do not follow in the footsteps of the fairies!
Your dragon.»
«And that’s being impertinent!» Flora took offense. The letters were still hot and sparkling. So they had been scorched recently. Did the gardeners see the dragon? They definitely didn’t see any fairies last night because they were asleep. The servants go to bed early to save candles. None of them reacted to the fairies laughing at midnight, but not seeing a whole dragon in the morning was incredible.
«He’s only giving you a warning,» the mask squeaked.
«Are you protecting him?» Flora shook her so-called friend in her hands. «I don’t need dragon advice. I’m smart myself!»
«So smart that yesterday you almost died in the claws of the fairies!» parried the mask.
She’s right! Flora lost all her aplomb.
«Why did I study fine arts, geography, and even philosophy if I’m not smart enough? You should deduct it from the governesses’ salaries. Their lessons were wasted on me.»
«I only respect magic lessons,» the mask snorted. «I could give you a couple.»
«No, thank you.»
«Are you afraid of getting more stupid?»
«I’m afraid you’ll cast a spell on me.»
«I’ll do it!» The mask took offense. «I treat you with all my heart, and all you do is hurt me!»
«Do magic masks have souls?»
«It’s just a figure of speech.»
«You’re hard to understand.»
«Unlike you, I don’t make dangerous friendships with dragons.»
«I’m not friends with dragons either,» Flora said, catching herself in a lie. If she didn’t make friends with a dragon, how could she explain the dragon’s insolent behavior? He was bossy, leaving inscriptions with fire in the garden. In one bed, the petunias have been trampled and a large dragon claw has been left in the loosened earth. The maids would be horrified when they saw it. Flora rushed to fix it. Raking the ground with her hands to hide the monstrous mark was not possible. Flora began to vigorously trample the flowerbed to layer her footprints over the dragon’s trail. That way it would be hidden.
«What are you doing? Dancing in the flowerbed?«A surprised cry was from the garden gate.
«Raphael!» Flora only now noticed her brother. How foolishly things had turned out! Stomping on the flowerbed, she looked like a witch with disheveled hair dancing on the bare earth among the plucked flowers.
«Mama loved those petunias,» Rafael reminded her resentfully.
«She also loved orchids, tulips, daffodils, camellias, chrysanthemums, geraniums, and many other flowers I can’t even remember the names of.»
«That’s right, you have amnesia, sister!»
«I don’t have amnesia!» Flora got angry.
«Well, you only forget things that it’s to your advantage not to remember. For example, when you broke your mother’s necklace, you immediately forgot about it, and the maids were whipped for the offense.»
«You’re so vindictive! I don’t even remember that!»
Flora nervously fixed her hair, which was tangled in the leaves and flowers of a nearby acacia tree. Flora’s reflection in the garden pond looked like a disheveled witch. Rafael himself was not looking his best. His shirt was torn, his camisole had been lost or lost at cards, his boots had burned holes in them, and his hands had burns. He must have been drinking and partying all night, maybe even had a fight with someone.
«I hope you didn’t lose everything.» Flora asked in a venomous tone.
«On the contrary, I won a lot.»
«Then where is your camisole and your winnings?»
«You see, the thing is, I was counting coins on the way, and I was attacked by creatures attracted by the glitter of gold.»
«Were they fairies?» Before, Flora would have thought her brother was making things up, but after her encounter with fairies yesterday, she wouldn’t have been surprised if those winged wretches had attacked Raphael as well. Her brother is so cowardly! Even if he had a sword and had perfectly mastered the art of swordsmanship, he would not have defended himself against the fairies. After all, fairies are ladies, and ladies Raphael respected.
«What fairies are there,» he dismissed it. «A rabble of evil spirits: ugly trolls, gray elves, dwarves – all surrounded me at the crossroads and I had to play with them until morning.»
«So?»
«You can’t win to wizards!»
«You didn’t make all that up?»
«Look!» Raphael lifted his cuffs and showed the burns in the shape of clawed paws. «Our land is full of evil! We have to get out of here, and fast.»
«Father won’t allow it.»
Flora thought it was better not to tell Raphael about the fairies, otherwise he would lose the whole castle to them, or maybe he would just give them away for a kiss.
«By the way, did you catch leprosy from the gray elves? I’ve heard they carry magical contagion.»
«Who did you hear that from?»
«I don’t remember!»
Flora really didn’t remember.
Raphael looked around warily.
«I don’t seem to feel sick.»
«All infected people feel healthy at first. The disease doesn’t kick in right away.»
«You’re a healer?» Rafael had a frightened look on his face.
«Your friend gave me a lecture yesterday about what a bad castle we have.»
«What friend is it?»
«It is an aristocrat named Edwin.»
«I don’t know any Edwin.»
«But he was here yesterday.»
«It was an aristocrat in the middle of nowhere! He was a messenger from the King, perhaps.»
«He is more like a traveler. I invited him to dinner.»
«It’s good to have someone to talk to other than the prim astrologers my father invites. The frequent visits of alchemists and astrologers probably made our castle a bad place. When Father dies, I’ll drive them all away. I can’t stand minions and crooks.»
«How can you talk about Father’s death when Father is alive and unhurt?»
«My mother was alive and unhurt, and then suddenly…» The words froze on Raphael’s lips. «If mom were alive, she would have dispersed those alchemists.»
«I’ll find out what happened to Mom,» Flora promised herself. A chain of tiny footprints could be seen on the path. If only Raphael hadn’t noticed them. Only fairies could have such graceful feet.
«Floretta!» The brother had gotten into the habit of calling her by her pet name, so something was wrong. She was usually called Floretta by her mother or nanny. Flora was immediately alert.
«What do you mean?»
«Don’t go to crossroads in the evening, even garden crossroads,» Rafael advised. «The evil spirits love to catch travelers at crossroads.»
And at masquerades, Flora wanted to say, but she had the good sense to keep silent. Raphael wouldn’t have understood. He himself was now terrified of crossroads and gambling trolls.
Advice from the fairies
As soon as Raphael had left the garden, Flora breathed a sigh of relief. Now she had time to cover the dragon’s trail. Her absent-minded brother hadn’t noticed it, or he would have panicked by now.
She had to hurry before the gardener and his helpers got here. There’s no way to trample the dragon’s trail. It’s too big. Maybe we should try to cover it with a rake or a broom. She wished she had Drusilla’s broom right now. She was sure the witch’s broom could do a fine job even with a dragon’s mark.
Laughter sounded from behind the briar bushes. It resembled the chiming of bells. It was the way fairies laughed at a masquerade. At the memory of fairies Flora was terrified. She was more afraid of fairies than she was of the dragon.
If fairies got into the garden, they would definitely try to strangle her or tear her apart.
The rosehips at this time of year were blooming with tiny roses. They were supposed to be white, but for some reason they were blue. Are there blue roses? Flora looked around the bush in surprise. It looked like magic. It was as if the fairies had enchanted this bush.
Someone was still laughing in the thicket. There was a gravel path around the bushes. No one was walking on it, but the imprints of graceful feet were suddenly imprinted on it. Where had they come from? Unless an invisible man had walked here.
Flora stared at the footprints in puzzlement. They looked as if they had been left by feet in winged sandals. Probably some fairy flying over the path had decided to play a prank. Flora stared up at the sky, but the fairy suddenly appeared beside her and laughed. She was translucent for a moment. Then she turned blue.
«How lucky I was to play a trick on you!» The unfamiliar fairy hovered in the air above the path and clapped her hands joyfully. Her nails, eyebrows, and eyelashes were silver, and her dress, hair, and wings were blue. Such beauty! Flora glared at the fairy, forgetting the danger. Somehow the fairy looked suspiciously like a blue rose from a bush.
«Are you a garden fairy?» Flora guessed.
«Uh-huh! I’ve been living in the hollow of an old elm tree for a couple of decades and I know all the secrets of the garden.»
«Are there any secrets in this garden?»
The fairy obviously did not want to answer. She flew forward along the avenue of poplars. Flora followed the fairy. It was strange that at this time of year the down was flying off the poplars. The fairy caught it and laughed. The poplar fluff turned blue in her hands.
When she reached the beech, the fairy tapped the trunk with her hand for some reason.
«What are you doing?»
«I want to call my friends. They live in the yew, ash and cypress trees.»
«Are they fairies like you?»
«Yes, they are.»
«No, you don’t need to call them.»
«Why is it not?» The fairy fluttered her silvery eyelashes in amazement.
«I don’t like noisy company.»
«I heard you and an elf agreeing to go to the fairy masquerade.»
«I didn’t like it.» Flora didn’t specify that it wasn’t the noise she didn’t like, but the claws of aggressive fairies.
«I don’t like it either, that’s why I haven’t attended masquerades for centuries,» admitted the garden fairy.
«How long have masquerades been held in the fairies’ residence?»
«I don’t remember exactly,» the Garden Fairy frowned. «I think since the Empress disappeared.»
«Which empress is it?»
«Does it really matter? Personally, I liked having fun in the company of the local marquise. She was such a fun person.»
«She’s gone,»» Flora said sadly.
«Is she?» The garden fairy was very surprised. «I saw her only yesterday.»
«You couldn’t have seen her yesterday.»
«It was definitely her.»
«You must be mistaken.»
Aren’t there many similar women all over the world? To the fairies, surely all mortals look pretty much alike. Then it’s strange why the fairy didn’t mistake Flora herself for her mother. After all, Flora was very similar in appearance to the late Marquise.
«Let’s dance in the air above the garden,» the fairy grabbed the hesitant Flora by both hands and tried to pull her into flight. «Let’s have a masquerade right here in the garden.»
«No!» Flora struggled to break free. «I’ll fall and get hurt.»
«It is really! You don’t have wings!» The garden fairy seemed to have just noticed this. She flew around Flora in surprise and even tried to unbuckle her corset to see if her wings were hidden underneath.
«I took you for a newcomer to the garden. Sometimes stray fairies come through here.»
Flora didn’t know what to say. The garden fairy must be out of her depth. Or she could be stealing her father’s port and drinking it in the hollow tree. The maids complained that one flask of port had disappeared.
How could the garden fairy otherwise claim to know all the secrets of the estate if she mistakes the master’s daughter for a stranger?
Between the footprints on the path something glittered. It seemed to be a coin. Flora bent down and picked it up. The coin was unusual. It had no crest or tails. There was a silhouette of a dragon embossed on both sides.
«Had the dragon dropped it?» Flora could only think of such an assumption. Although on the other hand, the unusual coin could have belonged to a garden fairy or the young wizard Edwin.
The coin was hot, as if it had been heated on fire. Flora almost dropped it from her fingers.
«Don’t throw it away!» The fairy warned. «The coin is magic. If you throw it, you will find the way to the dragon’s kingdom.»
«Is it to the dragon kingdom! Why would I go there? I’m afraid of dragons!»
«And they love you.»
«That’s not true! The dragon was just told to watch over me and pester me with advice.»
Another piece of advice was scorched on the bench. Why did the dragon ruin the bench! It was expensive, the Aluar’s craftsmen made it from yew and valuable copper. Flora didn’t even bother to read the inscription. She’d had enough of the dragon’s advice.
«Keep the coin! If you toss it, you can find a way out of any situation,» the fairy squinted slyly.
She flapped her wings and knocked over a statue of some garden goddess.
«Careful, it’s expensive!» Flora rushed to save the statue, but it was already shattered.
«I don’t like garden goddesses! But if it’s expensive, let it stay here. Just give me the coin.»
Flora was glad to part with the coin that burned her fingers.
With a flap of the fairy’s wings, the statue was whole.
«One coin is worth a whole gallery of such statues,» the fairy explained, but she didn’t give the coin back.
«Is it alive?» Flora recoiled from the statue, which began to make faces.
«No, it’s my magic. It only takes a pinch of magic to revive a statue.»
«You can put her back to sleep, or she’ll scare the guests away with her marble facial expressions.»
The garden fairy stared at Flora in discouragement.
«You’re impossible to understand!» She sighed.
Flora could have said the same thing about the fairy, but she delicately kept silent.
«Do you think that a magician who comes to visit you will be stunned at the sight of just one living statue?» The fairy was busy shaking off the debris from her skirts, which resembled the petals of a blue rose. The statue suddenly fell asleep. At least it didn’t make any more faces.
«Thank you!» Flora thanked.
«Do you want some advice for the future?» The garden fairy was about to fly to the top of the elm trees, but she delayed. «If you find another dragon coin on the road, don’t give it to anyone. Otherwise, you’ll lose your chance at magical luck.»
«Thank you, but I can do without that chance,» Flora muttered, thinking to herself that the fairy’s advice was all she needed.
Why did all magical creatures, except for witches, take her for a naive person? First the dragon came to her with advice, and now the fairy.
«How proud you are!» The garden fairy snorted. «For your information, not everyone can find a coin dropped by a dragon. If I had seen it on the path before you, I would have picked it up immediately, but I didn’t. So I don’t have a gift for finding gold.»
«Do garden fairies need gold? I think you only like flowers and plants,» Flora wondered.
But the fairy had already flown away with the coin. What was she going to spend it on? The Marquis de Rione’s castle was rarely visited even by shopkeepers, not to mention foreign merchants with silks and spices. Father scared them all away.
Besides, why should fairies buy anything when they can conjure up whatever they want? She guessed the garden fairy really believed she could use a dragon coin to find some forbidden path to dreamland. Well, let her dream on!
Flora looked around for the gardener’s tools. There must be some way to cover the dragon’s trail. She was too late. Drusilla’s broom had already covered the flowerbed. Drusilla herself was nowhere to be seen. The witch’s broom could do the job without her mistress.
Flora sighed in relief. How convenient to have a kind-hearted witch who wanted to help you. The broom covered the dragon’s trail almost instantly. Flora, on the other hand, wouldn’t have been able to do it in a whole day.
Garden mysteries
Raphael didn’t know anything about Edwin. So Edwin wasn’t one of his acquaintances from the local taverns. That was comforting. In the beer halls, his brother tangled with the rare hooligans. If only all these drunks and hustlers weren’t his constant company. Brother needs a more aristocratic friend. But where could he get one?
Flora caught herself thinking she couldn’t forget Edwin. He is so elegant, so mysterious! There’s something special about him. It is apart from the charms, of course.
«I feel as if I were in love!» Flora whispered. She was glad that the magic mask was not with her. Otherwise the mask would have laughed!
You have to put up with your own mask’s witticisms! She shouldn’t have gone to the fairy masquerade. Then she wouldn’t have the magic mask now. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have met Edwin.
«I wonder if he’ll come to dinner.»
The witch’s broom, naturally, did not respond. It covered the dragon’s trail and flew back into the window of the castle from which it had flown. It must have flown back to Drusilla. It was strange that the witch’s broom was actively flying during the day as well. Flora was sure that all witches’ tricks worked only at night.
A bush of particularly lush dark blue roses appeared at the garden gate. The gardeners were careful to avoid it, pretending it wasn’t there. It grew right by the side of the gravel path. There’s no such thing as blue roses! It’s a fairy joke! Flora already knew about her, but the others hadn’t even seen her yet, so they blamed it on the curse of the castle.
«All cursed castles are besieged by wickedness,» Flora heard bits and pieces of the head gardener’s assistants talking.
Flora knew what the servants were whispering about and realized that they were right. The fairies had indeed been here at night. They waltzed in flight over every flowerbed and mound.
The fairies’ ball would have resembled a fairy tale if the winged beauties hadn’t turned out to be predators.
The bush of blue roses also resembled a hunched predatory troll, which the fairies forced to serve, digging the ground with its nose.
There was some kind of creepy creature living under the bush. Right in the roots! Or was it roots? And next to it was a smiling elf. Only he was dressed all in black.
«Good morning, my lady!» He said hello, taking off his velvet beret. The ears under the beret were as sharp as fish gills.
Flora recoiled from the elf. The same elf had lured her to the fairy masquerade yesterday, only he looked much more unattractive in the daylight.
«What are you doing here?»
«Come to see how you got back?»
Well, what should she say to him? Slap him in the face?
«You threw me to the fairies!» Flora rebuked him.
«I was hurt myself,» the elf showed strange marks on his skin in the form of letters and symbols. «Fairies scratch a lot.»
«What do you want here?» Flora didn’t trust the elf anymore, so she wasn’t being polite either.
«I want to hire myself out as a gardener to be closer to you, my lady.»
It was more like a joke. An elf gardener! Who would believe such a thing?
«My father’s castle has enough gardeners. One more would be too many, and there’s not enough wages for all of them.»
«I can work for nothing. I’m an elf!»
«The garden fairies are already working for free.» Flora pointed at the fighting gardeners’ assistants. The boys were arguing over the cause of the blue roses. The argument ended in a scuffle.
«I’ll just live in the hollow of an elm or poplar tree,» the elf said, uncertainly crumpling his beret in his hands. His fingers were as thin as spider’s legs
«All the hollows in the garden are occupied by fairies,» Flora said sternly. Well, maybe she exaggerated a little.
«I don’t think Poplar Alley is uninhabited yet.»
«Live in the poplars if you like, but I’ll be off.»
«Wait! You can call me Charles if you like, milady.»
«You have a common Earth name,» Flora said warily.
«My real name is Sharneel, but you’ll be more comfortable calling me Charles.»
He’s right! Flora couldn’t pronounce Sharneel, no matter how hard she tried. It must be enchanted.
«Is the dragon coming for dinner?» Charles asked.
«What makes you think that?»
«A starling whispered it to me.»
«You should listen to birds more,» Flora hesitated when she realized. «Do you understand bird’s language?»
«It is a little,» Charles admitted.
«Then I could use you as a servant.»
«So I can move closer to your apartment?» Charles was pleased.
«No, you can occupy any poplar,» Flora smiled kindly. If an elf has the talent to make a house out of poplar, let him try.
«By the way, could you chase away that disgusting creature crawling under the rosebush by the gate?»
«I can’t, ma’am,» the elf immediately changed to a pleading tone. «It must stay here. It was assigned to the castle as a lookout from the magic kingdom, but it’s a garden secret.»
The elf winked slyly at Flora.
«An important person took a great liking to you, so you are being watched.»
«So I won’t run away from my own castle?» Flora snickered.
«Nothing bad may happen to you.»
«Could the fairies attack me again? Then they’d have to trespass on my domain.»
«There are many dangers besides fairies.»
«I’ve only encountered fairies!»
It was better not to have encountered them! Flora recalled with horror the aggression of the winged beauties that had swooped down on her. These are not fairies, but savages! They should have aristocratic manners.
«Why doesn’t anyone educate them!»
«It is because the empress of the magical empire has run away,» the elf explained dignifiedly. «This is a great tragedy for all of us. Without her supervision, all the fairies have disbanded.»
«Damn that bastard!» Flora cursed. «She had the misfortune to leave this wild pack unattended.»
«Without her, all the fairies are homeless,» the elf nodded. «It is except for the garden ones.»
«Why is it? Does she visit them?»
«The garden fairies have a mistress – you!»
«Why is it me?»
«Probably it is because they fly in your territory,» the elf squinted slyly. There was something he wasn’t telling me.
«I don’t think they obey me.»
«If they haven’t attacked the guest, i.e. me, they must be trained by you.»
«You’re logical!» Flora walked through the garden past the blooming acacia trees, and the elf soared after her. Soon the gardeners would notice that the mistress had a new admirer. The main thing is that they should not notice that this admirer is hovering over the path, not treading on it.
However, the elf disappeared into the hazel thicket as soon as Drusilla appeared on the road. It was daytime, but she looked like a lady, and she was reprimanding her broom for something.
«Oh, you are idle broom!» She wailed, plucking twigs from her broom. «You fly where you’re not asked! You’ve got a nerve! You don’t listen to me!»
The elegant lady with the broom would have looked ridiculous if it weren’t for her pointy hat. A hat like that always identifies a witch. And the black cat sitting next to her only adds points to her witchy reputation.
«The broom was helping me!» Flora stepped towards Drusilla. «She was covering the dragon’s tracks.»
«Ah, so that’s it!» Drusilla crouched in a curtsy.
Today, a necklace with a large sapphire glittered around the witch’s graceful neck. Had the Marquis given it to her? Flora didn’t think her father could have an affair with a witch living in the castle, but suddenly Drusilla was aiming for the Marquise’s seat.
The old decrepit housekeeper’s appearance slept like a mask. Drusilla in her younger guise turned out to be a very attractive woman. Her extravagant black attire aside, she could be called a refined lady. It was no surprise if her father had a crush. He’s always been into alchemists and astrologers. So the witch is quite his type.
«Why did you take off the old woman’s disguise?» Flora asked her directly.
«I was tired of looking decrepit and toothless.»
«It’s better than looking dead like the last Marquise,» Flora hinted. «I think anyone who tries to take her place will be dead too. Rumor has it that the local marquises are cursed.»
Drusilla giggled.
«What’s so funny?»
«It is nothing, my lady. I was just thinking that secrets to mortals are no longer secrets to you and me.»
The witch must know everything. She could fly over the towers at night on her broom and overhear any secret conversation. Flora couldn’t resist asking:
«Do you know where my mother has gone?»
«You mean Flora’s mother?» Drusilla squinted suspiciously.
It was necessary not to misspell things from now on. The witch was beginning to suspect her. It wouldn’t be far from trouble.
«Let’s call everything and everyone by their official names,» Flora said.
«You mean human?»
«And in turn, we call the human ones the common ones. Do you understand the terms?»
«You amaze me, madam!» Drusilla even whistled, and Blackie meowed and twisted her paw at her temple. «I don’t want you to take rules and terms for granted! Apparently, running away from the dragon, you lost respect for yourself.»
«What do you mean?»
«I’m sorry,» Drusilla was immediately startled and bounced behind a pillar of the garden gazebo. Only her pointy hat now peeked out. «I didn’t mean to be impertinent. I didn’t mean it!»
Who did the witch think she was, to be so flattering to her? Flora was too shy to ask directly. She’d give herself away with questions. If she’s so powerful that witches are afraid of her, then she’s supposed to be all-knowing.
«Would you pick me some blue roses?» Flora didn’t know where to send Drusilla. «I want to make a wreath of them.»
«Do you want to summon the midnight spirits?» Drusilla wondered. «It’s not worth it; your skin will turn blue before you start weaving the wreath.»
«I’ll take my chances anyway.»
Drusilla didn’t like it, but she obediently went to the rosebush by the gate and had a long argument with the creepy creature living in the roots.
«The roses should have been torn at midnight,» she protested. «But the mistress had lost her mind!»
The blue roses were difficult to pluck, even for a witch. It wasn’t until the evening that Flora got a dozen blue roses and noticed that they really turned her fingers blue. It was better to throw them away, but Drusilla stood with a broom like a guard and waited for Flora to weave the promised wreath. To tame the witch’s suspicion, she had to weave it.