They sailed through the air, above the rushing stream, carried by the gentle wind which slowly morphed into the lightest breeze, and then, some time later, ceased entirely.

The sun was hanging low above the horizon when the dandelion seeds glided softly, like fluffy parachutes, to the grass-covered bank. In this spot, it was nearly at the same level with the water again, the stream having become slow, silent, shallow, and wide.

"Rolo, would you please call our friends, please? Then you and Roza could look around for a suitable place to pass the night. I'll think about the dinner," Rosalind said as they all climbed out from their spider-silk baskets.

"Of course, Princess," the elves agreed.

Rolo put one of his bird whistles to his lips shortly, then followed Roza farther down the meandering river, where they could see a few large bushes growing on the grassy bank.

Hans took a blanket from his pouch and, with Louise's help, spread it on the ground, while Rosalind looked around uncertainly, then waved her wand through the air swiftly several times. As she muttered a few words, their dinner appeared on top of the blanket.

The boy, noticing how their meals grew less and less sumptuous the farther from the Rose Castle they travelled, was just about to ask Rosalind about it when she replied to his yet unspoken questions.

"I know, Hans, but there's nothing I can do about it. We can produce food with our magic, but only by using the ingredients that grow nearby. And the more distant we are from the rose garden, the colder it gets and fewer things grow..."

"Don't worry, Rosalind. It's not that important," Louise said, trying to cheer up the unhappy-looking fairy. "We have other things to worry about than food right now. Back at home, we often did not have even this..."

The girl trailed off, observing their dinner, which was still very rich compared to what they usually ate, lost in thought about their poor parents. What will they say when... She glanced at Hans quickly, then turned away from him before he could notice.

Louise was right, Hans realised as he sat down close to her and reached for one of the small, mushroom-filled pies piled on a leaf in front of him.

"What's wrong?" Louise and Hans asked in unison when they noticed the fairy staring at them.

"Nothing," Rosalind said, shaking her head. "Could you just think and worry less? Both of you. You'll make my head explode with all your thoughts! Now eat."

They were halfway through their meal when the Rose Elves returned, followed by a stranger, a Flower Fairy boy. He didn't look as regal as Rosalind, or her parents and cousins, and yet Hans was sure that he was a Rose Fairy like them.

"Welcome, Cousin," the young man bowed to Rosalind. "My family will be happy to offer you and your friends a shelter for tonight. If you accept, of course..." he trailed off as if he wasn't sure that the Princess would accept his offer.

Rosalind jumped to her feet, beaming at him. "You are... you must be..." she started, her forehead wrinkled with thoughts and memories as she tried to remember an apparently long forgotten name.

"Roslav, a Wild Rose Fairy. A cousin twice removed of your..."

"Mother. I remember now. We have never met."

"You're right, Princess. My parents moved away from your garden before you were born."

"Why did they leave?" Rosalind asked, but Roslav only shook his head.

"I really don't know. They never talk about it, but we're all happy here. So it doesn't really matter, does it?" he mused.

"No. Let us not worry about our parents' old arguments. I'm really happy that we finally met," Rosalind said. Then, as her eyes flooded with tears, she let Roslav pull her into an embrace.

"Me too, Princess."

"Rosalind. I'm Rosalind," the fairy insisted, smiling through her tears as they were joined by their three bird friends.

While she introduced her newly found cousin to them, the two Rose Elves finished their dinner, and Hans and Louise folded the blanket again. It seemed that they would sleep in proper beds tonight.

"We made it much farther than what we had expected. This way, we will reach the seashore tomorrow night," Orangebeak told them as they followed Roslav towards the wild rose bushes growing nearby.

"Why are you travelling to the sea? It's cold there, even for us. And we're not spoiled by the endless summer of your garden, Cousin," Roslav teased, smiling at Rosalind.

"We're looking for butterflies. I really need to find one of them," Rosalind told him, a soft blush colouring her pale cheeks.

"So it's true! You and Pipevine Swallowtail III! My family refused to believe that story. They all said that if you are anything like your mother or father, you would never look twice at a butterfly, but marry a noble Rose Fairy like yourself," Roslav exclaimed, chuckling. But when he noticed how sad and serious Rosalind became, he added, "You'll find him. And then, if your parents won't change their minds about you two, you can come and live with us. We have more than enough room."

Roslav pointed in front of them, to several wild rose bushes growing so close together that they seemed to be one. They looked nowhere near as impressive as Rosalind's Rose Castle-- their plentiful, but smaller blooms were faded pink and a little wilted, rather than huge, fresh, and crimson. Still, they filled the early evening's air with the most delicate perfume and looked extremely pretty in their own way.

The wild roses were magnificent in their imperfect beauty, exactly as their inhabitants, Hans thought as they entered the closest bush, after having said goodnight to Orangebeak, Brownie and Skylar who flew off in search of their own dinner, and a place to spend the night.

Walking into the first room, the five travellers were immediately surrounded by a large number of loud and lively Wild Rose Fairies and Elves, welcoming them in their midst like best friends.

While they sat down to their second dinner, as none of their hosts would believe that they have already eaten enough, Louise noticed how these Rose Fairies did not seem to respect the faded pink colour of their native rose bushes' blooms, but wore clothes in all possible colours, making them look nearly as colourful as butterflies.

While they ate some more, Rosalind had to recount their adventures to all of them. As she finished, her distant cousins and their elves exchanged a few silent looks, then they started talking all at once. When they noticed that no one could understand anything, they calmed down and let Roslav speak for all of them.

"Many inhabitants of this part of Terra Sonalis have disappeared since we started finding the pieces of that broken mirror."

Rosalind nodded. "It belongs to the Snow Queen. If only a little piece of that mirror gets into someone's eye, or worse, heart..."

"...they'll follow her into her realm... If they survive the journey across the sea, of course," Roslav finished her sentence. "At the beginning, we thought that it was only a legend. However, it seems to be true. There have been many more goblins around lately, and it's getting colder. The Snow Queen is becoming stronger, there's no doubt about it. But what are you planning to do, Rosalind?"

"I must find Blue. If it means that I'll have to cross the sea and travel all the way to her palace to do that, then I will," Rosalind said firmly.

"I'm sorry, but that sounds... impossible. No one has ever come back from there." Roslav said.

Hans, noticing how his words brought fresh tears to the Rose Fairy's eyes, stood up and walked to her side quickly. "Nothing is impossible. Just because no one has ever done it before doesn't mean that we won't succeed," he said, pushing his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose while looking challengingly at Roslav.

"Exactly," Louise said, joining them. "Rosalind loves Blue, and she will find him. Hans and I will help her."

"You need to find the butterflies first. They know where the Wild Swans live. Only they can carry you across the sea," a small creature, even shorter than the Rose Elves, approached them from behind one of the pink wild rose petals. Its skin was bright blue and streaked with white, as if it was covered with a thin layer of frost. The creature's eyes were transparent like two pieces of ice, and so were its long hair and the pair of large wings, which were shaped exactly like those of bats. It was dressed like the rest of the elves present in the room, but it was obvious that...

"Are you... Are you a goblin? I have... never seen one of you," Rosalind stammered, looking from the small, strange girl to her cousin, then back.

"Neve is my name, and yes, I'm a Snow Goblin, Princess. I escaped the cruel Snow Queen a long time ago and have lived here with your family ever since. They helped me," the Snow Goblin looked at Roslav thankfully, then turned back to Rosalind, "and now I will help you. You need to find the eleven Wild Swans. They will carry you over to the Snow Queen's realm. Once there, you will have to seek Berenice, the Snow Owl. She is a witch, a powerful sorceress, and if she will like you enough, and you'll give her what she will ask of you, she might help you find the way to the Snow Queen's palace. But it won't be easy, Princess. It's a very long way full of dangers."

"Thank you, Neve," Rosalind said. "I'm not afraid."

The little goblin curtseyed to her, then disappeared behind the rose petals again.

"Now you know what to do, Cousin. But... are you sure that you want to go there? We've all heard about Berenice the witch, she'll only help you if you give her the most precious thing you possess. And then you'll have to reach..."

"I don't care, Roslav. I'm going."

"Me too." Hans and Louise said simultaneously.

"Very well. You should rest properly before your journey, then. Let me show you your rooms," Roslav said, and after they thanked and said good night to all the inhabitants of the Wild Rose Castle, they followed him out of the room.

They each got to sleep in a small, single, rose bloom chamber, but their rooms grew so close that they brushed and whispered against each other whenever they were caressed by the wind. Long after they washed and settled in their comfortable beds, the adventurers talked through the semi transparent rose petal walls about their plans for the next day.

Once Roza promised that she would wake them up at sunrise, and Rolo repeated Orangebeak's words about their reaching the sea by the following night, they all drifted off to exhausted sleep, while the Wild Rose bushes swayed gently in the fresh breeze blowing from the coast, carrying the scent of sea spray into their blooms.

They got up so early in the morning that there was only Roslav and Neve waiting for them in the large room, sitting at the table laid with breakfast. As soon as they had eaten enough and were ready to leave, the Wild Rose Fairy boy and the Snow Goblin accompanied them outside.

"Promise that you'll visit again soon, Rosalind. And don't forget, should you and Blue need a place to stay, you'll be welcome here," Roslav told her.

"Thank you, Cousin," the fairy said, embracing him, then mounting Brownie quickly when she noticed that her friends were already seated on the other two birds. "And I thank you too, Neve."

"Good luck and be careful, Princess! The land beyond the sea is a place filled with perils!" the little Snow Goblin called after them as they took flight.

The three birds flew high above the meandering river, which looked like a wide, glittery, bright blue ribbon as it made its way towards the sea without rush. They followed its lazy course until midday, but this time, the birds insisted on carrying their passengers again after a short lunch break.

They were all impatient to reach to shore and finally meet the butterflies.