The Wild Swans

by Shea, K. M.

  “I have a message for you from Princess Gabrielle,” Brida said, reaching inside her shirt to withdraw a sealed envelope.

  Elise reached for it, but Brida held it out of range. “I’m not giving it to you until you tell me what is going on.”

  Elise patiently held out her hand.

  “No,” Brida said, shaking her head. “Get a hold of yourself, Princess, and tell me what’s going on. If you can control yourself and put aside your foolish emotions, I will give you the letter.”

  Brida’s arrogance and the way she talked sent a spark of irritation through Elise, but she kept her expression bland as she started at the letter.

  “No,” Brida shook her head. “Not until you stop acting petty.”

  She thought Elise was being petty, did she? Elise glanced down at her hand to assure herself that some of the sharp hairs and thorns from the stinging nettle plant were stuck in her skin. (There were some, drawing tiny pinpricks of blood.) Elise smacked her open hand on top of Brida’s, the stuck nettles scratching the soft, delicate skin on the top of captain’s hand.

  Brida yelped and fell on her rear. Elise used the moment of distraction to snatch the letter from Brida. She tore open the envelope and removed the letter, reading it before Brida recovered.

  My dearest sister,

  I assume Angelique has already visited you and informed you of our failure. Angelique told me there was little hope that my husband and your brothers would ever return to normal. But there is a small possibility, should you be willing to take it.

  I must confess I do not know you as well as I should, but I am confident of the love you have for your brothers. If there is a way to save them, I am positive you will pursue it.

  Keeping that in mind, I have sent Brida for your disposal. I am aware you two have some differences, (Elise internally snorted.) But Brida is unfailingly loyal to our family, and I dare not send anyone else. She will guard you and see to your needs—although I would never venture to call her a maid, if I were you. You would probably get a black eye for your mistake, Fürstin or not.

  I wish you luck with your task and our beloved family. I am sorry I failed you, but I shall do my best in your absence.

  With all the luck in the world,

  Gabrielle

  Elise was grateful Gabrielle had thought to send a guard. Elise would be safer with Brida around. Brida was a skilled warrior, had a healthy set of lungs, and she had brought weapons.

  But still… did it have to be Brida?

  Brida was rubbing the top of her hand and looking reproachfully at Elise. “Princess,” she said, grinding her teeth. “I do not know what is wrong with you, but could you please direct me to your brothers?”

  Elise stared at Brida. Hadn’t Gabrielle told her of her brother’s plight? (Or flight, really, if one wanted to be technical.)

  Elise stood, carrying the letter and her ugly shirt, and walked to the edge of the pond.

  The sun was almost set. Elise couldn’t be sure since the trees blocked the last of its descent, but judging on the light, her brothers would be available for a chat with Brida in a few minutes.

  “Princess,” Brida said, sounding a little like Falk in her frustration. She walked up to Elise and put her hands on her shoulders, forcing Elise to turn around. “What, in the name of all that is holy, are you—,” Brida broke off her lecture and jumped backwards when a swan furiously paddled across the pond and clambered onto shore, hissing and lunging at Brida.

  Brida took a few steps before she stopped and held her ground. To her credit, she did not grapple for a weapon. Instead she narrowed her eyes and studied the upset bird.

  Several other swans ringed around Elise, forming a white, waist high wall of protection.

  “Oh,” Brida said after her eyes swept across the pond, and she did the math.

  The swans scampered back into the pond, floating on its tumultuous surface. They started to glow and extended their wings before they disappeared in a storm cloud of white feathers.

  When the light faded and seven princes were left behind, sloshing in the water, Brida went down on one knee. “My Lords,” she said.

  Falk, just as blunt as Brida, plunged past greetings. “What did you hope to accomplish by bullying Elise, Captain Meier?”

  “W-what?” Brida said, lifting her head up.

  “Bullying might be a bit of a strong word to use, don’t you think?” Nick asked, shaking his leg to get rid of dripping water.

  “I am disappointed in you, Captain Meier,” Rune said in a gentle voice as he moved next to Elise, placing a warm hand on her lower back. “I thought you were more patient, and that you would realize Elise is not one to act oddly without a good reason.”

  “Yes, Prince Rune,” Brida said, staring at the ground.

  “You won’t do it again now, will you? What Elise does, she does for our sake,” Steffen said with his portrait smile. “Please stand, Captain Meier. In spite of our words, we are thankful you have come. What news do you have for us?”

  “I had a letter to deliver to Princess Elise,” Brida said.

  When Steffen whipped around to face Elise, Elise held out the letter. “It doesn’t say much,” she said. “Gabrielle probably wrote so little in case it was intercepted.”

  Brida twitched at the sound of Elise’s voice.

  “Patience, Captain. We will explain the situation once we hear yours first,” Falk said, standing between the captain and Elise.

  “There isn’t much to tell, Prince Falk. The guards and I knew something was wrong when all eight of the royal children disappeared. There were whispers, rumors that Clotilde did something to you. An enchantress launched an attack against Queen Clotilde. Your subjects did their best to help, but Queen Clotilde was able to throw the lady enchantress off her. I know the enchantress and Princess Gabrielle spoke together for some time, for I guarded their meeting. The enchantress left, and Crown Princess Gabrielle summoned a number of captains and military men she trusted. I was among them. She explained to us that you had been cursed, although she did not say how. She asked me to track the enchantress to the location where I would find Princess Elise and all of the royal Princes. The rest of the men, I believe, she organized to create a resistance force.”

  “How do they resist?” Mikk asked.

  “I only heard very few of the plans, for Princess Gabrielle thought it would be best to leave immediately—in the end it did not matter for I could not track the enchantress at all and had to rely on luck,” Brida said, standing at attention.

  “Humph. Elise, come with me,” Falk said, pulling Elise along by her elbow.

  “But—,”

  “No buts. The others will explain the nature of the curse to her,” Falk said, dragging Elise into the dim forest. Falk kicked at plants, his expression cold as he looked through the underbrush in the nearly extinguished sunlight.

  “What are we doing?” Elise asked.

  Falk ignored the question and hunkered over, digging plants out of the ground.

  “Falk?”

  “Rub this on your hands. The undersides—the spores will ease the itching,” Falk said, slapping several large, leafy ferns into Elise’s hands.

  Surprised, Elise meekly did as she was told, hissing when the first touch of the fern burned almost as badly as the stinging nettles themselves. The longer Elise rubbed, though, the better her fingers felt. The angry red splotches eased some, although several open wounds still oozed blood, and the burning gave way to a dull ache.

  Some of the tension left Elise with the pain, and she closed her eyes. “Thank you, Falk.”

  Falk rustled around in the underbrush, ripping at more ferns, and didn’t reply.

  Elise used the other fern leaf on her other hand, allowing a slight smile to ease across her lips.

  “You weren’t made for this kind of work,” Falk said.

  “Pardon?”

  Falk straightened up, holding a pile of fern leaves in his arms. “This terrible task—it is too
much to ask of you. It worries me.”

  Just like that Elise’s smile was gone. “You don’t have to be afraid. I will break the curse. You might not think me competent, but I’m stubborn enough to see us through this.”

  “No, that’s not what I meant,” Falk said.

  “Then what did you mean to say?”

  Falk’s shoulders moved in an almost imperceptible shrug. He led the way back to Elise’s camp, placing the ferns in Elise’s shelter by the rock.

  “Falk, Elise, come see what Brida thought to bring—the smart girl,” Nick called.

  Steffen stood on the water’s edge, Gabrielle’s letter dangling from his hands. Mikk, Nick, Erick, and Gerhart were huddled around Brida’s saddlebags and horse.

  “Flint—beautiful! Here, Mikk, catch. You are brilliant, Brida,” Nick said, tossing two rocks to his twin.

  Mikk caught the rocks and walked over to the prepared tinder pile—for in the end, Steffen had been unable to accomplish his assigned task the previous night before the hour was over.

  “I brought only what any competent soldier would bring,” Brida said, inspecting Elise’s few belongings with obvious disapproval.

  “Elise, how much did you knit today? I would like to calculate the length of time it will take you to finish our clothing,” Erick asked.

  “Did you really bring nothing but the horse and his tack when you left Castle Brandis?” Brida asked.

  “Elise didn’t have much time, and she doesn’t have the training to keep a cool head as you do,” Nick said.

  “Nick,” Mikk said as he scraped the flint stones together to make a spark.

  “What?” Nick blinked.

  Mikk didn’t respond and tried to fan the sparks into tiny flames on the dry bark and grass tinder.

  “The shirts, Elise. How much did you complete?” Erick reminded Elise.

  “Not very much, I bet,” Gerhart snorted.

  Elise grew tense at the words being cast around her. Her heart tightened until Rune, her rock, placed an arm around Elise’s shoulders. “Enough. Elise is just as cursed as we are, perhaps more so. She deserves an hour’s reprieve,” he said to his brothers before whispering into Elise’s ears. “Walk with me?”

  “Of course,” Elise said.

  “How are your hands? Do they hurt terribly?” Rune asked as they left the camp, strolling along the shore. His hazel eyes were colored with concern as he brushed a hand against Elise’s cheek.

  “It has been better since Falk told me to rub them with a fern plant he found,” Elise said.

  “Can I do anything for you? Is there anything I could do that would bring you even a little comfort?” Rune asked, his hand resting against her neck.

  Elise smiled. “Just being with you is enough, Rune.”

  Rune abruptly stopped walking. He grabbed Elise and dragged her to him, tucking her head in the curve of his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed tightly.

  Elise blinked several times in shock. “Rune?”

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  Elise shifted uncomfortably before she hooked her elbow across Rune’s other shoulder.

  In Rune’s arms, Elise felt safe and warm. She could forget the ache in her hands, and the fact that he would be swan again in a short time. Elise could depend on Rune. He was sincere.

  “This is difficult for you as well,” Elise guessed when Rune finally released her.

  “It is frustrating. I try to remember who I am, who you are, when I am a swan, but I can’t,” Rune said, hooking Elise’s arm through his before they started strolling again.

  “Perhaps you will get better at it,” Elise said. “Besides, I don’t think any of your brothers remember any more than you do. All of you run around and chase bugs and eat most of the day.”

  “Falk remembers. I don’t know how much, but he better retains his humanity than the rest of us,” Rune said.

  “None of this is your fault, Rune. You’re doing the best you can. There’s no need to compare yourself to another.”

  “Rune, Mikk wants you,” Falk said.

  Elise would have leaped backwards if Rune wasn’t holding her arm. “Why?” Rune said. His voice was cold.

  “Brida brought fishing line with her. He wants to catch fish to get Elise a decent dinner.”

  Rune exhaled in obvious aggravation—a rare display for the usually sunny tempered hero. “Fine,” he said, dropping Elise’s arm. “I’m sorry, Elise. You should return and see what else Brida brought.”

  “Okay,” Elise said, obediently following her middle foster brother.

  They were only a short distance from the camp, but when she rejoined her brothers, Elise felt like she had been wrenched back into reality.

  Erick was crouched over Elise’s knitting project, measuring it with a stick. Brida was tending to her mount, tying it to a tree with Falk’s horse.

  “If we chop down a few saplings, it should be easy enough to make a pen to put the horses in at night. We can’t risk them running off,” Nick said, admiring the hand axe Brida had brought.

  “It’s going to take you more than one night to do that,” Gerhart said.

  “Yes, but it will be time well spent. Care to help me, Gerhie?”

  “Not in your life.”

  “Oh, Gerhie, so young, so selfish,” Nick sighed.

  “Elise, Mikk got a fire going so we can use torches now. Would you like company to gather some more stinging nettles?” Steffen asked.

  “I have enough for tomorrow,” Elise said.

  Steffen handed her the rock knife Rune had fashioned for her. “Yes, but you’ll need more after that. I know I cannot help you pick, but I could keep you company,” Steffen said, glancing at the shirt Erick was studying from a different angle.

  Elise swallowed the knot in her throat. Obviously her brothers didn’t think she was working fast enough. “Alright,” she agreed.

  “That’s our Perfect Princess.”

  “Always,” Elise grimly said. “Always.”

  Chapter 6

  Three days after Brida’s arrival, Elise sat on the sandy pond bank, watching her foster brothers in their swan bodies. It was only a hunch, but Elise thought she could occasionally discern which swan was which prince.

  Gerhart, or the swan Elise thought was Gerhart, spent an exorbitant amount of time swimming back and forth in front of the females from the flock of ducks. He tucked his head and looked inviting and elegant as he swam across the pond surface.

  Nick, and as a result Mikk, was easy to pick out. Nick spent his afternoons swimming after the pair of geese, badly imitating their honks and doing his best to be a general pest. Mikk usually swam several feet behind him, plucking out one of Nick’s feathers when he felt his twin grew too annoying.

  Elise watched Nick perform a poor goose honk imitation as she stiffly tied another stem of stinging nettle into her knitting project. She was grateful for Nick’s antics. They made the knitting just a little more bearable.

  Every stitch, every move was agony for Elise. It felt like her hands were on fire. Each plant embedded so many tiny hairs in her fingers, Elise gave up trying to remove them at night.

  Elise looked up when Brida sat near her with a thump. The captain brushed sweat from her forehead and dropped her axe on the ground.

  Elise turned around like an owl to look at Brida’s project—the horse pen Nick had started on. It was finished, the corner posts pounded in and makeshift logs crisscrossed to form walls.

  Brida mopped her face with a handkerchief. “I forgot. I was supposed to give this to you,” Brida said, passing a rolled up letter to Elise.

  Elise set her knitting aside and eagerly took the letter. She glanced at Brida as she unrolled it.

  “I apologize, Princess. As I said, I forgot,” Brida repeated, her words lacking in conviction.

  Elise shook her head before she glanced at the bottom of her letter. A smile leaped to her lips. It was from Mertein!

  Fürstin Elise,
r />   Prinzessin Gabrielle said I may write you a letter as it is likely I will not see you for some time. I am not certain this letter will find you, but I hope it does.

  I am engaged to marry another.

  Elise stared at the words. She had to read them three times before their meaning sunk in and she was able to read on.

  My family heavily invested in ships and cargo to use when the Carabas harbor opens. The more delayed the harbor opening is, the worse it looks for my family.

  Since you have left, the harbor has been delayed indefinitely as the country hasn’t the funds to continue. I had no choice. To save my family, I have become engaged to an heiress.

  I cannot sacrifice my family to wait for you, Elise, and even before family’s monetary problems fell on me, I knew I would not be able to marry you, in spite of your affection for me.

  I am a coward for writing this to you now, when you have lost everything, but I do not want to mislead you. I should have told you in person when I had the chance.

  Please forgive me, Fürstin. I think in time you will understand why I…

  Elise could read no farther. She didn’t want to read empty excuses. They would bring her no comfort.

  The letter dropped from Elise’s hands as she stared at the pond where the swan princes swam.

  “Princess?” Brida said, rocking to her knees when the first of Elise’s tears fell.

  Elise clasped a hand to her mouth, biting her knuckle to keep her sobs and screams bottled in. Even now she had to sacrifice for her brothers. She couldn’t let one noise escape for their sake, even when all Elise wanted to do was cry until she was empty.

  “Princess Elise, what is wrong?” Brida asked, crouching next to Elise.

  Elise genuinely liked Mertein.

  She had chosen him because of his family and their standing, yes, but she had chosen him because of his easy smile and sweet temperament. Mertein never expected more from her. He didn’t require perfection. He was affectionate, easy to talk to, and sweet. She was never absolutely certain they would marry, but she thought that would be because her father would be forced to send her to another country, not because Mertein would marry another!