The Wild Swans

by Shea, K. M.

  Elise—mounted on her own horse—followed her brothers and the enchantress. Brida rode at her side, keeping her from lagging behind.

  Several times Angelique sent glittering balls of light to scout ahead. When they came back a third time, the enchantress led them straight to a makeshift camp that reminded Elise of her temporary shelter by the pond.

  There was a sorry-looking tent that was stretched to its limits and looked as if it would collapse at any moment. The fire was out. There was no firewood in sight, and tethered next to the tent was an ornery donkey.

  Angelique opened the tent, which was just as ratty inside as it was outside. “He’s not home, but he will not mind if we use his hot water and salon,” Angelique said, letting the cloth covering fall back in place before she traced a symbol in the air.

  “I beg your pardon, Lady Enchantress, but what salon do you refer to?” Gerhart asked.

  Erick shook his head. “Just wait,” he instructed.

  Elise, just as confused as Gerhart, was surprised when Angelique pulled back the tent flap a second time. This time the tent opened into a large parlor roughly the size of Elise’s room back in Castle Brandis. It was well lit and warmed by a roaring fire in a marble fireplace. There was a pile of cushions, two padded, strange-looking sofas, and a small, short table covered by a silver tea set.

  “Please, enter,” Angelique said.

  “Thank you, Lady Enchantress,” Steffen said, bowing before he led the way inside.

  Elise craned her head to look at the exterior of the tent. No, her eyes were not deceiving her. Even though the inside of the tent opened into a large room, there was nothing outside but the measly tent.

  “The owner of this tent is particularly skilled at enchanting, building, and producing material goods. He made the tent, which is similar to a large safe in that it is the doorway to different parts of his home,” Angelique said when Elise and Gerhart were the only ones left outside.

  Elise and Gerhart exchanged looks before they entered together, embraced by the sudden warmth of the room.

  “Princes, and friend,” Angelique added, glancing at Brida. “Please seat yourselves. I will be back momentarily with tea and refreshments. Elise, if you would follow me,” Angelique said, picking up the tea tray before she disappeared through a door at the far side of the room.

  On the other side of the door was the most lavish bathroom Elise had seen. There was a fireplace that had an iron grid built above the fire coals. This grid was laden with rocks, which the flickering flames licked as they burned the coals.

  The floor was tile, and on the far side of the room was a large tub. Next to it was a rope—which Angelique pulled—and part of the ceiling collapsed down, filling the tub with water.

  “It’s lukewarm, but I’m sure you’ll want it hot,” Angelique said, testing the water before she used a set of tongs to remove several stones off the grid. She dropped them one by one into the tub, making hissing steam whenever a rock hit the surface of the water. Angelique tested the water again. “Perfect. You can bathe as long as you like. Here are towels and something for you to wear, and here are some oils if you cannot get the smoke smell out of your hair,” the enchantress said, setting a fluffy towel on a wooden chair before indicating to several small bottles placed on a stand next to the tub.

  “There is no need to hurry. I’m certain your brothers are starving. I will see them fed. You may join us when you wish,” Angelique said, pulling a velvet curtain around the tub for Elise’s privacy.

  “Your friend won’t mind this?” Elise asked.

  “No, certainly not. Stil enjoys entertaining, especially when he’s not here,” Angelique said before she left the bathroom through a different door, taking the tea tray with her.

  Elise scrubbed herself until she was pink, getting rid of every smudge and splotch of dirt that caked on her over the past few weeks. She soaked and rinsed her hair several times until her tired curls regained some of their spring. By the time she left the bath she was as wrinkled as a prune and smelled like freshly cut lavender.

  The dress Angelique had set out faintly reminded Elise of her Treasury Department uniform. It was black with white sleeves made of fine, opaque material. The sleeve cut off at her elbow and turned into a long black cuff that encased her forearm and hooked around her middle finger. The dress lacked the gold braiding Elise’s work uniform had, but the belt was a gold sash, and there were several golden ribbons and a pair of black silk slippers set out as well.

  Elise tied her hair back with one ribbon and used the remaining two to make a new loop to hang the treasury vault key from. She discarded the dirty red rope she had made from her old uniform—it was stained and ratty—and slipped on the shoes before she deemed herself presentable and left the bathroom.

  “Perfect timing, princess. Your brothers were just asking after you,” Angelique said from one of the odd-looking sofas. “Please, come have some tea and scones.”

  “You look much better. You were quite bedraggled and scruffy before.” Falk said, blasting Elise with a backhanded compliment as he inspected her from head to toe. “Not that you didn’t have reason to be,” he added.

  Rune smiled fondly before he slid a hand beneath Elise’s chin. “You look beautiful.”

  “Doesn’t she though?” Steffen said, crowding Rune away from Elise.

  Elise seated herself next to Angelique and took the hot tea the enchantress offered her. It smelled like peppermint, but it was sweetened with honey and a little milk.

  When Elise’s stomach growled, Erick passed a plate laden with scones and tea sandwiches.

  “Thank you,” Elise said, devouring a chicken sandwich.

  “I do not mean to rush you, Lady Enchantress, but you said you knew of someone who could break the curse?” Steffen asked.

  Angelique topped off Elise’s tea. “I do: Fürstin Elise.”

  Elise choked on her sandwich.

  “Pardon?” Steffen blinked.

  “No, I see where this is going. We cannot ask Elise to do more for us,” Rune said.

  “Her hands will take months to heal, even if I purchase the best creams and plants to make pastes for her. She cannot do a thing more,” Falk said.

  “Elise has done more than her fair share,” Gerhart chimed in.

  “I agree with what you say,” Erick said. “But perhaps we should hear out the Lady Enchantress first.”

  Angelique smiled when the brothers quieted down. “As I mentioned, after I left you, I called on my friend in Erlauf. She used to be in charge of seeking out young boys and girls who are gifted with magical talents before she became a fairy godmother.”

  “I discussed with her the oddity that the curse worked on every Arcainian royal—Gabrielle excluded—except for you,” Angelique continued. “After conversing further, we concluded that the only logical explanation is you have the ability to use magic as well.”

  “I’m sorry, but that’s impossible. There would have been signs. I wouldn’t be the royal family’s foster child,” Elise said. “Magic is not something a person can hide. Furthermore, I would know! There’s no possible way I could be ignorant of an ability like that.”

  Angelique shook her head. “You are ignorant because of the way your powers manifested. Observe,” Angelique said. She drew her fingers together, making a glittering ball of light. She flicked her fingers, and the ball rolled in Elise’s direction. When the ball touched Elise, it bounced off her and faded away like smoke.

  Angelique made a second ball and flicked it at Erick. It stuck to him like a burr, remaining there until Erick crushed it with his fingers.

  “What does this mean?” Elise asked.

  “It means your powers, probably as a result of the country you live in, lie in magic cancelation. Magic cannot survive around you. Thus a curse, even one as powerful as the one Clotilde used against you, will not work,” Angelique said. “The curse couldn’t hit you, but it was powerful enough to survive contact with you, so it bounced bac
k and hit Clotilde.”

  “It is my understanding that it is difficult for other magic users to hide their powers from each other. How could no one have discovered Elise before now?” Erick asked.

  “Probably because Elise’s magic doesn’t feel like magic. I didn’t notice it myself until I touched her and felt my powers go mute,” Angelique said. “Elise does not give off the aura of magic because, to put it simply, her presence devours all traces of magic.”

  “And our curse?” Mikk said, rubbing his chin.

  “Yeah, how was Elise able to break our curse if her touch cancels magic?” Nick asked.

  “Breaking a curse is an entirely different matter than human-made magic. It deals with a deeper power that would easily override Elise’s magic,” Angelique said.

  “I still don’t understand,” Elise said.

  Angelique tilted her head as she thought. “The magic I use—the magic any enchanter or enchantresses uses, Elise included—is a sort of surface magic. It is using your personal powers to change things. The magic that went into breaking your curse was a far deeper and older kind of magic that existed long before any enchanter walked these lands. Using love to conquer darkness is a power as old as the oceans. It is not surprising that Elise’s powers would have no affect on such potent magic. Once the steps are taken, no one can stop the consequences of a sacrifice made from love.”

  “So how can I destroy her? Do you mean for me to wake Father from his stupor?” Elise said.

  Angelique sipped her tea. “I’m afraid the task before you is much bigger than that. You must cut her off from her power source. Clotilde’s powers are nothing special, but if you cancel the magic of the artifacts she uses to prepare her big curses, she will expire.”

  “Why?” Erick asked.

  “Clotilde has put her life into those artifacts. If you destroy them, you destroy her,” Angelique said.

  Steffen pressed his fingertips together. “Can you guarantee Elise’s safety?”

  “No. We know nothing about Elise’s abilities. There may be limitations, but I do not know how to properly test a magic student—I’m still an apprentice. Additionally, the testing process is a lengthy one. Based on the news I heard in Erlauf, I’m not certain Arcainia can hold out much longer.”

  “News? What news?” Rune asked.

  Angelique rubbed her tea cup with her thumb. “You royal siblings have worked to increase Arcainia’s power and wealth under your supervision. You have succeeded, but the country does not flourish without you.”

  Steffen relaxed. “Of that we are well aware.”

  “As such, Arcainia has not prospered under Clotilde’s rule. Her presence is evil, and the land is rejecting her. There was a famine this year—almost all crops were lost to blight or fungus. A storm hit Carabas harbor and nearly destroyed it. Without Prince Rune’s frequent patrols, more magical creatures with ill-intensions entered the country. Several villages were destroyed by those creatures. The army is underfunded and will not be able to survive much longer without proper finances, and as Clotilde lacks access to the majority of the country’s funds, she has raised taxes to support her spending.”

  “How high are the taxes?” Elise asked, her eyes narrowed.

  “Too high. After the massive crop failure, many of your subjects are unable to pay the tax. Normally, they would leave and become refugees, but your subjects trust you, and they’re waiting for your return,” Angelique said. “But Clotilde does not let them go unpunished.”

  Elise stared at her welt-covered hands. Clotilde was going to ruin the country and beat all of their subjects into submission. Arcainia was suffering.

  “We will have to do something,” Mikk said. “Not Elise.”

  “It’s about time we take some of the burden,” Nick said.

  Gerhart stood to snag a marmalade tart. “I try to look useless, but I don’t relish the idea of Elise being the only one in our family responsible for our country’s freedom,” he said.

  “We can do nothing more today. That much is clear,” Steffen said, rubbing his eyes.

  “Daylight is all but gone. If we set out for Arcainia, we would not get very far,” Rune agreed.

  “We may spend the evening here,” Angelique said.

  “Your friend will not mind?” Elise asked.

  “Stil? No. Even if he comes home, I doubt he will notice our presence, although I must apologize, for he does not have enough rooms for us all,” Angelique said.

  “No matter, we men will sleep here. There are plenty of cushions, and we’re used to spending our nights in much more uncomfortable places these days,” Steffen said, the corners of his mouth turning wryly.

  “Does he have a room for Elise and Brida?” Rune asked.

  “Yes,” Angelique said.

  After another hour or two of discussion, Angelique showed Elise and Brida to a guest room—which was just as lavish as the bathroom.

  Elise relished the feeling of soft, clean sheets and a feather-stuffed mattress, but her mind would not settle even after Brida blew out the last candle.

  Elise couldn’t stop thinking about Arcainia.

  When Angelique first said Elise could defeat Clotilde, Elise wanted to cry. Hadn’t she done enough? She almost died freeing her brothers, and more was required of her? But even as she wallowed in her misery, the faces of her friends and servants back home played a continuous loop in her mind.

  There was sweet Gretta from the Treasury Department; she always made sure Elise had tea to serve any visitors; Flora, the pastry chef—she slipped Elise extra treats whenever it had been a rough work day; and Otto, King Henrik’s valet who thought to routinely send Elise a stomach tonic when she first joined the royal family and, unused to the sheer amount and richness of food, made herself sick with her greed on a daily basis. Even those Elise didn’t personally know she remembered—the guards on their patrols who took the time to bow and smile, the hotheaded bunch of secretaries from the Commerce Department who ate like a flock of seagulls, even the kind-hearted stable hands of the royal stable that knew of her fear of horses and worked with her to disguise it.

  The Treasury Department employees alone were enough to make Elise reconsider, but the longer Elise remembered who was back in Arcainia, the more convinced she was that she had to do something. What forced her to make up her mind was the memory of her father, King Henrik.

  He was a great man, always warm and friendly. Even though the Royal brothers sometimes took pains to remind Elise she was a fosterling, King Henrik never withheld affection or love from her. He showered gifts and attention on her like she was one of his own children.

  Elise couldn’t abandon him to Clotilde’s clutches.

  Chapter 13

  In the late hours of the night, Elise slid out of her warm bed. She shivered in the cool air and felt her way around the room. She found the slippers Angelique had given her and slipped them on. She eased the door open and was halfway through it when Brida spoke.

  “You’re leaving.”

  It wasn’t a question.

  “It is unlikely my brothers will allow me to try to take Clotilde on,” Elise said.

  “I agree.”

  “But if there’s a chance I can free Arcainia, I must try, even if it is risky and foolish.”

  “I agree,” Brida repeated, lighting a candle before she tossed blankets off her body. Like Elise, Brida went to bed fully clothed. However, she went a step further and still had her weapons strapped to her. “Which is why I will accompany you.”

  Elise stared at the captain. “You knew I was going to leave tonight?”

  “I suspected,” Brida said, shouldering the supply bag she had brought into the bedroom. “Let’s go.”

  Elise and Brida tiptoed through the strange house, blowing out the candle when they found the salon. Coals still glowed in the fireplace, giving them just enough light to see by as they slinked through the treacherous maze of male bodies.

  Elise’s brothers were strewn through th
e room, and their outstretched limbs made it difficult to wade around them and get to the door. Elise almost fell once to avoid stepping on Mikk’s arm when he moved it unexpectedly, but Brida caught her and set her upright before they sprang the last few steps to the door.

  They exited the salon, or tent as it was, and almost rammed into Angelique.

  “Princess Elise, Captain Meier. How surprising,” she said, her face illuminated by the glittering sky.

  “Good evening, Lady Enchantress. What brings you outside at this hour?” Elise asked, stalling so she could come up with a legitimate reason for their presence.

  Angelique indicated to the sky. “I was checking on my mount. I rode him longer than usual, and I wasn’t sure what condition he would be in.”

  “Oh,” Elise said, wondering why the beautiful enchantress pointed to the sky.

  Angelique studied Elise and Brida, but refrained from imposing a similar question on them. All the same, Elise blurted out, “Do you really believe I can take on Clotilde?”

  Angelique nodded. “I do.”

  “What do I need to do?”

  “Your bare touch should be enough. It seems that you do not toggle your powers on and off, but you constantly use them. As a result, you do not need to worry about activating anything on your end. Clotilde keeps her tools for her dark magic on her at all times. If your magic is strong enough, your touch will cancel her magic, as well as the artifacts’ magic. It will be her end,” Angelique said.

  “If my magic is strong enough?” Elise asked.

  Angelique nodded again. “I have no way of measuring your magic, so I cannot tell you if your powers are enough to smother everything. The way you attack her would make a difference, I suppose. Skin to skin contact would provide the best channel for your magic to reach her. The more contact, the better.”

  “I see,” Elise said.

  Brida slid her pack off her shoulders as she approached her tethered mare. “Your powers were enough to keep you from being cursed, Fürstin. I am certain you are strong enough to defeat that witch.”