“You must run for your life, Princess. Father’s new wife has used her ugly magical charms to transform us into the creatures you have already witnessed. We are now slaves in her Swan Club. If she catches you, she will kill you, and kill us as well. Run sweet sister; run while you have a chance!”
“I can’t leave without all of you.” She took Xavier’s hand firmly into hers. “Let us go now, before she returns! We can find Father, and rid him of his evil witch of a wife.”
“You do not understand, Princess,” he said sadly. “We are cursed. For only one hour each day can we shed our grisly skins, and become human again.”
She searched her brother’s eyes for some sign of deceit, trickery, or even raging illness. Yet all she saw was his sadness. He spoke the truth, she knew.
“I cannot leave you, my brothers. Come away with me. We will find a cure for the curse which plagues you all.”
Xavier caressed her face with the back of his hand. “Princess, when we are under the curse for twenty-three hours each day, we do not recognize you as our beloved little Princess. We become fearsome and fearless, and will attack anything that threatens Father’s new wife, Valentina. I’m afraid we will break your bones, peck away your beautiful brown eyes, and tear out your glorious mane of hair.”
She could not process her brother’s words. It was like some far-fetched tale. Still, she couldn’t discard the fact that her brothers would become stone cold killers who would tear her apart limb by limb.
“What can I do, where can I go for help?” she pleaded.
Her brother Kristopher approached.
“There is one being who might lead you to one who offers a chance.”
Xavier raised his hands. “No, the price is simply too high. Not to mention dangerous.”
Finally, a tiny shred of hope, she thought. “Tell me where this person is, where I might find him! I must at least try to obtain the cure for what has so brutally afflicted you.”
An achingly long silence hung in an oppressive cloud above them. She became acutely aware that their time together would soon to draw to a close. If she remained, her brothers would retake their mutant forms, converge upon her, and tear her to pieces.
She stomped a bare foot on the dirt floor. “Speak, someone, before it is too late!”
“You must follow the path from this house and back into the depths of the forest.” Xavier used a slim tree branch to trace the direction into the dirt floor. “When you come across the thick growth of deadly nightshade, you will be there. Look for a tiny cottage, and the being who resides within it. He will likely exact a price for his help, and his price will be high…perhaps your very soul.”
At his final sentence, an almost hollowness filled her being. Possibly her soul already prepared its escape from her body. Whatever happened to her must be. Her brothers lavished love and care upon her for nearly two decades. It was time for her to care for them, even if it meant her death.
Kristopher handed her a cloth parcel filled with nuts, berries, and bread crusts, along with a canteen of water.
It was time to leave, but the pain of being separated from them, pierced her already bruised heart. She kissed the cheeks of her six brothers, and hurried to the door. “I promise I will save you!” she pledged.
She exited the shack, and sprinted toward the beaten down path through the forest. At the last moment, she stopped and looked back to see her sweet, loving brothers once again assume their grotesque mutant swan forms.
She picked up her pace to a full out run until she was safely away from the shack and any dangers from her once beautiful brothers. At that moment she vowed she would seek her revenge on the woman her father chose to marry. The woman who enslaved her brothers, and likely still plotted her death.
Her pace slowed to a crawl as hours passed. Both hungry and weary, she sank onto the stump of a tree. She unwrapped the parcel her brothers prepared, and chewed a bread crust, alternating bites with water from the canteen. Although still hungry, she knew she must conserve her food and water since her immediate future was unknown.
Two tiny brown critters ran across her feet, and she squeaked at the odd, tickling sensation. They then turned at a safe distance, and seemed to stare at her. Princess guessed they’d never seen a human girl invade their surroundings before.
Not a girl anymore. Now she was a woman.
She tossed a few crumbs of bread in their direction, and they dove to gather the free morsels of food. Only a few days earlier, such a sight would have brightened her heart, and put a broad smile upon her face.
She then considered the being she searched for. The one her brothers spoke of; the one who might help her.
What if she couldn’t find him?
What if the being would not help her?
He must help, she resolved. No matter what his asking price, she would pay whether through her sweat and blood, or her flesh.
Fresh with courage, she trudged on through the forest, hoping to find the deadly nightshade growth before darkness completely overtook from above.
Then, a little at first, the branching plants began to appear. As she walked further in, the growth thickened dramatically, and she spotted the purple bell-shaped flowers surrounded by ovate leaves, and showy berries. Until this day, Princess had only seen this plant in illustrations in her brothers’ botanical books. She also knew from the books that not only were the plant and its berries toxic, but their growth usually meant there was a water source nearby.
The being her brothers spoke of must be near.
She continued to
