I’d found true, unconditional love. I’d escaped the tower, and I’d found my home.
THE END
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The Dragon Swan Princess
My snow-caked boots dragged me down as I trudged through the tundra. An echo whispered behind me. Spinning around, I clutched my knife’s hilt with numb fingers, searching for the source of the sound.
A sea of whiteness blanketed the dips and curves of the landscape.
My breath escaped my mouth in a puff of warm air. I waited, watching. When nothing appeared, I sheathed my knife in its leather casing hanging from my belt. Tugging on my fur-lined hood, I set off once again toward the witches’ palace. The thought of returning made my stomach turn to a lead weight. But I had no choice.
The wind picked up, battering my cheeks with sharp particles of ice. A half-moon hung high in the dark sky. I flexed my fingers to keep my blood circulating. The leather gloves did little to keep my hands warm. My dragon scales would be better protection against the cold than my human flesh was. Tingling magic pulsed through my blood. The spell allowing me to change at will had worn off, replaced with another enchantment. My transformation would come with the sunrise, and only then would I change into my dragon form.
The snow grew deeper the higher I climbed. At the top of a hill, I stopped. The spear-like towers of the witches’ palace rose above the landscape. Their icy blue color sparkled in the moonlight against a backdrop of stars.
The knot in my stomach tightened as I hiked through the snow, closer to the open drawbridge spanning the moat of churning glacier water. Did I have to return? Wasn’t there any other way out of this?
Drawing closer to the palace, I spotted the forms of two women standing atop the drawbridge.
They were waiting for me. How thoughtful.
After trudging to the bridge, I stopped at its base. Gwynna’s sharp eyes focused on me. The wind didn’t stir the dark braids wrapped around her head. Her glassy white skin and emotionless expression reminded me of a corpse carved from marble.
“Did you have a nice trip, dear?” Neleia asked, her voice croaking. What remained of her white wispy hair blew back and forth in the stiff gale. Was it just me or had she gotten more wrinkles since I’d been gone? It was hard to tell. Once a person reached a thousand, they really just looked like excrement, and there was no bypassing the aging process at that point. Ah well, at least she didn’t try to cheat it like Gwynna.
I stepped onto the bridge. “I had a lovely trip until it was cut short. Having to return to one’s imprisonment puts a damper on things. Where’s the elf?”
“We released him. We didn’t need him anymore, not after we struck a new bargain.”
A new bargain? “What do you mean?”
“Come inside, and we’ll tell you,” Neleia said. “You look cold, dear.”
Do I really? That couldn’t possibly be because I’ve been tramping through a frozen wasteland half the night.
The witches turned and lead me toward the open gate. Our footsteps echoed over the ice bridge. The portcullis overshadowed me as I followed the sisters.
We entered the courtyard. Magical flames burned in the crystal sconces, blue light glowing over the slick ice walls, reflecting a faint hazy light. When we approached the doors, they slowly swung inward.
My booted feet echoed as we entered the domed chamber. A crystal chandelier hung overhead, shimmering in the pool of aquamarine water directly beneath it.
We walked around the pool and toward another doorway leading to the dining hall. Chunks of hard-packed snow fell off my boots, leaving wet footprints behind me. As we bypassed the thrones atop the raised platform, memories returned.
Ten years had passed since my peoples’ war with the witches. Nothing had changed in the palace, making it hard for me to believe it had been a decade ago. All I’d ever wanted to do was escape this place. Although the throne room was enormous, the walls pressed in on me as if I’d been trapped in a vice.
When I closed my eyes, I could still see the little hut on the beach where I’d lived with my parents. It didn’t seem so long ago that I was running on the shore, sand beneath my toes, smelling the salt-scented air, feeling the warm breeze on my cheeks, and eating my mother’s coconut rice.
But I was here now, and I would be for the rest of my life. Unless something had changed. If the elf was no longer here, what did that mean? They’d let him go? Was it vain for me to wish they’d do the same for me?
I entered the dining hall behind the witches. Why they needed a table that seated twelve people was beyond me. They rarely got visitors. When they did, most of them didn’t make it out, and they seldom invited anyone to dine with them.
A roast goose sat on the table, its sweet, succulent scent wafting. Platters of fruit, bread and cheese were also laid out, along with goblets of wine.
“What’s the occasion?” I asked.
“Do we need an excuse to have a meal with you?” Gwynna said. “Now sit. We’ve got an important matter to discuss.”
I crossed my arms. They’d let the elf go, and now they wanted me to dine with them? Something was utterly wrong about this whole situation. “What if I refuse?”
“You shouldn’t,” Gwynna said, her words clipped, her dark eyes narrowed in a silent warning.
Fine. I’d play along. I sat on one of the chairs across from them. My stomach rumbled. Refusing to eat seemed like a stupid
