The Wild Swans (12 page)

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.

“Th
en 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 on
ly 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 real
ly 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 be
ing 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 terrib
ly?” 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 anyth
ing 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 abrupt
ly 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 uncomfortab
ly 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 frustrat
ing. 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 fish
ing 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 go
ing 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. Obvious
ly 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 knitt
ing 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
,

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 fami
ly 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 writ
ing 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 genuine
ly 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!

“
Princess
,” Brida said, her voice taking on a note of panic as she placed her hands on Elise’s shoulders and shook her.

Elise’s heart ached—throbb
ing worse than her burning fingers.

Mertein
was the one personal choice she made. Just like everything else in her life, she knew he had to be suitable, yes, but there were at least a dozen other men who were just as suitable. It was Mertein Elise had hoped for.

And now he
had abandoned her.

Elise picked up the letter and tore it right beneath the words “
I am engaged to marry another
.”

She gave the top half of the letter to Brida and stood
, crumpling the rest of the letter in her fist. She grabbed the shirt she was working on before she retreated to the woods, tears still falling from her eyes.

Even in great sorrow Elise
had to be perfect.

The follow
ing day, Elise sat with her brothers around the fire, knitting in the orange light. Telling them about Mertein when they turned human the night before had been pure torture—Gerhart and Mikk didn’t seem to care, Falk and Erick acted as if they expected it all along. Nick made a badly received joke about it. Only Rune and Steffen were sympathetic.

Thankful
ly, though, they seemed to pick up on Elise’s sorrow and did their best to spare Elise’s feelings. Or so she thought.

“
Based on the rate at which Elise is knitting, we can expect to be human again by midsummer,” Erick pronounced.

“Do you think you’ll be able to speed up as you get better at this
, Elise?” Nick asked.

“It’s hard to say
,” Elise said. “It did take most of my first day to remember how to knit and cast on and purl. After I complete this first shirt—and I use that description loosely, it’s more like a shrug of some sort—it should be easier.”

“
Imagine that. Elise isn’t perfect at something,” Gerhart sneered.

“Gerhart
,” Rune warned as he emerged from the woods with an armload of firewood.

“I’m not certain I will be able to knit faster
, though,” Elise continued, clenching her teeth to keep herself from snarling at Gerhart.

“Why not?” Nick asked.

“Because it hurts a great deal to do this, and my fingers are growing stiff and inflexible,” Elise said.

“Oh.”

“If Brida is willing, she should scout out the area during daylight. There may be a village nearby where we could purchase a salve or dressing for Elise’s hands,” Falk said.

“Excellent idea. Would you mind terrib
ly, Captain Meier?” Rune asked, flashing her a dazzling smile.

“Not at all Prince Rune
,” Brida easily agreed.

“We appreciate your willingness
, Brida,” Nick said.

Mikk nodded in agreement.

“Elise is just being a girl,” Gerhart said, rolling his eyes. “Falk already found her those plants to help with the pain.”

“I
hate
you,” Elise said, the words were out of her mouth before she thought them through, but even after she spoke Elise wasn’t sorry. She was sick of subjecting herself to Gerhart’s bad temper.

“
So the Perfect Princess hates someone. Maybe she’s not so perfect after all,” Gerhart said.

“I
have done nothing wrong to you. I have spent months, if not
years
, putting up with your temper tantrums, and I refuse to deal with them anymore as I spend my days making sacrifices for
you
,” Elise said.

“You
have done nothing to me?” Gerhart sputtered. “Do you have any idea what I’ve gone through because of you?”

“Gerhart
,” Falk warned.

“All day long all I hear is how wonderful you are
, how great you are, how you’re going to be the family savior. Why can’t you be more like your sister, Gerhart? She’s so young, and she’s already in charge of a department, Gerhart!”

“Your jealousy is not my problem
,” Elise said.

“Funny
, I said the same thing to my
dear brothers,
and they didn’t seem to think so.”

“You aren’t mak
ing any sense.”

“Then maybe you should try talk
ing to Falk and your precious Rune. You didn’t know they’ve been going behind your back, intimidating anyone who looks twice at you, huh? I’m surprised your dearest Mertein held out as long as he did.”

Elise turned to look at Falk and Rune
, who were standing next to each other. Her voice was quiet but as sharp as a sword when she asked, “What is he talking about?”

“You never noticed?” Gerhart continued
, unable to shut up. “Falk is over the moon for you, and Rune has spent
years
keeping him away from you. You think you know your golden-boy-hero? You should see him when he’s threatening someone to make them stay away from you. He’s
real
heroic then.”

“GERHART
,” Rune snapped.

Elise stared unseeing
ly at her foster brothers. “
What
?”

There
was an uncomfortable silence for several moments before Mikk spoke. “So, it will take Elise to midsummer to free us,” he said.

“Oh
, no,” Elise said, scrambling to her feet. “You owe me an explanation. What is Hart talking about?”

“It’s noth
ing, Elise,” Rune said, his voice once again warm and light. “Ignore him. Gerhart has always been jealous of you,” he said.

“No
, he hasn’t,” Elise said. When Queen Ingrid had first plucked her from palace service—where she had discovered Elise—Gerhart was the friendliest out of all the brothers. He was Elise’s companion as a child. It was only about three years ago that he started getting prickly. At first Elise thought it was because he was growing up, but when it continued, she realized there was no reasonable explanation.

“Focus
ing on the task at hand would be wisest,” Erick said. “We must break our curse and free Father from Clotilde. It is our duty.”

It
was Erick’s mistake to speak of duty.

“
Our
duty? Since when was this
our
duty?” Elise asked. “Angelique made it clear this is
my
duty. It has always been this way, hasn’t it? I have been valued by this family because of what I do. I do the things no one else wants to do.”

“You’re the one who acts the part of Perfect Princess
,” Gerhart muttered.

“You think I
WANT
to be perfect? I hate the flute. I wish I could break my instrument in half! Horses terrify me, but I force myself to go riding for the sake of this festering family. I would rather eat glass than converse with the smug Sole Ambassador, but none of it is good enough for you! No matter what I do, you want more. You don’t even like me.”

“
That’s not true,” Nick started to say.

“Oh
, is it? Is that why you have so much fun picking at what I do?” Elise asked, folding her arms across her chest.

“I never—
,”

“You always do
. Not like any of the others are any better. Steffen only likes me because I’m the one sibling he can get to do whatever he wants. All he has to do us utter the words duty, and I will do it. Mikk has never bothered to hide his distaste of me; Erick is just as bad as Steffen as he constantly reminds me that I need to perform better, that I have to do more.”