The Wild Swans (13 page)

“I do not—
,”

“I can’t believe you dare to say
that when you
just
got over asking me if I could knit faster! At least Hart is openly bratty and doesn’t even pretend to like me. And you two,” Elise said, twisting to face Rune and Falk. “I don’t believe a word of what Hart said about you. It’s impossible. Everyone knows Falk hates me.”

Rune and Falk
were silent, and Elise lost some of her certainty.

“Rune
, you didn’t bully Mertein,” Elise said, changing tactics.

Rune opened his mouth
but said nothing.

“He did it on
ly because he is in love with you, Elise,” Nick said.

Elise shook her head. “No.”

“Why do you think he won’t let you call him brother?” Gerhart said.

“Elise
,” Rune said, reaching for her.

Elise leaped backwards. “Who are you real
ly?” she whispered.

“Elise
, you’re over-wrought,” Steffen said.

“Of course I am!” Elise snarled. “
The one brother I counted on is-is..! I lost the man I wanted to marry because of
YOU
. Mertein was my personal choice, and he’s gone because I’m out here sacrificing for you, and you all
expect
me to.”

“We don’t expect—
,”

“Then why are you treat
ing me like this? The second you turn human you want to know my progress. You push me to knit in the firelight, to collect more stinging nettles. You won’t let me do anything but sleep, eat, and knit! This stupid shirt is red because I’m
bleeding
on it! And you all act like Brida is saving the world because she’s doing things so I can knit
more! I HATE you! Forget breaking the curse by midsummer—I’m not going to knit as much as another
loop
. You all can stay swans for the rest of your lives. I DON’T CARE!” Elise said.

She left the firelight and stomped into the woods.

“Elise,” Rune called.

Elise heard one of her foster bro
thers move, as if to follow her, and she bolted. She raced blindly through the dark trees, crashing through bushes and almost wiping out on a fallen log.

When the glow of the campfire couldn’t be seen anymore
, Elise found a giant tree and started climbing. She lost her grip a few times, and the bark scratched her already injured hands, but when Elise was high enough, she found a cradle in the center of the tree formed by three large branches stretching out in different directions.

Elise huddled there
, tears streaming from her eyes.

“Elise!” an
Arcainian prince called.

“Eliiiiise!”

“Elise!”

Elise closed her eyes and covered her ears
, blocking out the shouts. She was exhausted; she felt horribly alone, and she didn’t know what to do.

“Elise!”

“Eeeeliiiise!”

Elise woke to the scrap
ing noise of a knife on wood. She slowly opened her eyes, grimacing and rolling her shoulders, which had grown stiff in her unusual sleeping position in the tree. After anchoring herself to a branch, Elise leaned over the side to look for the source of the noise.

Brida
was sitting at the base of Elise’s tree, whittling away at a chunk of wood. “I waited until sunrise to track you through the forest,” Brida said.

Elise leaned back into her spot on the tree
.
How does she know I’m awake?

“Your brothers looked for you until they
had to return to the pond. They’re worried.”

Elise rolled her eyes. They
were probably more worried that Elise wasn’t going to knit their shirts.

“If you don’t intend to talk to them tonight
, I would like to tell them you are safe.”

Elise closed her eyes and leaned back into the embrace of the tree.
Her stomach growled like a starving bear. Elise tried to muffle the noises by wrapping her arms around her waist.

She near
ly jumped out of the tree when rope hit the branch next to her. It slid off the surface and fell back to the ground. Another swing and the rope sailed over the branch. The end was weighted down with a stone, so it made a rudimentary pulley of a sort. After some scuffling on the ground, Brida used the rope to heft up a small parcel of food containing berries, some edible plants, and a little bit of cheese.

“Eat
, Princess,” Brida advised, sitting down on the ground again, placing her back to the tree as she kept whittling.

Elise took the food
, setting it on her knees. Her stomach growled again, so Elise reluctantly started with the berries. She occasionally leaned out of her tree to glance at Brida far below. The captain kept whittling, not looking at all inclined to move.

Night fell
. Elise remained in her tree.

“I’m go
ing back to the campsite. It’s not safe to leave you out here, but…,” Brida trailed off and scuffed a boot in the ground. “Here, take this,” she said, using her pulley system to send a canvas bag up to Elise.

In the bag
was a wooden whistle.

“Blow it if you
are in trouble—whether now or when you can’t speak. And gather up the rope if you don’t want to be sniffed out by your brothers,” Brida said before trudging off through the woods. “I will be back once I get more supplies and tell your brothers you are safe,” she called before she disappeared into the undergrowth.

Elise stretched out in her tree and stared up at the green canopy of leaves above her. She didn’t think much time
had passed, so she almost fell out of her tree when torchlight lit up the forest.

“Brida came from this direction
, so Elise must be somewhere in this part of the forest.”

It
was Rune.

“
That may be, but you do realize when she sees us there’s a good chance she might attempt to impale you with something?”

And
Steffen.

“Elise would never hurt us
,” Rune said, brandishing the torch high above his head.

“Oh no
, she would not hurt me. I didn’t mislead her and lie to her about my feelings and the feelings of my greatest rival for the past three or four years or bully her sweetheart. No, if she is going to hurt someone it’s going to be
you
. I’m along so I can properly apologize and drag you back to the pond after you pass out from blood loss.”

“How thoughtful of you.”

“I can be a decent older brother.”

Elise peered out of her tree
, watching her foster brothers weave through the trees.

“This just proves
that honesty is the best policy,” Steffen said.

“Are you referr
ing to Falk and me?”

“To a certain extent
, yes. Did you already know Elise is afraid of horses?”

“
Yes. She told me when I found her weeping in the stables several years ago.”

“What about the flute?”

“I did not know she hated it, but I knew she didn’t like it. She told me as much when she first started learning it.”

“Why. Why
did she tell you?”

The pair
was just a stone’s throw from Elise’s tree.

“Because I asked
,” Rune said.

Steffen sighed. “No wonder she’s
furious with you. She told you all the things she told no one else, and you never thought to open your great big yap to let her know you were in love with her.”

“
I didn’t say anything because you and Father forbid it.”

“That was before Clotilde waltzed into the picture.

“Would you care to discuss your feelings for Gabrielle at this moment?”

“No
, thank you,” Steffen said, stopping two trees away from Elise’s lookout.

“Exact
ly. What is it?”

“Noth
ing. I changed my mind, I’m going back to the camp. Elise could be anywhere in this forest. We’re better off trying to persuade Brida to tell us where she is.”

“She’s not go
ing to budge.”

“Even if she doesn’t
, my time will be spent just as well as yours,” Steffen said.

“Can you find your way back in the dark? I need the torch.”

“I’ll manage.”

“Very well
, I’ll see you before we transform back into swans.”

“I suppose. Walk
carefully,” Steffen said as Rune started to walk away.

“Of course
,” Rune called over his shoulder.

After the light from his t
orch faded, Steffen stayed still in the utter darkness. “Elise?”

Elise jumped in her tree cradle.
How does he know I’m here?

“Elise
, I don’t think I can apologize for our conduct. There were things we didn’t know, things
I
didn’t know, but that doesn’t excuse us. You are right. We lean too heavily upon you, and we take it for granted that you will save the day—whether it be by charming Father when he’s angry at the rest of us, or safely escorting us around when we’re nothing but swans.”

Elise stubborn
ly remained silent.

“
But you underestimate our feelings for you. You have no idea how difficult it is to see your baby sister… We can’t fix this,” Steffen said.

Elise looked up at these words
, not because of what they meant but because of the way Steffen said them. Steffen typically wore an immobile façade of good humor. Rarely would one see him angry, and the only time Elise could ever recall seeing sorrow on his face was when Queen Ingrid died. But now Elise could hear Steffen’s voice wobble with emotion.

“It’s not
that we can’t free ourselves as swans. It is that we can’t do anything to protect you. We’re stupid birds by day, understanding very little and remembering even less. Even if we knew, what could we do for you? It is terrible, Elise, to watch you undertake such pain and suffering for us when we can do nothing in return. I was determined to never sacrifice any of my siblings, and that is precisely what we’ve done to you.”

Steffen
was silent for a few moments before he continued. “There is nothing worse as a prince, or as a man, than to see someone you care deeply for suffering and to be unable to fix it. As a result, I fear we may appear to be callous to you because we’re festering in our selfishness, wondering if all of this is worth it if we can’t even protect our sister.”

A twig cracked when Steffen shifted. “None of this excuses our behavior
, but we owed you an explanation. I am sorry, Elise. I never thought you would put up a front as I do.”

The silence stretched on again as Steffen gathered his thoughts. “Angelique
, the Lady Enchantress, will be able to free us in a year. We will gladly wait until then. You are free to do whatever you want, Elise. You have already saved us by bringing us to Verglas. We can ask nothing further of you. Think on what you would like to do, sister. We will do everything in our power to see you happy. Sweet dreams, Elise,” Steffen said.