The Wild Swans (25 page)

Elise covered her mouth with an arm
, tears streaming down her face from the smoke. Her eyesight was so blurred she almost missed the next two swans. They swooped in from opposite directions, and one passed close enough to brush her extended hand with the tips of his wings.

Erick
, Rune
.

It
was a stretch to hit both swans, Elise almost missed one but the swan dove into the shirt before disappearing in the smoke.

Seconds after they passed through
, the smallest swan flapped past. Elise tried throwing the shirt, but her strength was leaving her as the heat licked at her skin and the smoke robbed her lungs.

The swan veered
after the shirt. Elise couldn’t be sure what happened after that.

Gerhart.

Elise couldn’t stop coughing, and the smoke blinded her. She reached out, her arm extended and shaking, the shirt dangling from her finger tips.

Falk
, where was Falk
?

Elise tried to keep the panic down as her arm trembled. The heat
was unbearably painful.

Someth
ing tugged the shirt out of her fingers, and Elise let go before she sagged against the stake, the ropes wrapped around her waist holding her upright. The air was hot. It hurt to breathe in, and the smoke rattled in her chest and burned her throat.

She hoped it worked. She hope
d she broke the curse, but she couldn’t see, and she couldn’t hear anything over the roar of the hungry fire.

The f
lames hadn’t yet reached her, but the heat was agonizing. It was a thousand times worse than knitting. Elise thought she would be boiled alive, but suddenly she wasn’t alone.

Rune
, dressed in white, cut through the ropes holding her to the stake. His hair was tousled and his face was streaked with dirt, but in Elise’s eyes he was the most glorious thing she had seen in a long time.

Rune
was human in daylight.

“I’ve got you
,” Rune said, tossing the bindings aside before he scooped Elise up and leapt from the pyre.

Elise coughed as she breathed in clear air. She clung to Rune as someone poured buckets of water on them
, soothing Elise’s pink, burned skin.

Rune held her upright as she sagged
, unable to regain her breath as she hacked and coughed.

“Elise
, breathe shallowly,” Erick instructed, placing his cool hands on her forehead.

When Elise
was able to draw air without shaking, someone hugged her.

“Elise
, you did it,” Nick grinned.

Surround
ing Elise in a ring of white were the Princes of Arcainia. Steffen, Nick, Mikk, Erick, Rune, Gerhart… and Falk.

Tears streamed fr
om Elise’s eyes. “You’re free.”

“Thanks to you
,” Steffen said.

Elise started cry
ing in earnest when her foster brothers pressed in around her, hugging her, wiping soot off her face, and thanking her.

“Guards
, seize them all! Clearly the girl has freed these evil demons with her work,” King Torgen shouted.

“Father?”

King Torgen swiveled, his face growing stormy when a small party of men rode into the city, Prince Toril in the lead. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“
That woodland witch you brought back from the forest has unleashed a curse,” King Torgen said.

Prince Toril dismounted his horse. “Elsa isn’t a witch
,” he said as he made his way through the crowd, heading for Elise.

When he neared the r
ing of Arcainian princes, Rune appeared behind him and held a dagger to the prince’s throat. “Take another step closer to her, and you will breathe your last,” he warned.

“Rune
,” Elise said.

“Be still
, Buttercup,” Falk said, taking Elise’s hand to hold her still.

“
See?” King Torgen said. “Witchery!”

“
Silence
,” Steffen said. Unlike King Torgen, who spoke with anger that welled up from his belly, Steffen’s voice came from his chest. He sounded regal and commanding, and his eyes were sharp as he stared at King Torgen like the evil man was nothing more than a tadpole.

The Ostfold city square
was quiet, except for the crackling of the raging fire.

“What—
,” Prince Toril started, even though Rune still held a weapon to his throat.

“I am Crown Prince Steffen of Arcainia. You
have almost succeeding in killing my beloved baby sister, Fürstin Elise. I am close,
very
close to the edge of my temper. One wrong word to me or my siblings, and I will bring your country to its knees,” Steffen said. Although his voice was hushed the words carried clearly over the crowd.

When no one moved
, soldier, citizen, or otherwise, Steffen nodded at Rune, who removed the dagger from Prince Toril’s throat and pushed the young man away from them.

“How do I know you are who you claim to be?” K
ing Torgen said, the feverish light shining fiercely in his eyes.

Steffen smiled. It
wasn’t his charming portrait smile. It was a smile that made Elise afraid. “Would you like us to repeat, line by line, every good Arcainia provides Verglas and every debt you owe us?”

K
ing Torgen said nothing.

Erick cleared his throat and spoke next. “We require a change of clo
thes for our sister, horses, food, and weapons for transport.”

“Done
,” King Torgen said, looking at several soldiers, who departed to gather the goods.

Prince Toril looked back and forth between the Arcainian Princes and his F
ather. “I don’t understand. Aren’t you going to stop them?”

“Quiet
, Toril,” King Torgen said.

“No
, why are you so frightened? Yes, it looks like you were doing something bad, but they’re just from Arcainia. Arcainia is a small, feckless country. We have nothing to fear from
Arcainia
,” Prince Toril said.

“
Quiet
,” King Torgen said, clenching his meaty hands into tight fists.

“So
, you don’t know?” Nick said, folding his arms across his chest.

“Know what?” Prince Toril said.

“Arcainia practically owns Verglas,” Gerhart says. “We bought up
all
your national debt. If we call it in, you are sunk.”

“It’s no surprise he doesn’t know.
We tried to downplay our power. It’s the only way we could keep Loire clueless,” Erick said as he studied Elise. “Feeling better?”

“Yes. Brida
,” Elise said, her mouth thick with the taste of smoke.

“R
ight. The valiant soldier. Nick, Mikk,” Erick said.

The twins stepped forward and yanked Brida from the clutches of Verglas guards
, who surrounded her.

The capt
ain joined Elise and her foster brothers.

“Water
, Fürstin?” Brida said, offering Elise a flask.

“Thank you
,” Elise said, taking it and drinking. The water was stale and lukewarm, but it felt wonderful on Elise’s raw throat.

“I will take Brida and retrieve the horses and whatever supplies we can
salvage from the cottage,” Nick said, glancing at the captain.

Brida nodded.

“Be careful,” Erick warned.

Nick and Brida disappeared into the crowd
.

“Elsa
, I don’t understand. What’s going on?” Prince Toril asked as he made his way back to Elise and her foster brothers. When he drew too close, Rune again reached out and pressed the point of his dagger to Prince Toril’s throat.

“Rune
, it’s fine,” Elise said, her voice scratchy from the smoke. “Prince Toril, I must apologize. My name is not Elsa, it is Elise. Brida, my guard, lied to keep me safe.”

“It
was for your brothers, wasn’t it? They were why you knitted,” Prince Toril said. His boyish, bright features were downcast.

“Yes
,” Elise said, glancing at Falk when he squeezed her hand.

“Won’t you stay with me?” Prince Toril asked
, yanking Elise’s gaze back to him.

Elise’s jaw almost dropped as she stared at the sincere prince. “
What
?”

“I
have grown to love you,” Prince Toril said.

Rune snarled
, and Mikk dove to hold him back. “You can’t,” he told his younger brother.

“Yes
, I can,” Rune said, his voice rumbling like a wolf’s growl. “One jab, and he’ll never speak again.”

“Too messy. We’re try
ing to leave, not get ourselves thrown in a cell,” Erick said, his voice lowered.

Falk placed a hand on Elise’s
shoulder. “Elise almost died by his father’s hands; I would say it’s already messy.”

“Prince Toril
, you cannot love me. You do not know the first thing about me,” Elise said.

“
But I do,” Prince Toril said. “I have watched and talked with you while you have lived here in Verglas. I have paid attention to your actions.”

“
But you have not heard me speak a word of my mind. You know nothing about my feelings or the state of my heart. The fact that you would ask me to stay here when your father almost killed me is proof enough. You do not love me, Prince Toril. Not really.”

Prince Toril’s eyes
were glassy with pain. “I want to try to,” he said. “You are a good woman, Elise. You must be to sacrifice for your brothers as you have.”

Ah.
That was it
. “What you are searching for, Prince Toril, is for a girl to love you as deeply as I have proven to love my foster brothers,” Elise said, benevolently smiling.

“Yes
,” Prince Toril said, his voice hushed.

Rune’s handsome face twisted. “For the love of—can I kill him now?”

Steffen studied the Verglas prince, as if considering the request.

“I’m not the on
ly woman in this world who is capable of such love,” Elise said. “And before you can hope to woo such a woman, you must be able to give the same kind of love.”

“
But didn’t I help you?”

Falk’s face grew stormy
, and Elise worried that Rune might actually stab the foolish prince, so she spoke quickly. “You did help us. I thank you for the shelter you provided for me and my guard and my brothers. However, friendship is all I can offer you.”

“Final
ly,” Gerhart muttered when Verglas guards leading horses and a pack pony entered the city square. Nick and Brida were right behind them.

“Elise should ride my horse with me
,” Falk said, taking his horse’s reins from Nick. “He’s large enough to carry two of us, and I doubt she can ride alone.”

“You mean to leave now?” Prince Toril said.

None of the Arcainian princes bothered to answer him as they set about divvying out mounts.

“Up you go
,” Rune said to Elise before he boosted her onto Falk’s horse. Falk mounted up behind her a moment later, his arms sliding around Elise as he gathered up the reins.

“Wouldn’t you rather eat or change
before you leave?” Prince Toril asked, reaching for the skirts of Elise’s damp dress. Falk wheeled his horse around before the prince was able to touch her.

“We will be fine. Thank you
, Prince Toril. Take care,” Elise said.

Truth be told
, she longed to eat and soak in water before riding out, but Elise wasn’t stupid. She knew the longer they stayed in King Torgen’s presence, the more danger and risk they put themselves under. Soon the King would decide that national debt or not, he could just as easily kill them all as he could send them off.

This was why Elise bore the swift pace her foster brothers picked as they left Ostfold
, leaving the charming city behind. Her muscles ached; her eyes still stung, and her throat was sore, but Elise couldn’t stop smiling as she looked at her foster brothers.

The eight royal siblings
, and Brida, made their way through Verglas. They camped only when the sun fell, and they rose before the sun so they could be on their way when the first rays crossed the horizon.

They
were almost to the Loire border when Rune—who was in the lead—and his horse barely missed being bowled over by a comet.

Once her eyes adjusted to the light
, Elise realized it wasn’t a comet, but Angelique on her night-sky mount.

“Lady Enchantress
,” Steffen said.