The Swan Princess

Chapter 22: No Pain, No Gain

The beast tackles me, throwing me to the ground. I hear the yowl of pain as the beast gets impaled, his roar reverberating through my bones.

"Wolfie!" I cry out.

The beast rolls off of me, crouching in a defensive position between me and the assailant. Dark navy blood is weeping from the arrow, and I can hear the wolf's strained pants.

An anguished wail reaches me from afar.

"Brother!"

Annalise comes tumbling through the trees, the branches scraping at her faces and clothes as she sprints.

She's dripping with blood from tiny cuts as she drops to her knees.

"I'm so sorry! I thought you were—"

She notices me trembling beneath his frame. "Odette!"

She yanks me by my arm, causing the wolf to groan from the shifting weight.

"Sorry, Sieg," Annalise whispers. Tears fill her eyes, and she wipes them away with the back of a manicured hand.

"What's going on?" I ask, moving back to see the damage. My wolf friend has eyes closed, head lowered, and is shaking with each breath.

"I was trying to shoot you!" Annalise bursts, turning to me. "Well, not you, but someone who looks like you! From far away, you and Odile look identical!"

The orange glow has already started on her hands, and reaches in tendrils up to her elbows. She kneels beside the felled creature.

"Forgive me," she says, closing her hands around the arrow. She dissolves it into orange powder, the sparks drifting away with the breeze.

She then covers the dark, oozing wound with her hands and lights it up with yellow. "Just a few more moments."

I wait for what feels like an eternity. The only sound punctuating the air is the beast panting, the breeze whistling, and the sniffles of distraught Annalise. She's got her entire body hunched over, her slight frame shaking.

Little by little, the beast's breaths even out. It straightens, moving up into a seated position, its tail thumping in a content rhythm.

"Suns and stars! You're okay," Annalise wails. She throws her arm around it. "I couldn't have lived with myself if..." She sniffles again, and the beast chuffs.

I'm still processing what she called him earlier. Brother?

"Do you call all the castle creatures brother and sister?" I ask cautiously. I'm still shaken from the whole encounter, holding my arms in around myself.

Both beast and girl stiffen. "Yes," she answers. "Animals are family to us," she adds, an obvious afterthought.

I remember the first time I met her brother on this road. In fact, I remember every detail — the sun shining. The golden ticket. The massive paw print left in the otherwise undisturbed dirt.

Wait. If this creature is—

That means I—

Just poured my entire heart out to—

"Where is Prince Siegfried?" I choke out.

And Annalise's golden hair, blowing in the wind... is just as bright and vibrant as the golden dog, who always appears where I need her...

Her mouth is gaping open. She whips her head to her brother, who has his eyes closed, his wolfish face contorted into pain.

"Forget of all today's events," Annalise begins, coming toward me.

"What?" My eyes burn, and I stumble back. Am I really so dumb that I...

"Instead, Prince Siegfried showered you, as Princess Insun, with meaningful presents," Annalise continues.

Siegfried growls, low, menacing, towards his sister. My eyes dart back and forth between them before settling on the floor. I draw in a shuddering breath. Enchanting her back is impossible in my current state. My betrayed soul feels like it is ripped to tatters, each strand holding on with willpower alone. With no friends left, it's just me — what's left of me. "You spent the day doing nothing out of the ordinary, just trying to conform."

Siegfried poises to pounce, and she hastily finishes,

"Sleep, friend, and awaken anew tomorrow in the morn."

***

Pink spots dot my vision. My body feels strange, as if I am moving through fog. I shift in and out of consciousness, surrounded by tendrils of light smoke and mysterious warmth. Am I... dreaming?

Prince Siegfried sleeps beneath me, breathing soundly. I'm draped next to him, watching him breathe in and out. That's the warmth — his side pressed against mine.

"Sieg?" I whisper.

His eyes opened, and he stared straight at me. His bright, mercurial eyes lock with mine, sending a shiver down my spine. A shock of self-awareness and captivation as he held my gaze.

"Pretty," he breathed, cupping my face with both hands. "I love you."

He reaches up, as if to kiss me, but groans and falls back instead. He curls into a fetal position, injured and moaning inwardly.

I am frozen in place, shivering with shock.

He said he loves me.

Oh no, no, no...

I only wanted him to lust after me so that I can steal his proposal away. Not enough for him to love me with his whole soul. Not enough for those three words.

I love you.

Annalise puts her hands on my shoulders first.

"Breathe," she instructs.

She's right. I will panic myself enough to shift in this state.

Wait — Annalise is here?

Oh, right— this is just a dream.

She glides to her brother, resting her hands against his wound. Her familiar orange glow returns, and the prince straightens out. His groaning ceases, and he breathes in at a steady, even tempo.

He rotates towards me. "Forget what I said. The head wound was deep."

"Prick," I reply. He laughs, pulling me against him.

His nose nuzzles my neck. "Is it so bad, to be loved by me?"

I fall into his embrace. "No," I admit. "You're cuddly. Like a dog."

"A dog?"

"A dog."

"What kind of dog?"

"A small, yappy one."

He launches forward, sinking his teeth into my neck. He pierces the flesh, groaning. I gasp. "I am a big, bad, wolf," he breathes into my skin. "I bite," he growls, kissing the hurt, then lapping at it with his tongue. His arms wrap around my back, holding me impossibly closer.

"I still think you're all bark," I rush out. "Prove to me that you can really bite."

He nips my bottom lip. "Tell me what you said before, again."

I nip back. Bold, tonight. I'm in a dream, right? I can admit the truth. "It's not so bad," I kiss his nose. "To be attracted to a dog."

He smacks my behind, playfully.

"I love you, princess."

"I love you too, prince."

In a blur of fog and mist, my dream disappears, pulling me deep into the pleasant blackness.