Flashfic in style | The Wild Swans

For the second edition of Flashfic in style, I will retell the story of The Wild Swans.

As the main theme is romance, I will focus on the second part of the story where the king has come into play.

I don't know how well known this story is, so I will add a short summary of the first half of the story. That way, everyone will be on the same page.

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There's a king in a far-away land with 11 sons and one daughter (mc). When their mother dies, he remarries a wicked witch. She curses the princes to become swans during the day and humans during the night.

She also tries to curse the princess Elisa, but her purity of heart saves her. Instead, she's banished to a corner of the kingdom where she, after many years, finds her brothers back.

They take her across the ocean to another kingdom. There, Elisa is guided by the fearie queen, who tells her the way to destroy the curse on her brothers.

She has to knit eleven vests of stinging nettles, which are collected from graveyards. As long as she's working on them, she can not speak a word as it will kill her brothers.

One day, the king finds her in her cave while her brothers are away and brings her to his kingdom. They fall in love, and she continues her task, till drama ensues.