Sister and Brother, Pt II

(I took waaay more liberties with this final half... but I like it well enough that I think I might flesh it out. What do you think- worth it? Also I'll probably do some illustrations for it in the near future...)



The evil fairy had grown tired of her mortal husband, and had eventually arranged for him to be disposed of. Not, however, before she had given birth to a daughter by him. She purged the child of its mortality by plucking out one eye, and so the fairy daughter was ageless like her mother, but eternally disfigured, and nowhere near as beautiful as her half-sister. The evil fairy liked her less for this, and often abused her.

Years passed, and it was announced to the kingdom that their queen was to give birth to a royal heir. The announcement included a retelling of the queen and her brother’s early adventures, and when this reached the ears of their evil fairy step-mother, she flew into a rage, for she had always assumed they’d been torn apart by the wild animals of the wood. Her fairy daughter was listening as well, and she said softly to herself,

“How nice to have a handsome husband and a lovely baby, to be a loving family. I wish I might have such happiness for myself,” but she knew her mother would never allow her to live the life of an ordinary mortal, even if she hadn’t been so ugly. However-

“You shall have your wish!” snapped the evil fairy, and stormed off. The fairy daughter was frightened, for she knew her mother’s anger to be terrible indeed, but she had no idea what part the woman had played in the tale of the queen, and thus gave no thought to what plans she might now be concocting.

The next day the evil fairy bade her daughter mount up on a lovely white mare while she rode a white stallion, and the two of them made haste to the royal palace. The evil fairy knew by her arts that the queen was to give birth that very afternoon, and so put into the king’s heart a great desire to go hunting. After he had gone, she used her magic to give herself the appearance of the royal midwife, and took the woman’s place in the birthing chamber, where the queen lay recovering from her long labor. Her daughter she disguised as her assistant, and had her carry a basket filled with poisoned herbs.

When they entered the room the white stag looked up and made to cry out, for he was not fooled by her appearance. But the evil fairy twitched her fingers and the animal was struck down as though ill, unable to move or even make a sound. The evil fairy smiled sweetly at him, then moved to his sister’s side.

“Come my dear,” she said to the queen. “We have prepared a bath and refreshments for you, that you might recover your strength more quickly.” The queen, gentle and trusting as ever, allowed the two women to help her to the bathing room. Once there, however, the evil fairy built up the fire to an unbearable heat, threw herbs into it, and left the queen to suffocate in the poisonous smoke. Her daughter cried out at this, but the evil fairy struck her in the mouth and told her to mind her tongue or she would cut it out.

“Do you want a husband or no? Now get into the bed!” Terrified of what else her mother might do, the fairy daughter did as she was bade. The evil fairy then used her magic to give her daughter the queen’s form, although she could not restore the lost eye. “You must always lay on your right side to hide it,” she instructed, and the fairy daughter did so, weeping for the evil she had been a part of. Then the evil fairy transformed the queen’s body to look like her own daughter, and took it into the woods to be devoured.

Once the evil fairy had left the room, the fairy daughter rose up from the bed and walked over to the stag, who had witnessed everything with silent tears streaming down his velvety face. He closed his eyes and prepared himself for death, but when her hands touched him, they were gentle.

“Poor stag! That was your sister, I know, and now you are all alone in the world. I cannot undo the evil my mother has done, but at least I can be as good to you as a true sister.” And she kissed him between his golden antlers and wept again. Then, terrified that her mother might catch her, she crept back into bed and waited.

In the evening the king returned, and his heart was full of joy to discover his wife had given him a beautiful son. He rushed to her side, but was stopped by the evil fairy, still disguised as the midwife.

“No my lord, she must rest! Would you kill your wife with your selfish desire to see her face?”

The king was mortified at the harm he had almost done, and went away without having seen the false queen. After he had gone away the evil fairy went to the stable to tend her horses, and the baby’s nurse brought him to the false queen.

“Leave us be,” said the fairy daughter, and the nurse did so. The fairy daughter was enchanted by the beautiful baby, and held him to her breast, but of course no milk would flow, and both she and the child she cried bitter tears of disappointment.

“What use is it to have a husband and a son if I can give neither what they need? And how can I be happy knowing my life is built on the murder of another?” She crept with the baby over to the white stag and laid him down on its silken flank, then curled up with her arms around the two and slept, remembering to keep on her right side.

As she slept the nurse came back in but, seeing how exhausted the young queen looked and not wanting to disturb her, she sat quietly in the corner out of sight, keeping watch. So it was when the clock struck midnight she witnessed a silvery figure appear in the room. The woman glowed softly, but the nurse could see she was not beautiful, and she had only one eye. The apparition went over to the sleeping trio, picked up the baby, and fed him from her breast. Then she stroked the white stag and kissed him on the forehead before disappearing once more.

The nurse was did not understand what she passed, but she knew enough of the queen’s magical past that she was afraid to interfere. Each night thereafter, however, she kept watch and witnessed the same strange event. Sometimes the shining figure would even lay a hand on the sleeping queen, and give her a look filled with such pity it brought tears to the nurse’s eyes.

During this time the midwife continued to deny the king entrance to the queen’s bed, claiming she was still too weak to bear his presence. The king thought this must be true, for he could see through the bed curtains that she appeared to be wasting away. Fearing for his wife’s health, the king did not disturb her, though it pained him to keep such distance. He was at least comforted to see that the white stag never left her side, and he often caught a glimpse of her gently stroking him in her sleep.

One night, when the moon was but a slender crescent, the nurse heard the silvery maiden singing softly to the baby:

Twice more I come

To see my loves

Twice more by light of moon

My child and stag

I long to keep

But I must vanish soon

The hair on the back of the nurse’s neck stood up, and she knew then that however magical the queen’s life must be, such a rhyme could not bode well. The next morning she found the king and told him what she had witnessed.

“My wife’s life has long been steeped in magic,” he said, “Much of which has sought to harm her. I shall keep watch tonight, and we shall see what we shall see.”

That night the king hid in the corner of the room and waited for the figure. When it appeared he was disappointed, for it looked nothing like his wife. But then it began to sing:

Once more I come

To see my loves

Once more by light of moon

My child and stag

I long to keep

But I must vanish soon

As the last notes of her song trembled and disappeared, so too did she. The king wept then, for he knew that whatever shape the vision might have been, it was his wife’s spirit he had seen. He turned in rage towards the figure sleeping in the bed, but she looked so much like his beloved he felt confused, and could not bring himself to harm her. He stumbled from the room, uncertain what he would do.

The next day he came to the queen’s chambers and ordered the midwife locked in iron chains. She screamed as the metal touched her, but she could not win free of them. Then the king sent everyone from the room and sat at the foot of his wife’s bed. The fairy daughter, terrified of being discovered, pretended to sleep through it all.

“I know you are not my wife,” he said, “But I do not think you could have harmed her, either. I have seen the way you are with the white stag, her brother- you love him just as my wife did. Can you not tell me what has become of her?”

The fairy-daughter began to cry then, and sat up, revealing her missing eye. The king gasped and said, “The maiden who comes in the night to nurse my son- she is missing an eye, too!”

“That is my true form,” the fairy daughter explained. “My mother is an evil fairy who switched my body for the queen’s. I would give anything to bring her back to you, for I cannot stand to see you or the stag so heartbroken, but I do not know how! My mother never taught me magic of any strength.”

“Never mind,” said the king. “She will come again tonight and surely something will occur to us!”

That night, as the clock struck midnight, the true queen once again appeared. She picked up her child and began to sing:

No more I come

To see my loves

No more by light of moon

My child and stag

I long to keep

But I must vanish soon

The king cried out and leapt to embrace her, but it was the fairy daughter who suddenly realized what must be done. She threw herself on the sharp golden antlers of the stag, piercing her own heart and cried, “My life for yours, sister!”

When she did this the ghost disappeared with a blinding flash, and when the king could see once more he saw the fairy-daughter crumpled on the floor in a pool of blood, being nuzzled by the white stag. He rolled her over and discovered to his amazement that her breast was whole- and then she opened both her eyes.

“My husband!” she breathed, and the king knew his wife had returned.

The three of them rejoiced, but also wept bitter tears for the fairy daughter’s sacrifice. In the morning the king sentenced the evil fairy to death by fire, and as she turned to ash her enchantments were undone- the white stag became a handsome young man, sound in both body and mind. But before they could finish exclaiming over this, two strange white horses from the stables suddenly became an older man and a beautiful woman. The queen and her brother cried out and rushed to embrace them, for they were their father and mother, transformed long ago by the evil fairy. Their mother explained what she never had never told any of them before- that she, too, was a fairy, but a good fairy and a rival to the evil fairy, which is why the other had sought to cause so much harm to her and her family.

“But there is one of us missing,” she said, and with a wave of her hand the fairy-daughter appeared, summoned back from the dead.

“My son used his heart’s wish to give you the power to restore his sister, and you used your life to fulfill it. From now on you shall be a daughter to me; I shall restore your eye and we shall all live together as a family, happily and with great love and joy.”

And it was so.