It was high tide by the time we got to the beach, and most of the rocks were covered by the surf. There was only a tiny strip of land between the waves and the cliffs. At first, I could see no sign of life at all. The shoreline was rocky and bare. We started at one end of the strand and flew along the edge of the cliff. Suddenly, Sofia pulled up short.
"There!" She pointed to a series of tiny ledges on the side of the bluff. Little white blurs sat in the shadows of the rocks. "The swans!"
We dove toward the cliffs, then hovered while Sofia called out to the birds, who were huddled behind their wings to protect themselves from the crashing surf.
"Excuse me," Sofia asked, "Are you Elisa's brothers?"
Several of the swans turned to look up at her, and honked loudly.
"You have to come with me! The bishop and the king want to burn your sister at the stake! We have to stop them!"
All eleven swans gave a horrified honk, and beat their wings furiously against the air as they all took to the skies at once. It was actually a bit intimidating being in the middle of them. Swans are large birds, and having eleven of them all around us, all honking and flapping madly, was pretty overwhelming.
Sofia didn't seem fazed at all. "Follow me!" she shouted, and wheeled Minimus around. We all took off back to the castle as fast as we could fly. I worried that the swans might not be able to keep up with flying horses, but the white birds almost outstripped us by the time the castle was in sight.
As we came up to it, Sofia gasped in dismay. "Oh, no! Look!"
Below us, a huge crowd had gathered around a pyre of wood, where Elisa was already tied to a stake at the center of the pyre. The swans shrieked and dove for the castle, flying as fast as they could. As we raced to catch them, I could see the executioner approaching the stake with a lighted torch. We were running out of time.
"Faster, Minimus!" Sofia yelled. I urged Electra on, too. The swans were far ahead of us now. Below, I could see Derek being held back by two guards, fighting desperately to get to his princess. The torch's flames touched the pyre, and the wood started to burn. One of the villagers in the crowd suddenly pointed up.
"Look!"
Out of the sky came eleven snow-white swans, who descended upon the flames with beating wings, forcing the fire out. Then some of them severed Elisa's ropes with their beaks, while others attacked the executioner until he dropped the torch, which they quickly extinguished. Elisa jumped from the pyre and dashed to one side to get her shirts. Derek freed himself from the guards with one final effort, and raced to stop the bishop, who was going after Elisa.
I landed my horse right in front of the bishop. "Going somewhere?" Electra flared her wings, blocking his path. Sofia landed beside me. She turned to Derek. "We'll take care of him. Go get Elisa." The prince nodded gratefully and dashed past us to find her.
The bishop glared venomously at both of us. "I knew you two would be trouble," he hissed.
The crowds were shifting in awe at the spectacle. Whispers and murmurs passed from mouth to ear. "Did you see that?" "Swans came down from the sky!" "They saved her!" "It's a miracle!"
"Sorcery!" the bishop shrieked. "That woman is a witch! And when I find her, I will drag her back onto that pyre, tie her to the stake by her hair, and light the bonfire myself!"
"Over my dead body!" boomed a deep baritone voice. Sofia backed Minimus up to reveal the owner of the voice, a man easily six feet tall, with dark wavy hair just like Elisa's. Behind him stood ten more dark-haired men, all of them wearing a long-sleeved shirt made out of nettles.
Elisa's brothers.
Sofia grinned. "The curse is broken! She saved them!"
The bishop turned pale and started murmuring Hail Marys under his breath, slowly backing away from the group of brothers.
Sofia and I jumped off our horses and ran to greet Elisa and Derek. Both of them were sobbing with joy. When they saw us, they both rushed to us.
"Sofia!" Elisa cried, in a high, musical voice. "Thank you so much for all your help." The two of them embraced happily. Derek gave me a grateful hug, too. "You guys saved her life."
By now the king had joined us and was trying to make sense of what had just happened. Elisa, thrilled at the opportunity to speak after nearly two years of silence, hurried to explain it to him. "You see, your majesty, my wicked stepmother had cursed my brothers," she gestured to the group of men who were now closing in on the bishop, "—and the spell that I used to restore them was given to me by a fairy queen, and fairy magic isn't evil like that bishop told you. It's good, and it only does good things."
Derek stood protectively close to her, staring in wonder at her as she spoke. The king looked between her, the brothers, and his bishop, who the brothers had taken by the shoulders and led him over to face the king. Derek's father considered him carefully. "Well, bishop? This woman's magic has been the salvation of these men. Why then should we punish her for this? Who has she harmed?"
The bishop had no answer, only opening and closing his mouth like a codfish. The king turned back to Derek and Elisa. "It seems to me that this young lady's commitment to helping her family, even in the face of mortal peril, proves that she is not only innocent, but a worthy bride for my son."
The two of them lit up. "You mean?" Derek asked.
The king nodded. "You have my blessing, son."
Derek cheered and Elisa squealed as he picked her up by the waist and spun her around.
The king turned to us. "As for you, Princess Sofia and Prince Hugo, you have saved an innocent life this day. You have my deepest thanks."
"Just looking out for our friends, your Majesty," Sofia said with a curtsy. "But it's time for us to be getting home now."
"Bye, Sofia!" called Elisa, waving as she and Derek dashed off to find a bed.
Sofia looked at me with a tired but satisfied smile on her face. "Let's go home."