Disclaimor I do not own fairy-tales, or The SevenCrow Princes, but I do own these

characters and most of the plot.

Starry Eyed Bunny You are AMAZING for reviewing every chapter! Thank you and

enjoy!

Iloveme2815 Thanks for the review. I hopw you enjoy Chapter 4. Oh, and at the end, I

will summarize the Seven Crow Princes story. (My story is very, very different

from the original. I guess my imaginations just got carried away!)

Chapter 4: Worl

Calumet woke in a clean bed. She glanced around to find herself in a simple, but by no means poor room with a trunk, table, mirror, and chairs. There was one window to the right of her bed, in through which, sunlight streamed. Glancing down, she discovered fresh bandages around her stomach, and the acrid scent of healing herbs still clung to her clothes.

The door swung open, and in bustled a slightly over-weight woman, probably a healer by her dress. She smiled cheerfully when she saw her patient had awoken, and held up a cup of water and a tray of food. The girl eyed the tray hungrily, and the delicious aroma of fresh bread, fried eggs, and fruit wafted to greet her. When all the food was gone from her plate, Calumet's mind wandered irrevocably through her predicament.

Who was the man who held her captive? Where was she? And when would she be released to search for her brothers? As if in answer to her questions, her captor entered the room that very moment, and it was then that Calumet recognized the man with a sinking heart. He was tall and lean, yet not overly thin with sandy blond hair and grayish-black eyes, kind of like smoke. The man's name was Riam, the newest Duke of Worl and nephew of the man who had paid the merchant-assassin. He stared at her, and Calumet glared right back, taken-aback and angry with her rival.

"Are you going to stand there and stare all day, or will you answer my questions?" she snapped peevishly.

Riam scowled.

"Do you not know who I am, girl? I could have you relieved of your head for a comment like that."

She snorted in derision, thinking of his murderous uncle.

"I know exactly who you are, and I would not care one bit if you were the King of all earth or a piece of village scum. I would still hate you either way."

Riam shook his head.

"I think I liked you better unconscious," he drawled wryly. "What do you want to know?" Riam asked, struggling for a polite tone.

"Why do you have me here? When will you let me go? Where are we, anyway?"

Riam held up his hands, saying, "Whoa, one at a time. First of all, we are in the manor of Worl. In answer to your first and second question, you already know why you are here. I want to know what you were doing in the aviary. You will be released after you answer my questions."

Calumet clenched her fists in anger, but she swallowed the bitter retort on the tip of her tongue to remain stubbornly silent. She was unaccustomed to being disobeyed or ordered around, and Calumet did not like the feeling one bit, especially when it was the Duke of Worl who was giving the orders.

"I want to know what you were doing in the aviary."

She eyed him coldly, trying to think up an innocent excuse.

"I simply needed shelter for the night, and the aviary was open."

"You are lying. I want the truth now!"

She slowly came to her feet and hissed through clenched teeth, "Even if I have to spend the rest of my life rotting in this room, I refuse to answer your questions. You are arrogant, selfish…"

"Quiet!" the Duke finally roared.

To his surprise, the girl listened, standing there shaking and pale, but there was a determined glint in her eyes, like hard rock.

"Lay back down in your bed, or you might reopen the cuts."

Calumet shook her head defiantly, and Riam ran his hands through his fair hair, thoroughly frustrated. The Duke could see her white knuckles and shaking body. The girl was too stubborn for her own good. Calumet continued to cling tightly to a chair that sat beside the bead, afraid of toppling over, but there was no way she would listen to her proud rival. Riam came forward, picked her up, and set her back on the bed, pulling the covers up high around her.

Calumet was too surprised and weak to fight back, as suddenly, a painful coughing fit racked her body. Riam tried to offer her water, but she hit it away, spilling it all over the Duke. The nurse bustled back in, glaring at the wet Duke for upsetting her patient, and she quickly shooed Riam out the door. When her coughing fit had finally stopped, Calumet lay back and looked tiredly around the room. To her relief, the Duke was not there anymore, and she sighed and closed her eyes, lying back in bed. She had not the strength to spar with him anymore, and she needed her rest in order to continue the quest when the chance presented itself.

Riam stalked through the castle, and the servants and tenants who saw his foul humor quickly ducked out of the way. The stupid girl! No on had ever managed to get the calm Duke so worked up and angry. Riam banged his fist against the nearest wall, and the pain quickly brought him back to reality. But he needed the girl's answers. So how would he get on her good side? With some good old-fashioned charm, that was how. Riam grinned to himself, plans quickly forming in his mind.

He shouted, found a forester, and ordered the man to bring him the girl's pack. A few of his hunters had found the mare while he had searched for the girl. Riam dumped it contents onto his bed, and sifted through them. A book lay among the pile of gold coins, medicines, and survival tools, and on the inside, there was an inscription. It read…

To Little Cal. For your curiosity and to keep you out of mischief.

-With love, your brothers

The Duke had a name: Cal. And she was most likely a noble of some kind, for the girl obviously knew how to read. He flipped through the worn book and discovered that it was a collection of tales from faraway lands complete with detailed maps and descriptions of culture. Its pages had been turned many times, for they were faded and torn, and the book was the only personal item in the pack. It was not much to go on, but it was something.

The next day, Calumet woke to find the Duke sitting in a chair across the room, staring at her. She groaned, closed her eyes, and rolled over onto her stomach. That was a mistake! Calumet sat bolt upright at the lancing pain, and Riam worked hard to hide his smile. She turned stiffly towards the Duke, still seeing stars.

"Well, well, well, just the person I was longing to see."

Her tone was dripping with sarcasm, and Riam bit his tongue to stop an angry reply.

"The doctor said that you needed to get exercise and fresh air in order to heal faster. I just was sent to help you outside."

Calumet slowly swung her feet off the bed. She took a while to get on her feet, blanket clutched around her shoulders for warmth, but her eyes were bright and ready.

"Let's go."

Riam had to choke back a laugh at her eagerness, and instead, he handed her the pack that they had recovered from her mare's saddlebags.

"Here's your bag. We found your little mare in the woods, and she is being taken care of in the stables."

As Cal preceded him from the room, he studied the girl and the way she walked. Although there was a limp, his captive's gate was much like a lady's, and that further confirmed his hypothesis that she was nobly bred. They came out into the sunshine of the gardens, and Calumet peered about happily. The long hours of sleep had obviously done the girl a world of good, for she was much healthier than the day before. In the courtyard, there was a fountain and the aviary, located at the far end, but Calumet barely even glanced at the building.

Calumet slowly walked the perimeter of the courtyard once, pretending to look at the buildings all the while counting how many guards there were and searching for a way out. This did not escape Riam's gaze, and he grinned to himself. Calumet was determined, but he would be watching now. To frustrate her, the Duke led the girl gently but firmly by the elbow over to a fountain.

"You must be tired now. Please have a seat by the fountain while I call for a servant to bring us refreshments."

Calumet stared at him through suspiciously narrowed eyes, but she had no choice other than to obey him with all of the people that were around. The servant returned, balancing two cups of water on a silver tray. As Calumet sipped from her glass, the Duke watched her fingers drumming impatiently on the stone wall of the pool and her foot tap restlessly.

"So, where do you hail from, milady?"

The question was innocent enough, but Calumet was immediately on guard for reasons unknown to Riam. She ignored his question, and he tried again.

"Are you traveling in Worl for a while, or is this land your home?"

Calumet met his gaze, and pressed her lips together. Her eyes were blank and emotionless, divulging nothing of the secrets that lurked there. Riam knew that she would not answer a direct question, but there were other ways to get the information he wanted.

"You know, you have committed a serious crime when you ran from me in the woods."

"So chop my head off." Calumet's tart answer drew the gazes of several people.

"I very well could, if it was pleasing to me, but I am feeling merciful today," he drawled.

"Oh how lucky for me!" cried the girl sarcastically.

Riam quickly switched topics.

"The harvest is going quite well this year. What do you think will bring in the most money, the cherry crop or the corn?"

Calumet shrugged casually and took a wild guess, not really caring about his silly harvest.

"I think the cherries."

The wicked look on Riam's face quickly drew her suspicion.

"Worl does not grow cherries or corn. Any of my subjects, even the children, would be able to tell you that. So you are not from around here, are you?"

Calumet quickly knew that she had stepped into a trap. Riam grinned viciously, and she realized that he had been goading her on. Her temper flared, and with the courtyard of servants staring, Calumet shoved at him with all the strength she had left. The arrogant Duke fell back into the fountain with a splash.

He came up spluttering for air and covered with lily pads and weeds, while Calumet stood there laughing at him. Then she picked up the remaining glass of water that Riam had left untouched and dumped it in his face. She was laughing so hard her stomach hurt as she wheezed and gasped for air, but the scene was too comical, with lily pads decorating the Duke's head and shoulders.

As he lunged from the mess like a swamp monster, the girl limped back out of reach, and made her way back to the manor as quickly as possible with her injuries, chuckling the entire way. All the occupants of the courtyard struggled to hide their laughter, and a furious, humiliated Riam went to change his clothes before giving chase. Cal would not be able to go anywhere.

Pulling the weeds off his clothing and wringing out his shirt, the Duke imagined ways to make the girl pay for that little trick of hers.

Calumet had not wasted the time Riam had spent changing. In the space of those short minutes, she had already found the kitchen, the library, and a large dining room obviously meant for formal occasions, but the girl could not find even one unguarded door in the vast expanses of the mansion. She paced back and forth in the corridor outside her room, a dark scowl plastered on her face, and then the captive decided to go back to the library. Books had a calming affect on her.

As she walked among the rows of books, Calumet wondered at the wealth of the mansion. They had a library at least three times the size of her own, and the books were all copied by the best of scribes and bound finely. Calumet reached out to stroke the soft leather covers, and her lips lovingly formed each word of the many titles. She loved to read, to be taken away from reality, and her favorites were the fairy-tales with a bit of romance. Though she was too stubborn to admit the fact, Calumet had a weakness for love and happy-ever-after endings, even if they were cheesy. Calumet had gotten her love of literature from her father, and the written word had been her escape ever since his death.

Unbidden memories lay siege to her imagination. Calumet closed her eyes in an attempt to chase the images from her head, but that only made them worse. The pale gasping face of her father… No! She put her hands to her head and massaged her temples, but when the vision refused to be leave her alone, she whirled and paced out of the room swiftly, the blanket that covered her shoulders flying out behind her like a cape.

And ran smack into Riam. He steadied her and grinned down at disoriented girl, amusement sparkling in his dark eyes, but with one look at her haunted up-turned face, the Duke frowned in concern. Yet, Calumet had smoothed her features over before he could blink, ignoring the pain in her stomach.

"What is wrong?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

Her voice was even and emotionless, but her eyes followed the Duke's every move suspiciously. Calumet was more aware than ever that the man in front of her was her enemy. Riam sighed in exasperation, knowing he would have to put his worries aside, and strove for a polite tone.

"I see you have found the library."

Calumet nodded, and the Duke continued.

"Feel free to read anything in here. My family has been collecting books for many generations."

Again, the girl nodded silently, and Riam tried to keep his frustration hidden. One minute, she would not shut up, but the next, it was like talking to a wall.

"Well, you are talkative. I bet that you could talk someone's ear off," he joked, trying to get a reaction out her.

A slight smile curved her lips, but it did not reach her eyes. Riam tried again.

"Do you need anything for your room? Food? Clothes?"

"May I have a bath?"

"Of course. I will have the nurse bring a tub, water, and soap to your room."

"Please," she said blandly.

Riam saw that she was about to leave, so he leaned casually on the doorway to block her escape, and his impish grin made Calumet take a few wary steps back.

"Do not think you got away with that little trick of yours at the fountain."

He saw her quickly scan the room for other exits, finding none, before she faced him once more with her chin going into the air and her arms crosses defensively.

"And what are you going to do about it?" she asked.

Riam prowled slowly closer, his eyes on hers, but he saw Calumet shift her stance slightly, ready for anything. Suddenly, the Duke charged, but to his utter astonishment, Calumet ducked around him with lightning fast reflexes, and he careened into a bookcase. When the Duke had gotten to his feet, he only got a glimpse of the corner of her blanket and her laughter echoed all the way down the hallway.

The Seven Crow Princes by the Brothers Grimm

Well basically, in the original fairy-tale, seven boys are sent out to get water for the sister's baptism when she is born, but when they are late their frustrated father wishes they would turn into crows. Unfortunately, he gets his wish, and when she is older, the little girl sets out to find the brothers. She searches the world, and is given a key made of bone to unlock the glass mountain. But when she reaches the glass mountain, she realizes that she had lost the key and makes one out of her own finger. There she finds her brothers, the seven crow princes, being taken care of by a dwarf. She slips her ring into the youngest brother's glass, and when he finds it, they are reunited, and the curse is broken.

I don't have the story in front of me, so correct me if I am wrong on anything. As you can see, my story is very different. I meant to simply retell the story, but my imagination started running, and I couldn't catch it.