Authors Note: I have started a new series of fairy tales called "Old Stories, New Voices". The aim of "Old Stories, New Voices" is to update classic fairy tales to deal with modern issues and add some diversity to the cast.
The first in the collection is a new version of 'The Six Swans' – one of my personal favourite fairy tales. This update features a mixed-race protagonist and a Jewish secondary lead. I have told the story in the basic, rough style of the original tale, so plot holes and contrivances need to be considered with this in mind.
In the future, I plan to provide an expanded version of this story, exploring Amara, Rebecca, and the supporting cast in more detail. I also aim to update further fairy tales with more diverse casts and perspectives. Keep your feedback polite and constructive.
Once Upon A Time, in a world of castles, forests and magic, there lived a wealthy merchant called Emeka. He had grown up in West Africa but had sailed north to the Kingdom of Wohlstadia in search of new opportunities. He married a local woman called Eleanor and had four children: The youngest was called Amara and was an especially thoughtful and tenacious young woman. Emeka was a successful and popular citizen, and his family enjoyed a secure and happy life.
A new queen called Hanne had just taken over as ruler of Wohlstadia. Hanne was a cruel ruler, and the family felt afraid for their safety. Hanne had become notorious for imprisoning and murdering her critics and had made life increasingly difficult for foreigners such as Emeka. Hanne especially hated witches, and Eleanor had the ability to practise magic, which she had learned from her family. Desperate to protect their children, Eleanor and Emeka took them to a small house far in the woods. The pathway would have been totally inaccessible, but Eleanor had created a reel of thread with magical properties. When her family needed to find food and supplies, they only needed to throw the reel down and it would lead them to their destination. Amara and her brothers used it many times, and eventually began to take its powers for granted.
One day, Amara went to get water and used the thread to find her way out of the house. However, a group of Hanne's soldiers noticed the thread and followed it to the house, where they recognised Emeka and Eleanor. As Emeka went to confront the soldier, Eleanor took her three eldest children to the back of the house and told them. "I am going to turn you into swans" she told her three sons "You will fly as far away as possible and be safe from the soldiers. They don't know about this spell and won't suspect a thing". Eleanor cast the spell and her three children turned into swans and flew away.
As Amara headed back, she saw three swans flying through the window of her house. When Amara returned to the house, she found it destroyed, with both her parents dead and her siblings missing. She found feathers on the floor and placed them in her pocket. Afraid that the soldiers who had killed her parents, she fled deep into the woods, walking for two days and two nights until she came to a small hut. She went inside, then fell asleep on the bed, too exhausted to do anything else.
Whilst she was sleeping, Amara had a very strange dream. She saw her parents one last time, and Emeka and Eleanor both told Amara how much they loved her. Eleanor was holding a silver ring and put it on Amara's finger. "This is a magical ring." Eleanor said, "When you wear it, you will be able to see your brothers every time you sleep."
She vanished, then three Swans then flew into the room. As they landed, their feathers began to fall away. Amara looked at the feathers in her own pocket and realised that these were the swans that she had seen in her old house. Moments later, the last of their feathers fell off, and Amara recognised her brothers.
"Be careful" the youngest told Amara, "This house belongs to Hanne's soldiers. If they see you, they will kill you on the spot. If you leave this house and continue to go north, you will soon cross over into the neighbouring kingdom of Stabelia and be safe from them."
"Can you go with me?" Amara asked.
"We can't." said the middle brother. We are only able to obtain human form when you are wearing this ring. You can see us then, but anyone else will only be able to see us as swans."
Amara began to break down in tears on hearing this, and asked, "Is there anything I can do to fix this?"
"Yes," said the eldest brother, but it would be incredibly difficult. You must promise to say entirely mute for the next three years. You will not be able to speak, write, or even laugh. If you say anything during that time, you will never be able to see us again.".
Amara said, "Starting from now, I shall not speak" and put on the ring. Her brothers than turned back into swans and flew away. Amara woke up and was tempted to dismiss her dream, but she saw the ring on her hand and remembered the vow she had made. "I will not speak." She thought to herself as she left the hut and headed towards Stabelia. "I will stay silent for the next three years or die trying."
Amara soon crossed into the neighbouring kingdom and found a small and deserted cabin, which she made her home for the next two years. Occasionally, her brothers would appear in her dreams, and tell her about all the terrible things that Queen Hanne was doing in Wohlstadia. However, at the start of the third year, the son of the king was wandering through the forest when he came across her. This handsome young prince, who was called Stephen, tried to ask "Who are you? What are you doing here?" He received no response, even when he repeated the question in every language he knew. However, Stephen took pity on the girl in the hut and asked her if she would like to come to his kingdom. Although Amara couldn't speak, she was able to nod in assent, and Stephen put her on his horse and took her out of the forest.
They arrived in the centre of Stabelia and Stephen took Amara to his castle, where he gave her the finest room and her own maidservant – a young Jewess called Rebecca. Rebecca was a kind and hardworking woman, and she and Amara became close friends. Stephen soon fell in love with Amara, giving her his finest clothing and inviting her to the most important royal events. Amara was extremely grateful towards Stephen and Rebecca and wanted to tell them everything but was unable to say a word to them.
Stephen's mother had recently died, and his father was remarrying. The new queen arrived in Stabelia and Amara was horrified to recognise Queen Hanne. She longed to tell Stephen "This woman is the tyrant who killed my parents" but was unable to do so. Hanne's rule of Amara's new kingdom became increasingly tyrannical, and she started to execute opponents and rebels, sentencing them to death by fire. "I've seen this before" Rebecca told Amara one evening. "When I was a child in Spain. They started doing this to my family, and I had to leave. If I hadn't ran away to this kingdom, I wouldn't have survived." Amara couldn't respond, but Rebecca knew from the look on her face that Amara understood her.
Hanne recognised that Amara was uncomfortable with her presence and exploited this at every opportunity. She began to turn people against Amara "A woman who can't speak or laugh is not suitable for royalty". she kept saying "Do you even know where she comes from?" Despite all this. Amara refused to say a word.
When Amara next dreamed about her brothers, they told her "Now that Hanne has arrived in your new home, it would be too dangerous to communicate with you anymore. She knows about Eleanor's magic, and will do anything to ensure that you break your vow. For your own safety, stop wearing your ring." Amara stopped wearing her ring, but still thought of her brothers and resolved to complete her vow so they could return to their humanity.
Soon, there was only a day until the curse would be broken and Amara could speak again, Stephen's father Christopher arranged a meeting with her. He told Amara that Stephen loved her and was planning to propose to her in a few days. A moment later, Hanne arrived, and Amara hid under Stephen's bed, desperate to avoid her. Amara listened as Christopher and Hanne begun to argue and watched in horror as Hanne pulled out a knife and stabbed Christopher to death.
Hanne told the rest of the castle that Amara had murdered Christopher, and led them to his room, where they saw Amara kneeling next to his body. Due to her vow, Amara was unable to tell anyone what she had saw, and Hanne turned her over to her court immediately. They wasted no time in finding Amara guilty and sentenced her to death by fire the following evening.
Only one person in the court doubted Hanne's story, and that person was Rebecca. Hanne "Don't waste your time crying over that witch. She's clearly guilty." Rebecca was less convinced "The whole case seems strange. I know Amara better than anyone, and she would never be capable of doing this." She said" Why would she hurt Christopher? He was never anything less than kind and polite to her."
Rebecca then realised something. "I personally think you might have been responsible. It's strange how quickly you were able to get to the room – it's almost like you knew. And you've always hated Amara."
Suddenly, Hanne's face turned harder than ever and she lowered her voice "That's right. I did it. Christopher was too weak – he was going to let Prince Stephen marry that girl. Can you imagine her on the throne?" Rebecca knew how unpleasant Hanne was, but was surprised by the level of hatred in her voice. "When that mute dies tomorrow night, any evidence that I did it will be gone, and I will have total control over the kingdom. I am the queen and you are Amara's maid. Who will people believe?" These words devastated Rebecca, as she knew that no-one would believe her. Seeking to comfort herself, she went into Amara's room to remind herself of the time the two had spent together. She found Amara's discarded ring and put it on, before falling asleep on Amara's bed.
Rebecca dreamed that she saw three swans fly towards her, shed their feathers, and turn human. "Who are you?" the eldest asked, "Why do you have our sister's ring?"
"I'm Amara's servant." Rebecca told them.
"How is she? The youngest brother asked. There is only one night until the curse is broken, and we can return to our human forms. We didn't want to be called like this. It's too dangerous to come here whilst we are still swans."
"You have no choice" Rebecca responded. Speaking with a forcefulness and confidence she had never heard in herself before, she explained what had happened to Amara, and revealed everything Hanne had said to her. She "I know Amara is innocent. I know Hanne is guilty. Please return and expose the truth for your sister. Please save her. Please help her." The brothers listened to Rebecca's pleas, then turned back into swans and flew away. Rebecca secretly went down to the dungeons and went to Amara's cell. She secretly dropped the ring next to Amara, then went back to the castle.
Amara found the ring and put it on just before Hanne's guards took her to the pyre in the middle of the courtyard and bound her to the stake. The fire was lit, and the tongues of flame advanced towards her. At that moment, the silver ring glowed gold, signifying the end of the three years. Then the sound of beating wings was heard and three swans flew down and landed on the ground. As they did so, they turned back into Amara's brothers, and quickly untied her, getting her out of the fire and embracing the sister who had stayed silent for so long, and risked so much in order to free them.
Amara went up to Prince Stephen, who was standing near the front of the crowd, completely stunned by what had just happened. "Stephen, now I may speak and reveal to you that I am innocent and have been falsely accused." She turned to the equally confused crowd and begun to speak to them.
"My name is Amara. I was born in Wohlstadia. Queen Hanne killed my parents and terrorised the citizens. My brothers were turned into swans to escape her and I had to stay mute for the last three years to restore them to humanity. Yesterday, King Christopher gave me his blessing, and I saw Hanne enter the room to oppose this. I then saw Hanne pull out a knife and murder him. She blamed me for the crime, because I could not speak. She's a traitor, a murderer and a tyrant, and not fit to rule this kingdom."
Rebecca then finished by revealing what Hanne had said to her earlier. By the time the two explained everything, the public were aware that Amara was innocent, and Hanne was the person who had murdered King Christopher. Hanne was deposed from the throne and Amara had her locked in the deepest dungeon in the castle, where she spent the rest of her life. Amara and Stephen took over both her kingdoms, with Rebecca and Amara's brothers as their main advisors. The group enjoyed a long, prosperous and peaceful reign, and lived in security and happiness to the end of their days.