The Swan Princess

-7-

"Eva?" The child could hear her older brother calling for her, but she didn't reply. High above him in the tallest tree she could find, she stared out over the castle walls towards the Enchanted Forest. " You know I can see you, right?"

From below her, she heard the sound of cracking branches as the Prince made his way up. There was a rather loud crack followed by a shout, and then a thud. Everything was momentarily silent until she could hear him muttering under his breath and trying to climb the tree again.

"I don't want to come down. You can't make me." she called to him.

"I'm not trying to make you come down. I'm trying to get up to you, can't you tell?" he laughed, breathing heavily as he hoisted himself on the branch next to her. "Whatcha lookin' at?"

"Why can't we go outside?" Eva turned to face him. "If we have one of the guards with us-"

"Because your mother won't let us. I thought she told you to stop asking."

"But I want to know. Something doesn't feel right, Henry." Eva began scooting towards the edge of the branch, seeing if she could stretch herself far enough to reach the top of the wall.

"Where are you even gonna go from there?" Henry asked, rolling his eyes. "It's just a huge forest for hundreds of miles. You're gonna get lost, or you're gonna die before you even get off the wall."

"I can try really hard. Mum's been teaching me magic. I can protect myself." It was true. Since the moment Eva had begun walking and talking, a world of magic was all she had known. Henry had been forbidden to use magic, but Eva was mastering incantations almost beyond Zephyra's knowledge.

"Yeah, but won't you miss your favorite big brother?" Henry laughed, and he began to lower himself back to the ground. "Come on, it's almost dinner time."

Eva took one look back at the forest surrounding them before she sighed and followed her brother, back to the castle below.

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"Your Majesties." one of the servants bowed as Henry and Eva made their way to the dining hall. He pulled a chair out for the young princess and she smiled.

"Thank you. Where is my mother?"

"She'll be joining you in a moment." the servant said before bowing again and leaving the room. Everything was silent before the doors swung open and Zephyra made her usual dramatic entrance.

"Ah. What a lovely day, isn't it?" she grinned as she sat down in her chair. She looked around the table for a moment before her eyes settled on Eva. The grin on her face melted away as she focused on the state of her child's hair and gown. "You're filthy."

"Sorry." Eva bowed her head in shame.

"You were in that tree again, weren't you? Are you trying to run away from me?"

"Zephy-" Henry began.

"You will refer to me as Your Majesty, do you understand me?" Zephyra snapped suddenly. "You were both in that tree. I'm severely disappointed in you. Both of you will go to bed immediately. Without dinner."

Across the table, a glass shattered. The Queen and Prince turned to look at the young girl, whose glare was fixed on her mother.

"If you weren't so strict about keeping us in here, maybe I wouldn't want to leave." she said angrily.

"How would you like to never be allowed outside again?" Zephyra growled back. Eva's eyes narrowed and the other two glasses on the table shattered into a mess of water and crystals. "Stop. Doing. That."