after hearing a chorus of yeses, steffen turned to the doorman. "arthur, we are ready to face the dragon."

"good luck to you, your majesties," the doorman said, hastily crossing himself before he swung open a door and announced, "their majesties kronprinz steffen and prinzessin gabrielle, prinz mikkael, prinz nickolas, prinz falk, furstin elise, and prinz gerhart."

elise and her siblings approached the dais that king henrik and queen clotilde's thrones were placed on.

they were silent, exchanging nervous glances when they saw their father. he was slumped in his chair like an old man. his eyes were vacant, his breathing labored, and he did nothing to acknowledge their entrance.

queen clotilde wore her most expensive dress. her jewelry was a set of sparkling diamonds, and her facial features were drawn and snake like as she smiled magnificently.

"children," she said, standing when the door closed. "how good of you to come."

"for what did you request our presence, my queen?" steffen asked.

clotilde clasped her hands. "you all have been such a pain," she started. "again and again, i have tried to push you out. but you all resist. worse yet, you make him resist," she said, jerking her head back at king henrik.

mikk, nick, and rune slide their swords out of their scabbards, holding them warily in front of them.

gabrielle's cat hissed, his fur standing on end as he growled at the queen.

"there simply is no other option," clotilde said. "i have to kill you."

rune sprinted up the stairs, mikk and nick on his heels. he raised his sword and leaped at clotilde as if to chop her when he hit a iridescent surface-much like a translucent egg shell-and was thrown backwards.

mikk and nick tried to stab their swords through the protective barrier, but they, too, were thrown like rag dolls.

"so you finally show your true colors?" erick said, sliding a dagger out of his uniform as elise and falk scrambled to check on the fallen trio.

"hold your tongue, you fool," clotilde said. "you will die without honor."

gerhart ran for the door. he tried to wrench it open but it wouldn't budge. "arthur! arthur, open the door!" he shouted, pounding on it.

"it's no use. i have sealed this room. you will not escape," clotilde said.

"you won't get away with this. the people will revolt. it will be obvious you killed us," steffen said.

"if i kill you when you are human, yes. but not if i curse you first," clotilde said with an evil smile as she slipped a hand into a black silk bag. "a swan will do nicely. i've always hated those birds. they are too beautiful and pure. it will be wonderfully ironic, of course, as your family crest is a swan. maybe i'll make you all into a cloak."

erick tried throwing his dagger. it made the shield of magic clotilde used to protect herself crack and fizzle, and it lodged in the surface, but it was not able to pass through.

clotilde pulled something out of the bag and clasped it in her hands before starting the spell. as clotilde spoke in a deep, eerie voice unlike her own, rune, mikk, and nick recovered and tried to attack again. they hit the magical shield and again bounced off it.

clotilde ignored them and spoke in a dark, guttural language elise didn't recognize.

"puss, do something," gabrielle said.

steffen unearthed several daggers and threw them at clotilde. they bounced off the surface of her shield, unlike erick's, and fell to the ground with a clatter.

"arthur!" gerhart shouted, pounding on the door as dark fog filled the room.

falk ran up the stairs, making a beeline for king henrik. "father," he shouted when he could get no closer. "father! wake up!"

clotilde's voice increased in volume until it made the air and floor shake. she held her hands up with a flourish, still clutching something in one fist, and shouted. "now, i curse you, princes and princesses of arcainia. i curse you!"

"gabrielle, hold on!" shouted a voice elise didn't recognize.

"but steffen-,"

"it won't do him any good if you're both swans!"

the magic hit elise and her siblings like a wave of black water. it struck steffen first, coating his body in black liquid. a black cloud formed around him and started shrinking. inside the cloud, steffen yelled. his voice turned wild and the cloud shattered with an explosion of white feathers.

mikk and nick were next. they braced each other and tried to stab their swords through the black magic, but it engulfed them. elise could hear the clang of their swords falling to the ground as they, too, screamed.

erick held his hand out in front of him and said words elise suspected were part of the language of magic, but the wave of black filth did not flinch backwards and enveloped him as well.

falk and rune were only seconds behind, their screams adding to the cacophony of the air.

a cloud formed around gabrielle, but it did not shrink. something seemed to be pushing it back.