elise grasped the important part of the introduction. "what do you mean not quite?"

"i laid a trap for clotilde. although i was able to attack her, i did not win. she is not very good with magic; in fact, she is quite bad at it," angelique was silent for a moment, as if waiting for a wave of complaints. none of the arcainian royals protested-they had been brought up to mind their manners better than that. "however," angelique continued. "she has an impressive arsenal of premade curses. as a person, she is not strong-she is barely above petty magics like temporary love charms. but she has gotten hold of some strong magical tools. they were what she used to curse you. there are two of them, i think."

"you were unable to break the artifacts?" steffen asked.

angelique shook her head. "no, i am afraid not. i did weaken the curse. i made a crack in it so you will be human for an hour every night when the sun sets, but that is the best i could manage."

steffen slowly nodded. mikk and nick moved to stand on either side of him like hulking bodyguards. "i see. we thank you; it is more than we ever could have done."

"will we be like this forever?" gerhart asked.

"no," angelique said. "all hope is not lost. clotilde can be defeated. i am too weak to defeat her on my own, but if i am joined by a colleague or two, we will be more than a match for her."

"how long will it take you to gain support for our situation?" falk asked.

angelique pressed her lips together. her eyes were sorrowful and heartbreaking. "i am afraid it will be all summer, if not a year."

"if you excuse my manners, could you elaborate, lady enchantress?" gerhart asked, bowing when angelique looked in his direction.

angelique flipped her hair over one shoulder. "it's unfortunate, but the veneno conclave knows what i did. they have sent couriers after me, most likely with instructions to bring me before the council. i am not much worried by the prospect of a punishment, but it would be most...inconvenient for me at this time as most punishments involve several years of imprisonment."

"you will have to run," rune said, grappling for a moment when he discovered he had no sword belt to hook his thumbs on.

"i can, and i will. i plan to go to erlauf. i will return to verglas when i am certain the conclave is no longer looking for me."

"will they give up on you so easily?" erick asked.

"as soon as another issue captures their attention, i will be forgotten. i merely need to outwait them. after my misdemeanor is forgiven, it will take time to find another enchanter or enchantress to aid me in fighting clotilde."

"so we will remain here while we wait? there isn't much we can do if we're human for one hour a night," nick said.

"we cannot rally support outside arcainia," mikk said. "we are easy targets in our swan form."

"so we waste time, kicking up our heels and waiting?" gerhart asked.

"sometimes inaction is the best course, little gerhie," erick said.

"don't call me that," gerhart snarled.

"i am forced to agree with gerhart," falk said, his voice quiet and shadowy. "it seems unwise to waste valuable months while clotilde is raiding the castle. in our absence, she will have access to everything from the armies to the daily vault. with our father enchanted as he is, she may even get into the treasury."

"no she won't," elise said. when her foster brothers swung around to stare at her. "she cannot get into the treasury," elise said, picking the gold key that hung from her red sash and waggling it.

steffen's face regained a hint of its usual humor. "i forgot you always wear that. well done, elise. clotilde's damage will be limited, at least, if she cannot get into the treasury. no magic user or locksmith can force their way inside it without the key. she cannot ruin the country if she does not have access to all our money."

"still, the less time we give clotilde to scheme, the better," mikk said.

"what can we do? we can hardly expect elise to escort us around as our bodyguard when we are swans," rune said.

angelique delicately cleared her throat. "i assumed you would spend the summer breaking your curse," she said when the princes looked to her.

"our curse can be broken?"

"how?"

"what must we do?"

angelique folded her hands in front of her and waited for the shouts to die down. "it will not be easy... elise," she said.

"what?" nick blinked.

"what does elise have to do with our curse?" falk asked.

rune curled an arm around elise's shoulders, drawing her close to him.

"unfortunately, princes, you can do nothing to alter your current state. but elise, if she is willing, can," angelique said.