The Swan Suit by Katherine Fawcett

Author:Katherine Fawcett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Short story, Short fiction, Fairy tales
ISBN: 9781771622615
Publisher: Douglas and McIntyre (2013) Ltd.
Published: 2020-03-14T00:00:00+00:00

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The first thing the father noticed when he returned that afternoon was the straw—must have been fifty sheaths!—on the ground below the rotunda’s tiny window. Piled high, and soft enough to cushion a fall, or a jump.

The second thing he noticed were the bars. The two middle ones were bent apart into a diamond shape, wide enough for a troll the size of a sled dog, a woman the size of a small queen and a spinning wheel to squeeze through. Standing at the window was the king, crown in his hand. His head rested upon the chamberlain’s shoulder and the chamberlain stroked his employer’s royal hair.

The third thing he noticed were the guards. Dozens of them, circling the grounds, as if on the hunt for something. Or someone. He tucked himself into the hollow of a cedar tree until it was safe for him to flee.

And for the next twenty years—or has it been twenty-one?—the father has wandered the land from the soggy southwest coast to the dry hills in the north and the green forests of the east, searching for… who? Was it Shortribs? Sheepshanks? Laceleg? For the very life of him he can’t recall the vile troll’s name. He isn’t sure if he ever knew it at all. Perhaps it doesn’t matter. What he does know is that he cannot go home, for the king, whose festival of song and dance is still but a dream, would surely have his head.

So, ever does he search for the nameless dwarf who stole his daughter’s heart—and took the rest of her along with it.

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