Curse: Part 2

My father was a whimsical man and that made him a dangerous king. He had twelve sons, my brothers. He was never quite pleased with them, for he feared they would fight amongst themselves for his throne. Daughters would not be troublesome, he was sure. So he took it into his head, that if he ever had a daughter, he would slay his sons and leave the kingdom to her. That was when he had three sons. Nine sons later, I, the daughter was born.

Before my birth, my brothers discovered my father’s plot. They fled and waited fearfully. When they heard I was a girl, they knew they could never return to my father’s house.

My father banished my brothers and ordered that anyone who met them was to kill them. He also declared I should never know about my brothers, lest I should show them kindness when I was on the throne. I discovered this history from my maid when I was seventeen. I then set out to find my brothers.

After I found them, foolishly picked the lilies, banished them and found them again, they told me this tale.

They were traveling after they fled our father when a fierce storm arose. They chanced upon the home of twelve sisters who gave them shelter. The following morning, one brother saw twelve lilies by the door. He thought it would be fitting for each brother to offer one to each sister, in thanks for their hospitality. Imagine their horror, when after plucking the lilies, they discovered the beautiful maidens were now hideous trolls.

At first they believed the girls had been enchanted and were determined to return them to their proper forms. The sisters only laughed and told them the truth. The girls were indeed trolls. They took human forms in order to catch unsuspecting humans and eat them. My brothers were to be the next victims, and the trolls attacked. My brothers fought bravely and overcame the trolls, but they did not come away unscathed. They all had many wounds, but worst of all, the trolls had cursed them before they died. Twelve new lilies were beside the door. If anyone picked them, my brothers would vanish.

They had little choice but to live in the house and guard the lilies, though they would have preferred to keep traveling. They were not angry with me for picking the lilies, however. Because the lilies were gone now, they had no fear for their lives and were their own masters.

Curse: Part 1.

Curse

Magpie Tale #91

Find your brothers’ chairs. Find the chairs, you find your brothers.

I’ve never even seen my brothers. Not, that is until last night. And it was too dark to see them really.

Twelve brothers, forced to flee my father’s wrath before I was even born. I am the thirteenth child, the first daughter, my brothers’ curse.

It was only a month ago I found out I had brothers and began searching for them. It was only last night I found them. This morning I plucked twelve lilies as gifts for them before they woke. And because I took those twelve lilies from the ground, my brothers are gone.

I searched for them once and now I must do so again. All these chairs are alike. Wooden, rough made for peasants; like the chairs in my brothers’ home were they lived simply. I strain my eyes for any difference, any hint. They are a king’s sons, will I find gold on their chairs? Last night my brothers had spoken of the thrones they once hoped to have and the joy they found far from them. Now the chairs are thrones, all like the one my father sits on. I reach for one, but stop. My father drove my brothers out; would they have chairs like his? Now the chairs are still thrones, but different. One is lined with red velvet, another is solid gold, one is round, another square. So they change to match my thoughts. I picture my mother’s sitting room, instantly the chairs are wicker with flowered cushions. Roses, asters, daffodils, sunflowers, chrysanthemums, dogwood, cherry, lilies, bachelor buttons, petunias, magnolias. Lilies. Only twelve chairs have lilies.


This is a very short retelling of the Grimms' fairytale The Twelve Brothers. In this fairytale a king has twelve sons, but decides that if his next child is a girl he will kill them all so that the daughter will inherit everything. When the brothers find out they flee. The daughter eventually finds them, but picks twelve lilies that turns her brothers into ravens and she has to save them. It is also similar to the Grimms' The Six Swans and Hans Christian Andersen's The Wild Swans.

Check out Part Two.