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CORA was not like the other girls. In fact, the other girls stayed away from the likes of her, for she was unusual with her flame-red hair and her glowing green eyes, and they all said she was a magician who was not like the other magicians but was, instead, dangerous—one to be avoided.
Well, she did have magic. And no one really knew it for sure, but she knew she was skilled enough at her magic to practice the dark arts as well, though they held danger.
She had the most powerful magic in the land of Fairendale, at least before the little girl Clarion came to live in the kingdom. Cora could shape shift, which no one could do, for there were rules to magic. If one conjured a vanishing spell or attempted shape-shifting without the natural gift, one could not know if they would ever walk in their original shape again. The first time she tried shape shifting, after a strange and foreign prophetess whispered the possibility in her ear, she had been terrified. The first time she flew she did not know if she would ever touch the ground again.
But she did.
And soon it became quite easy for her to slip in and out of her skin. One moment she wore the milky robes of the beautiful girl she was becoming and the next she wore the black feathers of a bird. She could not let people see her do it, however, for they did not trust the kind of magic that could shift shapes. So she tempered what she could do and never whispered to a soul. That meant she did not have many friends, and a girl without friends is a girl mostly without hope.
She slipped in and out of her skin every night, and she would fly about the forest and the dragon lands, memorizing sights she could not look upon by day. She considered crossing to other lands, but she knew that in some places people hunted birds like her, for they found them bad omens, and so she stayed well within the bounds of Fairendale, which had no fear of blackbirds, at least not then. She was in the sky the night she saw a mermaid for the first time. Good fortune. That is what the mermaids meant. Good fortune to those who saw them in the darkness, or those who caught their tail at the evening’s last light. She saw them every night, pointing to the sky, pointing to her, in fact. Mermaids were said to know things no humans could know, so, perhaps they had guessed her secret. No matter. Mermaids were not known for telling secrets.
Though she was a lonely child, Cora had her father, who loved her dearly. And for a while, that was enough.
One night, when Cora was only a babe, the king’s men came to her father’s cottage and told him that the king requested his services at the castle. Her father had been a cook once upon a time, though he was far too old now. He did not argue, of course, but Cora knew he had hoped his cooking would be done by now.
That was the first night the king’s men had visited her father. But there was another.
During this second visit, Cora was in bed when they came. Her father left with the men that night, for the king had requested audience with him. The parents of Fairendale, you see, did not think twice about leaving their young children alone. Children were always safe. There were always watchful eyes trained on them. They would not be taken or harmed by anyone, for the people trusted one another. What is a community without trust?
But Cora did not remain that night in her bed. She stole out, for she heard the voices. She followed her father in her feathery form, and watched the entire interview, her father in King Sebastien’s throne room, from a window. And King Sebastien had the kind of voice that could carry right through a pane of glass, so Cora did not have trouble hearing what was said.
“Your daughter has powerful magic,” the king was saying.
Her father dipped his head. “Yes,” he said.
“We would like to propose a union,” the king said.
Even in her bird heart, Cora felt the excitement. She had always wanted to rule a kingdom, you see. She had always wanted to save Fairendale from the hands of a man like King Sebastien. She knew one of his sons to be good and kind. The other, she did not know. So she hoped the union would be made with the one who would rule.
“A union?” her father said. His eyes changed. She peered through the window. They were wary. Unsure.
“To my son Willis,” the king said, and Prince Willis bowed to her father. He was not an ugly boy, though his brother was much more handsome. She could not recall if this one was the first son or the second. Had they been twins?
It did not matter so much. She would still be a princess. She could use her strong will to persuade her future husband, this future king, to rule in kindness once the evil King Sebastien was out of the way. She would prosper. She had seen the mermaids’ tail, after all.
Good fortune had finally come to pass. So she flew back home to wait for her father.
When her father returned, he was surprised to see his daughter still awake. “Cora,” he said. “You should be in bed.”
“Father,” she said. “Tell me your news of the castle.”
“How did you know I was summoned to the castle?” her father said. He looked at her with all sorts of questions in his eyes, but Cora merely shook her head. “I heard them come.”
Her father’s eyes crinkled a bit, into the smile she loved so. And then they grew serious. “The king,” he said, “wants to pledge you in marriage to his son.”
“The second or the first?” Cora said.
Her father looked confused. “Are they not twins?” he said. “I thought them to be.” He looked past Cora, as if he could no longer see his daughter.
“It matters not,” Cora said. “Only what did you say?”
Her father took her hand. “I said that I would talk to my daughter.”
Cora smiled. Her father. What a kind man he was. She kissed his cheek. “Yes, father,” she said. “Yes, I will become a princess.”
Her father leaned forward, tipping her chin up so her eyes were level with his. “He is not the handsome one,” he said. “Nor is he the particularly kind one.”
She shook her head. “I care not, Father,” she said. “You have taught me well. I can always be kind. I can teach him to be kind as well.”
Her father leaned back in his chair. “Yes, well,” he said. “I am afraid it is not so easy as that.”
She patted her father’s knee. “Please tell the king yes, Father,” Cora said. “I would make this kingdom beautiful and happy as it once was.”
Her father looked at her with all the love he held in his heart. “Yes,” he said. “Yes, I believe you might.”
And that is how Cora became engaged to Prince Willis.
Fortune, it seems, was finally on her side.
She could not have been more wrong.