Page 108 of Wilds of Wonder
“Me and my brothers planned to leave, go into Wilds. Get my father away, start over. She caught us, right by the lake outside castle. My brothers forced me to hide, lied to her, saying I escaped. I watched her use a magic item.”Her hands flailed for a moment before she spelled it out letter by letter.“N-E-T. Threw it over my brothers.”
My brows furrowed and Emory looked at me and mouthed, “Net?” It must’ve come from Sorrengard. That was the only place a net with magical powers would exist.
“When she lifted the net, my brothers had turned into swans. It wasn’t a coincidence that those were my father’s favorite animal. The curse was a punishment, a mockery. But I didn’t know why. She disappeared with him. I haven’t seen them since. But I’ve never stopped asking myself why. Why did she hate Father so much she did this to his sons?”
El swallowed, still not a single sound coming from her.
“My brothers have been trapped as swans for fifty years.”
Annalee’s eyes shone with tears. “I’m so sorry.”
El’s jaw locked. “Formonths I didn’t know what to do. I was alone. Sad.”She strode back to the table and lay a hand on Aron’s arm.“I met Aron. It was his idea to welcome other creatures, to lead them. He gave me community. He gave me purpose. But now I want revenge.”
“Against your stepmother?” I guessed.
El shook her head, eyes flashing with mirth and malice. She swiped her hand across her body. “Against Spirit Shadow.”
“Spirit Shadow?” I asked. “You’re planning revenge against him? Why?”
She gestured around as if to answer the question.
I sat back in my chair. “He’s a spirit, El. You don’t even know how to kill him. I understand he was responsible for what happened to your mother, for what happened to the entire star court, but this is not something you can take on by yourself.”
The set of her pointed chin and raised nose said otherwise.
“That’s what you intend to do,” Emory guessed. “And you want Annalee to show you the way out so you can do it.”
She nodded, then bit her lip, eyes sweeping around our little group as she signed,“The lake outside the castle—where my brothers turned to swans. We avoided it, always knowing something wasn’t right, not since the curse. Last year, my brothers escaped the castle, fled to the lake. I chased them, almost drowning—but the lake showed me future. Not all. Flashes.”She pinched her fingers together. “Pieces. I learned I can fix my brothers. The lake showed me how. Must not speak. Must knit sweaters made of... N-E-T-T-L-E W-E-E-D. Must put the sweaters on my brothers. Then, they will come back.”
My brows pinched together. “The vision showed you all that?”
El nodded.
“Nettles?” Driscoll asked as Aron finished translating, shooting us unsure glances. “Sweaters made of nettles? That sounds awful. They’ll pierce your skin. They’re full of poison. Your hands will become swollen and bruised.”
El’s lips thinned.
“She’s aware,” Aron said gravely. “To undo magic like what her stepmother used takes great sacrifice. She will have to be that sacrifice.”
“Do you think your stepmother is the one who cursed everyone here?” I asked, thinking through everything El revealed.
She shrugged.
“We don’t know,” Aron said. “In all the years I’ve known El, I’ve never been able to piece together who her stepmother was or why she came into El’s life to wreak such havoc. Nor why she would disappear with El’s father. It’s clear she must have had a vendetta against El’s father, but we can’t figure out why.”
“So why haven’t you started knitting the sweaters?” Driscoll asked. “Or have you? Are the sweaters laying around somewhere?” He glanced around the room like they might be strung up.
El sighed, looking back at the swans.
Aron pushed his plate away, the snake barely eaten. “There’s only one court where the nettle weed grows. In her vision, El saw it. The poisonous plant, the shadowy castle, the island and its crocodile-infested waters where they lay.”
I drummed my fingers on the table. Only one place like that existed. “Sorrengard,” I said.
El’s shoulders tightened.
“So you don’t just want to go there to get revenge on Spirit Shadow.” Emory leaned forward, elbows resting on the table. “You also have to go there to save your brothers.”
She signed,“Solves all my problems. I get my brothers back and kill spirit who took everything away. Then I can focus on my stepmother.”
