The Six Swans

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Author: Stuti Sharma 

Illustrator: Natasha Swindle

Once upon a time, 

there was a king from a far away valley. 

He had six sons named Forrest, 

Stout, Tack, Coral, Cedric, and 

Sulo, and one more child on the way. 

On the night the child was to be born, 

the king and queen hoped it was a girl.

Indeed, it was. The queen birthed the 

child, and while feeding her for the first 

time, said, 

“Daina, my songbird.” 

However, two weeks later, a bout of the 

plague infested the land and took the 

queen with it.

The king was distraught. He 

no longer went out to the palace 

garden in the evening because the 

songbirds reminded him too much 

of his beloved queen, who loved and 

sang with them. The entire kingdom 

was in mourning.

The court advisors feared how this 

would fare with the surrounding 

kingdoms. 

“I hear we are called the 

Shroud Town in some places” 

“What will become of our 

trades? No one wants to work!”

They decided that a wedding for the 

king should be in place so the kingdom 

would take heart. A queen from the sea 

town was invited, and she had green 

eyes and a lovely forehead and a dancing 

laugh. The king, though still grieved 

and confused, was smitten and agreed 

to marry her.

“The children need a mother,” he 

concluded. The queen promised to look 

after the children with him, as though 

they were her own, and in the beginning, 

she did. She fed them at the 

table, and she played songs for them on 

the lute, and it seemed as though music 

had returned.

However, soon she became pregnant 

with a child. Unrest grew. The king’s 

own children were no longer happy, and 

one night, the king overheard the queen 

complaining to the cook in the kitchen. 

”Why do you waste the expensive food 

on these children? Don’t you know 

it is my child who will rule?”

The king was confused. He could not 

dethrone the queen, for he had grown 

fond of her, but he loved his seven 

children dearly. So he decided to move 

them to the comfortable house he had 

in the woods where he went hunting, a 

place he could visit them often and where 

they would be safe.

All the children were displeased by 

this decision, but especially Daina 

the daughter. 

She knew all the songbirds in the 

palace gardens, and she spent extra 

time saying goodbye to the sparrows 

and canaries.

Forrest said goodbye to the sprawling 

gardens. 

Stout to the cellars where he worked 

and brewed the best beer in all the 

southern kingdoms. 

Tack to the horses in the stable he 

had helped breed.

Coral to the fish down by the 

lagoon. 

Cedric to the palace library. 

Sulo to the fieldworkers where he 

worked directing the crop every 

season.

They packed up and moved to 

the middle of the woods. 

The first night, all the brothers 

built a fire.

Daina hopped back and forth, 

asking for an axe or a bow to help in 

some way, but her brothers patted her 

head or swung her on the shoulders. 

“Not now, Daina. Don’t 

worry. We will look after you.”

The woods were deeper than they 

knew. 

Even Tack, who rode out further 

than even the king had, would not 

leave once the sun set.

Daina looked out the window and 

heard sounds she never knew existed, 

like the rustle of dense and wild 

leaves, the cooing of an owl, and 

the howling of wolves.

A big black bird suddenly jumped 

on a branch on the tree outside the 

cabin window, and everyone was 

startled by it.“What was that?” 

Sulo jumped out of bed. Daina 

pushed her way to the window to see.

She grew excited at seeing a bird she 

had never seen before. “It’s just,’ 

he looked at Daina, intently, and 

said, “whatever you do, never trust 

crows. They talk without bidding and 

are unlike anything you have ever 

known.”

The king visited his children almost 

every day, bringing them food and 

books and ink from the palace. He 

brought a loom for them to weave 

clothes and plenty of dried meat. He 

would spend long days with them, so 

the queen started to grow suspicious.

She bribed one of his knights and 

discovered where he was. One day, 

she rode out. It was a bright autumn 

day, and Daina was playing in the 

garden behind the cabin. Suddenly, 

the crow arrived on the lawn.

It snatched a flute that Daina was 

playing and flew into the woods. 

Daina remembered what Forrest 

told her about crows, but she wanted 

her flute, and she was curious about 

the crow.

She followed the crow before it flew 

out of sight, not knowing where she 

was going. The queen arrived and 

met the six brothers. They were 

confused, but without telling them, 

she gave them all thick coats.

“Winter will be coming soon. I 

brought you these coats, because the 

woods freeze you to the bone.” 

They all thanked her, but she was 

not satisfied.

“Come on, now! Try them on.” 

Her mirth was so convincing that 

they slipped on the coats, all together. 

And one by one, the row of six men 

turned into a row of six 

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The queen laughed. Her 

enchantment had worked. She 

rode off in to the woods, and they 

never saw her again. The brothers, 

half-sane and half-crazed as birds, 

squawked and flapped their wings. 

One by one, they took flight into the 

noonday sun and disappeared.

Daina came home at lunch time, 

clutching the flute triumphantly, 

which the crow had dropped. She 

returned to a completely silent house. 

When she looked around, all she saw 

was white feathers scattered everywhere.

She called out all her brother’s 

names, but only echoes responded. 

”Where did they go?” She cried. 

She was hungry and went in to get 

some bread and broth. When she 

came back out, she saw the crow was 

back.

“Where did they go?” She cried. 

She was hungry and went in to get 

some bread and broth. When she 

came back out, she saw the crow was 

back.

Distraught, she asked the crow, 

“Do you know where they 

went?” The crow did a strange 

thing. It cleared its throat and said, 

“Yes.”

Daina jumped back. None of the 

songbirds had ever spoken to her. 

“How did you speak?” 

“The matter of how I speak is 

unimportant. In order to find your 

brothers, you must keep silent.

They have been turned into swans, 

and you must go find them. You 

can only communicate with that.” 

The crow nodded towards the flute, 

which Daina had left on the porch. 

“Music will be your only way to 

speak.

The only way you can free them is 

playing six songs for the six kings 

of the kingdom. They will give you 

pieces of a spell to read, which will 

free your brothers. You can not speak 

once I disappear.”

Before she could ask any questions, 

the crow disappeared, and Daina 

said no words. 

That night, she heard rustling of 

many wings. She saw glowing white 

birds in the woods behind the cabin.

Six graceful swans had landed, 

and soon they grew into tall, graceful 

men. Her brothers were there. She 

ran out to them, and they all embraced 

her.

“Sister, we are swans. Our 

stepmother did this to us.” 

She found a piece of paper and 

wrote down all that the crow had told 

her. 

“We will wait for you, sister,” 

they promised, “we will follow you.”

“It is you who must look after us 

now, brave one.” 

“We will take you to the kingdoms.”







The first day, Daina alighted on 

Forrest’s back as a swan and they set 

for the kingdom of the mountains to the 

north. Forrest dropped her at the base of 

the mountains where the castle was.

She began to ascend. The air grew 

thinner as she got higher. As night 

fell, her palms were scraped and she 

could see far ahead that the lanterns 

of the palace were lit. She knocked 

on the gate.

When the sentry saw it was a young 

girl, he let her in. She drew a picture 

of a crown and pointed to the great 

hall, where the king could be seen 

having dinner.

The sentry brought her before the 

king, and he noticed the crest of her 

father on her clothes. She played the 

first song. He beamed, and then 

pulled out a little chest. He handed 

her a piece of scroll with writing, as 

though he had known all along.







The second day, Daina alighted on 

Stout’s back, They set for the kingdom of 

vineyards. There were groves everywhere, 

and the path to the castle was a maze of 

grape vines.

Daina said goodbye to her brothers 

and winded through the grove. 

The sun was hot and high, and she 

plucked sour grapes to keep energy 

as she kept going. When she arrived, 

the king was already out in his 

courtyard, sampling fine wines.

His face was very red, and he 

seemed like he always dinking. She 

bowed and played another song for 

him, and he beamed even more. He 

handed her a piece of a scroll with 

writing, and sent her on her way.







The third day, Daina alighted on 

Tack’s back. They set for the kingdom 

of horses. Wild horses ran everywhere 

once they crossed the threshold into the 

new kingdom.

They ran up and down the hills, and 

Daina almost wished she was a horse. 

She pointed to a riding party with a 

royal crest, and Tack landed. She 

found a small pony that did not object to 

being ridden, and she rode to the queen, 

who recognized her as the princess of the 

valley kingdom.

The queen folded her hands, 

waiting to see the reason for her visit. 

When she played the song, the queen 

beamed and found a piece of a scroll 

with writing and handed it to her.







The fourth day, Daina alighted on 

Coral’s back. He took her to the kingdom 

by the sea. The palace was on an 

island surrounded by bright blue water.

She saw the king was out in a long 

gondola, his men rowing while he was 

drawing something. 

The only way to get to him was to 

swim out, so she plunged into the 

water, where fish swam and coral 

swayed. When the king saw a girl 

swimming by his boat, he was first

startled, but then he saw her father’s 

crest and let her into the boat. 

She played her song, and he 

beamed. He pulled out a piece of a 

scroll with writing and gave it to her. 

They rowed her back to land and 

sent her on her way.







The fifth day, Daina alighted on 

Cedric’s back. They headed for the kingdom 

of trees. All manner of trees shot up 

into the sky--birches, maples, and flowering 

dogwoods. They found their way, and 

Daina saw that the palace was suspended

etween gigantic redwoods. 

She scrambled up the branches and found 

herself in the receiving hall. They took 

her in to see the king when they saw the 

crest on her clothes, and she played a song 

for the queen. She beamed and handed 

Daina a piece of a scroll.







The sixth day, Daina alighted on 

Sulo’s back. They headed for the kingdom 

of fallow lands. Crops were planted 

for acres and acres. Cotton, wheat, and 

corn sprung up.

They found the castle in a humble 

haystack, but when Daina was inside, it 

was far from humble. 

The king was counting golden ears of 

corn, but he stopped when he saw her. 

She played her song, and he beamed, 

and handed her the last piece of scroll that 

she needed.

That afternoon, before the sun set, 

Daina gathered at the cabin back in 

their kingdom with the six swans. She 

put the scrolls together, but before 

she could begin reading the story, the 

king came.

He was distraught that all his 

children had disappeared without 

trace. When he saw her, he scooped 

her in his arms and asked her where 

her brothers were. She freed herself 

from him and read the spell for her 

brothers.

Right away, before the sun set, they 

sprang up into humans. They told 

her what the queen had did, and 

how brave Daina had been, and in 

the end, the king rode home with his 

children and dethroned the queen.

They lived happily ever after, and 

on the seventh day, they held a feast 

in honor of Daina, who had saved 

them all, and all the songbirds from 

every surrounding kingdom came 

celebrate as well.

The 

End

The Six Swans

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