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On the third morning after he went off to the kingdom of the sea, Christopher met a knight clad in armour, his handsome face with blonde hair and blue eyes twisted into a worrisome frown. He led a white horse with honey gold mane, a sad maiden with blazing red hair and brilliant green eyes riding him. They both brightened up when they saw him.
“Halt, who goes there?”, asked the knight.
“It is I, Christopher of the nearby village,” said he.
“Where may I and my lady sleep for the night?”, asked the knight, his tone earnest and weary.
“The nearest house in my village is three days hence,” replied Christopher.
Their faces darkened so much, Christopher felt guilty for lowering their spirits. He reached out in his satchel and said, “Here, three apples for you, your lady and the horse.”
The knight and maiden were pleasantly surprised by his gift. He introduced himself as Barnaby, his lady Audrey and his horse Hertha. Christopher led them to a spot under a cave he noticed, hidden by creeping green vines. Their horses slept soundly while Barnaby fixed Audrey a little pile of moss for a cushion. Then he began their tale as Audrey closed her brilliant green eyes.
“You are trustworthy Christopher. We will tell you our story,” he began. “My king had twelve children, three older brothers, a sister and twins near her age, and six younger brothers. The palace was always alive with their laughter, and many times the king was exhausted by them. Our queen died after bringing to the world the youngest, little Prince Scott.
One day, the king felt lonely and wandered aimlessly to the forest. A pitiful woman his age was trying to drink the water of the forest river. He persuaded her to join him to a nearby hospice, where she healed. Her name was Siobhan.
She was wonderful to the children, yet the Crown Prince Ronan was suspicious of her. Oh, we should've listened to his words! But everytime the king spoke to Siobhan, he was filled with joy and purpose. No child could bear to stop a father from his happiness.”
The lady… no, princess, slept fitfully, resting her head on the crook of the white horse. Ector awakened for a moment, looking blindly for his master in the strange and different place outside the stable. Christopher tenderly rubbed his ears as Barnaby spoke. It wasn't long before Ector fell asleep beside Hertha.
“That cruel woman! She had the arts of witchcraft! Siobhan used her powers to turn the princes into animals and chased them to these very woods! The Crown Prince was clever enough to tie a black ribbon to each of his cursed brothers before he fell to that woman's clutches. He himself ordered Princess Audrey and me to find gooseberries to be spared.”
“Why has no one helped you? Perhaps even a legion could've stopped a lone witch,” whispered Christopher.
Barnaby sighed deeply. “Siobhan’s curse twisted the minds of the people. No one knows the King's beloved children. Only she is remembered as the Queen, foul being!”
Now Christopher was at a loss. His search for Luscinia was important to him, but Princess Audrey and her Knight Barnaby were in despair of their situation. It only took a moment before he decided.
“Worry not dear Barnaby, I will help you!”, said he before telling them to sleep.
The morning after, the three headed deeper into the verdant woods, searching for Audrey's brothers. Soon they found themselves in a meadow, spring flowers blooming in the morning light, with the horses grazing on the grass. The sight made Christopher remember his beloved deeply.
“Barnaby, look!”, cried Audrey on her ride atop Hertha.
Both men turned to look at where she was pointing, to a black-and-white cow beside a pale yellow goat. It was not an unusual sight save for a black ribbon around their necks. She gracefully leapt off for them.
The cow mooed and the goat baaed as they quickly crossed to her waiting arms. Audrey wept and hugged her brothers, happy to see them even if they were animals.
“We shall find them all!”, she vowed to everyone.
The cow, baby brother Scott, and the goat, eleventh Patrick, led them to a sapphire blue stream, with lily pads and mossy stones. A green frog was noisily splashing in a shallow puddle of the stream before suddenly being pecked by a gray duck and a white swan. All three animals had a black ribbon around their necks.
They looked at the arriving group of people and quickly moved to embrace their brothers and sister, flapping wings and croaking all at once. Audrey wept and hugged them again before they set off once more.
The frog who sat on Audrey’s shoulder was Niall the tenth, croaking loudly at the duck, Liam the ninth, who rode on top of Scott the cow. The swan, who was eighth Hugh, just walked beside goat Patrick.
Now it was nearing lunch, and Audrey's manners couldn't stop her stomach from rumbling in hunger. Barnaby decided to catch some trout from the stream they found Hugh, Liam and Niall. The swan and the duck scared the fish so much that Christopher and Barnaby quickly caught them to be cooked in the fire Audrey made.
Just as Christopher was taking a piece for her, a blur of gray sped by to take it. He looked to see a dirty cat feasting on his stolen fish, a black ribbon around his neck. This could only be Finn the seventh. He yowled and despised being bathed in the stream by Audrey, but only Niall's repeated splashing on him made his scruffy fur become white and clean.
Now it was nearing night, with Audrey happily patting each and every brother of hers, smiling despite the cacophony they made for her. Barnaby found a hollow between two old oaks and led their group within. She had no need for moss pillows as her brothers made her a bed out of their fur and feathers. The three people spoke and sang softly in the firelight, a hope rising in everyone.
They were woken by the snarls of a red fox and a brown wolf, necks where a black ribbon was tied, who were fighting off a great silver serpent with cruel green eyes. The cow, the goat, the frog, the duck, the swan and the cat helped their brothers fight the serpent until it disappeared under their combined strength.
“That must be Siobhan's witchcraft, we have to find the remaining princes!”, said Christopher as he rode on Wood, Barnaby on Hertha and Audrey on wolf Connor, his fox twin Clancy running beside with their brothers.
The three people, two horses and eight brothers ran through grass and rock, only stopping when they found any animal with a black ribbon around its neck. They found a brown horse with it under a pine tree, which had to be Killian, the third Prince. He whinnied his happiness at his siblings and quickly joined them.
Only Second Prince Isaac and Crown Prince Ronan were missing, but all too soon, the sun had begun to set.
Now Princess Audrey felt a strong wave of worry. She knew that everyone was exhausted by the long journey, but she couldn't help but feel herself worthless in their search.
“There you are, my children!”, a cruel and joyful voice cried as night fell, and there was her wicked stepmother, riding atop a great black bear, a green snake slithering around her shoulders. Her blood chilled at the sight of the black ribbon around their necks.
With a roar from Barnaby all the brothers ran towards the laughing witch, who only flicked her hand for the bear and the snake to hurt them. Christopher and Wood tried hard to protect her from Siobhan's magic, but she could feel feathers slowly erupt from her skin.
In desperation Christopher struck his tinderbox, hoping that Luscinia left magic in the old and weathered item. A beautiful dog with eyes the shade of copper appeared in front of him.
“What do you desire, Master?”, asked the dog politely, as if the raging battle behind him was nothing.
“Free Audrey and her family from Siobhan's curse!”, cried he.
A painful yell silenced the battle. Everyone looked as Siobhan, beautiful in her queenly robes, shrieked as she turned into a crow. The bird flew away in shame, never once looking back.
“Princess, look!”, said Christopher to her.
All around them, her brothers returned back to their true selves, with the bear turning back to Isaac the second, and the snake into the Crown Pri… no, the King himself, Ronan.
It was a tear-filled reunion, with black ribbons tied to their wrists as their vow to protect each other. They returned to a kingdom bright with celebrations, Siobhan had been a queen who hadn't cared about her subjects.
After Ronan was crowned as the rightful King, he gave his blessing when Barnaby asked for Audrey's hand in marriage, which she replied with a kiss.
Christopher stayed for the wedding, given gifts of gold coins, food and the promise that King Ronan and his eleven siblings would always support him in his journey as his companions. Yet it hadn't made the sadness of his farewell more bearable, as many shed a tear at the castle gates. Barnaby gave Christopher their last hug for a long, long while.
“Remember to visit us someday!” said the siblings as they waved goodbye to him. Ector was wearing a proper saddle, well-fed from days spent in the royal stables. He whinnied softly first at Hertha before trotting back to Christopher.
And he left behind the knight, his princess and her free brothers.