Autumn has arrived, and the forest standing away from the lake filled with colorful leaves in red, orange and purple; looming in front of the other trees, tall birches with straight, shimmering white trunks, were shedding their yellow leaves that swayed with the light ripple on the water. It was morning when, from among the cloak of clouds that covered the sky, a flock of shimmering white birds appeared above the lake, circled once and twice before swooping down to the water. Nine swans now decorated its bright surface, floating gracefully among the leaves and the shivering reflection of tall trees.
Toward noon, the air became heavier and the swans began dropping off to sleep. The largest and oldest of them sent a hidden signal, and they gathered behind her, as she led them to the bank of the lake. Clumsily, they climbed on to its withering grass and then, with no one there to watch, the transformation took place. The swans flapped their wings and made a little dance with their webbed feet, and in a minute there stood nine lovely maidens. They were all clad in shimmering white shifts, and they all had long golden hair and bright blue eyes.
On the deserted bank of the lake they flocked together, chattering and singing, dancing together until they got tired. Then they sat on the grass, and some lay down to sleep. After a while, the tallest and oldest of them rose and woke them up.
"Sygna," she said to the youngest girl, "it is your turn this year, so I expect you to do your duty."
"Yes, Mother Song," the girl said, as they all flapped their arms, made their little dancing steps and turned back into swans, that waded back into the water.
After a short while a hunter came out of the forest, carrying his bow and arrows. He was a tall, young man with dark red hair and deep blue eyes, handsome as can be. As he spotted the swans on the water, he immediately set his bow, pulled an arrow out of the quiver on his back and fixed it firmly on the string. With a loud noise, the swans lifted up in the air and started flying low, circling above his head. One of them, though, instead of rising into flight, swam directly toward him. Out of pure astonishment at that unusual behavior, the hunter did not shoot but stared curiously at the swan.
The swan then climbed clumsily on the bank, flapped its wings and made its little dancing steps, and turned into a beautiful girl wearing nothing but a shimmering white shift over her purely white skin. Her golden hair fell like a waterfall over her shoulders, and a pair of bright blue eyes gazed openly at the handsome hunter, who was still holding his weapon poised for shooting.
"Hunter!" she cried at him with her musical voice.
"Swan Maiden!" he exclaimed weakly, dropping his bow and arrow to the ground, "I thought you existed only in Fairy Tales!"
She looked at him with her enchanting half a smile and said, "But here I am, flesh and blood, ready for you if you'd take me!" She came into his arms, and he could not avoid doing what was being demanded of him.
Afterward, he asked, gazing into her eyes, "Will you come with me, then, to my house?"
"Tell me your name, and I'll think about it," she said, laughing. He thought he had never heard such a musical laugh before.
"My name is Alan, but what has that do to with anything?"
"I'll come with you, Alan the Hunter, for a period," she said, the music of her voice throwing enchantment into his mind so he could not hear properly what her words were.
***
The hunter's house was a little log cabin, with one large room for sitting and eating and cooking, and a small back room for sleeping. It looked like a mess when the couple came in, with soiled clothes and dishes strewn everywhere, and everything covered with dust. Sygna looked and sighed, then she made a movement with her arm. A golden glow poured over the house, the dust and soiled equipment vanished, and the house looked as polished and orderly as it had never been before.
"That's more likely," she murmured, more to herself then to her mate, because he had eyes only for her and nothing else.
"Show me around, Hunter," she said to him, "I'd like to know the place I'm going to live in for a while."
He looked at her for a moment, suddenly realizing that over the shift she had been wearing, she had now a kind of garment he had never seen before. As it went well with her form, he said nothing about it, but silently led the way out of the house and down into the village.
The Hunter's house was situated at the edge of a small hamlet, which filled the space where the forest had retreated away from the bank of the lake. Naturally, some of the inhabitants made their living in fishing in the lake, and others in hunting in the forest. The women, beside looking after their houses and their children, occupied themselves at mending fishing nets, and gathering eggs, fruit and roots in the wood.
As the couple were walking among the village houses, a young woman, tall and sturdy, came out from among the trees. When she saw Alan in company of a strange female, she turned toward him; Sygna could see the frown on her face, under dark brown hair and stormy gray eyes. The young woman was carrying a full basket, and she addressed the Hunter in a low, dark voice.
"Here you are, Alan. And what do you mean by wandering around the village in the middle of the day, in the company of some –" She obviously lacked the words she needed to describe Sygna, whose appearance was nothing like she had ever seen before.
"Er – Reina, I see you've done well in the forest," Alan said, clearing his throat in obvious confusion. The young woman gazed at him with her stormy eyes, too furious to speak.
Sygna intervened. "Go back home, Alan; I'll talk to Reina." As Alan obeyed, compelled by her words, Sygna turned to the woman, her clear blue eyes pouring out their golden glow over her. Like the Hunter, Reina succumbed to the Swan Maiden's enchantment.
"You shouldn't worry," Sygna said. "I'm here for the duration, and when I'm gone you will have him back. If everything goes well, I'll then bless you two and everything you own."
She then turned and followed Alan to his cabin, while Reina following her with her eyes, a dumb expression on her face.
