Kid Brother

Once upon a time, there were a pair of orphans. Their mother and father had passed away, and so Alonya and her little brother Ivan both lived in a cottage out in the forest, far from the village. Alonya knew she had to work hard to support the both of them, so she found work in the village. But it was a long walk both ways, and she had to keep Ivan close by her side.

One day, Alonya was taking Ivan back home, and so they took the long road through the fields, back to their home in the forest. But Ivan had not drank his fill before they set off home, and so he was thirsty.

“Alonya! Let me stop and drink a little from this puddle here! I’m so thirsty!”

“Ivan, no!” Alonya cried. She could not let this come to pass. “Look into the puddle, there is a cow print there! If you drink from it, you will turn into a calf!”

Ivan gasped. He did not want this, and so he kept walking. But it was a hot summer’s day, and soon the sweat was beading on his skin.

Soon they came to another puddle, and again, Ivan called out to his big sister. “Alonya! Perhaps I can sip a little from this puddle, and then I won’t be so thirsty anymore?”

“No!” she cried. “Can’t you see the horse print in there? If you drink from there, you might become a foal! And then what would I do with you?”

Ivan refrained, but grumbled all the way. His thirst was close to getting the better of him.

It came to the point where he couldn’t speak anymore, could barely even shuffle along. Again, they came to a large puddle. This time, he didn’t say anything, just tugged on his sister’s sleeve, and pointed at the water.

“We’re almost there, Ivan, just have a little more patience! Once we get home, we can drink from the well as much as we like. We simply mustn’t drink from strange waters. Who knows what sort of witches have laid traps around here? The goat prints are a warning sign!”

And Ivan said nothing, just stood there. So Alonya walked on, assuming her brother would be smart and follow behind her. She knew the cottage was just around the bend.

But as she passed around the bend, the well in sight, she turned back around to yell to her brother. Only then did she see a small young goat skipping behind her where her brother should be.

“Ivan, no! What have you done?” she cried out.

Ivan bleated. “Nyeeeeh!” He pranced here and there, his tiny hooves leaving prints of his own in the dust of the road.

Alonya sat down upon the stairs of their home, and wept. For her little brother, mischievous and prone to trouble as he was already, was now a little animal! What could she do? How would she keep him safe?

The hot summer sun was setting. As she wept, Alonya heard the neighing of a horse in the distance down the road, along with the beating of hooves. The sound approached until she could see a young man upon a white horse coming closer. The summer heat began to give way in the twilight of sunset, and she dried her tears. A young man, no older than Alonya herself was, stopped in front of her house.

“Fair maiden! May I water my horse here at your well?” called the young man.

She sniffled. Ivan, in his new form, sat at her feet. The young man dismounted his horse, and approached Alonya.

“Sweet miss, why are you crying? Please tell me.”

Alonya dried her face, though she could not hide the despair in her features. She told the young man everything. Of her parents, who had succumbed to a fatal illness. Of her little brother, who she had to care for. And of the curse that had befallen him, due to his own carelessness.

“I can work as I do now, but who will believe me when I say this kid is my brother? What if he is attacked by wolves? Or abducted for someone’s meal? What if hunger falls upon the village and they wish to slay him for meat? However will I care for my kid brother?”

“Fair maiden, I can help you,” the young man said as he bowed to Alonya. “My name is Prince Kaspar. I am one of the sons of the King in this land. And I was sent to inspect the town, and to seek a bride. I can see from your hardworking character and your wondrous beauty that there would be no better a wife than you in this town. And so I would ask your hand in marriage, such that I can care for you and your little brother.”

Alonya gasped, as she had no idea she’d been speaking to a Prince! She was merely a peasant, and an orphan at that, so this was amazing to her. She bowed her head.

“Of course! Thank you, Prince Kaspar!”

“I shall return in the morning, after I spend the night with the Lord of the village. I will announce to him my intent to marry, and then in the morning we shall be off! Alonya, you and Ivan shall both live well at the castle!”

Alonya gasped, and now shed tears of joy. Kaspar set off upon his horse towards the town, a trail of dust behind him. In the dim light of dusk, Alonya picked up the front hooves of her little brother, and danced with him.

“We are saved, Ivan! We are saved!”

But as the night fell, and the two orphans entered their home and lit the fire for the night, someone else was watching. Unbeknownst to them, a witch lived in that forest, the same witch who had hexed the puddle from which Ivan drank, hoping to turn him into a sacrifice for her own spellwork.

Now, this very witch saw the unfolding of Alonya and her betrothed. She said quietly to herself, “I think I should like to live in a castle, rather than a forest.” And so she set into motion a scheme.

She whispered into the wind, a phrase to lure Alonya out of her home, where she was safe, and out into the night. “You are dirty… You need a bath…”

And Alonya, in her fearless glee, heard the words and thought they were her own. “I’m so dirty at the end of today. I shall have a bath before the Prince comes in the morning.”

Ivan heard the wind, and saw its influence on his elder sister. And he saw how a shadow fell over her face, and how she moved towards the front door.

He bleated at her, trying to warn her. “Nyeeh! Nyeeeeh!”

“Stay here, Ivan. I merely need a bath, so I can look well for tomorrow.”

He continued to make his small goat noises at her, but she pushed him aside and went out. He followed, trying to warn her all the way.

She went to a river that ran near their home. But as she approached the water, the witch pounced onto her.

“I shall be the Prince’s bride, not you!” the witch howled.

“Arghhh!” cried Alonya, as she tried to wrest herself free of the foul woman’s grasp. But it was too late, and Ivan could do nothing all the while. The witch pushed her into the river, and cast a spell that would keep her bound at the bottom of the while, cursed with eternal stillness.

The witch then chanted an incantation. Ivan backed away in horror as the witch, haggard and green of skin, became engulfed in light and morphed into the very visage of Alonya!

She turned back to Ivan, smiling.

“Don’t you recognize me, little brother? ‘Tis I, your big sister, Alonya!”

“Nyeeeh! Nyeeeeeeeh!” he cried out in fear.

He attempted to escape and run back toward the village, so he might warn Prince Kaspar. But the witch caught him, and tied a rope around his neck, so as to keep him snared and close to the home.

Eventually, morning came, and as promised, Prince Kaspar returned to the cottage to see his bride. But the witch, in Alonya’s form, came to greet him.

“Beloved! I have packed only the most necessary items for the road. All else can be retrieved at a later time!”

When Kaspar saw her satchels, they were filled not with clothing or the daily needs of a young woman, but with herbs, stones, and various mystical items. He looked at her askance.

“Very… well…” said the Prince.

Along with the Prince, the Lord of the village had come as well, along with his men, to approve and bless the marriage of one from his township. The Lord squinted his eyes. This woman surely looked like the Alonya who he had seen working in the town, but she did not seem to be her in truth.

Ivan, in his goatly form, skipped into view. He was bound at the neck, tightly, with a rope, and so could hardly utter a sound.

“Alonya!” cried Prince Kaspar. “What have you done to poor Ivan?” He pulled a short knife from his personage and cut Ivan free.

“Whatever would you mean? I have restrained this troublesome kid so we could present him as a sacrifice! The Gods will surely accept an offering as young and healthy as he!”

Prince Kaspar was mortified. He drew his sword.

“You are not the same woman I met last night!” he shouted, dismounting his horse and approaching. “What have you done with the real Alonya?”

The witch did her best impression of fear, but failed. As the Lord’s men followed the Prince’s lead, the witch cackled with mirth.

“You’ll never find her! I shall be this man’s forsworn wife! You shall take me to the castle!”

A sharp noise cut through the din. “NYEEEH!” called Ivan, leading them towards the riverbed.

“Give chase!” cried Kaspar. “He must know where she is!”

The Lord’s men followed Ivan, through a patch of trees to a clearing by the riverbed. Ivan skipped in a circle, indicating this was the place.

“Nyeeh?” he called into the water.

“Ivan, is that you? Are you well?”

The Lord’s men looked at each other. The voice was that of a young woman, but coming up from the waters of the river.

“Alonya?” called one man.

“It is I! Pray tell, is Prince Kaspar well? He told me he would return upon the morning, but I cannot see from down here if it is light out!”

The gathered men quickly scrambled to fetch a net, and the true Alonya, petrified and only able to speak, was recovered from the riverbed. She explained what had happened to her, but none were able to disenchant her of the curse that kept her frozen.

“Witch!” cried Kaspar. “Remove this foul curse from my bride, and return her brother to his true form!”

“Never!” she cackled. “I’d sooner die than let them go!”

With a single swing of his sword, Prince Kaspar separated the witch’s head from her body. “Gladly,” he said.

The body of the witch, as well as her head, morphed back to their true forms in death. All present grimaced in horror at her visage.

Ivan skipped, hopped, and jumped with glee. And upon his third leap, he returned to the ground as a normal boy. As this happened, the body of Alonya, still as a stone, suddenly came back to normalcy, and she leapt forward to embrace her little brother.

Prince Kaspar, and the Lord of the village, and all the men who had come along, all the multitude cheered and exclaimed. A wonderful yell erupted from all of them, and Prince Kaspar rushed forward to embrace his betrothed. She fell into his arms at once, and kissed him upon the cheek. Ivan skipped and jumped among them, now a human boy.

With all settled, and the witch dead, Kaspar set off towards home with his future wife, and her little brother. And they lived happily ever after. The end.