But Tamuna was lonely. Her mother had passed away, and her father, the king, was growing old and worried. He summoned a great feast, inviting princes from all corners of the earth: a stern prince from the east with a golden eagle on his arm, a laughing prince from the west with a ship carved like a sea dragon, and a silent, clever prince from the north who could speak the language of wolves.
"I have no army," Gela said. "I have only my hammer and my two hands."
That night, a shadow fell over the palace. It was Rothgar, a powerful sorcerer who had once been the king’s closest advisor, but who had been banished for cruelty. He desired the throne—and Tamuna. swan princess qartulad
Not with a bird's cry, but with a woman's soft, hopeless sobbing.
"I don't need a kingdom," she said. "I need a home." But Tamuna was lonely
Tamuna took Gela’s scarred hand in hers.
The light was not magic. It was truth. It was Tamuna's memory of her mother's lullaby, the warmth of the forge where Gela worked, the sound of rain on vineyard leaves. Rothgar, who had never loved anything, who had fed only on fear and ambition, began to crumble. He turned to ravens. The ravens turned to smoke. And the smoke faded into nothing. "I have no army," Gela said
"You are no ordinary swan," Gela whispered.