Author's Note: Thank to Prin rox and NiallsLady18 for the review. I didn't mean to wait this long to post this chapter. Hope you enjoy it.

THE CASTLE IN THE SWAMP

Chapter 13

On her way home Yuliya cried. She felt terrible. She had lost a friend, more than a friend. She would have stayed with Michael forever. She loved him, but that had to remain her secret. Her family could never know her pain. When she felt she had gained control over her feelings, and would be able to talk to her family without breaking down, she hurried home.

Yuliya knocked on the parlour window in passing, and had barely time to ring the doorbell. Annushka was there already to open the door, and nearly smothered her in an embrace.

"You're back, you're back," her little sister stammered.

The rest of the family, wondering where Annushka had gone to, came to the door as well. They all embraced and kissed Yuliya, all talking together so that nobody understood anything of what the others said.

Eventually Anna suggested, "Let's go back inside and Yuliya can tell us everything."

Annushka held Yuliya's hand as they went inside. She didn't even let go when Yuliya was seated in her usual place but plopped down at her feet.

"Do you have to leave again tomorrow?" she asked anxiously.

"No," Yuliya answered. "It is done. He doesn't want me anymore."

"It's finally over, and about time too," Irina stated.

They were all so happy about Yuliya's return that they didn't notice the sadness in her eyes. Her sisters were telling her everything that had happened in the past months. Who had become engaged to whom, who was married, the scandal of an elopement, what parties and social events they had gone to. Suddenly they were interrupted by a baby's crying. Martin jumped up and left the room, shortly after returning with a little gurgling bundle.

"Yuliya, meet your brother, Martin Junior," her father said proudly.

For the first time since she had left Michael Yuliya's eyes lit up.

"Oh, how wonderful! Finally you've got your son and heir, Father. I'm so happy for the two of you. You'll just have to stop Father from spoiling him, Anna."

"He's already started," Anna said, laughing. "One whimper, and your father is there trying to soothe him."

Yuliya didn't know if the birth of her little brother was really the result of her first wish, or something that would have happened anyway. Not that it was that important. The only thing that mattered was the happiness of her father and Anna.

Later that evening Yuliya realised that neither of her sisters' boyfriends were present. Had something gone wrong ? Had the couples split up? She wondered if she could ask Annushka who was still seated at her feet. Just then the younger girl stood up.

"Let's take a turn around the room, Yuliya," she said.

Yuliya complied, hoping there might be occasion to talk about the young men. They had barely started walking when Annushka broached the subject herself.

"Do you remember what you said about Felix and me living on love?" she whispered in Yuliya's ear.

Yuliya nodded. Of course she remembered. That was the reason why she had made her second wish.

"I wondered why he wasn't here," she said. "Did you two break up?"

"No, of course not. We love each other," was Annushka's reply. "But after you'd gone the last time, I thought about what you had said and I asked him, if he had a job or if his poetry paid enough to live off. He wanted to know if I was interested in what he did, and I said of course I was."

"And does he have a job?"

Annushka's smile could have won prizes for smugness. "He's the business partner of Irina's boyfriend. They're doing really well. Father's impressed."

"I'm so glad for you Annushka," Yuliya said happy that Felix had turned out to be the right man for her little sister.

Next morning, before anyone was awake, Yuliya went to the edge of the swamp. Michael wasn't there, just as he had said. Yuliya closed her eyes and tried to find him with her mind, without success. The swamp was empty, a dead place. Michael was somewhere under the desolation and she could not reach him. Her gift was not strong enough to pierce through the mud of the swamp. Or perhaps the curse prevented her from reaching him. She would never see him again. Her sorrow was too heavy for tears. Slowly she went back home and to her surprise met Irina on the way.

"I saw you leave," Irina said. "I followed because I wanted to speak to you alone."

Yuliya hooked her arm in her sister's.

"What did you want to ask me?"

"Not ask, Yuliya. Tell. You were right about money not being enough for marriage. I thought it would be, but seeing Annushka and Felix together – always happy and so much in love – I started to feel I was missing out. There never seemed time for Daniel and me to just walk or sit down together, talking about our future. Daniel only talked about the money he'd made and the success of his business."

"What happened? Did you break up?" Yuliya asked.

She had a feeling of déjà vu, asking the same question again. To her surprise she received the same answer.

"Of course we didn't break up. I just asked him if we couldn't be more like a real couple, if he had real feelings for me."

"And?" Yuliya asked when her sister stopped talking.

"It was my fault all along that he seemed so cold. Daniel was as happy as anything when I told him I wanted love, not just money. It's been wonderful ever since."

When Yuliya didn't say anything Irina added, "You can say, 'I told you so', Yuliya. You were right all along."

Yuliya just smiled. Together they went into breakfast where the talk was all about preparations for the festivities at the end of the week. The party was to celebrate the birth of little Martin. Later on Martin Senior would announce the engagements of his daughters Annushka and Irina.

"Such a shame you haven't got a boyfriend, Yuliya. It could have been a triple engagement," said Annushka.

It was like the start shot to a race. Both Annushka and Irina attempted to find a partner for Yuliya. She still needed a dress for the party so they took her to Ellinford. Once there they introduced her to friends of Felix and Daniel. After the fifth man they 'happened to meet' Yuliya had had enough.

"Stop trying to be marriage brokers," she told her sisters. "I am not interested."

"But it would be such fun," Annushka said.

"Fun for whom, Annushka?" she queried. "Fun for you because your dream of a triple engagement came true, or fun for me because you persuaded me to become engaged to a man I don't love?"

"I'm sorry, Yuliya. I didn't mean to upset you."

"I know, Annushka. Come, let's go and find me a dress for the party."

Yuliya had put her arm around Annushka's shoulders and started to walk away.

"You love it, don't you?"

Irina's words stopped Yuliya instantly.

"You are in love with that beast, that swamp creature, aren't you?"

Yuliya turned to face her sister.

"Stop calling him a beast. Michael is a man."

"Michael? You gave it a name?"

"His name IS Michael. He's the lost Lord of Altena Castle. And yes, Irina, you are right, I love him. But he has sent me away and I can never go back to him."

"He obviously didn't love you then."

"He loved me too well, Irina. Can't you understand?"

"I suppose so," Irina admitted reluctantly.

"We won't be so pushy anymore," Annushka added.

They continued their shopping expedition until they found a dress they could more or less agree on.

ooOOoo

The day of the party finally arrived. Martin and Anna with their baby in his cot between them welcomed the guests. Next to them stood the three girls who also greeted everyone who entered the house.

Whenever a bachelor appeared, either Annushka or Irina and sometimes both would ask Yuliya, "What about him?"

The answer was always the same, "No!"

Daniel and Felix were among the last visitors to arrive. Yuliya couldn't help herself and had a quick 'look'. She liked what she saw, and gave them a warm welcome before they took Annushka and Irina to line up with the other couples. Finally the dancing could begin. All the guests had arrived, and Martin took the cot with his son to a sitting area where the matrons congregated. While they were clucking and cooing over the little boy, Martin and Anna took a turn on the dance floor. Meanwhile Yuliya had found a place near the entrance. From there she could observe everyone without being disturbed or even noticed. The evening couldn't end quickly enough for her, but she had to stay until her father had announced the engagements of her sisters.

ooOOoo

Day after day Michael walked about like an automaton. Eating because there was food on the table in the dining room, sleeping when exhaustion overtook him. It seemed as if an eternity had passed though in reality it had only been seven days since he had sent Yuliya away. That evening Zinaïda appeared in the dining room where he was sitting at the table, staring into nothing.

"I thought you would have dinner with the girl. Is she in her room?" she inquired.

"I sent her home, Zinaïda," was his short answer.

"Why? I believe the girl was willing to stay."

"Her name is Yuliya not 'the girl' and do you really think I wanted her to die in this place? Do you think I could have kept her here, knowing it would be my fault that she slowly withered?"

"No need to worry about her dying. I can easily give her eternal life, so she can be with you forever. You certainly earned that much."

"As if living in this place for eternity is any better than dying in it. I can no more subject her to a life in this place than to death."

"The old Michael would have had no problem keeping a girl here to be his companion," she said matter-of-factly.

"The old Michael was a swine who deserved everything he got," he said.

"True, but I also promised him something if he changed."

"Yes, the chance to not have to live alone. Well, I don't care about your promise because I can't inflict this on any living creature, least of all one I love. The old Michael would have kept Yuliya here but she wouldn't have cared for him. She would have seen right through to the beast inside him and rejected him."

"Yes, she's a special girl, your Yuliya. There is fairy blood in her mother's family, you know. Occasionally that results in a girl like her. Shall I show you what she sees when she looks at you? Have a peek in the mirror there, that's what you look like to her," Zinaïda instructed Michael.

He didn't know what to expect. To his surprise he saw the man he used to be. Nearly anyway. This man had neither the hard staring eyes, nor the cruel sneer on his mouth.

Michael looked at Zinaïda.

"That's how she saw me?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes, and that's what you are Michael. Do you remember my curse? I said you would look like the thing you really are, and you do. You've exceeded my most optimistic expectations of you. You've become the true son of your parents, a man who would choose loneliness for himself rather than make the woman he loves suffer. Go to Yuliya," Zinaïda told him.

He looked at the fairy, confused, not knowing what she meant.

"You broke the curse, Michael. There's nothing left of the man who was cursed, so it's dissolving. What you see in the mirror is reality. You're no longer a beast. This evening there's a party at Yuliya's house. Her little brother is christened. Go get ready. I left suitable clothing in your bedroom."

Michael found the clothes lying on the bed. While getting ready he felt as if he was in a dream, fearing he might wake up but he didn't. He went down again to Zinaïda who looked at him approvingly and took him to the surface.

"Enjoy the evening, Michael. When you come back, your home will be in its place with the gardens around it, just as it was all those years ago before the curse."

When he came to the edge of the swamp, Michael hesitated before he stepped on the solid ground beyond. He walked towards Yuliya's house, faster and faster and finally he was running towards the noise, the people, the music, and Yuliya.

ooOOoo

The party had been going for some time. Yuliya was still sitting in her little corner, observing the dancing couples. She remembered her one and only ball with Michael and had to bite back the tears. She missed him.

Living underneath a swamp with him would be far better than living without him, she thought.

She had closed her eyes to stop the tears that threatened to spill over.

A voice above her said, "Miss Yuliya, you're one of the best dancers here, if not the best. You should be enjoying yourself instead of sitting in a corner. I hope you won't deny me the honour and pleasure of a dance with you."

Yuliya flinched. She had recognised the voice but realised it could not be Michael. He could not be here. She looked up at the man who'd spoken and looked into Michael's eyes. He saw she was shaking. She put her hand on her mouth to stifle a cry. Michael gently escorted Yuliya away from prying eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Yuliya couldn't keep her eyes off the man she'd been thinking about all those long days since she'd returned to her home.

"Is it really you?" she asked with shaking voice. "Or am I just dreaming? Michael, how can you be here?"

"Yuliya, my Yuliya. I'm really here. I've got so much to tell you."

Yuliya had recovered her composure.

"Come," she said, escorting Michael into the garden to a small summerhouse.

They sat down on the bench inside and Yuliya instructed him, "Tell!"

Michael told her everything about the person he'd been and the punishment of Zinaïda, the fairy. He spoke about the promise of a companion, about the flowers in the swamp and the girls who had wanted them, his failed attempts to find someone. Then he talked about the time he'd seen the family walk through the swamp, a day Yuliya remembered, and how he'd hoped one of the girls might be the companion he was looking for, though he didn't know how to achieve that. Then he'd had an unexpected chance when he'd saved Martin; a chance he took when the girl's father offered a reward for saving his life.

"What a fool I was back then," he said, "that I chose your pretty sparkling sister first. She was so frightened, she did nothing but cry. And Irina your other pretty sister who was cold as ice. Then you came. Do you know, at first I thought you were a simpleton, just because you did nothing but clean all day? Thankfully I found out in time what gem fate had brought to me."

He caressed her face.

"And when I had realised that, I realised I would have to let you go," he said, his voice hoarse with the memory of the pain.

"I would have stayed with you," she said, touching his face as well, needing to feel he was really there.

"I know you would have stayed, that's why I had to send you away. You would have died in that dreadful place. Then Zinaïda offered to make you immortal and I couldn't bear to subject you to eternity without the sun. And suddenly Zinaïda said I should come here, to this party and to you. The curse is broken, the castle and gardens will be returned to their old splendour. I can have a normal life. And I've got only one thing to ask. Yuliya, now that you know what kind of person I was and how much I needed the punishment I received, would you still marry me? Be my wife, the mistress of my castle?"

And Yuliya, the wise daughter of Martin, who had advised her sisters on the men they had chosen, who had told Annushka it was impossible to live on love alone, threw caution to the wind and said, "Yes, Michael, I'll be your wife."

"I'm not as wealthy as I was," Michael warned. "The village is independent now, as is North farm and your father owns the land that used to be South farm. They are lost and I won't ask they be returned to me. The land of the other two farms still belongs to me but it will be hard work to re-claim the fertile fields from the overgrown meadows they've become."

"Michael, I would have lived under the swamp with you, and I wouldn't be afraid if all we had was a little hovel with some land to work on." She laughed. "But what you offer me is more than we had until we came here and more than I ever expected."

He laughed as well, a joyful, happy laughter.

"Do you think your father will see me?"

"We'll go to him together. Annushka will be over the moon that there will be a triple engagement announced this evening. And even Irina will be pleased. They've been pestering me since my return. I think they have tried to introduce me to every bachelor within two days' travel from here."

"I could have lost you. You could have chosen one of them."

"Not a chance," Yuliya said. "Nobody would do but you."

They went back to the house, hand in hand and quickly found Martin. It took longer to explain who Michael was, even in the quiet of Martin's office. When he finally understood and realised what was asked of him, he only had to look at Yuliya's happy face to give his consent.

Just before midnight Martin made the announcement.

"Friends, neighbours, my guests, I'm delighted to see you all in my house, to celebrate with me the happiness that has befallen me and my family. First of all there is the joy I share with my wife Anna in the birth of my son, the boy she and I and my daughters have longed for, for such a long time."

There was a loud cheering and a toast was made to the future of the house.

"There is something else we have to celebrate," Martin said. "First, the engagement of my youngest daughter Annushka with Felix, two young people who'll make a happy marriage as well as a fruitful one. Secondly there is the engagement of Irina, the second of my daughters, with Daniel and they will have a fruitful marriage as well as a happy one. Thirdly I have tonight given consent to Michael, Lord of Altena Castle, to marry my oldest daughter, Yuliya. A toast to my daughters and the men they have chosen."

As if from nowhere glasses of champagne arrived and everyone drank to the health and happiness of the young people. Few wondered where this Lord of Altena Castle suddenly came from, and they decided he must have been raised abroad. Where else? Altena Castle didn't exist anymore. After the toast the three couples went to the dance floor and started the dance again. All the guests agreed it was a lovely sight and Yuliya didn't look as plain as they'd always thought she did.

The party continued for a long time before people started to leave for home. None of the guests noticed the change to the swamp, not until they woke up the next morning.

ooOOoo

Just as Zinaïda had promised, Altena Castle and its gardens were returned. This of course was rather a shock to the people of Altena Village. When they heard there was also a new Lord they were even more alarmed. Would he reclaim all the property that had once belonged to him? After all, their forefathers hadn't paid anything for their houses and land. There was a frantic if fruitless search for official papers that proved their land and houses really belonged to them. The people who did seem to have proof of purchase were soon told that the property might not have belonged to the original seller. There were a lot of worried people in the village.

As soon as Michael heard about these fears, he called a meeting in the large banqueting room of the town hall. He reassured the Alteneans that he had no intention of taking anything from them. To allay any fears completely, he signed proofs of ownership for everyone. Michael was left with Altena Castle in its park, the abandoned East and West farms, a good part of the forest, and some vineyards that Zinaïda had kept for him.

Two months after the engagement party Annushka married Felix. Doves and hearts featured largely in the décor for their feast. Three months after that Irina and Daniel tied the knot. Their wedding celebration was lavish, bordering on the ostentatious. Yuliya was happy to see that despite all the wealth that surrounded her Irina was more interested in her new husband.

Michael had to wait longer before he felt he could take Yuliya to his home. First he wanted to make sure that his farms were operational again. Luckily the grounds of the East farm and the West farm weren't as badly overgrown as Michael had feared. In autumn the year after the curse had been broken Yuliya became his wife and mistress of Altena Castle.

Zinaïda's invisible workforce had been replaced by real people. Despite all the staff they had, Michael worked hard on his farms and Yuliya supervised and assisted in every aspect of the household. They spent their evenings still in the little parlour or the big library and sometimes they occupied the kitchen to cook for themselves because they enjoyed it. Zinaïda visited them regularly, happy in the knowledge she had done the right thing for Michael, even if it had been difficult for him at times.

Altena Castle never became as grand or wealthy as it had been, and certainly never as important as in the days of Michael's forefathers, but it had become a happy place for everyone who lived there, and that is a greater wealth than money and grandeur.

THE END