We fled at dawn from mother’s grave, Through bracken, stone and heather wave. A wicked queen upon the throne, Turned love to fear, turned hearth to stone. “Run, my sister, don’t look back, The world behind is dark and black.” Her hand in mine, my breath ran fast, The spell was close, the die was cast. Three streams we crossed in forest deep, Each whispered words that made me weep. “Drink and be a tiger bold,” “Drink and wear a wolf’s cold soul.” She cried: “Oh brother, hear my plea, If you drink now, you’ll not be free.” I knelt, I shook, I tried to stand, Till thirst betrayed my trembling hand. **Oh brother, oh sister, bound by blood and vow,** **By moon and moss and mountain brow.** **Though spell and sorrow tear us apart,** **One soul still beats in a broken heart.** I drank the stream with burning lips, My shape was torn by magic grips. Where once a boy stood, proud and near, Now leapt a gentle, golden deer. She screamed my name, fell to her knees, I knew her tears, I felt her pleas. No words I had, no human sound, Just beating hooves on cursed ground. She built a hut of leaves and bark, By forest edge, from dawn till dark. She cared for me with bread and song, Said: “Brother, here is where we belong.” By day I ran through fern and tree, By night I knelt beside her knee. The world was cruel, but love stood fast, A fragile hope the witch had missed. **Oh brother, oh sister, wild and torn,** **One cursed, one brave, one hope reborn.** **Though fang and fear now shape your face,** **I’ll guard your soul, I’ll keep your place.** Then came the king with hunting horn, Through misty glen at early morn. He saw the deer with eyes so kind, And spared the beast he couldn’t find. She met the king with shaking breath, Told truth of curse, of spell, of death. He swore an oath by crown and blade: “No harm shall touch what love has made.” But envy breeds in silent shade, The wicked queen her plot replayed. She took her shape, her voice, her face, And sent my sister to death’s embrace. By night she died, betrayed, alone, Her soul cried out in broken tone. I wept in hooves, I struck the ground, Till truth was heard in ghostly sound. **Oh brother, oh sister, hear the call,** **No curse stands firm where lies must fall.** **By fire and truth the spell is torn,** **From death and grief, new life is born.** The queen was judged, the lie undone, The deer stood tall – a man once more, a son. By crown and glen, by stream and stone, They lived at last, no more alone.
