Literature / The Sorcerer's Daughter

The Sorcerer's Daughter (Russian: Дочь чародея) is a Russian fantasy novel by Irina Izmailova, published in 2003. It is a retelling of Swan Lake.

Princess Regnant Odette Angeline of Roswald, as strong-willed and independent as she is beautiful, orders a killing of swans at Swan Lake to make swan-feather dresses for herself and her court. It enrages Rothbart, the wizard living in an abandoned castle on the lake's shore, and he turns the princess and her ladies-in-waiting themselves into swans. The curse only works during daytime, and while the ladies try to distract themselves with feasts and dancing, Odette tries to convince Rothbart to turn them back and gradually gets to know him. She becomes fascinated with his character, intelligence and Mysterious Past.

Four months later, Siegfried, Odette's reckless and carefree second cousin and crown prince of the neighboring Grünwald, finds the lake and is enamored with Odette, vowing to rescue her. Rothbart deceives him by sending his daughter Odile, who looks amazingly similar to Odette, to the royal ball in Grünwald; however, the trick only makes Siegfried mad with anger, and the prince challenges Rothbart to single combat and defeats him, severely wounding his arm. The sorcerer loses his power, and the enchanted women are turned back. A happy ending, right?

It Has Only Just Begun. Odette shocks everyone by fully pardoning Rothbart, who goes back to live in the abandoned castle, but not before begging Odette to take his daughter to her court. Odile turns out to be a sweet, easy-going yet very smart and perceptive girl, and soon she becomes the princess's best friend.

Siegfried and Odette, as they meet again after the dramatic rescue, are increasingly hesitant about announcing their engagement, and Siegfried finds himself drawn to the gentle Odile, who tries to reject his attentions for her friend's sake yet can't help but fall in love with him.

Then one day, on her way to visit her father, Odile accidentally overhears a plot being developed against Siegfried, which turns out to be merely a part of a deadlier scheme that anyone could imagine, into which all four protagonists are unwillingly dragged.

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The Sorcerer's Daughter contains examples of:

• Adaptational Context Change: The whole Swan Lake storyline that sets the main plot in motion:
  • In the ballet, though his exact motives vary in different versions and interpretations, Rothbart’s victims are clearly portrayed as completely innocent. Here, while the curse is certainly depicted as Disproportionate Retribution, it’s in revenge for Odette being an unrepentant Cruella to Animals.
  • In the ballet, Rothbart brings Odile to the ball and tricks Siegfried into swearing his love to her to completely seal Odette’s swan curse. Here, it’s precisely the opposite: he wants to provoke Siegfried into attacking and defeating him (therefore setting Odette and her court free) because he longs to lose his magic powers. Well, that, and maybe there was a bit of Green-Eyed Monster in play, too.
• Adaptational Romance Downgrade: In Swan Lake, on which the novel is based, Odette and Siegfried are genuinely in love. Here, their romantic feelings for each other amount to a brief crush stemming mostly from the idea of a fairytale-like Rescue Romance. The crush fades very quickly, and from then on they have nothing but familial affection for each other (they are cousins).
• After-Action Villain Analysis: When Limerich's dragon is temporarily defeated, the survivors of its attack listen to Rothbart's lecture on dragon nature.
• Age-Gap Romance:
  • Rothbart is thirty-seven and Odette is twenty-one.
  • Odette’s other suitor Gottwald is about forty as well.
  • Gottwald suggests Odile might be married off to Captain Rimvolt. She is fifteen and he is in his mid-forties. However, it’s more Gottwald being a Troll than the remotest possibility of such a match ever existing.
• Ambition Is Evil: Rothbart, who feels himself unworthy of Odette and hates the very thought of a king's crown, eventually gets both, while Count Gottwald Limerich wants dark magical powers, Odette and the crown, and gets a battle-axe in his head.
• Angry Mob: During the plague, people are suspicious of their loved ones getting carried away to the hospitals. As nobody except the doctors is allowed to enter the hospital tents, the mob nearly begins a revolt.
• Anti-Climax: One of the plot arcs ends up being this. In the first part of the book, there is a great deal of conflict about the fact that Siegfried and Odette are as good as formally betrothed, having promised to marry each other, but are gradually realizing they don't want to marry after all. It's shown to be so serious that Rothbart says taking some church vow might be the only way out of it for Odette. However, after Gottwald's defeat, the issue is just dropped and Siegfried and Odile soon announce their engagement to the public without any trouble, with the implication that him and Odette stating they have cancelled the betrothal was all it took in the end.
• Armor Is Useless: Rothbart and Siegfried are armored very lightly when they go to rescue Odette from Gottwald, since Rothbart realizes armor won’t help them against magic and will only slow them down.
• Arranged Marriage: The idea that Siegfried and Odette can marry one day to unite Roswald and Grünwald again has been in people’s heads at least since the two were fourteen and sixteen respectively. Unlike another adaptation of the ballet, it never comes to anything (though the final resolution is better even from the arrangement point of view: Siegfried becomes king of Schwanswald anyway by virtue of marrying Odile, its rightful heiress, and Odette becomes Queen of Naples by marrying Rothbart).
• As You Know: In the epilogue, Odette reminds Rothbart that Siegfried and Odile got married on the same day as them.
• Asshole Victim: Even when he is a sorcerer angry at the whole world, Rothbart uses his spells only to kill really despicable people. However, it's not always him being moral: he plots against Abbot Orsino too, but the latter is too good for black magic to hurt him.
• Badass Unintentional: A random soldier who doesn’t even get his name mentioned kills Limerich with a battle-axe without even thinking it through.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Siegfried dreamily says he’d like to battle a dragon, and mere paragraphs later he nearly is roasted by a real two-headed one. It takes two days to bring the dragon down, there are several casualties, and Rothbart and Siegfried narrowly survive.
• Best Friends-in-Law: It's obviously not enough for the whole lot of them to be related already. Anyway, Siegfried and Odette find out they are Better as Friends and become son- and mother-in-law after finally marrying their respective sweethearts. Also, Rothbart and Siegfried ended up being best friends, luckily for Odile.
• Betty and Veronica Switch: For Siegfried, there's the Damsel in Distress and the Hot Witch… or rather, a proud harsh princess he's dead scared of and a sweet and adorable girl.
• Bickering Couple, Peaceful Couple: Rothbart and Odette are almost constantly arguing, while Siegfried and Odile are sweet and peaceful.
• Birth-Death Juxtaposition: In the backstory, in a single phrase. "The queen soon slipped into madness and died, after giving birth to a girl, the only heiress to the throne".
• Brainy Brunette: Odette, Odile and Rothbart all fit the trope.
• Break Her Heart to Save Her: Rothbart is cursed to become a monstrosity and sees no way out except to continue living as a recluse. As he sees Odette is so much in love with him she is ready to abdicate and follow him anywhere, he decides to reject and leave her as soon as the plague epidemic is over, since he doesn't want her to give up her life and, quite possibly, regret it afterwards. His curse is lifted thanks to his repentance, and the whole problem is nullified before it can get out of control.
• Chekhov's Gun: The book opens with a long and detailed passage about a spell that allows a previously cast spell to return which is promptly forgotten after the first two pages. Many chapters later, cue Odette remembering about the spell, learning it from Rothbart and escaping from Gottwald in her swan form.
• Coming of Age Story: For three of the protagonists, it's essentially this.
  • Odette comes to realize that "selfish" and "strong-willed" aren't synonyms and that being in power isn't the most important thing (or goal) in the world.
  • Siegfried grows more mature and responsible, and stops thinking that battles and wars are all about easy victories and glory, realizing it's more about blood and suffering.
  • After living in almost complete seclusion for fifteen years, Odile learns to interact with society.
• Compliment Backfire: Siegfried compares Odile to a fairy and a sorceress, only for her to get frightened and adamantly deny any involvement with demonic powers.
• Court Jester: Siegfried's court joker Berk, "with smart and, as it is with most jesters, always sad eyes". He's famous for his witty aphorisms and is the first to see that Siegfried and Odette just don't match together.
• Criminal Doppelgänger:
  • Odile when posing as Odette at her first ball.
  • Gottwald poses as Rothbart with a little magical help twice. The first time, to incriminate him before Anne, the second, to kidnap Odette.
• Cruel and Unusual Death:
  • Brother Aloisio gets turned into a bat, and two nights later an owl kills him.
  • Gottwald turns into a rat and attempts to escape from Rothbart. He succeeds in that, but a random soldier sees the transformation, panics and cuts Gottwald’s head with a battle-axe without even aiming properly.
• Cynic–Idealist Duo: Rothbart and Siegfried, practically all the time. Much of their dialogue goes like this: Siegfried's grand idealistic solution to the problem is followed by Rothbart's bitter snarky comment on why it won't work. The reality usually turns out as something in-between their expectations.
• Damsel in Distress: Usually the trope gets deconstructed.
  • Queen Anne falls terribly ill and a young physician cures her. She falls in love with him, and they marry, but the courtiers immediately start plotting against them, and their relationship ends up being destroyed in the worst possible way.
  • Odette is always a Defiant Captive, and during her second captivity, it's her who thinks up the only plan that works to defeat Gottwald, and she literally flies away from him, kicking his ass in all her feathers.
  • Inverted with Odile, who rescues Siegfried.
  • Played straight with Matilda, a young peasant woman who has to be rescued from the dragon, along with her toddler son.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Downplayed, with "defeat means gratitude" instead. Rothbart bears Siegfried no ill will and is forever grateful to the prince for saving his soul from damnation. Later on, they do become friends.
• Don't Celebrate Just Yet: When Gottwald is finally killed along with his pet dragon, everyone is ready for a happy ending… then Black Death breaks out in both Roswald and Grünwald.
• The Dying Walk: The last flight of the mortally wounded dragon, which takes it to the place where it was born.
• Easily-Overheard Conversation: When you are in a long-deserted forest shack and plan to kill the hero, a girl in love with him just happens to be under the window outside.
• Everyone Is Related: All the main characters and a few of the secondary ones. Siegfried, son of Prince Karl and Princess Gertrude, and Odette, daughter of Prince Roderick and Princess Laura, are second cousins and almost get engaged, and Gottwald is Siegfried’s maternal uncle and schemes to marry Odette. Odile is Rothbart’s daughter, and Rothbart is the widowed husband of Anne, cousin to Karl and Roderick, making Odile second cousin to both Siegfried (whom she ends up marrying) and Odette (whom Rothbart ends up marrying).
• Exact Words:
  • Rothbart begs Odette not to let his daughter watch his execution. Odette swears Odile won't see it – and issues a pardon the next morning.
  • "King Roberto was burned at the stake, Queen Anne is dead, and the chances are hundred to one that their daughter has died as well."
  • Rothbart on Odile’s attempted sabotage of his plan: “She tried to be cold with the prince, too. She doesn’t know, the little fool, that this is exactly what arouses men the most…” says he to the face of Ice Queen Odette.
• Fairytale Wedding Dress: For each of the heroines in the epilogue’s double wedding. Odette’s is purple, Odile’s is white, and both are trimmed with gold.
• Fluffy Fashion Feathers: Swan-feather dresses set the plot in motion. Later, Odette also appears in a flamingo-feather dress.
• Friendship Moment: Rothbart and Siegfried share a hug before the final battle with the dragon.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: Odile knows in her heart that posing as Odette and trying to seduce Siegfried in this disguise is very wrong, so while she obeys her father, she at least tries to be cold with the prince. He only thinks she is Playing Hard to Get and gets even more infatuated.
• Good Costume Switch: Unusually, after Rothbart gets fully redeemed, it’s not he who gets a switch, but rather his daughter. Odile starts wearing white, which she never did before.
• Good Hurts Evil: Mostly used in the sense of "Good Blocks Evil".
  • Abbot Orsino is immune to any spells Rothbart tries to send at him and later survives the dragon’s attack despite being right under the beast’s noses.
  • After Rothbart repents, the curse left on him by his wizard mentor is lifted.
• Gorgeous Period Dress: Odette and Odile's opulent dresses are described in intricate detail.
• Heal It With Fire: Rothbart’s leg is nearly bitten off by the dragon, and Odette has to cauterize the wounds with no instruments available except an arrow and a torch.
• Hidden in Plain Sight: Rothbart fears for Odile, since if her real identity is discovered (he thinks), she will become a pawn at best and be killed off at worst. So he asks Odette (whom he initially believes capable of killing her potential rival for the throne) to admit her to court, where Odile quickly becomes everyone’s favorite.
• Historical Fantasy: The story is set in a slightly alternate version of Europe with fantasy elements, with the time period implied to be based on the Late Middle Ages.
• Hypnotize the Captive: Odette is savvy enough to be wary of the trope.
  • When she is held captive at Swan Lake, at first she suspects she is attracted to Rothbart because of some magic of his (it’s not the case).
  • She tells Gottwald he can try to invoke the trope, but any spell he might bestow on her will be broken in church, and she will say no during the wedding ceremony anyway. She is also extremely careful with what she eats in Castle Tudl, for fear of potions that might work that way.
• Inexplicably Identical Individuals: Odette and Odile. Not perfectly identical, but extraordinarily similar. They turn out to be second cousins, though.
• Insecure Love Interest: Rothbart and Odette both feel like this towards each other, for many reasons (especially in Rothbart's case) – the awkwardness about him formerly turning her into a swan and the seventeen-year age gap only begin the list.
• Interclass Romance:
  • Queen Anne marries her lowborn physician against the wishes of the court. He is actually a prince but never reveals the fact.
  • Princess Odette falls in love with lowborn sorcerer Rothbart, and Prince Siegfried with Rothbart's daughter. This time, it does get revealed that Rothbart is a prince.
• Irony:
  • Odette tells Rothbart that she has come to him to ask for deeply personal advice (how to back out of her engagement to Siegfried) and that he is the only one whose opinion she values and whom she knows to be honest. That's right, she is talking about the guy who cursed her only a few months ago. Rothbart is quite shocked by her admission.
  • Siegfried pledges his love to Odile at the ball, mistaking her for Odette. Then he pledges his love to her again, this time knowing whom he is talking about. He is aware of the irony and afraid Rothbart won't believe him.
• Just a Kid: Prince Karl, Siegfried’s father, doesn’t take the then sixteen-year-old Odette seriously, probably thinking she will be like his cousin Anne. He goes to war with Roswald and suffers a crushing defeat.
• King Incognito: Rothbart turns out to be King Roberto, who, in turn, isn't a born commoner as everybody used to think, but the prince of Naples. The first part, however, isn't so sudden, as Gertrude and Odette begin to suspect it before Rothbart actually reveals it.
• Kissing Cousins: Siegfried and Odette – as everyone expects, at least. Later, Siegfried and Odile.
• Knight Templar: Abbot Orsino and Brother Aloisio first appear to be like this. Subverted with both: Abbot Orsino's stern façade hides a gentle and compassionate soul, while Brother Aloisio's fanaticism is revealed to be a mask to hide the fact he is really in league with the courtiers plotting against Queen Anne.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Played with concerning Rothbart and Siegfried’s battle. Rothbart could have easily curb-stomped Siegfried with magic, but as he wants to lose his wizardry powers, he fights him with only his sword and doesn’t even try hard to win.
• Lap Pillow: It was unavoidable, after all, since one of Rothbart's legs was almost bitten off by the dragon and Odette was by his side…
• Light Feminine Dark Feminine: In a twist, sweet innocent Odile is the Light but associated with the black swan and haughty Ice Queen Odette is the Dark but associated with the white swan.
• Life Saving Misfortune: Odette getting turned into a swan ends up being this. Without that curse and the resulting battle that got rid of his magic, Rothbart would have lived on as a reclusive sorcerer for who knows how many more years, so Gottwald would have succeeded in poisoning Siegfried and in forcing Odette to marry him because she wouldn't know how to get the dragon killed otherwise, and the plague would have wiped out many more people in the country.
• Love Dodecahedron: Odette falls mutually in love with Rothbart, who still harbors feelings for the deceased Anne, but she is also pursued by The Casanova Gottwald Limerich and admired by Siegfried, also quite The Casanova in the beginning of the book, who ends up loving Odile.
• A Match Made in Stockholm: Rothbart and Odette begin to develop feelings for each other when she's still under his curse.
• Missing Mom: Plenty of examples.
  • Odile's mother dies when the girl is still in her cradle.
  • Odette's mother dies when Odette is a toddler.
  • Rothbart's mother dies when he's five.
• Moment Killer: Well, Rothbart and Odette had the time to declare their love without interruptions, but when they finally embrace – here comes Siegfried, spitting out cherry stones.
• More Experienced Chases the Innocent: Siegfried is the resident Casanova, but, to his surprise, he falls in love with Odile, who is a complete innocent when it comes to romance. He pursues her in a very determined manner, and Odile is soon completely overwhelmed with feelings and falls head over heels for him.
• Mundane Solution: Contrary to popular belief, Rothbart invokes it and very rarely uses magic.
• Never Found the Body: Queen Anne’s baby and, only a short while later, Brother Aloisio disappear without a trace and are presumed dead. Some people believe that the inquisitor runs away after killing the little princess. In fact, the girl is alive and well in her father’s care, and Aloisio gets turned into a bat.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The old wizard Parfestmeister saves Rothbart from the stake to train yet another pupil in villainy. By doing it, he indirectly ruins the ambitious plans of his first pupil, Gottwald, saves many people who would have otherwise died of the plague, and solves the future Succession Crisis in Naples. Way to go.
• No Sparks: Siegfried and Odette, as they meet after Odette's rescue, realize their engagement goes on like that. Siegfried recalls they spend half an hour talking about nothing.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: Rothbart (even when he's still dallying with magic) and Siegfried (even after stopping his womanizing and focusing on Odile).
• An Offer You Can't Refuse: Gottwald's plan. Either Odette marries him or all her subjects are devoured by the dragon.
• Open Secret: By the middle of the book, everybody seems to know about Rothbart's feelings for Odette. Rothbart admits that even the fishes in the lake must be already aware of it.
• Out of Character Is Serious Business: Signs that the situation is really desperate:
  • Rothbart, or Odette, or both of them breaking down.
  • Siegfried being stern and serious.
• Princesses Rule: Justified – Roswald and Grünwald are principalities, so in the beginning of the book they are ruled by Princesses Regnant Odette and Gertrude. The trope is only played straight until the epilogue, when Odette becomes Queen of Naples and Roswald and Grünwald are united again into a kingdom anyway, making Odile Queen as well.
• Prochronic Product: Set somewhere in the late Middle Ages or early Renaissance, Rothbart develops a theory that suggests the existence of bacteria (he calls them "the plague greenflies"), which allows him to modernise and greatly improve treatments and disinfection during the plague epidemic and eventually create an antibiotic. (Though the use of natural antibiotic-containing products is Older Than Dirt, the specific preparation of antibacterial agents in Real Life only started after the discovery of bacteria, in the late 19th century.)
• Protagonist Title: Played with. Odile is definitely a major character, however, of the two of the female protagonists, Odette gets more focus and character development. But then again, the "sorcerer" of the title is the main male protagonist.
• Rebel Prince:
  • Siegfried would rather lead a merry life of a prince than have a crown on his head!
  • Rothbart chooses a medical education because doctor is "an unsuitable occupation for a prince".
• Rebellious Princess: A queen, actually. Anne marries her physician against the wishes of her cousins and the rest of the court.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni:
  • Friendly and gentle Odile is the Red to Odette's haughty, stoic Blue.
  • Cheerful, carefree Siegfried is the Red and reserved, mysterious Deadpan Snarker Rothbart is the Blue.
• Related in the Adaptation: Odette and Siegfried are turned into second cousins. Rothbart was married to their first cousin once removed, meaning Odile is their second cousin as well.
• Rewatch Bonus: A lot of details about Rothbart and Odile in the early chapters make much more sense once you know they are Queen Anne's husband and daughter.
• Rightful King Returns: Zig-zagged. Rothbart doesn't want to return, and during the epidemic, while his identity is revealed, it's more like "Rightful Great Healer Returns". But afterwards, he really returns to his birthplace, to be crowned King of Naples.
• Royal Favorite: Odile comes to Odette's court and quickly becomes her favorite lady-in-waiting and most trusted friend, to the point that at any events, she is announced as "Her Grace, Lady Odile" right after the Princess Regnant herself, despite having no formal title. It shocks the courtiers at first, but as Odile is a genuinely kind, friendly and accomplished girl, she soon manages to win over most of them.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: A major theme in the book. Lampshaded by Siegfried: he realizes that after he takes part in the fight with the dragon and works with the doctors during the plague epidemic, the people of Grünwald really acknowledge him as their prince.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: A dragon must be grown for two hundred years inside an ordinary viper’s egg.
• Second Love: Rothbart and his deceased wife were very much in love, but they were very young and naive, so their relationship was a quick passionate romance with a heavy dose of Rescue Romance as well and ended in disaster when Rothbart got framed for sorcery and Anne sentenced him to die. After spending many years disillusioned with love, he gradually develops deeper and more mature feelings for Odette.
• Skilled, but Naive: All four protagonists start like this, until Break the Cutie ensues.
• Spotting the Thread: Turning into someone else is very cool and can allow you to frame an innocent party for your crimes. However, even if one doesn’t undergo a complete makeover, there are some subtle changes in one’s appearance that can occur anytime. That’s how Rothbart is able to convince Odette’s highly suspicious courtiers that he hasn’t kidnapped Odette: he hasn’t shaved for two days, and it shows, while the kidnapper in his guise has a clean-shaven face.
• Succession Crisis:
  • After Queen Anne’s death, each of her cousins sees himself as the rightful heir. To avoid a civil war, they split the kingdom in two.
  • The entire royal family dies of plague in Naples, and there is a serious danger of a huge war for the crown with rulers from both Europe and Asia. However, it is revealed that the youngest prince, long vanished from the court, is alive, so the crisis is resolved before things get out of hand.
• Suddenly Suitable Suitor:
  • Subverted. Although Rothbart, being a prince of Naples, is more than worthy of Anne, he keeps his identity secret.
  • Later played straight with Rothbart and Odile for Odette and Siegfried respectively.
• Sufficiently Analyzed Magic: No spell can be cast if the wizard doesn't know how exactly it works and what exactly it will cause. That's why, as Rothbart explains, Limerich, while guilty of many things, hasn't played any part in bringing the plague on the country: the nature of the disease hasn't yet been fully studied.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • If you turn into a bird, it doesn’t mean you automatically learn to fly. That’s why Odette in her swan form is able to defeat Limerich in the form of a raven – she has had four months of flying practice, and he practically hasn’t used his shape-shifting powers at all.
    • There is another aspect of the situation: ravens are usually depicted as at least morally ambiguous if not outright villainous creatures, while swans and everything associated with them are noble, peaceful and pure. However, it doesn't cancel the fact that a swan has extremely strong wings, a sharp enough beak, and a very long neck which gives it a huge advantage over a raven, so it's Limerich who gets utterly curb-stomped.
  • A huge, winged, two-headed, fire-breathing dragon can’t be defeated with swords and pitchforks, no matter how valiant and heroic you are. Only thanks to the beast being young and inexperienced and Odette stealing Limerich’s magical arrows that can pierce its wings the heroes have a chance against it at all; and even so, there are casualties, and even Rothbart has a narrow escape from death.
  • When a spell is lifted, you’re on your way to a happy ending all right. Nevertheless, you can’t avoid being traumatized by what you’ve been through. Odette is lucky in that she, at least, is only cursed to change her physical form, and even that only during daylight, and she is very strong and resilient. Gottwald’s servants, after being completely brainwashed into compliance, have huge problems readjusting to normal life, and many of them are amnesiac.
• Swans A-Swimming: A prominent motif, given what the story is based on.
  • Swans are practically sacred in Schwanswald. Odette's decision to hunt them horrifies many people, while the happy ending includes swans returning to the lake.
  • Odette and her ladies-in-waiting are compared to elegant swans even before the curse is cast.
  • Rothbart lovingly calls Odette "my wondrous white swan" in his thoughts.
  • Odile is affectionately nicknamed "the black swan" (for her gentleness and grace in the midst of the epidemic) by the people of Grünwald. Ironically, most of them don't know she has been one, temporarily, after Gertrude's ball.
• Unexpected Kindness: Rothbart is certain Odette will send him to the stake: not only is it the expected punishment for sorcery, but Odette is well-known as a proud Ice Queen who doesn't shy away from harsh measures against those who wrong her. He only begs her not to make his daughter watch the burning. Odette promises she won't, and keeps her promise by suddenly giving Rothbart a full pardon and setting him free. Rothbart manages to somehow hold himself together when he hears the sentence, but soon goes into fever (thanks also to the still-unhealed wounds from his battle with Siegfried), and Odile throws herself at Odette's feet, weeping with gratitude, and forever keeps Undying Loyalty to Odette afterwards.
• Unexpected Successor: As the king's seventh son, Rothbart becomes a Rebel Prince and never thinks he'll even be close to the throne (not that he particularly wants it). Then the plague decimates the royal family and he is left the only rightful heir.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: King Roberto and the princess whom everybody thought long dead are actually alive, and are, in fact, Rothbart and Odile! Hardly anyone even comments on the fact. Justified, since it's revealed when everyone is in panic because of Odette's kidnapping by Gottwald, and after it is dealt with, the epidemic begins.
  • Averted with Siegfried, who learns it earlier than most and is properly shocked.
• Victimized Bystander:
  • Odette’s ladies-in-waiting who get turned into swans alongside her.
  • The villagers who had the misfortune to live near Gottwald's Castle Tudl. Lots of them were killed by a dragon only because Gottwald tried to force Odette to marry him. The author focuses especially on a young village woman Mathilda and her infant son Erwin, who had a near escape from the beast.
  • Later also many people from Roswald and Grünwald – during the plague epidemic.
• Villain Has a Point:
  • Turning humans into swans certainly isn't nice, but neither is pointlessly killing dozens of swans.
  • Gottwald tries to invoke it when he keeps saying that, right, Odette might detest him, but he is the best match available, their marriage would unite Roswald and Grünwald again, and if she wants what's best for her country, she shouldn't put her own feelings before her duty. However, since he poisons Siegfried to inherit Grünwald's throne and unleashes a dragon on the neighboring villages to blackmail Odette, his arguments fall a bit flat.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting:
  • Rothbart can assume the form of a black kite.
  • Gottwald can turn into a raven.
  • At one point, Odette turns into a swan on her free will.
• Warrior vs. Sorcerer: The climactic battle of the story is between Rothbart, a repented wizard-turned-warrior who preferred sword to sorcery even before losing his magical powers, and Gottwald, a sorcerer who always hides behind his magic. Rothbart forces him to fight him in an honest battle, but Gottwald is such a coward that he turns into a rat and tries to flee at the first opportunity, and is unceremoniously killed not even by Rothbart, but by a random soldier watchman who panics at the sight of the shapeshifting.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Siegfried and Odette think they are in a standard fairytale and on their way to Happily Ever After marriage. However, as the glamour of the heroic rescue wears off, they realize their mistake pretty quickly.

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