I am also the author of two other Scintillating Samples (free reads, in other words) in this Kindle store, and I can guarantee absolutely that none of my stories was ever meant to be other than it is - a SHORT STORY!! What you see here is what you get, in its entirety. I cannot speak for any other authors, but mine were never longer.
Also, regarding Song of the Swan, I'd like to clear up a misconception or two.
This story is nearly twenty years old, created long before Wikipedia was ever even thought of! My personal opinion is that no self-respecting researcher or historian would ever accept anything from that site as a reliable main source of information. I do look at it occasionally, but only to find other sources that offer more in-depth materials.
This story was written for a specific purpose, which it served very well. At the time I was a volunteer reader for a local radio station that served a blind and/or visually-impaired audience. The book was taped and used as a filler if a segment of a longer story wasn't quite long enough. It was highly-regarded by that audience. Some years later, I submitted it to a romance-oriented magazine; it was accepted and published.
Approximately ten years after that, my current publisher asked for short stories. I submitted three, and they were all accepted and are now available at the publishers web-site and the Kindle store. Should I have said `Oh, no! Someone might not like it? Or not understand it?' I don't think so.
You do NOT have to like my stories, but at least please don't take them into dislike for the wrong reasons.
Swans mate for life. That is a scientific fact. However, not all swans live the same length of time. Their greatest predator is the human hunter--whether intentionally or not. Consequently on occasion a widowed swan goes looking for a new mate. This affects either sex swan, and just as humans mate outside their own ethnic category (white/black, black/Asian, etc.) a swan may for some unknown reason select a goose or a duck--but still in the fowl family. This, too, is well-documented in scientific literature. (Oh, I suppose it might choose a non-documented mate, for that matter, but I have no way of knowing.)
This story takes place in the 1100s along the border between England and Wales, which was a constant battleground. The swans were named for the rulers of England at that time, King Stephen and his consort Matilda.
At that time, (and for several hundred more years until Henry VIII, in fact) the world was run by the Church. Indeed there were a few men who thought they were Kings, but it was only because the Church allowed it. Sexual transgression occurred, of course, but not like it does today. The penalties then were much more severe, including death, and a superstitious population didn't easily go against the Ten Commandments.
Entertainment was simple, and usually presented by `mummers'. Look it up. My dictionary says: one who goes merry-making in disguise during festivals. Of course, it also says the first documented use of the word was 1502, but I didn't have this dictionary then, so I apologize for that inaccuracy. To read about a troupe of traveling actors from about that latter time (1500) I recommend the marvelous books by Margaret Frazer, beginning with A Play of Isaac.
