and when he arrived, he was told she was dead. He fell deathly ill and told his mother of Constancia's royal birth. The queen told him the truth to save him, and Mirtain assured him it was true. Constancio set out to find her. He implored help from some giants, who did not answer, but Cupid himself came and said he must aid him: if Constancio cast himself in a fire, he could reach her, but if his love was not true, he would die. Constancio threw himself in and found himself in a garden, and transformed into a pigeon. He remembered the tale of the Blue Bird (another fairy tale by Madame d'Aulnoy), tried to kill himself, and heard that Constancia was a prisoner in a tower. He was captured and brought to the fairy whose care Constancia had been left in. She told him the ship had brought Constancia into the giant's power. She gave him a ring that would turn her into a dove, and he brought it to Constancia. They flew off, the giant drowned himself in despair, and the fairy and Cupid gave the couple a secret home where they could live. See also References Works by Madame d'Aulnoy Fiction about shapeshifting Literary duos Fictional Columbidae