And I brainstorm, and ducks come up. A mother duck with a vast flotilla of ducklings, perhaps. . . all of them gold. . . which is intriguing
Whereupon the muse says merrily that of course she would have to do some service for the duck and then two other animals. . . and then merrily points out that I've already given the princess a magical helper, though she won't realize it for some while. would be kinda redundant.
unless this turns out to be a novel, in which more characters are needed than in the original. But still, they have to fit the fairy tale logic so they will fit together properly. . . .
sigh