I'm pretty sure I read this one as a child... elements of Swan Maiden and selkie stories mesh. The ol' Fairy Christening Curse means that this princess is doomed to love the first living thing she sees. Her family goes to lengths to protect her until a suitable prince can be found - but the malevolent fairy's intervention dooms her to fall passionately in love with a heron. Out of a bittersweet and difficult situation, eventually a family manages to achieve a kind of happy ending.
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