━━ ⦗the swan princess! ⦘
❝ you're beautiful!
thank you, but what else?
... what else is there? ... ❞
███████████ 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝
the courageous odette teaches the
once and future king a less...
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chapter two! 002. secrets do behold
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SHE MADE sure she wasn't late the next morning. Up at her usual estranged hours, Odette slipped into the Lady Morgana's chambers while her mistress was still asleep, setting up her breakfast as she usually did. The King's Ward's chambers were beautiful. Despite being like every other room in this castle, Morgana has made the entire room her own extravagant beauty in silk curtains, sheer, embroidered drapes by her ginormous double bed, sanctioned off with intricate designed screens and many vases of flowers that Odette often collected. There was something peaceful and lovely about Morgana's chambers▬something that showed the pure kindness within her heart.
As expected, the Lady Morgana wasn't really sleeping. From her soft pillows, her eyelashes fluttered and intelligent eyes gazed upon Odette as she moved around her centre table, pouring a morning glass of water. An amused smile donned her lips to see her, "Well, good morning," Morgana chuckled.
Odette glanced up, and flushed, "Good morning, My Lady▬did you sleep well?"
Morgana sighed, pushing herself to sit up and her long black hair fell down her back in waves, "You and I both know the answer to that question," she muttered bitterly. Her gaze wandered to the door to the side, where the antechamber resided, a place Odette often slept since she had nowhere else. But last night she swapped her shift with Guinevere while she slept in the servant's quarters down the hall▬of course, Odette would never say a word to Morgana, but sometimes, she needed a full-night's sleep instead of being woken up by each nightmare her mistress was plagued with. "Should we wake her? After what I did to her last night, she deserves a sleep in."
"You shouldn't blame yourself Morgana," breathed Odette kindly, setting down the water jug to frown at her friend. "Did you take your sleeping draft?"
The King's Ward scoffed and swept her legs out from beneath her covers, "It doesn't work."
As if she knew they mentioned her, the door to the antechamber opened. There appeared a young, beautiful lady already fully dressed▬not an ounce about her showing as if she had just as much of a broken sleep as Morgana had. Guinevere Smith had been working for the King's Ward even before Odette had been taken in. She was the Lower Town Blacksmith's daughter, just a few years senior to Odette herself. Dark-haired, dark-skinned and dark-eyed, she was the embodiment of gentle beauty with a sweet smile and an even sweeter gaze.
Morgana breathed an apologetic smile, "Gwen ... how are you?"
Even if she had lied, Gwen was always polite▬she never spoke a bad word about anyone, "I'm perfectly fine, My Lady. How are you?"
