The Swan Princess

Chapter 29: Wild Goose Chase

"Odile, come quick! Look at that!"

"What?" Odile says, being fitted for a new dress. "Don't poke me!" She smacks the seamstress' hand away.

"Sorry, milady," she mumbles under her breath.

"That maid over there! Emilia! She's feeding the swan!"

"The swan?" Odile smacks the servant tightening her corset. "What do you mean, the swan?"

"The swan that attacked you! Remember? A few weeks ago?"

"It's back?" She pushes the nearest maid away, via hand to the face. "Where?"

"Out the window! Look!"

Odile scrambles to the ledge, peering so far out, a gust of wind could topple her over.

"She's feeding the creature!" she gasps.

"And look, lady Odile!" Her favorite handmaiden, Mia, gestures to her closet. "There's a white feather in this closet, where your favorite dress used to be!" She holds up the offending feather. "If you reach all the way to the back corner, you can see this hidden!"

Odile's entire face heats. "That bird..." she growls. "Was a thief!"

"A thief!" Mia repeats.

"A thief?" The seamstresses question.

"I will handle this," Odile says, grabbing the feather out of Mia's hand. "Let's go, ladies."

***

I am mourning in the lake nearby, waiting. Waiting for my heart to stop hurting. Waiting for a direction to go with my life. Waiting for my knight to come. Now that 'Princess Insun' has fled permanently, he should have nobody left to desire. I can forget this entire prince fiasco, put all my pain behind me, and move on with a new relationship. A new life.

One without balls, or birthdays, or royal weddings...

I'm so lost in thought, Emilia's voice startles me.

"Want a cracker, pretty bird?"

She's on her knees by the edge of the water, reaching her hand out in offering.

I drift forward and take it, swallowing it whole.

She pats my head. "I'm sorry about.... Everything." She hands me another cracker, which I gulp with vigor. I was so distraught last night, the only thing I did was run to my room, cry, fly around aimlessly, and return to cry some more.

"We will get through this together, you and I." She smoothes a hand over my feathers. "Come join me at work whenever you're ready. We can gossip about who's the best and worst dressed of all our visitors."

She leaves, and her figure fades into the distance.

I close my eyes, trying desperately to rest. The birds are chirping. The breeze is blowing, stirring the scent of fragrant flowers into the air. And yet, I have this premonition that something is terribly wrong...

Is it my own disaster of a life? No, because I've been brooding over that for weeks. So what is it? Why do I feel this sudden awareness, like I'm being watched?

My stalker reveals herself a moment later.

"Imbeciles!" she screams.

The doors slam against the walls as she throws them open, marching toward where the servants washing clothes in the stream.

"I am the victim of a robbery!" Odile shrieks.

Her heels clop against the stone path as she rages. Behind her, her posse of friends and servants follow, like the shadow behind a storm cloud.

Maids leap to the side as she passes. Her toxic energy makes the air frenzied, static, like a spark waiting to ignite.

She walks straight to Emilia, then slaps her.

"You," she hisses, "have stolen from me."

No.

I dive into the closest group of trees, and shift. I can still hear their conversation as I walk over.

"What do you mean?" Emilia says, backing up. Her face is still red from the force of the slap, and she holds it in her hands. "I haven't done anything!"

"Odile, do you have any proof?" Margo asks in a no-nonsense voice. From my position moving behind the trees, I can see her stance. She's angry, teeth clenched.

She waves the guilty feather in her face. "Does this look familiar? Hmm?"

Emilia gulps.

"I found this—" she smacks Emilia with the feather—"in my closet. The same closet, in fact, that my favorite gown was stolen from. And what did I see this morning?"

She stands face-to-face with Emilia. Emilia is as still and white as stone.

"You, feeding the damned swan!"

"Odile, are you seriously suggesting—" Margo interjects.

"The punishment for treason is death, is it not?" Odile yells, projecting towards all the servants there.

Emilia gasps. Other servants cover their mouths in horror. I start sprinting out of the trees.

"Am I not the incoming princess? Am I not capable of dismissing all of you for treason?"

Emilia begins to sob. "Please, Princess Odile, have mercy."

"No!" My strangled cry carries across the garden expanse. My muscles move as fast as they can as I run towards Odile. I don't need to push any servants away. They make way, allowing me to pass. To save my friend. To take responsibility for my own mistake.

Sweeping my arm back, I push her aside.

"It was me!" I gasp. "I stole your dress."

"Odette?" Odile sneers. "Of course." She smiles wickedly. "Our father will be glad to be rid of you, sister dearest."

She points a thin, manicured finger at me. "Take her away."

Her goon, the old crone that once brought me into this castle, grabs my ear, causing me to yelp in pain.

"No!" Emilia cries. "I did it! Take me instead!"

She grabs my arm, slowing us down. "Let go, Emilia," I say gently. "It will be alright."

"No, it won't!"

Margo pulls her away, oblivious to her thrashing.

I take a last look at the garden as I'm dragged away. The flower-lined path I walked with Lukas. The stream I spent endless time chattering with Emilia over while we washed clothes. The lake that let my swan self be at peace, even in this unfamiliar home.

Goodbye, castle, I think to myself. This is the end of my journey here.

I only wish I could have left it with what I was looking for in the first place.

True love.