━━ ⦗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 thirty-one! 031. the price he paid
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WHEN ODETTE was twelve, she and Arthur used to play hide and seek. He was annoyed, and would roll his eyes, but would always count to ten. He would always peek through his fingers once he finished, narrowing his eyes into the clearing they would sneak off to play in, and spend the next few minutes searching behind rocks and tree trunks for the young girl who would laugh as soon as she found her and take off running▬and he would have to run after her, desperately trying to tag her shoulder. And as soon as he did with his long limbs, she would rush right after him, pushing him forwards with a delightful giggle. She loved playing in the clearing▬a breather in the harsh woods that surrounded their home. Here, the wildflowers were beautiful, the wind gently whispered through the tree branches that were filled with bright green leaves in the spring. Here, there were no bandits, no travellers, no patrol and most importantly, no King of Camelot or any Lord who would find the secret of the blossoming friendship between the Prince and a lowly servant's daughter.
She loved how the flowers always seemed to bloom when she touched them. Or how the butterflies would settle on her fingertips and the birdsong chirped sweeter at every smile she made. Odette always managed to make friends with the rabbits and show Arthur the little lizard she had found and named Lord Slithertongue. He would make a face and tell her that making friends with animals was a symptom of insanity, but the sixteen-year-old who never found time to spend with his young friend anymore, would always find his days better whenever they got the chance to sneak off. And he would never admit it to her▬never in his life▬but he always found it amazing how every animal seemed to love her with all of their hearts. And she loved them, too, with every breath of kindness.
Birds would land in her palms. She would find frogs in the creeks and giggled at dragonflies that buzzed close to her nose. She beamed with the sunlight, and was welcomed with open arms by the spring. Arthur had never known someone so kind, so gentle, so warm. And when the wind seemed to just brush up the leaves that would fall from the branches as it grew closer to winter, trickling her neck and her arms with a tender touch▬Arthur realised that there was no one else in this world that was more sweet than Odette. So sweet, that even the forest brightened at her smile▬even the animals cherished her; the flowers tinted the same rose of her cheeks. It was the closest thing to magic that was actually filled with nothing but goodness. There was nothing in the forest floor, in the flower petals, in the birdsong or the way Odette used to smile whenever she made a new animal friend that would ever corrupt a heart that was made of pure love. It was the only magic that was not magic at all, just a girl who held no thought that the world around her could ever be horrible. And yet, it was magical.
Arthur always knew he never wanted something▬someone▬to take that away from her. To never take away that love for anything that was so wonderfully good▬her kindness, her sweet nature, the bright beam on her face that always reached her eyes. She had always been one thing that was truly right in not just this world, but in his life. Even when he pretended to hate her, and shot quivers of arrows at crudely drawn pictures of her face, and rolled his eyes with a scoff ... she made him believe that the sunrise would bring a better day, deep down.
