Starbird (UNDER MAJOR EDITING)

Chapter 4

Jorgen pov:

I am not sure what to do when Odette crumples to the floor and starts to weep. I go over to her and wrap my arms around her shoulders. Odette wrenches away from me, the hatred showing in her eyes. She curls against the windowsill, her pale face shining. She stares into my eyes as she changes, her body shrinking and sprouting feathers. She bursts into flight shakily, her bad wing tucked against her side. I dive to grab her too late, and she goes and perches on a rafter again, tucking her head under her wing. I call out to her, and she brings her head out, hatred shining in her eyes, even as a swan. She honks angrily at me, turning around and showing me her tail feathers.

Odette pov

I turn away from him as he calls out to me.

"Odette! Come down here, please. You really cannot be flying on that wing." I transform back, and turn to face him.

"You may be a Duke, but in my land I could have had you killed." I create a small whirlpool, growing it larger and wider. I float it towards him as he backs against the wall.

"O-odette, please stop th-at whi-wh-irlpool." I whirl it away, making it evaporate in front of his eyes. Jorgen smiles, and I feel a pair of arms wrap around my waist. I transform into a swan in fright, and flap and bite the arms. The person yelps, and I wriggle free after biting his right arm hard. He lets go, and I fly to the ceiling, jamming my webbed feet into a foothold. Jorgen's eyes convey his concern, so I change back into a maiden, hanging onto the ceiling with my good arm. My right shoulder is throbbing, and I can see silver blood starting to seep through the bandage. The wound jolts in pain, and I gasp, letting go of the ceiling. I plummet, changing. I try and fly, but my right wing won't work, and as I flap it, pain sears through my body. I feel myself falling, flickering between swan and maiden. Jorgen's arms wrap around me, and I flicker into maiden. I hear Jorgen's voice, and it's singing to me. I hear him sing the word 'swan' just as everything goes black.

Jorgen pov

I watch as she falls asleep, or faints. She is a maiden now, and her chest rises and falls slowly. I sit by her and stroke her hair, asking her why. "How did you come here, my swa-an? Why are you so afraid? I will he-eal you. Just stay.... Just sta-a-ay. Your wounds will heal, just sta-a-ay. How did you come here? How do you change? Why does your blood run silver? Why do you glow like the sun? What brought you he-ere to me-eee-ee? What brought you here to me-ee, my swan?" When I am sure she is asleep, I gently start to unbraid her hair, running the silken strands through my fingers. It falls over the side of the bed to the floor, swishing like water. Her chest rises faster as I move the shoulder of her dress to the side and undo her bandage. Her face clenches in pain. I look at the wound, washing away the blood that has leaked. I see now that it won't seal by itself. "Odette, I have to stitch your shoulder closed, or it won't heal." I keep washing her shoulder, and the blood seems to move away from me. I call to Nicholas and tell him to get a needle and a two foot length of berak, a strong, slim plant that is used to sew wounds closed. He brings it to me moments later, and I thread the needle. My hands shake, which should not be happening. I have stitched myself up more than once after my encounters in tournaments. I gently push the two sides of the wound together, watching Odette's reaction. Her face grows the smallest bit tenser, but that is normal. Thank you, Mother, for keeping her unconscious. "Forgive me, Odette, for what I'm about to do." I take a deep breath, then start to sew her wound closed. Her face grows paler, and she grows tense. I whisper to her, "It's all right, Odette, it's all right. It'll all be over soon." When I reach the widest part of the wound, she opens her eyes groggily. No, Mother, no! Her eyes go wide with pain as she registers the pain in her shoulder. She screams, high and anguished, trying to get the stitches out.

"No, no, not berak. Valenian blood. Poisonous to us. Stop, please." Her eyes beg me, and I can see her eyes and skin losing their light. I pull out the stitches as quickly and painlessly as I can. She pants hard, her skin pale and graying. Her eyes are losing their light as I ask her,

"What else, then? Berak is the only thing I know!" She stares up at me as she pants.

"Use... henbane... It's the antidote to berak poisoning." I nod to Nicholas, and he runs to get it. She stares up at me, pain shining in her eyes. Nicholas comes running in as fast as he can, and I ask Odette,

"Where does the henbane go?"

"On the... entry point... of the berak." She faints dead away again, and her eyes are now a blue gray, her skin almost storm-cloud-gray.

"No, no, no, no, no, Odette. Stay awake!" I place the henbane on her wound, then push gently on it. She winces slightly, but soon relaxes, her face as gray as a storm. Her chest rises slowly, and falls. It doesn't rise again. I bow my head over her body and weep. "No, Mother Annalia, please bring her back. She doesn't deserve to die. Her soul is white as snow, and I am falling in love with her charm and-and just who she is. Please." Just then, I think I feel her chest rise the smallest bit. I raise my head, seeing the light coming back into her. "Thank you, Mother." I grin, reaching out to hold Odette's hand. Suddenly, she starts to rise off the bed, her body limp. I realize what is happening, and the sorrow comes crashing down on me. "No, Mother Annalia, not Odette. No!" I stand up and wrap my arms around her waist and shoulders, pulling her towards me, away from where Mother Annalia is taking her. "No, Mother, I won't let you take her." Odette stirs in my arms, and I press my lips to her forehead, feeling the warmth there. Her eyes open, and they have their normal shade of sky-blueness back. She smiles weakly, then looks to her shoulder. It is no longer bleeding quite so profusely, but it is still exceedingly bad. I lay Odette back on the bed, then get more henbane and put it in a bowl by the bed. Suddenly, I go back to when I saw Odette change from swan to maiden. I will never forget the dread I felt at that moment.