The Swan and the Engineer

Chapter 1

If you were to ask Odette how did she end up bound by chains, gagged and thrown in a wooden cart, smuggled out of the library as if she was some cattle, she didn't think she could reply. Odette was a librarian, and she was a nice and quiet girl, with notable powers which she kept in check by performing one or two tricks, enough to keep the thrumming of magic under control. She was not particularly beautiful, not enough to be kidnapped like some damsel, so you can understand the confusion that clouded her mind.

It all started with two men barreling in the library via window. In the quiet twilight that settled over the town, when she was preparing to close, a loud noise of shattered windows was heard, and a rain of shards fell upon her. She raised her hands to stop them from harming her, and the shards were melted by a wall of fire. Two men were wrestling on the ground, and then they jumped on their feet, picking up lost swords and started fighting. Odette was startled enough to not see the other man coming from behind and quickly grappling her, one hand on her windpipe and the other one holding her hands.

"Stop now, or she dies," the gruff voice behind her said, his grip on her neck tightening.

"Leave her! She's just the librarian, what could you possibly do with her?!" one of the men said, and Odette's brain caught up who was in front of her: one of the noblemen's sons, Siegfried , the one who kept on borrowing books on engineering and conveniently forgot to return them.

What was happening? Odette couldn't say.

"If she's just a librarian, they'll find plenty," the voice behind her said, and she felt the wicked grin and the dark intention behind the words.

So Odette struggled. Her silvery hair started turning black, and her eyes flashed. A cold gust of wind blew in the library, rattling the remaining windows.

The man behind Odette caught her arms tighter, and put on shackles around her wrists. The magic stopped thrumming under Odette's skin, and she felt her body being completely seized up by fear.

"Seems like she has some tricks up her sleeve," the man said, and Siegfried's eyes widened.

While his eyes were on Odette and her attacker, a fourth man appeared from behind a shelf and hit Siegfried in the head, causing the man to collapse on the ground. A strangled, scared howl escaped Odette's throat. The attackers laughed as they picked up Siegfried and bound his hands too.

And now, they had both been hauled in a very uncomfortable and basic wooden cart, and covered by a blanket. Odette figured out the chains they put on her, now linked in her front, at her wrists and neck, were against magic, because when she tried to call to her magic, she couldn't.

So it's safe to assume that Odette was very much freaking out, and Siegfried was not helping at all by being unconscious. Not that she blamed him.

"Hey!" she poked her head out from under the blanket and looked at one of the riders. "Hey, hello, sir!"

The three riders turned towards her, looking bewildered.

"Hello, good sirs, may I ask what did just happened and why am I being kidnapped, since I am, as Siegfried said, just a librarian?" Odette asked, drawing deep breaths between words, trying to control her fear.

If she was being honest, she knew she was very much out of the line. She had never had adventures like this, with, other people, and if she would have had, they would have probably not ended up in kidnappings. She had read though, a lot of books about this! And she knew she had no sense of self-preservation and that talking was the thing that got her both in and out of strange situations. So she figured, this should be one of the cases.

"You saw too much," the man with the gruff voice, the one that caught and bound her said.

"Oh hey, you're the one who shackled me. Why?"

The three men's brows were eerily close to their hairlines. One seemed to be in his twenties, similar to Odette and Siegfried, but he did not seem familiar to her. Maybe they were not from town? The one that shackled her and the one that fought Siegfried seemed far older, maybe in their forties? Fifties? In any case, old enough to be her dad. Suddenly, another wave of fear hit her again, and her eyes watered, and tears threatened to spill.

Fear wouldn't help her, she concluded. Thinking, would. Having her head out, looking and being aware of her surroundings, was a start. Breathe in. Breathe out. Why didn't they knock her out like they did with Siegfried? Unconsciousness sounded like bliss now. Sweet, sweet ignorant bliss, not being hyperaware of everything around her, of the scrape of wooden wheels on the ground, of every bump they hit, of the way the wood scraped at her knees and destroyed her stockings, of the warmth under the blanket.

"You saw too much, had too much power. We don't need any complications, little missy," the young one said. "Maybe we'll sell you to a whore house, to get some money off your back. You look decent enough," he grinned, making Odette's blood run cold.

"Tha-That's... that's an exaggeration," she stuttered out. Another wave of fear. "I wouldn't be any good, I'd probably talk the clients to death and--"

"They could gag you. They could curse you," he interrupted, the cruelty on his face a sign that he now scared her, and he was going to exploit it. "Maybe, they will chain your arms and neck, and then gag you, and then allow all clients to have a round. Or—"

"Vladek, just stop," the man that first caught Odette spoke. She blinked and felt the hot tears spill from her eyes, realizing that she had started to cry. "You're scaring her and you're being cruel without reason."

Vladek didn't seem as if he cared too much.

A sob threatened to escape her when Vladek turned his cold, blue eyes on her.

"Or maybe we'll keep you and pass you around."

"Vladek—"

"Or maybe I can turn you into my plaything."

The sob escaped. Odette physically curled into herself, burying back into the blanket, seeking Siegfried's unconscious body as if he could protect her. He probably couldn't. She allowed herself to cry, her whimpering and sobs drowning the argument that was outside between Vladek and the older man.

For the first time, Odette felt the adrenaline leave her, and the reality of the situation hit her, turning her thoughts into a buzzing noise, drowned by the fear.

She did not know how much time it passed when they stopped, only that she cried all the tears she had and they were long dried when they reached their destination. She was shaking violently, and Siegfried was still unconscious. She could not control her fear, not even when she wasn't at fault. Vladek scared her, and deep down, she knew that if she had her hands bound, she couldn't even dream of defending herself. She needed Siegfried's help, and he wasn't waking up. The older man lifted the blanket, at last.

"Come on, kid, we're moving you," he said, picking her up and setting her down in a gentler manner than she expected.

She hated the way in which his grip softened, the way in which his discourse got gentler. Did she remind him of a child? Of his child? Good. Because he should have let her go.

The chains rattled once more as they pulled Siegfried out and Vladek dumped a bucket of water on him, causing the brunette to gasp and try to stand up, only to be pulled back on his knees. Vladek laughed, kicking Siegfried again. Odette felt a shiver crawl up her spine and she shuddered. They were in a very big, big mess and for the moment, there was no solution in sight.