The Swan Queen sighed. “I expected as much. Especially after…” She trailed off and glanced at Odile. Though she offered her friend a smile, her eyes seemed a little red, and her nose was slightlystuffy.
Has she beencrying?
“You were fast—are you certain you’re really done inspecting your camp?” Odileasked.
Odette tapped a ledger book on her shoulder. “Yes. Actually, I’ll be leaving for a delivery soon. Alexsei is coming with me. But first, I need to talk to you, Odile, and you, Angelique.” She glanced at Yakov. “Sorry, Yakov, but I need you to shake some tailfeathers and getlost.”
He laughed deeply, not at all bothered by her blunt manner of speaking. “Of course. It seems it is to be a meeting of lovely and beautiful women. Naturally I would not be allowed. I shall check on my men and see if Lexsei needs anyhelp!”
“Thanks, Yakov.” Odette drummed her fingers on her logbook. “Odile, do you mind if the three of us speak in yourtower?”
“No, not at all! This way, if it pleases you,Angelique.”
* * *
Odile’s towerwas perhaps the most solid and beautifully decorated part of thecastle.
All the windows were intact, and the floor was quite pretty with ornate tile in stylish, geometric designs. The aroma of sweet grain drifted through the tidy space, as did a wild assortment of…magicalcreatures.
Odile shooed all of the animals from the little sitting room to which they had adjourned, except for a giant moth the size of a hunting dog and a deer-like creature that vaguely resembled a unicorn, though its single horn grew out of itsmuzzle.
“Odile’s pets can be somewhat alarming to behold, but they are harmless,” Odette assured Angelique as she leaned against the wall—which was covered in whiteplaster.
Angelique smiled and attempted to elegantly seat herself on an armchair covered in gold velvet. “Given that Odile tamed a wyvern, I don’t imagine a moth is going to be anytrouble.”
Odile blushed. “You are tookind.”
“Not at all,” Angelique said. “I speak the truth. Now, Odette, what is it that you wished todiscuss?”
Odette sighed deeply. Slowly, she opened her ledger and pulled out a small stack of papers. “There isn’t an easy way to say this, but Rothbart purposely lost to us. Because he wanted to protectOdile.”
Odile frowned. “After the stress of breaking your curse, have your wits become addled?” she frankly asked. “As much as it pains me to say it, my father had no regard forme.”
“But he did.” Odette held the papers up, took the top few and passed them to Odile, then handed the others over to Angelique. “Your mother, Sorceress Suzu, was apparently in the habit of making vaguely worded threats about you to Rothbart. In the most recent letter—I believe you have it, Angelique—she threatens to kill you if Rothbart doesn’t eliminate the Kozlovkan royalfamily.”
Angelique—in her tiredness—actually lost control of her mouth. “Huh?” She gawked at the letter sheheld.
Thankfully, neither of the girls noticed—Odette was watching Odile with a concerned look, and Odile almost dropped the papers. “W-what?”
“Additionally, it was not Alexsei and I who broke the curse, but rather Rothbart,” Odette continued. “It seems your observations on the spell were spot-on, Angelique. The spells were tied together because then Rothbart could remove a single line and make the spells on myself, my smugglers, and the castledismantle.”
Angelique gripped the arms of the chair, her mindreeling.
Poor Odile, however, just stared blankly at her knees. “My mother wants medead?”
Odette kneeled in front of her friend. “I’m sorry about Suzu—she is obviously dark and mad beyond imagination. Her ruthless darkness bears no reflection on you, Odile—it is not your fault; there is nothing you did. Suzu is simply just a—” She cleared her throat and glanced at Angelique, then returned her gaze to Odile. “Rothbart loved you. It’s why he did all of this—he wanted you to be free of himandyour mother. Since you stood and fought with us, it removed his shadow from yourfuture.”
Odile cried. Her jaw was stubbornly sewn shut, but tears pooled from hereyes.
This is not a moment I should be intrudingon.
Angelique stood. “Perhaps I should waitoutside?”
Odile and Odette hugged—the shorter, dark-haired girl mashing her face into Odette’sshoulder.
Angelique quietly tip-toed across the room, nodding to the large moth when it fluttered out of her way. She slipped out of the sitting room, down the hallway, and back outside into the warmsun.
Briefly, she leaned against the door.A sorcerer lost on purpose to a hero. That has to be a first.She squinted up at the sky.That means he absolutely wasn’t working with the black mages that captured Evariste. But…it seems it’s likely his wifeis.
