by K. M. Shea
Misha joined her at the water’s edge. “Do you think he’s up to something?”
Odette scratched the back of her neck and sighed. “I don’t know, and that frightens me. He’s been so predictable, but since the wyvern…I find it strange that he hasn’t checked in on us.”
“I agree,” he said. “I don’t like it.”
Odette pinched the bridge of her nose. “Tomorrow night, I’ll meet with Odile and see what she knows. If I must, I will raid his workroom later this week.”
Misha nodded. “I know the risks you take are for our sakes. Thank you.”
Lacking anything to say on the subject, she smiled uncomfortably and shrugged.
Her friend sensed her embarrassment and turned around to study their companions. “You plan to slow down our business?”
“Yes. It will take some time to finish all outstanding jobs.”
“What will you tell our regular clients?” Misha asked.
She knew he was referring to the special ones—like the purchasers of the ètonse philtre. “I don’t know,” Odette admitted. “It doesn’t sit right with me to abandon them. If we do…” she shook her head. “I’m going to keep smuggling for some of them, but we can discuss it as a group, tomorrow.”
“Not tonight?”
She also turned around. The tightness around her mouth loosened as she watched Anna and Zina sing while Gala and Iosif whirled in a dance. “No. Tonight is a celebration—one that has been long in coming.” She nodded to Nadia, who ghosted up to her side.
Nadia placed a hand on Odette’s arm and leaned into her, and together the three leaders of the Black Swan Smugglers watched with quiet pride as their people rejoiced. Odette strangled the apprehension and anxiety that threatened to swell at the back of her heart. Were they overestimating her? How would she find someone to love her? She was not sweet-tempered or beautiful—traits, Odette understood, that were usually the most desirable in a relationship. The irritatingly wistful part of her still wondered over Alexsei…but no. Thanks to her days as a smuggler, his parents would never allow it—especially when they knew she wasn’t going to stop smuggling even after the curse was broken.
Enough, she thought sternly. For tonight, I will not worry. Soon, we will be free.
Chapter 10
Ambushed
Two nights later, a distant boom sounded, and a mountain rumbled. Odette glanced up from her ledger. “Angelique.”
The sounds of battle had begun around noon and had then subsided into the occasional burst of activity in the early afternoon. Odette assumed the wyvern was fleeing the enchantress, who was giving chase, though it was disheartening to know the battle had stretched on so long.
Odette shut her ledger and set it aside, considering her smugglers’ options.
Surprisingly, a number of them voted to stay on with smuggling—but only for a select few clients. Odette would still serve as their leader—though it would be more difficult to run their operation as they wouldn’t be forced to stay on Swan Lake.
It’s a pleasant problem to have. Odette shoved her hair over her shoulder, wishing she could push aside her apprehension as easily. Within the week, she would have to begin her campaign to find a man who would love her. She massaged her aching forehead. “Enough,” she grumbled.
“You look troubled, my pet. Do tell me, is the prince disturbing you?”
Odette lunged to her feet, her heart pounding in her chest. She bowed to Rothbart and used every ounce of her self-control to make her voice strong and soothing. “Sorcerer Rothbart, what a pleasant surprise! It has been too long.”
“It has. And it seems you have been quite busy in my absence.” Rothbart threw his cape behind him. Odile, cowering in his shadow, winced at the snap of fabric.
“We have gotten several new orders from our esteemed clients.” Odette placed her hands on her hips and tilted her chin up with falsified pleasure.
Rothbart laughed—an unsettlingly jolly sound. “Please, Odette. Do not insult my intelligence. I know you have the prince in your pocket.”
Odette blinked. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” She was only half lying.
“I know how the prince carries on over you. He’s in love with you—a cursed swan maiden. How the storytellers would have fun with that set up.” Rothbart chuckled. The prince…he thinks…he must mean Yakov? But how would he know?
Behind Rothbart, Odile cringed. She met Odette’s gaze and shook her head. She hadn’t tattled.
“I know he visits you, dragging his brother and childhood friend with him,” he continued. “And I know he fancies you. But you see, my pet, luring in a prince is cheating.”
He seems angry. How do I best try to appease him? “But where is the harm in it?” she asked. “He can’t do anything—he is nothing matched against your brilliance. Why can’t I have a pet prince?”
Rothbart sighed. “When you act like this, and I see your mind, you make me regret what I must do. If only you were better behaved—but then I probably wouldn’t like you half as much. You see, dear Odette, I know your true character. I know you are a plotting mastermind just as I am. It’s why I’ve always liked you.” He smiled, and Odette was shocked to see a glimmer of something that could be called affection in his eyes. “You aren’t like every other sappy maiden your age. When you do something, it is always for a reason. So you didn’t lure in a prince just because it pleases you to have royalty at your beck and call, but because you think you can use him to end me.”
A moment passed—stretching out into eternity. What do I do? He could kill us all. Odette dropped her innocent maiden act and instead stood tall. “It doesn’t matter. He can’t do anything against you. And even if I could arrange it, I would never want you dead. You’re the only one who can remove my spell.” She was glad, in that moment, she was such a practiced liar, for her voice didn’t so much as tremor.
Rothbart shook his head and leaned back on his heels. His burnished chestplate glimmered in the moonlight, casting eerie shadows across his face. “Ahh, Odette. You speak yet another lie.”
Her heart stopped. Does he know of Angelique?
“You are ruthlessly protective,” Rothbart said. “You may have fooled your pet prince, but you have not fooled your smugglers, nor have you fooled me.” His eyes darkened, and he spat his words with fire. “I know there have been times you have considered killing me, and the only thing that has stayed your hand was not that you feared living with your spell for the rest of your life, but that you feared you wouldn’t succeed, and I would never give you another opportunity to slit my throat.”
Odette stared at him, her mouth dry. How does he know? I, I’ve never told anyone that I’ve considered it, not even Nadia or Misha!
Rothbart smiled again. “Now you see, Odette, why I have often wished you were my daughter? A sorceress as crafty and ruthless as you would be a daughter I could be proud of.” He sighed. “Sadly, it has come to this.”
“And what is this?” Odette asked.
Rothbart smiled. “I’m here to kill you.”
She lowered her arms to her sides and inched her fingers towards her daggers. “What?”
Rothbart gestured to the mountains. “I already know your little prince has summoned a powerful magic user—only a fool could miss the racket my wyvern is raising. But even if the magic user succeeds and returns to face me, it won’t matter. My plan will be underway.”
“What plan?” Odette kept her eyes on Rothbart, but when he glanced away to scowl at the rest of the smugglers, she looked beseechingly at Odile.
Odile shook her head and held up her hands.
“My wyvern army,” Rothbart said. “I’ve found a way to make them. The method is messy and lacks refinement, but I already have four awaiting their release in my dungeon.”
Four wyverns? If one of them was giving Angelique so much trouble, who could face four of them?
“Unfortunately, my beauties need time to learn their own strength before they are a re
al threat. That pesky prince and his family might ruin everything if they can rally more help before I’m ready. So naturally, I’ll have to kill the royal family, too.”
Odette laughed harshly. “You think they’ll just let you waltz into the castle?”
Rothbart smiled. “No, but I think they will let you in.”
“Why would I help you? You have already stated you will kill me,” Odette scoffed.
“Oh, I could never count on your cooperation. No, instead my talentless daughter will be given the chance to make herself useful. Spelling her to resemble you is an easy matter—child’s play, even,” Rothbart said. “If the royal family believes it is you at my side, the prince himself will thank me for attending, and I’ll have the perfect chance to blot them out.”
There has to be some way we can counter this! He wouldn’t move if he didn’t think his plans were in jeopardy. Odette glanced at his castle, her thoughts coming so quickly she could barely understand them.
“No, you won’t be able to play hero, my pet,” Rothbart said. “As much as I wish it, I cannot spare you. My plans will be carried out, and my wyverns will bring ruin to this country.”
“But why?” Odette asked. “You’ve never cared about Kozlovka and what happens to it before. Why are you doing this?”
Rothbart shrugged. “Why not?”
Odette gaped at him in horror. She always knew Rothbart was despicable, but she never could quite put him on the same rank as the witch who ruled Arcainia while the princess and princes were deposed, or the sea witch who was said to have isolated Ringsted with hurricanes and storms. This was a side of him she had never seen.
Rothbart turned away from Odette and stared out at the lake. “Things have changed, Odette. There are wheels in motion I cannot stop. I can only move forward into complete destruction, or lose everything I have fought for. If all goes as planned, I’ll be doing you a kindness. Remember that.”
What is he talking about? Odette stared at Rothbart in horror. Has his bitterness finally eaten him alive and made him go mad?
Rothbart turned his knowing eyes on her and smiled. “It’s a shame, though. I’ll miss your crafty ways.”
Odette snatched three of her daggers and threw them, one at a time, aiming for different parts of his body.
Rothbart dodged one, the second one scratched his chestplate and fell to the ground, and he caught the last one that was aimed for his eye. Odette prepared for him to loosen a spell upon her.
Instead he swirled around and grabbed Odile, yanking her by her throat—but not before she released a piercing whistle to warn the rest of the smugglers.
Rothbart shook his daughter and dug his fingers into her shoulder. “If you try helping her again, you’ll join them as soon as dawn arrives,” he snarled.
“Help me?” Odette drew three more daggers and threw them at him. “She’s your daughter.”
Rothbart grabbed the edge of his cape and snapped it in front of him, releasing a crackle of angry red lightning that blew the daggers backwards. “You think I would know about your prince, but not be aware of the spy you cultivated in my own castle? I know Odile is yours!”
Back at camp, the smugglers versed in combat reached for weapons and ran down the beach, while the civilians—like Dima and Gleb—slipped into the forest.
Rothbart sneered at them and shoved Odile aside, sending her sprawling. “Creatures under my command, come!”
Odette went numb when she saw the chimera stalk out of the forest. She had seen it before—caged in Rothbart’s workroom. It had the powerful body and head of a lion, but its back legs had goat hooves. Its head was adorned with black spiral horns, and its tail was a green snake with fangs that dripped with venom.
The water at the shore of the lake bubbled. Wonderful, more company. A spiny serpent burst from the depths, its ribbon-like body rippling out of the water as its triangular head soared skyward. So many razor teeth crowded its mouth that its jaws couldn’t even shut properly.
The lake serpent roared, and the snake head of the chimera’s tail hissed.
“Kill them all,” Rothbart said, almost lazily.
Odette was on him an instant later. Instead of throwing her daggers, she slunk in for close combat and tried to stab him.
He moved quickly in spite of his armor and parried her blows with the armguards fastened to his forearms.
Around them, the creatures roared and smugglers shouted. Kira loaded her crossbow and shot at the sea serpent, narrowly missing its eye. Iosif leaped in front of a retreating Gala. He held a shield tight against his body to block the chimera when it lashed out with a clawed paw, but the force of the impact knocked him back several inches.
Odile, still wheezing after being thrown to the ground, removed her flute from the skirts of her dress and started to play.
The chimera ignored her, but the sea serpent turned its beady eyes in her direction.
“Enough!” Rothbart thundered. He grabbed Odette by her wrists and swung her away from him. She recovered without injury, but her preoccupation gave Rothbart the time he needed to stalk over to his daughter, grab her flute, and throw it into Swan Lake. “You will stop defying me, or I will kill you right here!”
He shoved a helm on his head that Odette had never seen—it completely obscured his face—then grabbed Odile by the arm and dragged her behind him as he stormed for the woods.
Odette ran after them, her daggers clenched between her fingers. Rothbart flung his arm in her direction, creating a red spell that resembled the woven curse that turned her into a swan. She collided with it, and it exploded, sending her flying into the air and crashing into a boulder.
Her ears rang, and her vision blurred. When her eyes finally cleared, Rothbart was gone. The smugglers had organized themselves and were fighting the animals.
Odette cursed under her breath, snatched up a few of her daggers, and turned to help her people. She growled as she caught sight of one particular smuggler facing off against the chimera’s snake tail. “Feofan, what are you doing? You’re still injured from the wyvern!” She launched a dagger at the snake’s head. Though it hit the snake square between its eyes, the dagger bounced off its unnaturally hard scales.
“Can’t leave all the fun to you, Swan Queen,” Feofan joked. He winced when he threw one of his axes and flexed his ribcage with the motion.
“Get out of here!” she ordered.
“Nah,” Feofan said.
The snake-tail lunged for them. Odette glared at him and leaped out of the way. “Feofan!”
“If you’re going to lecture me, you should yell at Iosif, too. I think this beast sprained his wrist when it hit his shield, maybe worse,” Feofan tattled.
“Iosif, Feofan—both of you move to distance fighting,” Odette barked.
The chimera took another swipe at him. Iosif ducked. “Retreating is for the weak.”
The snake struck at Feofan, but he sidestepped it and brought his axe down on the creature’s head. It survived, but he opened a nasty wound. “I’ll pass, too.”
“Enough with the excuses. Stand down!” Odette said.
“Odette!” Nadia shouted.
“What?” she bellowed. She felt more like a frazzled mother than a warrior deep in combat.
“We’ll take care of everything here—go warn the princes!” Nadia said.
Odette, torn with indecision, hesitated. If the royal family is to survive they need to be warned, but my people! “I can’t leave you to this!”
Misha scrambled across the rocky shore with the spryness of a grasshopper, evading the lake monster’s jaws. “Do you really think having one more person will change our odds that much?” He yipped when the lake monster snapped at him.
“That’s not helping,” Odette challenged.
Nadia threw her spear—hitting the lake serpent in the eye. “We’ll be fine,” she said—far more reassuring. “Go!”
When Kira got the chimera in the chest with a crossbow bolt, Odette nodded. Yes, they
will make it. She scrambled to grab some of her daggers and sprinted to the woods. As she hit the tree line, she moderated her pace. I have to last the entire way. I have to warn Alexsei!
Alexsei swirled a goblet of wine—imported from Loire—and watched the dancers whirl across the dance floor.
“She’s not going to come,” Benno said.
Alexsei glanced at her and smiled. “Who, Odette? I know.”
Benno furrowed her eyebrows. “You think that means she’s safe from Yakov’s clutches, then, right?”
Alexsei shrugged. “The thought occurred to me.”
Benno rolled her eyes. “You’re worried about the wrong enemy.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. Now that Angelique put that modifier on, she’s going to see it as her duty to find someone to fall in love with. If you don’t move soon, you’ll lose her—not to your brother, but to her own sense of duty.”
Alexsei set his cup down and sighed. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Oh? So you sighing like a kicked puppy because she isn’t here is of no consequence.”
“That isn’t what I meant. It’s—I…” he trailed off in frustration. “Even if half the Black Swan Smugglers know I fancy her, Odette herself has not shown any indication that she favors me in return. She sees me as a friend, but I don’t believe she has considered me as more than that.”
“You don’t give her enough credit.”
Alexsei blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
Benno gestured at a cluster of eligible young ladies. “You act as if she is like every other female. She’s not. She’s the leader of a smuggling ring, Alexsei, and has practiced manipulating a dark sorcerer for four years. She’s not going to show her heart that easily.”
Warmth bloomed in Alexsei’s chest as he pondered Odette’s smile—her genuine one that was closer to a smirk—and her frosted hair. Could she be such an exception—to everything I’ve ever known? He wanted her to be so, but he was almost afraid to hope.
A set of double doors were thrown open at the far side of the room, giving entrance to Odette and an unknown man in a set of armor. Odette looked beautiful in a white dress—the first dress Alexsei had ever seen her in—and her hair was elaborately coiled.