My swans around me and my Prince consoling me, I felt a glimmer of happiness long forgotten. My swans were my life, my children. Without them, I would die as surely as without my Prince.
Suddenly, Von Rothbart appeared, and shoved the Prince away from me.
"No!" I cried, flapping my wings wildly.
"Prince," he called. "If you are smart, you will leave and let Odette be with me."
"I cannot," Siegfried declared, "for I am in love with her!"
Von Rothbart turned to rouse my swans, and Siegfried rushed to me. "Everything will be alright," he assured me, stroking my hair.
Von Rothbart noticed us and split us apart again. "Your Prince has betrayed you, sweet Odette," he hissed at me.
"No! I did not mean to, Odette. Forgive me," Siegfried cried, then slashed Von Rothbart with his sword. While he howled in pain, the Prince ran to my side.
"What will happen to us?" I asked, fear edging my voice.
"We will be together forever, love," he responded.
"But how? Y-you must marry Odile!" My voice rose, and I cupped his face in my hands.
"I will never marry Odile. I would rather die," Siegfried said, and kissed me gently.
"No. The only way is for me to die," I told him, convinced. "I will throw myself in the lake rather than let you suffer." Immediately, he grabbed my hands and held them to his chest while my swans all cried out in disbelief.
"No! Without you, I would suffer unbearably," Siegfried whispered.
"Do not worry. The lake is from my parent's tears. They would give me a painless death," I reassured him.
Von Rothbart regained his stance and shoved my Prince away from me. I could do nothing but watch as the two engaged in a battle most fierce, one they fought over me. No! I could not sit idly and watch this happen.
"Goodbye my swans," I whispered to them. "I wish you luck and that we will meet in a better place." They cried, their hands reaching to touch me, my hair, my arm, or my dress for the last time.
As they grouped together, they covered for me. Bravely, I ran up to the side of the lake.
"Von Rothbart!" I called. "You will never win. I will love my Prince forever, and he will love me. Death to you!"
"Nooo!" he bellowed.
"Odette, don't do this!" Siegfried reached for me, but he was on the other side of my swans and could not reach me.
"I must," I cried. "I must break the spell!" With that, I jumped into the lake, determined to end this life forever.
I watched the scene I'd left behind as if from above.
Siegfried stumbled, then ran up the path to lake and jumped to his death. My heart flooded with happiness that he'd chosen me over Odile.
Von Rothbart shouted out, then stumbled as if hit with an invisible force. He ran up to the lake and saw our bodies lying there. "No," he whispered, sounding broken.
My swans flapped their wings and ran about, each crying their grief for the world to see.
Von Rothbart continued to hold his chest in pain until he collapsed. "NOOOOO!" he screamed. Then with his dying breath, he murmured, "I love you, Odette."
The sun rose, its rays shining upon the tragic scene of my swans. They faced towards its warmth, then the unthinkable happened.
Their feathers dropped and they slowly resumed their human form. Yet they still watched the sun.
I felt myself rising, and suddenly I was in the sun, my beloved Siegfried next to me. He wrapped his arms around me, and I rejoiced at the reunion of my true love and the breaking of Von Rothbart's spell.
My swan maidens bowed, dropping to the ground in reverence. As the sun rose and painted the sky, morning fog came in, covering my swan-sisters in a blanket of snow.
Siegfried and I rose with the sun, our love pure as its gaze, and ascended to the heavens, where we would be forever free to love and live. And perhaps someday, I would see my swan maidens again.
–Odette
Queen of the Swan Princesses
