I am soooo sorry for not updating this story earlier. This chapter has been finished for three days already, but I was so invested in my The Avengers story, that I completely forgot to upload it. So for that I apologize profusely.
So I won't hold you with any sort of ranting, just enjoy the story lovelies~ :D
And do toss me a review, please, I love them so much ;)
P.S. I do not own any of the Hollow Crown characters. I only own Odette and any other OC you might encounter along the way :)
Oath
[...] Hal would grow to love Odette that much he could already tell. And Odette would learn to love Hal in return, for she would never find a better suitor than a future King.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Child, it brings me such joy to see you happy again. Your mother surely rejoices in Heaven, to see you as you are now."
Smiling as she stated that whilst brushing Odette's dark strands, Elain sighed contently. Never would she have even dared to dream that things would work out so well for her darling girl. To think that the King would not only hear her plight, but would bestow upon her the honor of marrying the heir to the throne and become Queen.
Keeping silent at the maid's words, Odette still found that she couldn't hold back a fleeting smile. Yes, she was happy, that much she could not deny; in spite of her thunderous fights with Hal, he still somehow managed to bring her joy... in a way.
Yes, he was still too reckless and too bold and too wild; yes, he still wasted many an hour at the Hog's Head with a pair of lowlifes by the names of Falstaff and Poins; yes, she could not understand what he found so terribly endearing about them that he counted them as his closest friends; yes, she had caught him sleeping with the tavern wench a couple of times; yes, she had slapped him for it. And despite all that, he knew exactly what to do to get under her skin and make her forgive his escapades.
It had been a few months before she had managed to piece together that they actually shared many aspects. She too was reckless and wild for a woman; he too enjoyed literature and music as she did; she too could be as unpredictable and merciless as the storm; he too could be temperate and even pious when he chose to be so. But whenever she was angry with him, he often resorted to poetic words, comparing her to the angels; and her eyes to the stars; and her hair to the silky veil of night; and her fair skin to the pure snow; and her anger to the unbridled, burning intensity of passion... and, in short, he knew just how to turn her away from fury and make her smile again.
"He still acts like a spoiled child..." she replied, trying her best to sound upset.
"Do you dislike the King's decision?"
"Even if I did, I could not and would not say so; for he was merciful enough to save me from Harold. And it would be dishonorable of me to repay his kindness with gripe. Yes, Hal is not what people would expect in a King – even a future one – but I am aware that I will find no better match than him."
"Do you truly dislike the Prince so much? I saw you two laughing in the gardens yesterday." Elain pushed on with a knowing tone.
"I hate it when he does that... he has such a way with words that I can never stay angry with him, even when he deserves my wrath."
"That is a good quality in a King, child. For a King must often maintain peace with words, before he resorts to the sword."
"It is not a good quality when he uses it to make me forgive him for sleeping with other women or wasting time drinking with lowlifes."
"He will settle down... no man is so wild and reckless throughout his life. The King may be right... once he marries, the Prince may indeed give up his rowdy ways."
At those words Odette finally turned to look her maid in the eye.
"Would he? Would he indeed?" she asked, a shade of sorrow coming to her gaze. "Eight years have passed since I arrived here... and not once have I heard the Prince saying that he loves me. Or even that he finds me to be beautiful. Yes, he flatters me when his interest sees fit to do so; but he never says one pretty word to me when he does not have a certain purpose in mind."
Lowering her eyes she now bit into her lip to hold back the anger she felt rising inside her again.
"I hate him... I hate him for making my heart beat in such a way that I have never known before. I hate him for making me smile with his words... I hate him for making my heart turn to him, when I know he will not be faithful to me even if he should marry me."
"Do not speak like that, child..." Elain pleaded, kissing her forehead. "I am certain the Prince's heart is not as barren of feelings for you as you believe it to be."
Inhaling deeply in a rather failed attempt at holding back her tears, Odette nodded merely out of the desire to not argue with Elain.
"I believed him to be a good match, because we share so many traits. Mother certainly would have been overjoyed and would have said I will never find a better husband than a King. Yes, he will be a King... and I... what will I be, if I cannot even hold his heart enough to not make him seek to share his bed with other women? Am I doomed to be just a worthless puppet placed at his side, with the purpose of offering him a royal blooded heir?"
"Hush, child... say no more sorrowful words as these." the maid pleaded again.
Standing the girl now paced around the room, wringing her hands in anger.
"How can I be silent, beloved Elain? His father entrusted me with the torturous task of following him around and keeping him out of trouble, because he believes I will do a better job of it than the Sheriff. He knows not of what his son does even when I am there with him... and I hate myself for keeping his secrets and offering my loyalty to him, when he offers me nothing in return, save beautiful but empty words!"
It was as she shouted out that last statement that a knock came to the doors of her chambers. Unbeknownst to the two women, Hal had been standing in the hallway for the past minutes listening; he had arrived there to speak to Odette but had heard her complaints to Elain thus he had decided to first listen to her words. He knew she never told him the truth to his face regarding what she believed of him – at least not anymore, in the past few years – likely out of fear of angering his father. But he had always suspected that she was not as pleased with him as she appeared.
With Elain opening the door and bowing to him after staring at him in shock, he entered the room only to find that Odette had her back to him as she stood at the window.
"Leave us for a bit..." he said gently to Elain.
The lack of humor in his tone had the maid suspecting that he had overheard the girl, but ultimately she could not oppose a direct order from him. She could only hope he would not volley his wrath upon Odette. Once the door was closed behind him, the Prince now stopped a few steps away from her and took a moment to simply let his eyes enjoy the way her hair shined like black silk in the moonlight, making it appear as though she had a halo around her head, like the angels depicted in the church.
"Do not treat me so coldly, my Lady... do let me gaze upon your fair face." he finally said on a humorous tone, aiming to bait her into turning around for he was certain that he had heard her voice trembling as though she was crying.
"You needn't speak to me in such pretty words when we are alone, my Lord." she retorted. "There is no one here to impress..."
Narrowing his eyes when he caught the faint tremble in her otherwise icy tone, he still found himself smiling at her stubbornness... a trait which he found to be quite appealing, actually.
"Look at me, Odette..." he asked again.
"I have seen your face much more than I have sometimes wished to... I needn't see it again."
"Very well, then I will speak to you as you are..." he replied, seating himself onto her bed.
Though she would not notice it, for she was intently keeping her gaze onto the gardens outside, he had chosen such an angle that he could see part of her face and the wet trails of tears glistening upon her cheek; which only confirmed his suspicions... whilst at the same time leaving a terribly bitter taste in his mouth at the knowledge that he was the cause of her sorrow.
"Tell me... what think you of me?"
"This is coming to be quite an annoying habit, my Lord. I believe you already know my answer..."
"I wish to hear it again... you have such a sweet way of lying to me, after all."
His sarcasm finally made the girl realize that he had either heard her earlier or she had somehow given herself away over the years.
"I believe you are impetuous and stubborn and have good knowledge on how to use your words to suit your interests... which are fine qualities for a future King."
Smiling as she delivered the same answer almost mechanically, Hal inhaled deeply.
"But that is not what you truly believe... is it?"
"Of course it is, my Lord. Why would I believe any differently?"
Standing, he now approached her from behind and leaned over her shoulder to kiss away the freshest of her tears as it slid down her cheek.
"Angels were not made to be sad..." he whispered. "Yet you weep even whilst telling me beautiful lies."
When he attempted to wrap his arms around her, Odette finally tore herself away from him offering him a silent scowl mixed with a shade of sorrow that made him feel quite uncomfortable.
"I am curious when you became afraid of speaking your true mind to me. Have I ever reprimanded you for it? Have I not always embraced your opinion of me and sought to turn it around?" he pushed on.
At his last words he finally saw her mask of restraint crumbling as tears overflowed anew from her chocolate eyes.
"And yet you sleep with other women! And waste your hours still with those pathetic lowlifes, drinking and brawling!" she shouted, her shaky voice revealing how much she was still trying to hold back from crying.
"Then speak your true mind to me, woman!" he demanded. "As if what I heard just now would not be enough to tell me how you feel... and how much I have hurt you without even wishing for it."
Sighting her as she now stared at him unable to speak – given that his sudden outburst of royal demeanor had shocked her into silence, although he would not know that – he seized the moment and approached her, grasping her arms before she could recoil.
"Do you truly believe I did not suspect my father had put you up to this? I have known that the Sheriff was no longer following me, for years... it was clear as day that my father had found someone else to take up that task."
When she tried to glance away he released her arms and placed his hands onto her wet cheeks, forcing her to keep looking into his eyes.
"I suspected it was you... and that is why I kept doing all I did; to bait you into giving yourself away."
"Then I beseech you to speak to him and have him relieve me of this torture..." she whispered pleadingly.
"No... for I will make an oath to you right now and wish for you to see me keeping it."
When she opened her mouth to speak, the Prince leaned down and claimed her lips for a kiss. And though eight years had passed since he had first kissed her in the alley, his mind recalled and relished in that sweet taste he had been craving for so long.
"I will not yet give up my rowdy ways, save one..." he whispered whilst leaning back. "In God's name and on this kiss I swear, never again shall I touch another woman... unless it be you. There is a purpose to my wild demeanor, yet no true purpose behind my bedding wenches. So to you I vow that henceforth you will be the only woman I will crave and love. For you are my bride-to-be, and if I should ever break my oath and cast aside my loyalty to you, may God strike me with a thousand plagues and have me burn for all eternity."
Her reaction of grasping onto his leather coat was rather unexpected to Hal, but still he relished in what appeared to be her offer of forgiveness.
"Speak not like that, my Lord... I beg of you." she pleaded.
"Then say you love me as I love you, fair Odette... say you will not turn away my oath, nor my plea for forgiveness."
The following moments were spent in silence as the girl turned his words over; she wanted to believe him... she wanted that so much, it hurt. But could she? When her wordlessness stretched on, the Prince took it as a sign of her refusal and for a second he felt more desolate and alone than ever before in his life; it was such a terrible feeling that before he had even thought it through, he fell to his knees before her, his arms locking around her slender waist whilst he pressed his face against her stomach.
"O give me angry words and hit me if it pleases you... give me wrath and tears and screams... say you do not believe my words and say I am a wretched and vile man... but give me anything other than this torturous silence which chokes me like the cold hand of death itself!" he pleaded.
Still shocked by his reaction, Odette had been just about to speak when he turned his gaze to her and she was stunned to see tears in his eyes for never before had she seen him cry. With her voice dying in her throat it was all she could do to reach out with trembling hands and caress his smooth cheeks. Only when he closed his eyes to lean his cheek into her palm, freeing her of the spell his gaze always enforced unto her mind, did she finally find the words to speak.
"I believe you, my Lord..." she said, offering him as much of a smile as she could muster at the moment. "But in God's name I beg of you to not cry, nor kneel to me, for you are a King and I am but a woman."
Kissing her palm, Hal now leaned forward and buried his face against her stomach once again, all the while tightening his embrace on her waist as though he was afraid she would flee.
"If I am a King, then you are my Queen... and I am but your slave." he stated, sighing in relief.
Not really knowing how else to react, Odette soon found herself setting a hand onto his shoulder whilst the other now trailed through his auburn hair. To hear him speak as he had but moments before was when she truly could see the King in him, as though the rowdy Prince was but a mask. Allowing him those seconds of silence, she ultimately realized she was smiling whilst watching him. If she were to believe his words – and God was her witness that she did want to believe them – then the prospect of marrying him was not so grim anymore. But despite how beautifully he had declared his love for her no more than a minute past, he had said that he would not give up his ways; but that he would simply cease to seek other women's company in his bed.
"Will you truly not renounce these reckless profiteers who call themselves your friends, but who desire nothing more than your influence and your wealth?"
In truth she had not even realized that she had spoken such thoughts out loud until she heard her own voice. Feeling the warmth of his breath when he sighed heavily against her stomach, she watched him slowly rising to his feet.
"Come, sit with me..." he beckoned, taking her hands in his.
Having not expected such a serious expression from him, she followed and seated herself at his side onto the bed.
"It may not seem so, but I always was aware of their true hearts."
"Then why, my beloved Lord, do you keep their company? Why do you sully your royal blood, by having those around, and darken your father's years thus?"
"For herein will I imitate the sun, who does permit the base contagious clouds to smother up his beauty from the world. That, when he please again to be himself, being wanted he may be more wondered at by breaking through the foul and ugly mists of vapors that did seem to strangle him. If all the year were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious as to work. Yet when they seldom come, they wished for come. So when this loose behavior I throw off and pay the debt I never promised, by how much better than my word I am, by so much shall I falsify men's hopes. And like bright metal on a sullen ground, my reformation, glittering over my fault, shall show more goodly and attract more eyes than that which had no foil to set it off."
Pausing for a bit he now reached to trail the back of his fingers over her cheek, desiring to ease her worries.
"I shall astound them all with such a thorough change and they will know that I am a true King, one who knows their true plights and has seen their true pains. And they will love me even more than they have loved my father. Till then I'll so offend, to make offence a skill, redeeming time when men think least I will."
"Is all this worth sacrificing your father's love?" she finally asked after some moments of silence, a deep sorrow darkening her features.
"Fear not of that, my fair flower... I intend to regain my father's trust and love." he smiled in return.
It actually surprised him when she grasped his hand in between both of hers, bringing it to her lips and kissing his fingers.
"I pray to God you know what you are doing."
It was more at her gesture, than her words, that Hal's expression now settled into a warm, loving smile. Returning the grasp on her hand he tugged her closer until he could wrap his arms around her and kiss her forehead.
"Do you truly believe my words?"
Looking up at him, Odette finally nodded lightly.
"I do, my Lord... but know that, should you deceive me and break your oath, I shall have no forgiveness for you."
"Yet you did not say that you love me, whilst I have said it even now."
Feeling his lips twitch into a smile when she frowned at him, he leaned down to claim her lips before she could offer him any angry retort. It was when he felt her relaxing in his embrace that he felt his restraint leaving him and before he had even thought of it, he found himself leaning forward until her back touched the bedding and his chest weighed down on hers. When his lips abandoned hers to move toward the cleavage that her dress exposed, and his hand wandered down to her thigh, Odette grasped his face in her hands to force him to look at her.
"My Lord... if you truly love me, then I would have you prove it."
"How? My sweet Odette, only say how and I would drain the sea and slay a thousand men for you."
"I would not have you do such terrible things, my Lord... I would have you wait."
When he narrowed his eyes in confusion, she finally felt a giggle slipping through her lips.
"I would have you wait until I allow you to bed me... and I would have you keep to your word that you will not touch another woman ever again. That is my demand, and if you keep to it, I shall forgive you all the pain you have caused me these eight years."
For a brief moment she could see the resignation on his expression before he finally smiled.
"I deserve that, my fair Lady... and so I shall conform to your demand as though it were a behest given from God."
Settling onto his side he grasped her arm when she tried to sit up.
"At the very least lay here with me for but a while... and let me hold you as I should have all this time."
Unable to resist his pleading gaze, Odette sighed lightly and finally settled back onto the bed allowing him to wrap his arms around her once again. For a few minutes they stayed like that in silence, with only the crickets' song to delight their ears.
"You truly are an angel..."
Startled by his words the girl raised her eyes to find him watching her with a gaze she knew not what to call, for it was overflowing with such warmth and kindness that she would never have believed possible to come from him.
"Do you remember when we first met?"
"How could I not?" she smiled lightly. "I almost cut you down; you frightened me so badly..."
"You said I was useless..." he retorted humorously. "And I will admit that I was at the time... and I was a fool as well. When father first demanded that I marry you, I wanted nothing to do with you."
"That feeling we shared at the time, my Lord."
His soft chuckle ultimately drew a genuine smile from her.
"Yet you never complained to my father of it..." he said.
"God is my witness that I wanted to do so. But your father saved me from a lifetime of sorrow and emptiness... I could not repay him with ingratitude."
"Is this Harold truly that terrible a man?"
"Perhaps he is not truly so horrendous, as I have described him to your father. Perhaps I was simply acting as a spoiled child would and desired to cling to my freedom."
"I should like to meet this man someday."
"So that you may boast to him that you have gained what should have been his?"
At the sight of his prankster smile, she playfully swatted at his chest.
"You are incorrigible, my Lord..." she retorted whilst fighting back a smile of her own.
Leaning down to press a loving kiss to her lips, the Prince then grinned.
"I simply wish to show everyone that a mere noble is not fit for a woman such as yourself."
"I may have royal blood, but I am not royalty..."
"You are an angel... and only a King befits such a wondrous creature."
"Then should I marry your father, seeing as you are not King yet?"
Her words ultimately drew a laughter from him whilst he embraced her once again, kissing her cheek.
"Then my father would be the envy of all men throughout the kingdom... including me. Would you have the heart to make me despise my own father, for having what is rightfully mine?"
"Rightfully yours? My Lord, I do believe you are mistaken..."
Before she could finish her reply Hal leaned back with a serious expression.
"So therefore be mine because you wish it... be mine out of pity... or out of spite. Whatever feeling you may conjure for it I will embrace, so long as you are mine and mine alone."
Watching him in silence for a moment Odette then smiled whilst again placing her hands to his cheeks.
"In that case, if my Lord allows it, I would be yours out of love. Is that not a better trade from pity or from spite?"
"At the very least it will make our marriage easier to bear."
It was whilst they were both laughing at that exchange of statements that Elain knocked on the door before entering, forcing them to leap out of each other's embrace as though they had been showered in fire.
"My Lord, your father sends for you." she said with a bow.
Running a hand through his hair to settle it down, the Prince now moved to his feet.
"Then I will see you in the morning, my Lady..." he stated to Odette.
Having stood as well the girl now rolled her eyes and reached out to straighten his coat.
"What for, my Lord?"
"Needn't you keep to your task?"
Smiling at her stern gaze, he pecked her lips and left the chambers before she could scold him, leaving her to the mercy of a very curious Elain.
