Chapter 10: Something Is Not Quite Right
"Odette!"
"Think you can play this off; I'm confident that was that prince's voice?" Erebus looked at Veronica now a complete doppelganger of Odette.
"Why do you question me so?" She gave him a sharp look. "Yes, In here Derek!"
"You're still in your room?" He said as the door revealed itself on the once magic stricken brick wall.
"Well you see…it's about Veronica."
"Veronica? Odette if you think that she…"
"I think I judged her wrongly…I mean have you seen the dress she left me…isn't it just lovely."
He looked at her. She was wearing a dress, relatively similar, but did have the red that was similar that Veronica wore so well. She looked…good. "You look...beautiful,... but you didn't like her?"
"I thought she had more…then I did. She could shoot arrows, she could navigate around a forest…and well, she frankly was better then me."
"Stop flattering yourself, and get on with it." Erebus mumbled.
"Is that her cat?"
"She left it for me, with a note to take care of it. She must have noticed how much I loved animals." She smiled and took Erebus up in her arms, squeezing him purposefully too much for payback for his last comment.
"Well there is just three more nights until the ball…so I promise to be there for you much more after. And Veronica meant nothing to me compared to you Odette."
"Well that is good to know." She smiled to herself with the satisfaction of knowing she was pulling this off.
"But something does seem odd about you this morning…like your missing something."
"Missing something?" Odette said, with a quick fright to her words. "Well I didn't get the best sleep last night."
"I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you, but there is just so much to plan. I never knew what my mother went through to organize all those Pageant balls."
"Well I'll be down in a bit, you'd better get to it then." She smiled his way.
"I'll see you in a bit, Odette." He kissed her on the cheek before leaving. And she closed the door quickly behind.
"Well that went wonderful…I mean did you hear what he said?" Erebus rolled his eyes.
"He kissed me." She almost said in disbelief. "I'll pull this off; if I get to be Queen and I get a prince, this is the life for me…"
"…and everything you've ever wanted with that power of yours…bla..bla…hello? Are you listening? He said something…"
"Something does look off." She looked at herself in the mirror finishing his sentence.
"Oh I don't know…how about that huge ruby on your neck." Erebus stretched.
"True…but what could I hide it as?" She pulled it out from between her bosom.
"Well I hope you're not going to hide me as anything?" Erebus stuck his nose up.
"No, I've got a story for you, but no way did Veronica leave her cat and her mother's only necklace."
"I might be able to remember something…"
"You should? With that all seeing mind of glimpses of the past, present and future you'd ought to…"
"Well excuse me…"
"Oh come on Erebus, you know I could make you look like that frog…and give you that terrible French accent…"
"Fine…she had something around her neck the night of the dinner…a golden something…"
"You're right she did…and it must be around here somewhere…" Veronica (as Odette) ruffled through the mess on the vanity.
Erebus pounced onto the bed. "You know, her bed seems a lot more…soft. I like it."
"Just start looking for that …necklace thing we saw her wearing."
"I think it's right here?" He caught it in his mouth; the swan heart shaped necklace locket, that sat dainty on her bed side table. "Is it weird that they are married and they sleep in two separate beds?"
"A chamber for a King and a Chamber for a Queen…they must be beside each other…" Veronica said as she took the locket. "It must mean something to her…then this is what I'll disguise the ruby as."
"Can you disguise something that you're deriving your power from?" Erebus looked skeptical.
"I can don't question me."
"If a locket's possession is nothing but air,
Then let my power, the ruby fit in there,
To mimic the reality of this golden heart,
To tear true love, and keep two apart,
To cover the truth, and sustain the lies,
To let the black swan live, at the white swan's demise."
"Good job a fake locket is covering your ruby…now what to do with the real one? What did you call yourself ? The Black Swan?"
"Hide it somewhere here. He'll never notice…men never notice these things. If I have the necklace and I get this right we'll win ourselves the right to stay here."
"You're going to be Odette for eternity?"
"Until she dies off…then maybe I'll cast some other spell and make things interesting."
"You know if the swan comes back you could be in trouble."
"A swan that can't speak, is a normal swan. Plus she cant even reveal herself until the full moon of the third night, which is when the ball is. He'll be too preoccupied with me anyway…I'll make sure of that."
"Yes…the future is getting faded for her that's for sure."
"Good then all is well."
"I said its not gone yet. Plus you better work on getting more then a kiss on the cheek if your gonna pull this off."
"I got this Erebus…plus how many girls have a dark magic ruby necklace inside their locket?"