And so, over the course of three weeks, Derek taught Odette everything he knew about self-defense, from sword fighting to archery, and needless to say, Odette was a very fast learner. She was even better than when they were small children. While it was true that Odette wasn't the best archer at first, she was still a better sword fighter than Derek, but that didn't stop him from trying to teach her archery. She might've missed the first few times, but thanks to Derek's encouragement and instruction (and a little kiss on the cheek from time to time), Odette made a perfect bull's-eye. After that, Odette was practically a natural, always hitting the target and splitting the arrows left by her fiancé, but she still had yet to try hitting a moving target. But that was all about to change.
Today, Derek and Odette, along with Bromley, were going to practice hitting moving targets. They each had arrows outfitted with different colored cushioned heads so that they didn't seriously injure their targets; the musicians dressed as different animals. As Rogers poured orange powder into Derek's quiver, he couldn't help but feel a little less than pleased.
"The musicians are not happy," he stated.
Derek nodded in understanding, "I know, but we have to practice."
"Oh, no complaints here," Rogers said sarcastically as he brought the bucket up to his face and began to tap on the bottom of it, "I think it's going to be loads of-" suddenly, Rogers stopped mid-sentence as the last of the orange powder puffed in his face, covering it, "…fun!"
"The Great Animal's not going to give up without a fight," Derek stated as he put an orange blindfold over his eyes.
"And what makes you so certain the attack wasn't just a coincidence?" Rogers asked as he wiped the powder off his face with a handkerchief.
"Because the Great Animal targeted my father," Odette chimed in, "It was no random attack. My father said it had something to do with a mistake he made when I was born, and I think it was after me to."
"You're not thinking it'll come after you next, are you?" Rogers asked in disbelief.
"That's exactly what we're thinking, Rogers," Derek explained, "William's captain said that after they were attacked the Great Animal was looking for something in the carriage. It was after Odette, but what we don't know is why it's after her or the mistake William made, all we know that it was around the time Odette was born."
Rogers nodded, "Alright. But why does Odette need to practice too? I mean, if you're going to protect her then there's really no point to it."
"Yes there is," Derek stated, "I want her to be able to defend herself incase anything happens to me."
"And since it was after my father," Odette said as she tied a purple blindfold around her eyes, "I know it'll be after me next."
Rogers let out a great sigh, knowing that there was nothing he could do to change their minds, "Very well. But after this I hope you two will return to planning for the wedding."
Derek let out a small chuckle, "Don't worry, Rogers. As soon as Odette and I are sure that we can defend ourselves, we'll get back to the wedding planning. You ready, Brom?"
"No peaking!" Rogers shouted as he slapped Bromley's hand as he tried to peak through his blue blindfold. Rogers then turned to the musicians, "Animals! Assemble!"
"Lord Rogers, I must object!" the head musician shouted, "We are musicians!"
"The servants have the day off, we had to use someone," Rogers explained.
"But I'm an artist! Not a boar!" the head musician protested.
"You could've fooled me," Rogers muttered under his breath.
"Come on, guys! They're harmless!" Derek said before demonstrating by shooting one of the cushioned arrows at his foot. The musicians were still unhappy, but they knew they weren't getting out of this one, so they quickly changed into their animal costumes. Since no one knew what the Great Animal looked like, each musician was dressed as a different animal, each one with a different score.
"Down on all fours, please, and growl ferociously!" Rogers instructed, but none of the musicians weren't going to humiliate themselves any further, "Liven it up a bit!" Rogers continued shouting, "I want you to strike fear into my heart!"
Suddenly, Wesley, the shortest musician dressed as a white rabbit, sucked in a large amount of air and let out a loud, lion-like roar.
Rogers was startled at first, but then looked at Wesley in annoyance, "Not you, Wesley! You're a rabbit for Heaven's sake!" Having heard Rogers' words, Wesley crossed his arms and rapidly tapped his foot.
Just then, Rogers began the signal, "Ready…Set…GO!" He then pulled off Derek, Odette, and Bromley's blindfolds as the animals took off running. Derek and Odette shot off their arrows, hitting their targets each time. Both of them mostly went after Hans, the musician dressed as a duck, much to his disliking. Bromley, on the other hand, went after Wesley since he was worth a hundred points, but the little rabbit man proved too elusive for him.
"Twelve seconds!" shouted Rogers as the time began to run low.
Just then, Derek and Odette spotted Wesley, who had finally evaded Bromley for the final time, just as Rogers began to count down the final five seconds, "Five seconds! Four! Three!"
In what little time he had left, Wesley dove into the bushes just as Derek and Odette each let off an arrow at him.
"TIME!" Rogers exclaimed as the time finally ran out, "Animals! Assemble for counting."
The musicians gathered up together and Rogers began to count the orange dots indicating shots scored by Derek. No one even noticed Bromley tapping one of his arrows on Wesley.
Final score for Derek, two hundred and ninety-eight! Well done!" Rogers congratulated before counting Odette's purple dots, "And now, let's see…Odette scored two hundred and ninety-nine!"
Odette let out a slight giggle, "Looks like I outscored you, Derek."
Derek rolled his eyes, "Only by one point."
"Now, Bromley, let's see...Nope," Rogers said after barely even looking, causing Bromley to simply shrug. "And last, but not least, the elusive one hundred point white rabbit!" Rogers announced, before being shocked to see three blue dots on Wesley's head, indicating that Bromley "scored" three hundred points.
"I believe that's three hundred, Rogers." Bromley chuckled.
"Good shooting, Brom," Derek complimented.
"Well, write it down," Bromley urged Rogers, "Three hundred to two ninety-eight and two ninety-nine."
"Oh but, uh, wait just a moment Rogers," Odette said before instructing Wesley to turn around and bend over. She then lifted his tail up with her bow, revealing an orange dot and a purple dot on his rear end.
Derek looked at his best friend and chuckled, "Sorry, Brom." He then turned to Odette and smiled, "But I have to say, Odette, you were amazing out there."
"Thanks, Derek," Odette responded with a smile of her own, "I had a good teacher."
"Yep," Derek agreed, "and I think you can defend yourself pretty well."
"Yeah, but it takes more than good aim," Bromley chimed in, trying to sound tough, "It takes courage! That's my forte."
"Well then, how about a quick round of Catch and Fire?" Rogers asked with a smirk.
Bromley then went wide-eyed in fear and hid behind Derek and Odette, "C-c-c-Catch and Fire?! You mean me?!"
"You're the only one with enough c-c-c-courage," Rogers mocked, causing Bromley to gulp.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Rogers asked without really caring as he adjusted Bromley's armor.
"Y-yeah, I'm f-fine," Bromley stuttered nervously as Rogers tied an apple to his head. With one good pull, Rogers finished tying the string, but it was a little too tight as Bromley began to choke a bit, "Too tight!"
"Whoops," Rogers said with a smirk, "So sorry."
"Ready?!" Derek called out from the other side of the courtyard with Odette by his side.
Rogers nodded to the young prince, "He's ready."
Odette began to grow a little nervous. She had seen Derek play Catch and Fire many times, but that was before she cared about him and thought of him as an annoyance who should suffer the consequences for his recklessness. Now she was worried that something would happen to him because he was doing these dangerous tests for her sake to find out who killed her father.
"Are you really sure you wanna do this, Derek?" she asked.
"I'm sure, Odette," Derek responded, "Besides, I've done this a thousand times. I know what I'm doing."
"Okay," Odette said before kissing Derek's lips, "Just be careful."
As Odette ran to the side of the courtyard, Rogers was giving Bromley some last bit of advice, "Now remember, aim for the heart! Right between the shoulders!"
"Oh please," Bromley begged as he held the bow and arrow and began shaking. He didn't know what he was more nervous about happening, him accidentally hitting Derek or Derek accidentally hitting him.
"Come on, Brom," Derek whispered with his back turned to Bromley, "Hold it steady."
"Oh please!" Bromley said one last time before firing the arrow, "NO!"
Odette gasped as the arrow whizzed towards Derek, but in the blink of an eye, the young prince quickly spun around and caught the arrow before it hit him. He then fired it at the apple on Bromley's head in that moment and split it in two. Seeing that no one was hurt, Odette let out a collected sigh of relief. Bromley, on the other hand, fainted on the spot.
"Fifty-two out of fifty-two!" Rogers shouted, "Well done, Derek!"
"Thanks, Rogers," Derek said as he approached Bromley, taking another apple out of his pocket, "Wanna go another round, Brom?"
"Well, uh…" Bromley said nervously.
"NO!" Odette shouted as she ran out to Derek and slapped the apple out of his hand.
"What? What's wrong, Odette?" Derek asked with concern.
"I am not letting you risk getting hurt again, Derek!" Odette cried out, "And for what?! You're already one of the best fighters in the kingdom! What are you trying to prove doing this stupid game and risking your life from it!?"
"But Odette, You saw me just now," Derek protested, "You know I can do it."
"I know, but even the best archers make mistakes from time to time!" Odette continued shouting as tears began streaming down from her eyes, "I lost my father a month ago! I don't want to lose the one I love in such a short time before we're even married!"
Derek sighed heavily. He knew that Odette was still hurt from losing her father, and if anything happened to him too, she'd be beyond help. Derek slowly took Odette in his arms and held her close.
"I'm so sorry, Odette," Derek apologized, "You're right, I should be more careful. It's just that I don't want to lose you either."
"Then why do you take these kinds of risks?" Odette asked tearfully.
Derek shrugged, "It's because I want to protect you. But you're right, I can't protect you if anything happens to me because of these risks. So I'll make a deal with you. I'll keep practicing and teaching you, but no more Catch and Fire, okay?
Odette sniffed a little. "Okay," she said, feeling a lot better, "Thanks Derek."
"Anytime," Derek said with a smile before he and Odette kissed again.
After a brief moment of kissing, Derek and Odette turned to see Uberta coming out of the castle with a big smile on her face, "Oh there you are, Odette!"
"What is it, Uberta?" Odette asked.
"Come with me, dear!" Uberta exclaimed happily as she grabbed Odette by the arm, "The tailors have finished your wedding gown!"
Odette suddenly gasped in excitement, "That's wonderful!"
"Can I come look too, mother?" Derek asked.
Uberta gasped in surprise, "Of course not! I'm sorry, darling, but it's bad luck for the groom to see the bride's dress before the wedding."
"Like how it's also bad luck for the groom to see the bride twenty-four hours before the ceremony," Rogers reminds them.
"Exactly!" Uberta exclaimed as she led Odette inside.
"This way, dear," Uberta said excitedly as she led Odette down the hallway. Odette was a bit nervous as her future mother-in-law kept tugging her arm. While it was true that she had designed her dress, Odette was nervous that Uberta had made some extravagant and elaborate modifications to it. Soon, they came to the tailor's chamber and entered, and Odette immediately gasped as she saw her wedding gown. It was as white as snow with long sleeves, and had shoulder pads decorated with white feathers that looked like the wings of a swan in flight.
"We used your drawing for it, and followed it exactly from every detail," Uberta explained, "Do you like it?"
"I love it," Odette said with a smile.
"I knew you would!" Uberta cried as tears began to swell up in her eyes, "You are going to be the most beautiful bride ever!"
"Thanks, Uberta," Odette said as she gave Uberta a big hug.
"And the most wonderful queen!" Uberta added.
"Right…queen," Odette responded, feeling a bit unsure.
"Well, you should get back to Derek now," Uberta said as she broke the hug and began to collect herself. Odette nodded and left the room.
The following evening, Odette sat in front of her mirror and brushed her hair as she kept thinking of what Uberta said about her becoming queen. Soon, Odette was broken out of her thoughts as she heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?" she asked.
"It's me," said a voice from outside Odette's room that she immediately recognized to be Derek's, "Can I come in, Odette?"
Odette smiled before responding, "Sure."
Derek came into Odette's room. He was wearing his dark blue robe and black pajama pants, "Hey, I just wanted to say goodnight before I went to bed," Derek said as he walked over to Odette and hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks Derek," Odette thanked, sounding a little down about something.
"You okay?" Derek asked with concern, "You're not still upset about the Catch and Fire game, are you?"
"No, it's something else," Odette explained.
"You wanna talk about it?" Derek asked.
Odette nodded, "I do…remember how our kingdoms will be united after we get married?"
Derek looked at his fiancée in confusion, "Yeah, what about it?"
"Derek…I don't want us to become king and queen after we're married until we find the one who killed my father," Odette explained.
Derek looked at Odette in surprise, "Really, why?"
Odette sighed heavily, "I can't be queen while the person responsible for my father's death is still out there. I want to find out who did it and get closure before ascending to the throne. There would be too much on my mind"
Derek smiled and took her hands, "I understand," he stated, "As a promise to you, Odette, we won't step up until we find your father's murderer."
Odette looked at her fiancé and smiled, "Thanks, Derek."
"No problem," Derek said, "Besides, I think my mother's enjoying still being queen."
Odette giggled a bit, "Of course."
Derek smile then faded, "But there's only one way I'm going to find your father's murderer, Odette."
Odette nodded in understanding, as she knew what Derek was thinking, "I know…you have to find the Great Animal first. Just promise me, Derek, when you do find it you'll be careful."
"I promise," Derek stated, "Well, you'd better get some sleep now," he said before kissing Odette's lips, "I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight, Derek," Odette said with a smile.
"Goodnight, Odette," Derek said as he left the bedroom.
As Odette got into bed, she began to feel a bit more relieved. While it was true that Derek going after the Great Animal seemed a bit reckless, she was grateful that he was being more careful now. And she was happy that in less than two weeks time, the two of them would finally be husband and wife.
Me: Hey guys! Sorry this isn't as long as the other chapters, but I promise the next one will be much longer. I hope you guys still enjoyed it. Please review, but be nice.