It had been one month since Derek and Odette left for her father's kingdom and things have been rather quiet around Chamburg. After the big wedding everybody returned to their normal routine and all was quiet. Uberta was enjoying a nice cup of tea outside in the courtyard, enjoying the sunny day with Lord Rogers joining her.
"I wonder how Derek and Odette are doing. We haven't heard from them since they left" Rodgers asked the Queen while sipping tea.
"I'm sure they're fine, it's a long boat ride to William's kingdom after all" Uberta replied, in a cheery mood.
"Actually, they didn't take the boat. They took the road" Rogers then informed Uberta.
"Whatever for? The boat is a much faster way of traveling to William's kingdom" she asked puzzled.
"Well for one thing, Odette gets seasick, and second, they wanted to travel in secrecy so whoever sent the Great Animal to kill William won't find them" Rogers explained once again.
"Oh come now, Rogers! Don't tell me you actually believe that a creature like that even exists!" Uberta asked in disbelief.
"I don't, those were Derek's words, not mine" Rogers said in defence.
"I see" the queen simply said before changing the subject, "Well, I wonder if the subject of having children will come up between them while they're away."
"Really, Uberta?" Rogers asked in disbelief, raising an eyebrow. "Derek and Odette made it clear that children will not be discussed until this matter of king William's murder is settled. Besides, you may be in your old age but you still have time to have a lot of grandchildren"
Hearing that word that shall not be mentioned, Uberta spat out her tea all over Rogers and angrily shouted, "WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"
Poor Rogers trembled in fear after realizing what he just said, "What I mean is...oh dear…" It was to late, the queen now had him by his collar, and she's as mad as a hornet.
"I'm not old, Rogers! I'm forty-nine! And need I remind you that you are speaking to your queen?! Derek may become king when this investigation is over, but until his and Odette's coronation, I AM still in charge, and comments like that will have you lose your head!"
"Noted" he squealed in fear.
"Hmph!" was all Uberta said before releasing Rogers and sitting back down.
"You really should watch that temper of yours, Uberta. I heard it causes crow's feet." He then warned the queen.
"Fine, Rogers" Uberta said while taking deep breaths.
Rogers was about to take a sip of tea when an arrow flies past his face and breaks it.
"What the?!" Rogers jumped, alerted. Both Uberta and Rogers turned to see who fired that arrow, and the culprit was Bromley.
"Are you out of your mind, man?! You could've killed me!" Rogers yelled angrily at Bromley.
"Sorry, Rogers" he apologized while chuckling, "I was just trying to impress Alyssa. Our date is this afternoon and I want to get ready"
"Get ready how?! By putting an arrow through my head?!" Rogers continued angrily.
"No, that'd be a bonus" Bromley replied, smirking. This caused Rogers to growl like a wild animal.
"Now now, children. You shouldn't be fighting" Uberta then said intervening.
Now Rogers was angry. "Children?! Who are you calling children?!" he yelled at the Queen.
"You two" the Queen pointed out. "I mean really, you two fight more than Derek and Odette did as actual children. At least they would often be civil with each other."
This caused Rogers to grumbel, Bromley however was chuckling once again. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I need to get ready" he then said before leaving the two alone.
Rogers then sat down in his chair calmed down, but now dumbfounded. "I still can't believe that Bromley of all people has a girlfriend!" he then said.
"And why should that be surprising, Rogers?" Uberta asked confused.
"Well, you've seen how he is!" Rogers began. "He almost ate a whole turkey at the wedding reception, and I haven't even mentioned the side dishes!"
"Oh come now, Rogers!" the Queen protested, "You forget, when Derek and Odette were children, they were always at each other's throats, and now they're happily married. If love can find its way to them, why shouldn't it help Bromley?"
"Because he's an oaf" Rogers pointed out.
"Alright, you make a good point there" Uberta cringed. "But still, everyone deserves to be happy"
"I'm willing to bet he won't even make it any further with her" Rogers then predicted.
"Really now? Then why don't we make this a little more interesting?" the Queen said grinning mischievously.
"Interesting how?" Rodgers asked, raising an eyebrow.
Alyssa was outside the castle dressed in her best dress waiting for her boyfriend, Bromley. Soon enough he showed up.
"Sorry I'm late, Alyssa. I, uh, had to take care of some stuff" Bromley quickly apologized.
"Oh, no worries, Bromley, you're here now and that's all that matters" Alyssa said happily before she kissed her boyfriend on his checks. This caused Bromley to smiled.
"Alright. So what shall we do today?" he happily asked.
"Well, why don't you choose?" she then asked.
"Me? O-okay. Hmmm…" Bromley said thinking for a moment. "We could take a walk through town" he then suggested.
"I think that's a great idea. There is a new bakery opening" Alyssa said happily.
"Alright, let's go" Bromley said smiling as he offered his arm to Alyssa and she took it.
The two love birds took off towards the un aware that the Queen and her lacky were following them in disguised.
"Why did I let you talk me into this?" Rogers complained, wearing a hooded cloak.
"I'm your queen, of course" Uberta proclaimed, wearing a black dress and face covering. Rodgers was about to say something but he couldn't bring himself to say, he just wanted this done and over with. "Let's keep following them" the queen said hiding jumping into a nearby bush with Rogers as the two staked the unsuspecting love birds, close enough to hear the two, but not to close so they get caught.
"So how long have you been handmaiden to the princess?" Bromley asked Alyssa.
"Ever since she and Derek got engaged" she responded.
"What brought you to take the job?" Bromley asked once again.
"Originally I lived in the village, and I was on the verge of starving due to the lack of money, then Odette found me and asked me if I wanted to be her handmaiden, so I agreed." she began.
"So you lived here?" Bromley asked once again.
"Actually, I lived in a village in her father's kingdom" Alyssa begin. "Odette and I met when she came back for her father's funeral. We all attended the church"
" I see" Bromley simply said.
"So how'd you and Derek become friends?" Alyssa then asked.
"We've actually been friends since childhood" Bromley said.
"Really? That's pretty impressive" she said amazed.
"It is. Of course there's Rogers who's been a pain to me" he then stated.
"He certainly is a piece of work" Alyssa agreed.
"What?!" Rogers complained, wide-eyed and surprised what they they were saying about him. Uberta meanwhile was having a hard time holding back her laughter.
"That's an understatement" Bromley commented.
"Has he always been so uptight?" Alyssa asked once again.
"Pretty much" Bromley confirmed.
"Maybe you should try being nicer to him" Alyssa then suggested.
"I don't see why, he's never been all that nice to me" Bromley then shrugged.
"Maybe, but he is your best friend's mentor, and maybe he'd be nicer to you if you're nicer to him" his girlfriend continued. There was a short 5 seconds of silence before Bromley spoke again.
"…I guess. Won't be easy, though"
"The right way and the easy way aren't always the same thing, Bromley" Alyssa then reminded her boyfriend.
"Yeah, you're right" he then smiled.
Rogers meanwhile was speechless to what just happened.
"What's the matter, Rogers? Cat got your tongue?" the queen then teased.
"They're lucky they aren't supposed to know we're following them" Rogers stubbornly said. "And you're lucky they haven't said anything about you" he the turned to Uberta.
"Oh, come now, Rogers! They wouldn't talk poorly about their own queen!" she proudly proclaimed.
"So what about the queen? What do you think of her?" Alyssa then asked Bromley.
"You were saying" Rogers then smirked.
"Well, she's always been sort of nice to me," Bromley began, "Except for the time mine and Derek's tree house crashed down on top of us and the princess"
"Oh yes, I remember that…" Uberta said, upon remembering that unfortunate day.
"How'd that happen?" Alyssa inquired her boyfriend.
"It was back when we were all kids" he began. "Derek and I were trying to get away from Odette, but she wouldn't leave us alone. We eventually were able to lose her when we got to the tree, but then she kicked one of the supports down and…I think you can figure out the rest"
"I can imagine why Queen Uberta was upset about that" Alyssa comnted imagining the scenario in her head.
"I can still hear her lecturing us…" Bromley shuttered at the memorie.
"Well, can you blame her? She was trying to get Derek and Odette to like each other, and you guys excluding her from everything didn't exactly help" Alyssa comments, after seeing things from Uberta's point of view.
"Yeah. But it all worked out, didn't it? The two of them are happily married, and you and I met because of it" Bromley then pointed out.
"True" Alyssa agreed, smiling loving at Bromley, he to smiled back.
"Although, the queen can be a little too eccentric at times" Bromley then said.
"He's got you there, Uberta" Rogers smiled devilishly.
"Oh please! There's no such thing as too eccentric!" Uberta protest.
"You've got a point there, Bromley. Derek and Odette's wedding was unlike anything I've ever seen" Aylssa admitted.
"Yeah, Queen Uberta has a habit of planning large parties. You should see her beauty pageants" Bromley then added.
"No thanks, I don't really like beauty pageants" Aylssa confest.
"What?!" Uberta nearly shouted outraged. All the women in his kingdom love her pageants. Rogers meanwhile was trying very hard not to laugh. Not because he was spying on the two love birds, but that the queen might have his head chopped clean off i he did.
"Why's that?" Bromley asked, curiously.
"Well, the whole idea that a girl being beautiful is the most important thing is highly overrated" she began. "I mean, sure, being beautiful can be a good thing, but it isn't the only thing. A girl should also feel good about herself regardless of what the standards say"
"Huh, I never thought of it that way" Bromley admitted upon thinking about it.
"Neither did I" Uberta silently agreed upon thinking about it to.
"And a boy should love a girl for who she is, not how she looks" Aylssa then said smiling at Bromley.
"That I knew about" Bromley smiled back.
"I know" she said right before they embraced each other with a kiss.
"Alright Rogers, pay up!" Ubrta smirked as she held out her hand towards Rogers, expecting him to give her something.
The old man grumbled as her handed the queen a single gold coin. "Maybe Derek was right about my gambling problem"
Meanwhile, in William's kingdom, Derek and Odette were making their way through the town towards Captain Gregory's home.
"We're almost there, Odette" Derek reassures his wife.
"Good" Odette simply said, really eager for this.
"Are you ready to know what Gregory has to say?" he then asked Odette, holding her hands out of concern. Odette was unsure at irst if she was ready for this. She wants justice for her deceased father, but is she ready to learn who may have done it and why he or she did it and is it that dangerous as Gregory has said it is? There was only one way to find out.
"Yes" she answered her husband.
But then her stomach or some revision started hurting.
"Are you alright?" Derek asked concerned upon seeing Odette holding her stomach and hissing in pain.
"Yeah I think so" Odette said as the pain in her stomach disappeared a quickly as it came.
"Okay" Derek said before as the two newly weds continued onwards for Gregory's place for answeres
Me: Hey guys! Sorry for the delay on this chapter, I had to wait to get it back from my new coauthor on it. Thanks again for working on this for me, Ember Neutron! You're the best! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and sorry for any and all spelling and grammar mistakes, I didn't want to correct them before posting this. Also, I figured I'd give you all a small break from Derek and Odette's story (even though they did technically show up at the end). Let me know what you guys think!
Also, two Swan Princess fiction-related announcements:
1. Ember Neutron and I will soon be working on a crossover between The Swan Princess and Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. We just have to wait until the first part of Season 2 comes around because it's important to the story.
2. I'm currently developing a crossover between The Swan Princess and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, with the main villain being Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty.
I know, both concepts sound weird, but hey, I like to write weird things, as long as I make them work.