Chapter 7
A/N – Odette uses her cane in her right hand, which means that her left leg should be the injured leg, as you should use an assistive device on the opposite side.
The rest of the holiday season passed uneventfully for Odette. At l'Opéra she fastidiously avoided Mérante, and at the Le Haut residence, she fastidiously avoided Hélène. Preparations for the upcoming nuptials, to be completed in record time, had everyone on edge. Régine had accepted the hand of a distant cousin, Clement Le Haut, an unctuous, spineless, ambitionless toad. Odette had no doubt Régine had chosen him because he'd be easy to control, and easy to fool.
Despite the added stress and additional duties, Odette was looking forward to the wedding. It had been decided that the newlyweds would head out on a three-month tour of Europe, and Hélène would take the opportunity to visit her sister in Vienna. Odette would have no one in the Le Haut household to answer to beyond Monsier Alexandre, the butler, and Madame Arsenau, the housekeeper. It was this thought that motivated her as the Le Haut tyrants put more and more duties onto Odette.
After the days, which felt like months, of preparations came to an end, both women were seen off in a flurry of trunks and skirts. All the servants had been given a half day off to rest, and Odette gratefully returned to her own room. Her first instinct was to fall into bed and never get out, but instead she spent some time stretching and massaging her leg. Her left leg was scarred from toe to hip, and much of her left torso also. The extensive burns had done nerve and muscle damage, and she had a hard time bending at any of the joints.
She warmed up, not unlike a warm-up at the barre, and worked to flex her toes, her knees, her hips. She knew she should be doing this every day, for on the days she was able to her pain was far lessened, but she rarely had time between the demands of l'Opéra and the Le Haut residents. She hummed a tune as she stretched, and soon she was doing a simple dance. Eyes closed, Odette hummed, spun, and did a simple dance around her room. Sweaty, but satisfied, she lie down and drifted to sleep, a true smile on her face.