The next few weeks from now the princess watched from her bedroom balcony the prince in the distance heading back to the woods.
What was Derek to do now? Odette thought to herself as she watched him go, He's already killed everything inside me.
She sighed heavily and only gazed into the distance – the future. When would the future finally come? Never... only the past was ever present, and ever growing.
Derek and Bromley trudged quietly throughout the forest, the two having arrows and bow in hand.
But all Bromley could do was complain.
"Why are we even hunting today?!" Derek ignored his friend but that didn't stop Bromley in his rant, "We've been out nearly EVERY DAY this week and nope! Nadda one real kill!"
"Be quiet, Bromley." Derek barked back at him, and that made his friend suddenly shut up, "Up ahead," Derek continued coldly, nudging his head to indicate the deer in the distance, "Let's go!" he whispered loudly.
Bromley only groaned loudly back and obeyed the prince's command. The two got to their knees as they hid behind a fallen tree log.
Derek went for the stag like always. His pride wouldn't let him aim for anything else.
Right through his heart... Derek thought to himself with intense pressure. He began to slowly pull back the arrow on his bow, aiming for the chest of the deer.
But the moment before he released his shot he saw Odette looking back at him. Tears in her eyes as she held herself open for him to pierce her with his arrow.
Derek blinked his eyes wide, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.
When he looked back at the stag, it was just him and the deer once more... the prince had just been imagining Odette standing there. But he couldn't get the image of her crying face out of his head.
He released his arrow and it went spiralling towards the herd of deer. He hadn't gotten any one. He had MISSED just like he always did-
There was a loud painful bleating as the deer stood up on its back legs in pain, the arrow stuck in its chest and Bromley shook Derek excitedly at his shoulders, saying in glee.
"YOU DID IT!"
"I did..?"
The deer dropped to the ground, his chest pounding up and down in agony and Derek slowly stood up, rubbing his own eyes to see if this was really real!
"YOU DID!" His best friend cheered at him as he ran over to the injured stag, blood slipping down the long arrow's length, "YOU HIT HIM!"
Derek only stood there paralysed, seeing in his mind, Odette there instead of the deer. He had aimed at the heart like he did with the picture in his room.
And he had destroyed the heart... both in the deer, and the princess.
He gulped heavily, finally approaching the dying animal and looked into the stag's shiny black eyes.
"I'm sorry..." Derek whispered and knew there was only one thing left to do. An act of mercy to take the animal out of his pain, "I'm sorry..." He shot an arrow through the deer's head and with that, the animal was gone. Dead.
Free of pain... free of the breath of life.
~x~
Odette watched the sky as the sun began to descend into the distant horizon as the day was slowly turning to night. There was a knock on the door but she didn't answer it with either a word or an action.
Her father came in, and looked quietly over to his daughter on the balcony. He smiled sadly and came in, approaching her and she barely even gazed his way to look at him.
"I'm sorry, Odette..."
She didn't know what to say. What was he sorry for? He had done nothing wrong.
"Why?" She asked quietly and the king only sighed heavily.
"I know that's all you had of her..."
Odette shut her eyes hard, trying to hold back her tears. Angry, terribly sad tears.
"It doesn't matter now... it's gone." Odette told him gently but inside she was writhing in emotional pain, "Just like she's gone..."
"I'm sure we can get another copy."
"Impossible..." Odette replied, and tightened her eyelids harder over her shut eyes, "Just impossible."
The king watched his daughter silently, before lifting his hand to Odette's collarbone and lifted up the golden locket that was hanging over her neck.
"It's still so beautiful on you.." He said, and Odette turned away from his touch, before muttering out coldly.
"So..?"
"You were so young when you got it... all these years, and you've kept it so safe."
"I know," Odette uttered, and finally opened her eyes, picking up the emblem at the end of the golden necklace, "Because it means something to me..."
"What does it mean to you, Odette?" Her father asked her gently and she looked silently as the heart-shaped pendant was in her palm.
"That I belong not to myself..." She said and just gazed again into the distance, seeing Derek coming out of the woods with two guards carrying a dead deer and Bromley eagerly behind the two.
"I belong to someone else."
These talks were so very sombre, and the king sighed heavily, a sigh from his heart. He squeezed her shoulder with his warm hand and she looked up at him, tears in her eyes.
"One day," He said to her with a kind smile, "One day, this will all make sense... fate, destiny. You will understand this all someday."
Maybe she would. Or maybe there was no thing such as destiny. For so many people had terrible ends. Were they 'fated' to die such ways?
"What if my fate is a sad one..?" She whispered to her father, a tear slipping down her cheek but he scooped it up with his finger's knuckle and wiped it away, saying.
"It won't be." He leant closer to his daughter as he kissed her gently on her forehead, looking back into her sad eyes and whispering, "You will be happy."
Years from now, Odette often wished she had spent more time with her father. She never thought she'd lose him to a mad evil sorcerer the same day that she would reject Derek.
But she also didn't know that many happy times awaited her as well.
This moment right now though? It was probably the saddest she had ever felt at this point in her life.
"Dinner will be soon." King William told her, smiling up one corner of his face, "I think we're having venison tonight."
"Oh, yum," Odette uttered out and only smiled a little at her sarcastic reply. She couldn't keep her slight humorous laugh to herself though, as the king had seen her flittering joy and he smiled back at her.
"Yum, indeed,"
He gave her a side hug and left his daughter again to herself. Odette gazed once more at the setting sun and slowly picked up the heart peace of her locket again. It was light but very shiny and made of pure gold.
A collar for her owner to claim her as his own. She didn't think Derek really saw her this way... and fortunately he didn't.
But he didn't think much of her in any way. Only one thing grabbed the prince's eyes and that was beauty.
But he couldn't see her beauty yet... at least not what was inside of her, her soul. To him, she was just a nuisance...
To her... he was just her torturer.
~x~
At dinner time the deer had been well cooked and plenty of its meat was on everybody's plates.
Derek and Odette were seated beside each other again, but neither of the two wanted to talk. Wanted to harm the other.
No. The two of them just ate their meals in silence.
The queen and king could very much sense the sad atmosphere of the room so Uberta finally spoke up.
"To believe you only have two more weeks here!"
There was no reply so the king quickly spoke up.
"I know! How time flies when having fun!"
"Please..." Odette sighed heavily, rolling her eyes and Derek plopped his own head on his hand depressed.
"Yeah..."
"This isn't my idea of fun..." The two said together, before continuing to eat their meals.
Uberta and William glanced nervous looks at each other and the queen tried again to lessen the tension in the air.
"Derek! You must be SO proud!" He looked at his mother slowly, as she pointed to the meal on her plate. She stabbed her fork into the meat and held it up in pride, "You made your FIRST kill today!"
"Oh yeah..." Derek uttered, and said without even thinking over his words first, "I just pictured Odette standing there and-"
Odette's eyes widened when he said this. Her heart pounded hard in shock and Derek suddenly realized what he had said out loud. He quickly tried to take back his words, "I-I mean-!"
Odette flung her chair back, standing up in haste and running out of the room. Derek pushed his own chair back as well, quickly getting to his feet as he tried to chase after her.
"Odette, wait! That's not what I meant!"
The two were in the large hallway as Derek ran to stop her and he grabbed her arm, yanking her to him.
"You mistook me!"
"Would you rather shoot an arrow through MY heart?!"
"Oh, please!" He whined back in anger and glared right into her eyes, "Stop being such a DRAMA QUEEN!"
"I hate you." Odette only hissed out, and Derek suddenly felt a deep pain in his heart. He looked at her silently before whispering the words.
"...why?"
"Because YOU ruin EVERYTHING!" She yelled at him and turned to leave again. But Derek had had enough of her blame game.
"Me?!" He yelled at her and she spun around to look at him, "ME?!"
The two stood at quite a distance to the other.
"I TRY to make this work. I TRY."
"And YOU fail every time!"
"Because YOU don't try at all!"
"ME?!" Odette now yelled out at him, and he nodded his head hard pointing at her.
"YEAH!"
"ME?!"
"Prove ME wrong!"
Odette was panting heavily, Derek doing the same. But he kept his hard glare on her and she grit her teeth in her mouth, finally saying to him with clenched teeth.
"Okay then,"
"Okay THEN." He repeated back to her and she took a deep breath out before saying her idea.
"Try and beat me at the game of kings."
"Poker?" He guessed, resuming his calm posture and Odette only laughed hard at this, shaking her head like she was mocking him.
"NO." She told him, looking at him in hate as she said, "That is a peasant's game." She took a deep breath in as she continued, "I mean CHESS."
"Chess...?" Derek said quietly confused. He had played it a lot this summer with King William. And King William had won every time. But as he looked into Odette's upset angry eyes, he decided to be a man and stand up to her, "Okay then!"
"Yes?"
"You got it, princess!"
She smirked at him, so very bitter in herself and she turned to leave. But before she was gone from the room, she said back to the prince, "Oh, and your hunt? It tasted terrible!"
"MY MOTHER LIKED IT!" Derek yelled at her but Odette was gone and he was by himself for a few brief seconds, before his rage got the better of him again and he suddenly ran after Odette, asking of her, "WHEN?!"
"When?" Odette barked at him, still so full of anger and rage, "When YOU are ready to lose again."
"I WISH I COULD LOSE YOU!" He bellowed at her and she slammed her room's door closed right before him, nearly smacking the prince in the face.
"I hate you..." Derek whispered under his breath as he stood there looking at the door's wood before him.
Teenage emotions can feel so alive, in both a bad and good way. He knew he was never this angry as a child... and had never been this angry at another person until now.
But she had said it first. She had said the 'H' word first.
Emotions can tire a person out, and these two were exhausted. But Derek left her door and went to King William who was discussing things with his mother.
"King William," Derek said to him quickly, touching his shoulder to get his notice. The king looked up at him with curious and confused eyes.
"Yes, Derek?"
"I need to practice with you..."
"Practice?"
"Chess,"
"Chess? Why now..? We have many days yet to come till we leave,"
"And I'm gonna need every one of those days because I NEED your help!"
The king was even more perplexed.
To beat your daughter, is what Derek thought desperately in his head, but would not say, "To be able to strategise," Is all he said, and smiled a timid fake grin, "To finally WIN just once!"
Derek didn't care if William bet him a million times. He needed this training if he was going to finally beat Odette and then... and then?
See her cry? See her destroyed at finally losing just once to him! Only once it would take.
"Okay, Derek," The king said gently, not knowing of the prince's plan... but the king had an inkling. He knew this wasn't just a game for practice. The prince was doing this for a reason.
A sad, sad reason... to prove Odette wrong. To prove to her she could lose.
To prove to her he was better...
But all this was was folly.
For him, for her.
For them both.
They had still a lot of growing up to do...
But I will win, the two thought bitterly in their minds, Odette and Derek, And I will see you cry.
I will see you cry.