The storm died away as quickly as it had come, and the boat settled onto the now-calm surface. Simon stood panting and dripping, watching the place where Bartholomew had disappeared. The swans were swimming in circles, as though determined to see that their foe remained where he was. Then Simon remembered and whipped around. Odette lay on the deck of the boat, dressed in a white gown that was stained with lake water. Her blonde hair lay matted and scattered around the legs of the seating benches.
Simon knelt down and gently turned her so that he could see her pale face. She still wasn’t moving; he couldn’t tell if she was even breathing. Please… please, Odette. He brushed away strands of hair and lifted her up slightly. Was there something he had to do? Something he was supposed to say? He couldn’t lose her now, not after everything that had happened.
“I’m so sorry,” he said softly. Another long moment passed. Then Odette’s lashes quivered and she opened her eyes.
“Simon?” she said weakly, not even trying to sit up on her own.
“Yes, it’s me. I’m so sorry. I should never have left you alone—,”
Odette shook her head slowly, then winced. “No, no, it had to happen this way. You could not have broken the curse otherwise.” She paused and took in several deep breaths, then attempted to sit up. Simon helped her as best he could in the cramped space between the benches. “If we sit here for a little while, I shall be better soon,” she said, patting the seat of the bench next to her. Simon took most of her weight, and soon they were seated next to one another.
“Why did it have to happen like this? What do you mean?” he asked as soon as she seemed comfortable.
“You made your declaration of love,” she replied, gathering her hair into her hands and wringing out some of the water. The movement was so very normal; had Simon really just been fighting a magician only moments ago?
He frowned in confusion. “But… I never said anything. I figured out Bartholomew’s decoy before I announced anything at the fundraiser, and then when I came here, there wasn’t time.”
“No, you misunderstand,” Odette said with a shake of her head. A few drops of water flew from her wet hair. “The declaration was not one of words, but of actions. You faced your deepest fear—your fear of drowning—to save me. You showed your love by confronting the thing you feared the most. That is what saved me. Bartholomew is very clever,” she continued, cutting off Simon’s attempt to interrupt. “He knew the wording of his curse would confuse those who attempted to break it, and he used it to his advantage. He tried to trick you into declaring your love for someone else. Even if you discovered the trick afterward, he knew he would have no difficulty convincing you that I was lost forever.”
“But I thought I had lost you when I saw you lying here on the boat.”
“Bartholomew drugged me,” she said with a shrug. “It was unpleasant, and potentially dangerous, but I had to let him do it. He needed to believe he was in full control. And…,” she hesitated for a moment, “I did not want to be awake in case… in case you did not come after all,” she finished quietly. Whether from cold or emotion, she shivered, and Simon quickly placed an arm around her.
“Did you know it would work like that? Breaking the curse, I mean,” Simon said as she leaned closer to him.
Odette gave a wry, weary smile. “I have been under this spell for five centuries, Simon. I know a thing or two now about how people prove their love.”
Silence fell between them, and Simon looked out at the still water of the lake. He still had many questions, but those could wait. What mattered was that he had overcome his fear and saved the woman he loved. He looked at Odette again, and she turned to him. Her green eyes were bright in the moonlight, and she smiled at him softly.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked.
“I’m thinking that I would like to sit here until sunrise, just to be sure the curse is actually broken.”
Odette laughed. “I would prefer not to be drenched in lake water first. And I am hungry. I have not eaten proper human food in a very long time.”
“Alright then. Dry clothes and a hot meal. What do you feed a woman who is five centuries old and has been living most of her life as a bird?” Simon teased. Odette blushed but nudged him playfully in the ribs, then got to her feet. Simon stood as well and placed his arm around her again. Together they watched the group of swans. They had broken their circle and were now swimming away toward the shore in all directions. Two swans swam toward the boat. They bobbed their long necks, and Odette nodded back to them in return.
“Thank you,” she said quietly. The swans bobbed again, then turned and swam toward the hanging branches of a willow tree. She waited until they reached the shore, then looked up at Simon. “I am ready now.”
“Come on, then. Let’s go home.”
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