Page 14 of Beneath Swan Lake (Deadly Endings #2)

An eerie silence settles over us at Raymundo’s words. Dima was a threat to me but one my parents didn’t know about, and I’m not sure how much I want them to know. My head is screaming in pain from the pressure Dima had put on my eye but I have to focus. Searching the ground with my one good eye is a great distraction from the dead wizard hanging from the stone sword. I’m terrified it got crushed in the melee and while I’ve accepted the fact that I probably won’t have my eye attached again, I’d rather not think about it being gone forever.

Ray’s words hang ominous in the air, like killing Dima was a favor to the crown. Maybe in a way it was. I’m still clinging to Ray, still scouring the ground for my eye when a shrill cry rings out through the courtyard. “Murderers!”

At the sound of her voice, my head snaps up—Ysanna is storming across the courtyard. I thought the guards had restrained her, but amid the chaos of Dima’s magic, she must have been forgotten. Not that it matters now that he’s dead.

Her hair has come undone in the fray, and the hem of her dress is torn on one side so she keeps stepping on it. Instead of relief that Dima is no longer alive, I'm suddenly filled with guilt.

I didn't deliver the blow that ended Dima, but I am the reason he got into a fight with Raymundo and died.

My father raises a hand, and the guards rush at her. With no magic she's easy to restrain and the amount of men who charge over to halt her approach seems unnecessary. The grief in her eyes is as real as the anger, and for once I don't believe she's faking the tears. “You brought Death here to annihilate my son!”

“Your son made a direct attack on my daughter,” Father barks, and his voice has that cruel edge again. “I make no apologies for the actions of anyone who stands in her defense.”

I stare openly at him. It’s a brazen response, one that directly aligns my father with Raymundo. For a moment I think maybe the Reaper is accessing the severity of such a stance, but when I look up and follow his gaze he’s staring at… nothing.

No, not nothing. He’s probably watching Dima’s spirit, but it’s not something I can see. I’ve never thought so much about what the dead do once they pass, but standing here with the embodiment of Death makes me wonder what goes on when a person stops breathing.

“This is an abuse of power!” Ysanna wails, dragging my attention back again. “Y-you’ve mutilated my son!”

But father is past caring, and as their King, the people will listen to whatever he commands. “I can empathize with the loss of a child, Ysanna, but I can’t forgive the blatant disrespect or the attempt on my daughter’s life.” He blows out a breath, and for a moment father looks so much older than usual. “You’re banished from the Kingdom.”

I wince. That seems cruel with her son hanging limp in the courtyard, and I catch Ray barely glancing around at all of us before looking away again. It definitely seems like he’s keeping an eye on the spirit. As he focuses elsewhere, my mother comes up and wraps her fingers around my arm, dragging me away from him.

I don’t really care if clinging to a Reaper is indecent. I’ve grown close to him over the past few days, and he didn’t have to protect me when Dima took his shot.

And he most certainly didn’t have to get into a battle with the wizard that led to his death.

“We should get you inside,” Mother breathes in my ear, worry heavy in her voice. I try to shake off her grip, but she’s insistent about holding on. “Your father will deal with this tragedy.”

I frown, glancing towards her. Other than the tone of her voice nothing about the Queen betrays how she’s feeling. She still holds her head high as she stares at the grieving mother across from us.

Maybe I have a bleeding heart, but I feel for Ysanna’s loss. Dima may have been my monster but he was her son. Banishing Ysanna is better than leaving her to sob hysterically in the dungeon or killing her for Dima’s betrayal to the crown. I look towards Raymundo again.

He’s got his arms crossed, eyeing what looks like empty space. He’s restlessly shifting from foot to foot, and I think he wants to slide into the shadows. But for whatever reason he seems to be avoiding it, and I’m not going to puzzle out why right now.

As Mother keeps pulling, he catches my gaze and offers a quick nod. I want to stay here and see this play out, but the Queen won’t let up. She’s absolutely certain that I need to go inside after such a dire affair.

Mother dips her head, speaking into my ear as we move. “We’ll call Cindy back, have her draw you another bath to wash off the tragedy of today. Then maybe you’ll tell me what Raymundo knows about Dima.”

I startle, almost pulling free of her hold. “What-”

“Keep the mask in place, love,” Mother says, speaking through her teeth. “Don’t let anyone see if you’re sad, hurt, or horrified. Keep the mask.”

Right. My mother’s always taught me to keep my feelings hidden from the court and watchful eyes. The tragedy of Dima dying in the courtyard will spark rumors, and it’s best we don’t fuel them. I have no doubts Father will be speaking to Raymundo a second time.

I wish I had more time to speak with my Reaper. I didn’t even hear what the last conversation they had was about.

I’m not horrified by what’s happened, I’m horrified by my lack of reaction. With a sigh I give into mother’s pull, letting her drag us back towards the halls just as I catch the end of Father’s decree.

“You can mourn the loss of your son in the land he’s betrayed. But the Kingdom is loyal to our princess, whom your son tried to strike. If your loyalty remains to the dead wizard, you can take your grief beyond the walls of Swan Lake.”

Ysanna bursts out sobbing, and Mother ushers me further away from the courtyard before I can hear more. The last thing I spot is Raymundo, his eyes peering at me as my father continues his decree of banishment for her.

~~~

Mother insists I take a second bath, which is the farthest thing from my mind. But I dutifully strip as she sends for Cindy, who looks terrified to see me. I’m sure that there’s already rumors floating around the castle that Dima died, and the truth is rarely told through whispering mouths.

Cindy really is a strange one. Mother told me once that before the Tyrant King Midas closed off his borders to everyone, he sent them a maid named Cindy. Apparently she was supposed to be turned to gold as a punishment for someone in the castle, but trading her worked out better for Midas. He thought he had a spy, but Cindy never seemed interested in reporting back to the Golden King. For all the years I’ve known her she was pleasant and good with the animals around the property. It came in handy when I would transform into a swan and she still didn’t mind helping me, ensuring my feathers were plucked and my beak shiny.

They give me some privacy under the pretext that I need a few moments to myself, and I send Cindy away for the day. Really I’m just trying to catch my breath. Dima’s face refused to fade from my mind, lingering like a ghost I couldn’t shake and I realize I’m almost disappointed that Ray killed him because part of me, a big part of me, wanted to be the one to bring him to an end.

As I sink into the bath, lost in thoughts of what it might have felt like to kill Dima myself, a hand suddenly slides over my mouth. My body reacts quickly, lurching forward to try to pull myself away until I feel the familiar outline of Ray’s scar. “Shh, Birdie. Your mother is sitting in your room waiting. Don’t scream.”

He’s pressed so close that I can’t twist away, my wet hair and shoulders soaking into his clothes. But the moment I recognize him, any fear vanishes. I mumble against his hand, and after a pause, he finally lets go. “What do you want, Ray?”

He does that shadow hopping thing, appearing on the other side of the bathing chamber and out of reach from the tub. His lips curl up in a cheeky grin and I simply glare, unwilling to hide myself from him after he’s been inside me.

A beat of silence passes before he speaks. “Are you all right?”

“That’s a loaded question,” I hiss. “I didn’t expect you to kill Dima.”

“It wasn’t planned,” he tells me honestly, scratching his chin. “I have a question for you.”

I look around the room. “It couldn’t wait until I was done bathing?”

He shrugs. “Your mother is camped out in your room so she’s not going to give us space anytime soon.”

Cringing, I can’t imagine what my mother is thinking right now. Dima’s death was violent, and delivered by the literal hands of death. Of course she’s going to want to talk to me, especially since I arrived at the castle with the Reaper in tow and he killed Dima without hesitation. My mom is a romantic, and I am willing to bet that she thinks Ray did it as a personal favor to me. I refuse to consider if that might be right or not. “What’s the question?”

His jaw tenses, and he looks away like he’s debating what to say. “You like knowledge, right? Tell me about what you know about Swanling?”

I snort. “The village?”

“No, Birdie,” he says, his green eyes narrowing, “the legend of the second lake beneath Swan Lake.”

I suddenly tense up and everything that isn’t submerged beneath water breaks out in goosebumps. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because your father went on about bloodlines and Swanling and it didn’t make a lot of sense to me. Did your parents ever say anything to you?”

Earlier my mother mentioned blood, but my mind is too scrambled to remember exactly what. “We don’t really talk about Swanling. It’s just a legend, and who knows what purpose a second lake would have anyway.”

“Right,” Raymundo says, his eyes never leaving my face. “Like torturing someone beneath the lake?”

My eye widens. “I never said- ”

“It’s something Dima’s spirit grumbles about,” he interrupts, shaking his head. “Spirits are like that. Scared, vengeful, resigned, it doesn’t matter what they are feeling. The soul wants to shed its burdens before passing on. He’s going to share things he doesn’t even mean to, and I haven’t reaped him yet.”

My cheeks flush, peering around the room. “Is he-”

“If you think I’d let his spirit this close to you, Birdie, you’re mistaken. He doesn’t get to torment you in death when he already got his claws into you in life.”

I wince. He has no idea how right he is.

Ray looks up towards the door. “Your mother is about to knock.”

As if on cue, that exact thing happens. He must be able to hear her approach. “Love, are you okay in there?”

I clear my throat, keeping my eyes on Ray. “Just fine! I’ll be out soon!” Lowering my voice again, I address him. “Are you leaving?”

He looks surprised. “Of course I’ll leave the bath-”

“No,” I interrupt. “The castle. Are you… will you be gone before I have the chance to see you again?”

A faint smile dances across his lips. “I don’t have to leave just yet. I can linger a little while longer.”

But not forever. He doesn’t have to say the words, I know they are true. He has to return to traveling to collect souls; he can’t neglect his work. Plus he has a whole family in Sherwood that is eagerly waiting for him. I’m being selfish hoping he will stay here.

He pauses, eyeing my dress and gloves. I told Cindy to leave what I wore earlier on the chair, as there was no sense in finding a brand new outfit this late in the day. Moving closer to the clothes, he pulls something from his pocket and sets it on top of the pile. For a moment I think it’ll be my eye.

When he moves, I realize it’s the timepiece. “Try wearing it around the castle today, Princess. Maybe you’ll find the person my mother mentioned.”

“Reginald,” I correct. “I’ve already seen him a couple times.”

“Yes,” Ray agrees. “But maybe if he sees the timepiece, he’ll tell you what he knows. Mum seemed certain if given the chance he would share details with you.”

I’m not sure how true that is, but I nod anyway. Ray watches me for another moment before he winks, and fades into the shadows again.

~~~

Mother is surprisingly interested in the timepiece, but she doesn’t ask much about it. She simply looks at it for a few moments before moving on, and after filling my ears with mindless chatter for a few minutes she gets to her point. “There’s something I need to show you.”

“Okay,” I reply, frowning. I’m not sure what she will want to show me after today. We just watched Raymundo kill Dima, and I can tell from the troubled look in her eyes that the memory is lingering. Maybe I’m a little numb because Dima was my personal monster, but I’m not at all torn up about the fact that Ray basically skewered him in the courtyard.

She shifts around, pulling out something from a pocket hidden in her skirts. After a beat she opens her hands, revealing a small silk bag. She pulls back the ties before withdrawing a necklace with a thin chain.

When she looks up her expression is thoughtful. For the first time in ages I can see the lines in my mothers face under her makeup and her careful smiles whenever they hold an audience in the throne room. Now she almost looks… vulnerable.

I turn my attention back to the necklace. It’s a golden pendant with a swan on the front, the gold inlaid with something that glimmers. Mother has all the lavish, expensive things that come with a title like Queen, and this is rather simple compared to some of the gem-encrusted bracelets and necklaces that she wears from time to time. Leaning closer, I realize that the swan design is etched in with something besides gold, and it glimmers like -

I pause, tracing the design with a nail. “Is this…”

“Ice?” She gives me a nod. “We had this made when you were born, Odette.You see, before the Kingdoms divided thanks to the Mad Queen, trade among the regions was common. Ice that can hold its shape used to be a novelty, and we had an ice sculptor work the design into the locket.”

“When…” Mother stops to clear her throat, her eyes shadowed, as if she were seeing another time, another place. “The night you were bit was a tragedy, one we’ve never forgiven ourselves for. We let that idiotic suitor take you on a carriage ride and that decision changed your whole life.”

Biting my tongue, I wonder if I should finally fill my parents in on what really happened that night with Dima, my eye, that grotesque bird of his. After all, Dima is finally dead and he can’t use my eye against me anymore. Before I can make a decision, my mother continues with her story so I stay silent.

“This isn’t a kingdom of tragedy,” mother goes on, gazing off into the distance. I try and follow her eye line, but she’s peering out my open balcony doors. I can’t figure out what exactly she’s staring at. “This is Swan Lake. A peaceful kingdom. A gentle land where the swans and other wildlife feel safe with predators looming nearby. Even our citizens feel our generosity throughout the kingdom. Anywhere your father can, he spreads kindness and prosperity so our citizens live fulfilling and safe lives.”

I wait a moment before clearing my throat, and she doesn’t even look over at me. “Mother? What does this have to do with the night I was hurt?”

She looks back towards me, and I’m a little surprised to find her eyes are wet and glassy. “We couldn’t stop what happened that night, Odette. We didn’t believe you would be in any danger, and we thought we could trust an agent of Camelot.”

“Agent of Camelot?” I repeat.

“Yes. Seraphe seemed to be a competent suitor until he went off the path and led you into Ravens Wood. You were in danger out there no matter who found you. It’s a miracle-”

She cuts herself off, looking away again. I know where she’s going with this. When I escaped from Dima, he more or less tossed me to the gates of the kingdom and let the guards find me. He had no more use for me once he had my eye and could snoop on whatever he wanted to learn, so he cast me away. The wounds were still fresh enough some of them oozed, and it was quite the ordeal getting me to the palace and seeking a healer. Or so I’ve heard. My memories of returning to the castle are blurry and out of order in my mind.

“It wasn’t supposed to be this way,” she says, shaking her head. “Mystica was supposed to be a united front. A land where all would be free. When the King of Diamonds was alive, that was almost a possibility.”

That piques my interest, and I forget about what she came in here for. “King of Diamonds?”

She glances at me, and I think mother regrets mentioning that. Her full lips thin as she considers a response, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly on me. I’ve always had a thirst for knowledge, but as far as anyone in Wonderland goes it’s not my favorite topic.

After a beat she cocks her head, and I move to sit beside her. “Before the King’s untimely end Mystica was a completely different place. The King and Queen in the northern Frostlands were still alive, and near Thornton Palace the rulers were still in power. Even King Arthur was a more tolerable man than he is now.”

I check off each Kingdom in my head, waiting to see if she will mention the last. “And… Tressa?”

“Tressa was built on a mad King’s dream,” mother barks, and I’ve never heard her be so snappy about Midas. She never pretended to like him, but it usually sounds like bland indifference when we would speak of Tressa instead of the sudden distaste. “King Midas did a great many uncouth things during his rule. Marrying Dorah was one of them, but he did occasionally offer something useful to the other kingdoms.”

“He did?” I say, surprised. Between Rapunzel’s distaste for her father and mother’s sudden feelings about him, I get the feeling Midas rubbed too many people the wrong way.

“Yes. Before the King of Diamonds died and the Queen of Hearts still had some sanity, trade was easier in the lands. We would often trade the feathers of the swans when they would molt since the rest of Mystica isn’t privy to beautiful birds like we are. They would be used for clothes, quills, sometimes for other things too I’m sure. Feathers are one of those things that people with magic love to enchant.”

I nod along, unsure I want to interrupt again. I really want to dig into what else mother knows about the King of Diamonds, but wherever she's trying to go with this feels important.

“King Midas gifted us thread once,” she continues. “Golden thread he spun from a spinning wheel that once sat in the castles of Tressa. It disappeared so long ago I think perhaps the royals discarded it as junk. But he did spin threads of gold, the type of thread that adds in a bit of magic to whatever it is used to stitch together. It’s priceless, and I was always surprised he would offer something so generous.”

Given the stories about him, so am I. “What did you trade in return?”

She smiles. “Actually, it was a favor on his part. He demanded we take in a young girl when she grew older and employ her in the castle. He refused to speak about why. She was presumed dead in the kingdom when the time came and joined us here in Swan Lake.”

Oh. “Do you mean Cindy?”

“Yes. The King never did share what was so important about the handmaid before his death. He offered the golden thread as a battering chip until it was time for Cindy to find a new residence. She’s lived in the castle with us since she came to Swan Lake, as promised. And Midas handed over the priceless gold thread so we would keep our end of the deal. It’s one of the only useful things that blasted King ever traded with us. We had a seamstress sew together your feathery dress with the thread. That’s why the dress never gets dirty or destroyed, and why it can shift with you when you change. The magic in the thread expanded and became part of the dress itself. ”

My eyes widen. I never really thought of what makes the dress special, I just knew my parents went through great lengths to ensure I had a garment to help keep me safe while still being versatile. I’ve studied the design over the years, but I never noticed if thread was gold.

She pushes the locket towards me, until her hand presses over my heart. I’d nearly forgotten about it when she started to talk about the past and my dress. “Although things were uneasy between the kingdoms even before the King of Diamonds passed, we had this locket made for you for when you were born. It commemorates what the swan symbolizes to this land: hope, fate, chances. I kept track of it when you were young so nothing happened to it and no one stole it. I kept it hidden in my jewelry box for a time and forgot about it until your twentieth birthday when you were cursed. I meant to hold onto it until your wedding day, since it got lost in my jewelry box among all the other pieces, but that time hasn’t come. It’s been sitting in the box so long you don’t seem to even remember it.”

“I don’t recall seeing it before,” I say honestly, lifting my gaze back to her.

Mother nods, reaching up to brush back my hair. It exposes the hole where my eye should be, and sadness crosses her face. “We wanted to give you everything, Odette. A locket to carry with you no matter where your journeys take you. A dress that changes with you to keep you safe. Yet your eye, it’s the one thing you don’t let us help with. How I wish you would let us fix this. ”

I brush off her hand and shove the hair back across my face. If I had my severed eye, maybe I would tell her about Dima. But the weight of the day is a little too much, and I don’t think I can go through all of that tonight. Perhaps tomorrow or the following day. “There’s nothing to fix. This is a part of me now, and I’ve accepted it.”

It’s not a lie. Just because Dima used my eye doesn’t mean I had a disillusion that I would somehow get it back and reattach it. Years have passed. There’s no reconnecting a severed eye like that.

She looks ready to argue about the eye, but after a steading breath she shakes her head and lets it go. “I had the locket made from the opal here in Swan Lake, liquid gold gifted as a favor from Midas before he handed over the thread, and ice crystals from Icicle Pass.”

My eye widens as I stare at it. I thought the Golden King was heartless, yet somehow my parents gained gold twice from him. “Gold from Midas?”

“Two dozen years changes the course of time,” mother mutters, staring down at the locket. “Midas was once an ally, when he still aligned himself against Wonderland but with other kingdoms. The borders around Wonderland are breaking, and more and more creatures are escaping into the wild.”

“You mean Flowerborne?”

She hesitates. “Worse. I’ve heard of shifters and the Hatter crossing into Mystica to escape the Mad Queen.” She shakes her head. “Once, Wonderland was a great land where citizens lived in peace. But tragedy turned the Queen into something else.”

Her gaze goes far away again, and I have no idea what scenes from the past are playing in her mind. My mother is young for a Queen, but when she looks off into the distance like that it ages her. She’s thinking of problems well beyond her years.

I hesitate, holding the necklace in my hand. “Why are you showing me this now?”

She turns back, giving me a faint smile. “You know, your father and I don’t expect you to take the throne anytime soon.”

“Is that why you don’t push me towards finding a husband?” I ask. She has such a strange train of thought tonight. After Dima’s death, mentioning a husband is the last thing I expected to hear.

She chuckles. “That’s one of the reasons. But, more importantly, I think you could break the swan curse.”

Disappointment blooms in my chest. This curse is the byproduct of an animal bite, Flowerborne, and madness. “No one knows how… I don’t think it can be fixed. It’s just a part of me now.”

Nodding, Mother swallows and looks past me, towards the wall. I don’t think she accepts that answer. “Have you heard of the rumors about what’s underneath Swan Lake?”

I’m so surprised I almost stand up. The rumors about what happens beneath the lake involve whispers of black magic. I blame Dima honestly, because his magic was wicked and did terrible things in those caves. That monstrous bird that traveled with him was the outcome of sinful experiments, and I fully believe he would feed dead Flowerborne to animals just to see what happened. All the rumors that now float around about experimentation have to be because of Dima. He’s the only wizard I know of in Swan Lake, and he did a phenomenal job hiding who he was until he died. I don’t know exactly where he took me, but beneath the lake is a good guess, and I don’t want my torment to be part of any rumors my mother’s heard. “I - I’ve heard.”

Mother gives me a look I can’t interpret. “If there’s a remedy to an unnatural curse, it will come from unnatural means. Beneath the lake might be the only place where you can reverse the curse.”

All the hope I’ve carried around since Tressa deflates. If that’s what my mother truly believes then there is no hope. I doubt that there’s anyone beneath the lake that can help me if Dima is dead. And he never intended to help me when he was alive.

I don’t mention it though, because I’m not sure my mother has the same train of thought. “Is it really safe to try and ask for help from someone who is torturing creatures?”

“That’s only a rumor,” Mother grumbles, shifting uncomfortably on the bed. “And not the reason that I’m suggesting you go.”

“Then what, pray tell, is it?”

“Swanling,” she says simply, holding the locket out to me once more. This time I take it, trying to figure out where this is going now. “To the blue lake. If you can get through the caves you can find the looking glass.”

“Looking glass?” I can’t follow what she’s saying, but for the first time since I returned home mother looks eager about something. Like she’s waited to share this with me.

“A looking glass is a pool of water enchanted with magic. If you look into the water when it is absolutely still and clear, you can see straight through to another place.” She leans in closer. “I always thought that Midas had one. He stayed young for more than thirty-odd years before his daughter was born. He had to have another way. There’s supposed to be a Fountain of Youth someplace. I think it was once out there.”

“Once?” I ask, but my voice sounds hollow. I’m trying to take in information as she gives it and I’m just not doing that well.

“Who knows. Tressa is leveled now. If there was something mystical out there, it’s probably been scavenged already.”

I try to think back to Tressa, but most of it is a blur. I don’t remember seeing a fountain, but to be honest I wasn’t looking for one either.

Mother clasps my hand, closing the locket in my palm. “If you can get beneath the lake, you’ll find Swanling. It’s a lake hidden beneath a lake to hide the truth of Swanling itself. Only the royal family knows this, and the path to reach the lake has been lost to time. The map and the path were forgotten as time passed. But now, you’ve befriended Death. If anyone can fly through the shadows down there and find the way, it’s a Reaper.”

So Raymundo inspired this mood to share. I can admit that he has powers that far exceed anything I can do, but I’m not entirely certain I want to go beneath the lake. “How does any of this fix my curse?”

“Because if someone experimented down there, there might be answers.”

So it’s a fool’s hope. If Dima knows how to break the swan curse he never shared, and there’s no asking him now…

I pause in my thoughts as something occurs to me. I’m friends now with a mother-fucking-Reaper. I can talk to the dead.

Squeezing mom’s hands, I stand. She pushes my hands back, ensuring I keep my grip on the locket. “Thank you, Mother.”

She nods, that sadness remaining. “If you have to journey from the Kingdom again, I prefer you do so in the company of a man as powerful as Raymundo. You have strength in your own right my dear, but it’s hard to contend with Death. We would rather you go on another journey than miss an opportunity to be free.”

Warmth settles in my chest. I thought I would have to fight to leave here again, but it seems mother is on my side tonight. With a quick nod, I give her a genuine smile. “Of course.”

~~ ~

Later, when I should be sleeping, I sneak out to find Raymundo. He never returned after Mother left, and I’m going to take her kind words at face value and run while I have her blessing.

Her intentions are good. She wants me to be free of the swan, but I’m not sure that can be a reality. The swan is part of me, bitten by a mutated creature thanks to the Flowerborne. No one cast a spell. Dima didn’t use his magic to turn me into this. He simply let the monsters take a bite.

But Mother believes in her heart of hearts that this is something that can be fixed, and I don’t want to crush her hopes quite yet. It feels cruel to do so, even if I’ve lost faith in a cure.

I wait until close to midnight before deciding it’s time to go. I had dinner in my room while chatting with Cindy, who filled me in on the latest castle gossip—though nothing particularly exciting. She comes back close to the time I plan to leave, setting out a dress for tomorrow that I won’t be wearing and shooting me a look.

“You know, Your Royal Highness,” she says, taking the seeds I picked out of my roll and placing them on the windowsill. She’s going to feed the birds. “I get the feeling you’ll be leaving us again so soon.”

I blink, staring at her. I guess I’m not as sneaky as I thought if she’s reading me this easily. “I see.”

Cindy gives me a bemused look, her dirty blonde hair tugged back into a low bun. “Far be it from me to judge anyone for seeking adventure. I hope you find whatever it is you’re looking for.”

My brows knit together. Cindy is kind, albeit a little strange with the way she wanders around talking to animals. I have to be in my swan form to understand anything to do with animals at all. “Thank you, Cindy.”

She nods, clasping her hands together as she looks around. I hold my tongue, waiting to see what she says. It’s odd that she decided to come back to my room at this late hour. “I, um, I thought I should tell you about Lord Dima.”

I frown. “He’s dead, Cindy.”

“I know,” she replies. “But before he died I saw him speaking into a stone.”

My eyes widen. His seeing stone. “Does the King know?”

She hesitates, pursing her lips before she responds. “I thought the information might be better suited for the Reaper. Not that I want to defy the King. I just think that perhaps a Reaper will have better use of the information.”

I cross my arms. “What did he say?”

“I only caught the tail end,” she explains, fiddling with her fingers. She’s nervous. “He spoke to someone he called the librarian. I think they were speaking in code. He only claimed that he no longer wanted to ally with the Knights. He had discovered magic beyond the minds of Camelot and no longer needed to be their spy. ”

I take a step back, eyes going wide. “Is that word for word?”

“No,” she admits. “I’m summarizing. I don’t remember exactly what he said. But he most certainly spoke with a librarian and mentioned Camelot.”

I try to make sense of it, but I’ve done my best distancing myself from Camelot. I don’t like the King or any of his disciples. I surf through my memories, trying to figure out who a librarian would masquerade as in Camelot…

My eyes snap back to Cindy. “Was her name Morgan?”

Cindy holds up her hands. “I’m unsure, Your Royal Highness. I’m only sharing what I know. The Reaper would know more about Camelot, would he not? Your father’s made his stance against Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table quite clear.”

Yes, he has. Father doesn’t like Arthur, and I agree with him. I just don’t know if this information will mean anything to Ray now that Dima is dead. “Thank you for telling me, Cindy.”

She bows her head. “I hope we see each other again soon, Princess Odette.”

Leaning forward, I clasp her hands. “Do me a favor. Tell the King in the morning what you heard once he learns that I’m gone. My mother will smooth things over with him, but we can’t keep secrets like that from the King. It could turn into a matter of safety if this has anything to do with Swan Lake.”

“Yes, Princess Odette,” Cindy agrees, nodding her head quickly. “As you wish. ”

I make a shooing motion, glancing back to my bed. I’m still wearing the cream dress from before, but I’m going to swap it for the feathery dress and skip my nightdress altogether. “Best be off. I’ll see you again someday, my friend.”

Cindy nods, moving to the door. “And don’t worry, Your Royal Highness. I’ll distract the guards so you can escape the room. I’m pretty sure the last time I saw the Reaper, he was near the front doors.”