Swan Obsession

"Pssst!" A sound came from behind the black trees. There was a rustling in the dark green foliage. Odette raised her head and looked around. The sun shone down in streams of warm light, so that the dark lake seemed to glitter with diamonds, but the bright glare made it difficult to anything.

"Pssst!" Came the sound again, and Odette swam towards the shores of the lake circling it's edges to discern the source of the sound. From behind one of the trees, a wrinkled hand waved furiously, almost as gnarled as the tree's branches above it. Waddling out of the water, for as lovely as she was, it was impossible for Odette to be graceful upon the land, she headed for the tree, and peeked her long neck around. It was Rothbart's assistant! Startled, and mistrustful, she backed away, her wings spread at their full span in surprise. Odette's beak was open, as though she wanted to cry out, and at that moment, Bridget grabbed the swan at the base of her head, and forced a few droplets of thick blue liquid down her throat.

Before Odette could fight back, Bridget had already let go, and a familiar mist surrounded her. She was transforming, yet how could this be? The mist fell away, and Odette looked down at herself. As she did so, Bridget threw the blanket around the bewildered princess, and wrapped it around her nude body. Odette looked up at the old woman, asking in a confused stumble of words, how, and why?

"Well, I couldn't very well speak to a swan, now could I?" the old lady replied sharply, but there was a gentle expression upon her face. Odette smiled, confused, but sensing that she had an ally on her side.

"Am... am I... I mean, is the spell broken?" Odette stammered, as the thought occurred to her. Bridget shook her head. She held up a small translucent bottle, swing it back and forth between her fingers.

"It's a temporary potion," replied the old assistant, "The potion of 'True Form.'" Disappointment passed over Odette's face, but she was a princess and accustomed to controlling her emotions. It wouldn't serve her now to lose her poise.

"I must know," Bridget continued, "Do you love Rothbart?" Poise lost, a flurry of emotions crossed through Odette, showing in the flutter of her long dark eyelashes, in the clenching and unclenching of her fists, and the slight shake of her head. The old lady cackled gleefully, looking for all the world like a witch.

"You do love him, don't you? Ahh, I was a young girl once, and I know how easily love can hide itself in hate," Bridget said, bobbing up and down. "But now we must do something about it to make that old fool realize how much he loves you. He watches you all day and night, you know, non stop." Rothbart's assistant chattered on in her raspy voice, but Odette had stopped listening. Rothbart... loved her? And he watched her all day? No... it was her father's kingdom he wanted, wasn't it?

"Aye you heard me right," Bridget cackled, as though reading Odette's thoughts, "he does love you. Used to watch your fathers kingdom for days upon end, and now he only watches you. He loves you but he doesn't know it yet, and it's up to us to take the blindfold off that old fool's eyes. For all his learning, he sure doesn't know much." Bridget laughed again, and in that moment, Odette could see the fondness the old assistant felt for her master.

"We must now come up with a plan," Bridget continued, "I have a seeing crystal, and though it isn't as impressive as Rothbart's smoke visions, it does the trick." The old woman began to tell her of how her childhood 'friend' Derek's mother was throwing a ball to find her son a bride. Derek? Odette wondered what he had to do with anything. The very idea of him still made her want to recoil.

"You will lead Derek here," Bridget was saying, and confused by the entirely plan, Odette begged the old lady to stop.

"Derek?" Odette cried, incredulous. "But I can't even bear the sight of him! Why in the world would I want him here?" Bridget looked at Odette as though she were nothing but a silly young child who didn't understand anything.

"To make Rothbart jealous of course!" Bridget declared. A sly smile crept upon her wrinkled face. "You do understand the power of jealousy, do you not?" It occured to Odette that perhaps the old assistant knew more than her gnarled facade revealed, despite her somewhat daffy demeanor. Not knowing what to say, Odette simply nodded, and seeing that she was quiet again, Bridget revealed to the princess, the rest of her plans.