Swan Lake. Dragon Empire
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Suddenly, steps were heard outside the door, rapid and loud, and the witch touched Odette’s eyes with her hand, plunging the princess into a witch’s sleep.
«Sleep, dear Odette,» she whispered ominously, «your prince does not know and will not be able to save you.
Etienne was not at all happy about the forced journey, but nevertheless he submitted to fate and, reluctantly, to amuse the convoy sent to him by the queen, went to the palace.
He stood for a long time under the gates of the palace before deciding to jump off his horse. Suddenly a strange voice said:
«Prince Etienne, Prince Etienne!»
Who could call him by name where he first appeared. In none of the taverns, no one except Fritz knew his name.
It seemed to him that in the distance, behind the trees, a wave of someone’s hair, red as fire, flashed. Hallucination or not. He approached the blue lake, not knowing why, perhaps, in order to recover at least a little before his own wedding, it is good that his mother, the queen, did not see the young prince in such a state.
He looked into the water, it was transparent and clean, and water lilies with lilies quietly slept in it. Who had the idea of having a wedding and coronation at midnight?
Strange, no one was guarding the palace tonight, no one was on duty, and not a single guard was to be seen.
Etienne entered the folding doors and found himself in a dark, huge room, where, as well as outside, there was no one. The heavy door slammed shut behind him, as if leaving him a prisoner of the palace. Suddenly all the candles around flared up, Etienne stood illuminated by their glow and could not understand what was happening. A minute ago, complete darkness reigned in the hall, and now a bright light flooded the walls and furniture around it, but it was some kind of strange light, it seemed bright, and at the same time, the whole hall remained in some strange and even creepy for human eyes in the semi-darkness.
Etienne stood in one place and did not dare to step forward, some incomprehensible fear kept him on the threshold, as if some magic circle was inscribed here, protecting him from witchcraft and death..
Even from his place, Etienne could see all the wonderful decoration of the room, even more beautiful than that in his palace. Each piece was selected with such taste and combined with the entire environment around it, giving the hall a mysterious mystical shine.
It was the most beautiful and mysterious place that Etienne had ever seen during his short and, as his friends would say, dissolute life, but full of duels and fights. Everything here was so beautiful in the gloomy semi-darkness, even candles burning with a bright, hot flame could not dispel it, and there were many of them here, in exquisite candelabra with figures of fairies and goddesses, in golden candlesticks and even on the walls.
Suddenly, an invisible hand took a goblet of wine from a small table, it flew up right in front of Etienne’s eyes and toppled down in the air so that all the wine in a thin stream, slowly, like blood, flowed onto the floor.
The same invisible hand raised a sword in the air, which it easily tore from the wall, and directed it straight into the heart of the young prince, but Etienne managed to draw his sword from its sheath and repel the first deadly blow. One blow fell on him after another. But Etienne seized the moment and thrust his sword into the body of the enemy. He did not know where his blade had hit, but at the same moment blood flowed from the void, the bright crimson blood of the magic knight who fought with Etienne, God knows why.
A strong hand clung to Etienne’s shoulder, blood flowed down it, and the features of a man began to appear in the darkness. Finally, before Etienne stood a knight in dark armor.
«Odette will never love you, only I am her real fiancé,» he hissed through his teeth..
Then his hand began to weaken, and finally released Etienne’s shoulder from its steel grip, and the knight himself began to slowly dissolve into the darkness.
For some reason, Etienne was in pain. It seemed to him that he fell in love with his own bride, which was in fact the love of a completely different person, or even not a person, but the devil.
A sharp gust of wind, and another door opened in front of Etienne. He entered the open doors and froze in place. In front of the throne, on the marble floor, lay a young girl of amazing beauty.
She was wearing a white ball gown, blonde hair scattered on the floor, and a crown shone on her head – the symbol of the queen of this country, but her face was pale as chalk, was she really dead. Etienne had no doubt it was Odette, but she fell asleep forever. The prince touched her lips with a light, short kiss. He fell in love with a sleeping beauty, a white swan wearing a royal crown.
Her heart did not beat, she slept in a witch’s dream, and it was not in his power to awaken her to life. Suddenly, he accidentally knocked over a goblet with a scarlet, blood-like wine standing next to it, and as soon as it spread on the floor, the beauty opened her eyes.
«Odette,» he whispered, grabbing her cold hand, «aren’t you Odette?»
«Yes,» she answered barely audibly, «who are you?»
«I am the one who crossed the entire witchcraft world to find you,» Etienne replied, squeezing her hand, but Odette involuntarily recoiled.
«Go away,» she said, «save your life, the witch will return soon.»
«No way in the world, I will not leave you,» said the prince, but Odette involuntarily remembered the fierce eyes of the red witch.
«Promise,» she said, «if we have to part now, you will not believe the day when they tell you that I love another.»
«On such a day, my heart will be broken, because I love you,» he admitted honestly, «tell me that you love me too, tell Odette,» he begged. Suddenly, the wine that spread across the floor took on not a scarlet, but a crimson hue, and the smoke went from it. Immediately the light in the hall faded, the wind burst into the hall, and the figure of a red-haired witch appeared in the clouds of smoke.
«You want to stay together, but you are doomed to be forever apart,» she said mockingly. «If you resist my curse, then death awaits both of you.»
Etienne grabbed Odette by the hand and rushed away with her, they ran to the stairs, and then for a moment Etienne stopped.
«You heard?» Odette asked, «we cannot stay together.»
«It’s all nonsense,» he replied, trying not to show his fear, «I will never part with you.»
|If you stay here, they will kill you, not ghosts, but my knights, everyone is against you and me, but if we meet in a few years, then we can find our happiness.»
«For several years,» he blurted out, «I cannot stand such a period.»
«You have to,» she said. «I will never forget about you.»
«Me too,» Etienne vowed, «I will love you forever.»
Lightning flashed outside the palace windows, and its flash severed their hands. Etienne’s arm had a deep wound from the fiery touch, but he held back a cry of pain. The red-haired witch stood before him again.
«Where is Odette?» Etienne whispered, but she only laughed deafeningly in response.
«Where is Odette?» he repeated, but more clearly and demanding.
«You will never see Odette again,» the witch cried viciously and triumphantly.
«Although,» the witch hissed and thought for a few minutes,
«maybe someday you will see her, but she will already love another, more worthy in our kingdom of evil than you, but it would be foolish to let you out of here just like that.»
Something rushed at him right out of the dark and knocked him to the floor
Sharp claws began to rip at his clothing, blood gushing from his arms and shoulders.
Etienne managed to break free and light the fire. The fire for a moment blinded the monster that attacked him, and Etienne quickly ran out of the palace.
Fritz ran up to Etienne.
«God, what’s wrong with you?» he exclaimed.
«Oh, you probably got into a fight with the royal guards,» his friend finally realized, «but, well, I’m not surprised, you never wanted to marry.»
«I came to save you,» Fritz said proudly, «I tried to tell Her Majesty that this marriage…»
«I don’t care anymore,» Etienne interrupted him, «I will marry Odette.»
Fritz could not recover from surprise.
«What are you saying?» burst out from him.
«I love Odette,» Etienne repeated, «as soon as I reach the age of majority according to the laws of our country, I myself will ask for her hand in anyone, even the devil himself.»
If at first Fritz was surprised, now he considered his prince to be simply insane.
«Etienne, what happened in the palace,» he could only utter.
Etienne paid no attention to him. He knew what he would do: for these few years he would learn to fence like a real knight, fight in wars, travel. He will become such that Odette can love him and be proud of him as his fiancé.
«I promise you, Fritz, I will be worthy of her,» Etienne promised from the bottom of his heart, «I will give my life, if only she could love me, I swear to you.»
He threw one last long look at the palace, almost not paying attention to the surprised Fritz, who could not believe what the prince spoke so ardently and passionately.
Years will pass, they will both grow up, but Etienne will find his love again, it will be eternal, but he did not know only one thing that witchcraft would not sleep either, but would make his life unbearable until love breaks the evil spell.
Black Swan
On a hill, under an eternally stormy sky, rose a gloomy old castle, the human world was nothing in front of him, the whole land of people, their prayers, their dreams, their desires faded here, in front of his high bulk, he was the only ruler of the whole world and the most beautiful thing on earth.
How powerful were its walls, every stone here personified evil, every inch of the earth under its vaults was given to darkness and witchcraft, every moment spent here became the death of any person who found himself in this land of dark forces.
The lord of the castle was called the devil, but no one knew that it also slept in the heart of the demon – living human love, which was the secret of his black heart. No one knew that the princess of the cursed castle, the daughter of the evil King Rothbert, had a living and loving heart.
A thunderstorm that night hung over the castle, and it was terrible, the rain poured incessantly, and the thunder echoed, and the sparkling lightning now and then illuminated the gloomy and majestic castle. On this stormy night, a prince from another kingdom hurried to the castle to meet his death, for him everything had already lost its meaning, because he was in love with the princess of shadows, his black, but beautiful swan. He was not frightened by the thunderstorm or thunder over his head, he boldly rode forward to the accursed castle and did not want to turn back.
If his brother Prince Etienne preferred to spend time in taverns, then Christian became the best knight in the kingdom and the most handsome cavalier among all the men of the country. His long black hair, wet from the rain, fell on his face, his clear blue eyes were gazing into the distance, and his handsome face seemed the most beautiful in the world, all the ladies adored him, but, unfortunately, he loved only one – the king’s daughter in bewitched countries. Love and courage were the strongest in the world, and he understood this, now he was driving to her, still not knowing what lay ahead, but he was not tormented by fear of the future, he firmly decided: either to achieve Odile’s love, or to die.
He was ready to accept death, just to look once more into Odile’s dazzling green eyes, because he loved her more than life.
If his mother – the queen knew now where he is, but he didn’t care what his family and his eccentric, but beloved brother think, they have been dear to each other since childhood, but now his heart called him forward to where the gloomy old castle of King Rothbert towered.
Christian grew up early, took up arms early, and fell in love even earlier. He didn’t care who Odile really was, even if the black swan, as everyone alive called her. He was not afraid of the curse, he just rode boldly forward and did not think to turn away from his path, love was most important in this world, full of strife and danger, where everyone was enemies, everyone except him and his beloved princess.
The storm was noisy outside, but inside it was cozy and warm.
The guests of King Rothbert sat at a huge table, filled with various dishes and precious cups. The king sat at the head of the table. Everyone was afraid of him, except Odile, because she was his only and beloved daughter. He never showed his feelings for her, but she knew that he loved her as much as he loved her dead mother. She knew how he suffered because of her death, although he did not say a word, but she could see it in his eyes.
Odile’s hair was adorned with a gold diadem with diamonds. She was the only princess in the country, the heiress of the greatest king in the history of the world, but she was not pleased with either luxury or wealth, because she was a dark beauty.
Like a black swan, she shone with her beauty. Odile was a dark princess, beautiful and mysterious. People said that she had neither a heart nor a soul, that she was the same as her cruel father, albeit beautiful, but also magical, but no one knew that she had a heart, no one knew that Odile was in love.
She sat with her head down sadly, not daring to look into her father’s black eyes, and he did not say a word, what if he guessed, because the king of evil knows all human secrets, and this was the secret of her heart that Odile could not reveal to anyone…
Her father sat silently at the table, but his fiery gaze pierced right through, his eyes burned with fire. Today he was as sullen and gloomy as ever. He had something in his heart, if only he had it, and did not want to give it out to anyone.
«Our night has come,» he said, and everyone in the hall was startled, «today the dark ritual will be completed.»
And although Odile did not understand absolutely nothing, the gazes of all those sitting at the table in an instant were directed at her in a kind of ominous expectation.
«But there is one more thing,» said Rothbert, and it seemed that he became even darker than he was, «this damned prince from the neighboring kingdom.»
«Yes, it’s him,» there were exclamations at the table, and everyone confirmed:
«He must die.»
«He is a hindrance on our way.»
«He spoils all our plans.»
But as soon as Odile looked up, everyone was silent, and a dead silence reigned at the table.
«No,» said Odile, «Father, you don’t know, you’re telling a lie, this prince is not so bad, he is brave, courageous and he is also very handsome,» she added, lowering her eyes, and Rothbert’s fiery gaze pierced her through and through.…
«Do you know him?» sternly, as never before, he asked, so Odile had never seen her father.
«No,» she hastened to object, and although it was a lie, she succeeded, «I just heard about him…»
«And that he is in love,» the king grinned maliciously, everyone knows that he has been not indifferent to you for a long time, isn’t it, Odile?»
«Forgive me, father,» she whispered, but now she was thinking that Christian was rushing here, and what he could find here, besides death and eternal damnation.
«You have not drunk wine, Odile,» said Rothbert in a strange way, «you must drink for tonight, it will make you even more beautiful than you could ever dream.»
His eyes lit up with a furious fire, and Odile involuntarily realized that something special awaited her tonight, perhaps even terrible, the king’s gaze spoke of this, there was some kind of secret hidden in it.
Immediately one of the luxuriously dressed servants approached Odile and poured a precious glass of sparkling wine into her. Odile did not touch it, she was afraid of something, and which she did not know herself, but her fear intensified with each beat of the clock and with each minute spent at the table.
«Odile,» repeated Rothbert, «today is a special night for us and for you, today you will be initiated into the secrets of our witchcraft, and it will be so, beautiful black swan.»
Christian was already at the gate of the castle, but he was not going to wait all night for the guards to let him in or kill him. He grabbed the ledge of the wall and in a minute climbed into the window of one of the halls. He was not afraid of anything except the words of Odile herself, although he knew that she would not reject him, they had already made vows of love.
Odile looked at her hands, they glowed as if they were on fire. Her scarlet dress turned black, like the plumage of a black swan, a green light flashed in her eyes, and only the golden crown on her head remained the only one that did not look like a swan in her. Did the prediction come true, and she became a dark princess.
Odile could not understand what was wrong with her, but immediately the air around her burst into triumphant laugh of Rothbert, and a transparent tear flowed down Odile’s cheek, her love was lost forever, she became a black swan.
Suddenly the silence of the night was broken by a roar, and Rothbert, in anticipation, raised his eyes to the wind-blown window, the whole sky behind him became flaming. Odile stepped back from the window and saw a golden dragon with wild, fierce eyes hovering in the sky like a gloomy bird. He was so terrible, so disgusting, but how could he be here in the land of darkness.
Odile watched him, forgetting that her dress had turned black. He flew into the open window and occupied almost all the empty space in the hall. Its tail curled in rings, and golden scales glittered in the darkness, as if combined with a golden crown on Odile’s head.
Fiery breath was bursting from its mouth, its paws were so strong that it seemed that if they wanted to, they would destroy the entire castle, but this was impossible, the castle of King Rothbert was indestructible.
With the dragon, something began to happen right before Odile’s eyes, its tail and paws began to shrink and grow into a golden body, golden color and scales began to shrink and disappear, and now, it was no longer a monster, but a young man. Odile recognized him, he was a frequent visitor to their castle. Now Odile understood why, at nightfall, he politely said goodbye to her and left any ball in order to quickly hide in the dark.
«Edwin,» she barely managed to say, not believing what she saw. Odile looked frightened now at her father, then at her friend, but now both of them, so dear to her, turned into fiends of darkness.
«It is finished, Odile,» said Rothbert, «stop hiding, the young prince is not worthy of you, look at yourself, you are a black swan.»
«No,» Odile blurted out.
She could no longer bear what was happening to her, Odile ran out of the hall and rushed away.
She paused in the dark hallway of the castle and looked into the huge oval mirror in a gilded frame that hung on the wall. Yes, now, in fact, she could be called a black swan, beautiful, but given over to darkness. Suddenly, behind her in the mirror, she saw the reflection of her father, although it changed so that it was almost impossible to recognize him. All the former beauty disappeared from his face, only his eyes remained the same as they were, but now an evil, furious light sparkled in them, destroying all living things around him.
«Now you know everything, Odile,» he hissed and his eerie, deaf voice was even more terrible than his face, «now you are also one of us, I will make you the queen of evil, you will forget the young prince, our goal is revenge on everyone for the death of my love and your mother, now you are a black swan.»
«But I can’t,» she whispered, «I’m not like that.»
«You are a black swan, and you are the queen of the beauties stolen for me and turned into swans,» said the king of darkness, and Odile saw the golden dragon wriggle in the darkness, and her white hands slowly turn into the plumage of a black bird.
Odile felt how slowly and inexorably she herself was becoming evil, she could never forget the beautiful eyes of Christian, but now she herself was becoming a part and queen of the dark forces. Her hands were covered with feathers, and now, not a girl, but a black swan with a golden crown on a proud head, flew away into the darkness of the night, where a fierce wolf howl was heard, and Rothbert looked after her and grinned viciously.
Meanwhile, Christian made his way into the castle hall. Where to go, where to find Odile? Suddenly, on the floor, he saw something that looked like a black feather, he bent down to get a better look at it, but suddenly a black swan flew right over his head, and then Odile appeared in front of him, as if it had appeared right from the ground.
«Odile,» he exclaimed joyfully, but she was cold and only now, tearing his eyes away from her face, he saw that she was in a dress black as night and a golden crown on her dark-haired head.
«Run,» burst out from her, «rather escape from here.»
«Odile,» he repeated, grabbing her hand, but her fingers were cold as ice, there was no life or warmth in them, like in any ordinary person.
He looked at her, he could not take his eyes off her face, and she, too, seemed ready to look at the prince for ages, but something dark appeared in her gaze.
«Go away,» she said, «you have no idea what could happen to a person here.»
«It doesn’t scare me,» he replied, «today I could barely get out of the palace and came here, we can run away from here together, this is the only way.»
He glanced anxiously, remembering his life away from Odile.
«My uncle became the king of Spain,» he continued, «they wanted to send me there so that I could learn to rule the country and wield weapons, we can escape there together, and no one can find us there.»
«You have no idea what you’re saying,» Odile closed her eyes for a moment, now she was a black swan, and love was irreversible, and she so loved that sweet face of Christian, from whose beauty it was impossible to take her eyes off. She could not betray her love, but the evil genius was already awakening in her.
«I’m a dark princess,» she said. «I’m damned, like my father, find yourself another.»
«No,» he said, going up to her, «you are the most wonderful girl in the whole world, you are the most beautiful, and I don’t care that you live in a cursed castle, that everyone is afraid of the king – your father, I love you, even if you are a black swan.»
Prince Charming didn’t know he was caught in the net of the new princess of darkness, but he didn’t care. He would never have been able to stop loving her, he would never have been able to forget her marvelous features. Even though there was more dark than light in her, it no longer mattered.
«I love you, Odile,» he repeated, and going up to her, he wanted to kiss the black-haired princess, but suddenly a terrible roar was heard over the castle. The silhouette of a huge dragon flashed through the window.
Odile looked at Christian in horror, now she could not do anything, nothing could help her beautiful, but mortal lover.
Lightning flashed over the castle and reflected in the hall itself. Christian stood and did not believe himself, a man stood in front of him in clouds of blue smoke. He saw him somewhere, but he just did not remember where, and it was hardly an ordinary person. The prince was brave and was not afraid of anything, he was not going to hide from those who surrounded his love with their evil spells, he wanted to fight them in a real war and defeat those forces that no one else could defeat but him.
However, Odile died of horror, she did not expect that so quickly her mysterious friend and witch’s father would understand that the prince had come to her to ask for her hand, and they would give him a hearty welcome.
Edwin looked at them, and his eyes were bloodshot. Anger twisted his attractive face. He wanted to destroy their love because of his dark passion for Princess Odile.
«The time has come for you to die, Prince Christian,» he hissed.
«How do you know my name,» broke out from Christian, but his enemy only grinned viciously, it was not for nothing that he kept this secret, but Christian looked at him closely.