Chapter 4
Chapter Four
ODESSA
Odessa kicked off her shoes as she ran, stopping only long enough to peer over the water in an effort to locate the spot where Dmitri must have fallen in. She frowned as her eyes skated over the rowboat, still tied securely to the long, narrow wooden dock.
“Surely the foolish boy didn’t decide to try swimming his way across?” she muttered.
A dark shape on the surface of the lake caught her attention, and she saw what looked like a pale hand disappear into the depths.
Without a second thought, Odessa plunged into the cold water, pulling herself forward with strong, sure strokes.
When she reached the place where she had last seen Dmitri, she breathed in a deep lungful of air, then dove.
She felt around blindly as she pushed herself deeper—the lake was murky on a clear, sunny day, and in the pale moonlight, she could barely even see her own hand in front of her face.
Panic grew and clawed at her chest the deeper she dove. Her lungs began to burn, and bright spots danced in the corners of her vision when her fingers finally felt the brush of fabric. She wrapped both hands around what felt like an arm and then kicked as hard as she could to the surface.
She gasped as soon as her head broke the water, and for a moment it felt like her lungs would never recover. She used her arms as well as her legs to pull Dmitri to the surface, and then nearly dropped him again once his head finally emerged from the water.
He wasn’t Dmitri.
She treaded water while she adjusted her hold on him, wrapping one arm around his chest and letting his head fall back onto her shoulder.
Dark, thick lashes fanned out over his pale cheeks.
He seemed nearly too pretty to be real, with high cheekbones, a strong jaw with just a hint of stubble, and dark eyebrows that even in his unconscious state hinted at unspoken expression.
She began towing him to shore, spurred on by the dark ring of blue that tinged his lips.
Once the water was shallow enough that her feet could touch the bottom, Odessa stood, hooking her elbows underneath his arms and pulling him backwards. Katrin met them as she collapsed beside the stranger on the shore.
“Don’t worry; it’s not Dmitri.”
The man was wearing a leather bag strapped around his shoulders, and she tugged it off and tossed it to the side as she pressed her ear to his chest, running through the emergency rescue steps that had been drilled into her since she was a child.
It was hard to hear with the heavy leather vest he wore, but she could just barely make out the slow thump of his heart.
“He’s alive, but he’s still not breathing.”
She gripped the man’s chin, tilting his head back, and pinched his nose shut as she covered his mouth with her own and blew, watching for his chest to rise.
She counted to five slowly, then breathed for him again, and again, and again, until he gave a shuddering gasp and water gurgled up from his mouth.
Odessa rolled him onto his side and held him steady as he continued to cough up what seemed like the entire lake. Her own adrenaline slowly started to fade, leaving her limbs shaky and exhausted. Once the man’s lungs seemed to be finally clear, she laid him flat and leaned back onto her heels.
His eyes fluttered open for the briefest of moments before they closed again, and a slow, lazy grin spread over his face. “I didn’t realize death would be so beautiful,” he murmured, his words slurring together.
“Sir?” Odessa leaned over him. “Sir, can you tell me your name?”
He opened his eyes again, slightly wider this time, and lifted his hand as if to touch her face. Before his arm had crossed more than half the distance, however, he dropped it limply to the ground. His eyelids drooped. “I can. It’s one of the first things my mother taught me.”
She let out a huff of surprised laughter. “What is it, then? Sir?” She gently shook his shoulder.
He went silent and deathly still, the slow rise and fall of his chest the only sign that he was still among the living.
Odessa blew out a long, troubled breath and scrubbed a hand down the side of her face, pushing wet strands of her silver-blonde hair aside.
She looked up at Katrin, who was hovering anxiously.
“Even if Boris would allow him to stay here—which I doubt—he needs more help than I can give him, especially during the day. We need to get him to the palace.”
The doe lowered herself to the sandy ground beside them, waiting patiently as Odessa slowly rolled and dragged and shoved the man until he was draped over Katrin’s back.
The deer rose gradually, staggering a little under the man’s weight, and Odessa stood with her, keeping a steadying hand on the man’s shoulders.
They walked along the well-tended path that traced the shore of the lake and led to the palace gardens.
Katrin’s steps slowed the closer they got, and her breathing grew labored.
She was strong and graceful, and at a full run could easily outpace even the swiftest of Dmitri’s horses, but she was not a beast of burden, and her stamina was quickly dying out.
Thankfully, they were met by a familiar face as they rounded a corner of the path and entered the royal gardens.
“Odessa? What are you doing here?” Dmitri’s voice was laced with confusion, then dismay. “Who is that?”
“I don’t know,” Odessa answered honestly as she pulled the stranger off Katrin’s back. His weight nearly brought her to her knees, and it was only because of Dmitri’s aid that she managed to stay upright. “I heard someone falling into the lake. I thought it was you at first.”
Dmitri frowned. “I didn’t see any boats when I walked by.”
“Neither did I. I don’t know how he got so far out, but he was nearly drowned by the time I got to him.”
“He’s alive?” The prince looked dubiously at the limp form supported between them.
“Yes, but he’s unconscious.” Odessa pressed her lips together nervously. “If I could be sure that Boris wouldn’t mind, I would let him stay with me, but—”
“Absolutely not,” he interrupted. “Pulling strange men out of the lake is one thing; it’s another to let them sleep in your home.”
“You make it sound like I just go around the lake looking for men to retrieve.”
“You don’t?”
She would have punched his arm had she not had her hands full of soggy leather and muscle, and she had to settle for glaring at him instead.
He blinked innocently. “Anyway,” she continued, “since he likely needs more help than I’ll be able to give him with my…
duties, I was hoping that you would be willing to take him in and have your physician take a look at him. ”
“Of course,” Dmitri answered easily. He bent his knees and pulled one of the stranger’s arms over his shoulders while he slipped his arm around the man’s back, relieving Odessa of his weight. “And I’ll have the guards take a look at the lake to see what they can find.”
She nodded, suddenly feeling a strange emptiness now that her arms were free. A cool breeze blew past, causing her to shiver in her wet clothes.
Dmitri noticed. “You should come with me. Mother won’t mind if you stay the night; we always have a room for you.”
Odessa glanced up at the sky, which was just beginning to lighten with the first hints of coming dawn. She shook her head. “Thank you, but I’ll be fine. I still have some chores to finish up.”
His eyes narrowed as he searched her face, as if looking for the answer to a puzzle. “Are you sure?”
“Perfectly.” She infused her voice with more cheer and pep than she felt. Katrin shifted to stand behind her shoulder, and Odessa reached up to pet her nose. “I’ll see you later, Dimi.”
“Alright. I’ll come by later with a report on your patient.” He smiled. “Thank you for your assistance, Katrin.” With a final nod, he turned and half-carried the stranger down the path, calling for his guards as he neared the palace.
Odessa sighed wearily as she and Katrin retraced their steps and walked silently back to the lake.
“Well, that was an adventure,” Odessa said as she looked around the place where she had brought the stranger to shore, searching for her shoes.
She pulled them on, then saw that the man’s bag was still lying discarded on the ground, and she scooped it up, intending to give it to Dmitri to return.
“I guess we’ll have to put curse-breaking on hold until tomorrow night.
Or tonight, I suppose, since it’s already nearly dawn.
Thank you for all your help. You should go take a nap while you still can.
Sonya will probably be up and causing who knows what kind of mischief soon. ”
Katrin bumped her shoulder.
“I’ll get some sleep later. I have to finish my chores or risk the wrath of Boris.”
An unimpressed snort flared Katrin’s nostrils, and her large, dark eyes flashed with an anger that was almost human.
“I know, I know. But I’d really rather not find out if curses can be compounded.” She gave Katrin’s withers an affectionate pat. “I’ll take a nap once the sun comes up.”
Odessa walked the begrudging doe to her enclosure and locked the gate behind her, then hurried through the rest of her chores, doing her best to ignore the uncomfortable dampness of her clothes and the way her scalp itched from the dirt that had dried along with her hair.
She had just pulled the last gate shut when the first streaks of dawn appeared in the sky, and a soft, matching light surrounded her.
Sharp pain radiated through her bones. Though the routine was familiar by now, the experience was one that she still had not grown accustomed to, and Odessa whimpered with pain as she dropped to her knees. She curled in on herself, as if making herself smaller would speed up the process.
It never did.
A few long, excruciating seconds later, the pain receded. Odessa sighed, shook her head, and waddled to the lake. She stepped into the water, paddled out just far enough that she would be unbothered, tucked her swan head under her wing, and literally drifted off to sleep.