Bastian
Chapter 138 - A Lost Heart

✧A Lost Heart✧

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

A stray cat appeared in the garden and Margrethe went on a rampage, but despite her minor frame, Odette maintained a tight grip on the leash.

   “No Meg, you can’t go chasing cats.” 

   Margrethe obediently understood and stayed by Odette’s side. Only then did Odette substitute her stern look for a smile. She didn’t forget to give Margrethe a scratch behind the ears and compliment her.

   Odette walked slowly down the path between the house and the flower beds. The sound of Dora’s footsteps just behind them was ever present.

   “Dora,” a voice called as Odette reached the bottom of the path. A young maid ran across the garden.

   “Go, Dora, I will only be here with Meg,” Odette said, pointing to a bench under the pergola. “Don’t worry, you know I can’t run away looking like this.”

   “But madam, I know you, you can fly away if you were just in a shift, with Margrethe.”

   “Not if I don’t have enough money I can’t.” A weak smile spread across Odette’s face. “As you can see, I have lost my wings.”

   The head maid looked at Odette and then smiled herself. “I don’t suppose you would tell me if I asked why it had to be like that?”

   “I’m sorry, Dora.”

   Odette drew the line in a gentle manner, took Margrethe in her arms and approached the bench under the pergola. The head maid watched her for a moment, then turned away to tend to her duties.

   A wry smile played across Odette’s lips as she recalled the concern Dora had raised. Ever since the incident with Count Xanders, the security at the mansion had more than doubled. Even if she was able to get away from the watchmen’s eyes, she would have to get past the gatekeeper’s. There was no way to leave the mansion without jumping into the sea.

   Odette earnestly hoped that Count Xanders understood her words when she called for help. It might be impossible to escape, but hopefully Countess Trier might be able to help her, she was the only one.

   But what if the Countess turned her back too?

   Odette’s mood deepened as she stared out toward the western skies and the setting sun. That was when Margrethe’s mood changed without warning.

   The feral cat had been hiding among the flower beds and decided to make its presence known again. Margrethe immediately went on a rampage, jumping from the bench in excitement. Odette tried to call her back, but she was not listening this time and chased the cat into the forest on the other side of the trail.

   Odette chased after Meg. The forest was her playground, but if Odette should come across a wild animal, it could quickly dissolve into a dangerous situation.

   “Meg,” Odette called out. She could still hear Margrethe barking and followed the noise.

   As Odette ran breathlessly through the forest, calling after Meg, she finally showed up with a pine cone in her mouth. Margrethe had completely forgotten about the stray cat and came back with a new toy in her mouth. Odette laughed as Meg dropped the cone at Odette’s feet.

   “Silly Meg, not that, come, lets go back and get your ball.” Odette picked up Margrethe and turned to head back to the mansion. She froze as she heard footsteps.

   “Odette?”

Odette turned around and widened her eyes. A man suddenly appeared on a byway narrow enough for one person to pass,  “Franz?”

   The blood drained from Odette’s face as she recognised the scruffy looking man, stumbling through the woods toward her. Margrethe started growling, slightly showing teeth.

   “Is that really you?”

   Franz burst into laughter. He looked like a mad man, with his dishevelled clothes and messy hair and bruised face. He looked completely different to when she had last seen him. As he came closer, Odette could smell alcohol.

   “Look at this, I knew it was going to be like this,” Franz muttered incoherently and his gloomy eyes lit up.

   Sensing that something wasn’t right, Odette stepped away from Franz, clutching Margrethe tightly. There was no way Franz was in his right mind, looking as he did and after everything that had happened.

   Odette turned and ran as fast as she could. She cried for help, sounding like a banshee as she wailed. As she ran, a cold hand grabbed her arm and another covered her mouth to silence her screaming.

   The drunken Franz led Odette into the woods, Margrethe, having been dropped to the floor yapped at their heels. She calmed down and stopped hounding them when Franz gave her a swift kick to the side.

   “Madam? Where are you? Madam!” servants were calling from the mansion.

   Franz dragged Odette deeper into the woods, to a narrow road that Odette seldom came to. By the time they reached it, she had stopped all meaningless resistance.

   “Be patient with me, Odette,” Franz whispered. He quickly pulled out his pocket knife and put it on Odette’s neck and accidentally scratched her neck. He looked horrified at the sight of blood on her pale skin.“I don’t want to hurt you, do you understand?”

After hearing his words, Odette stopped struggling. Her pale face looked so beautiful. Her untidy look and pregnant belly, carrying the child of the low creature, couldn’t mar her beauty.

“I love you, Odette,” Franz smiled and quickened his pace. “I have come to rescue you.”

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

The cream coloured car sped along the coastal road, the sea burnt orange by the setting sun on one side and high class mansions on the other.

   Bastian shifted gears as he swung the car around the bends, following the weave of the Ardenne sea. His mind was on his fathers downfall, even as he moved about, shaking hands with all that would dare touch him. At this rate, his fathers self-destruction was inevitable. He wished it would be concluded before the spring.

   If all was completed in time, the baby would be born by the summer and he will finally have a child with royal blood. Although plans for remarriage were out the window, it didn’t really matter, he wasn’t interested in the marriage game any more and if the child needed a mother, it wouldn’t be too hard to find a suitable candidate.

 Bastian took out a cigarette as he coasted along. He took a long drag and drew it out like a sigh, filing the evening air with thick smoke.

No matter how much he smoked, the deep chill in his chest never faded or went away. He stared out into the twilight of the horizon as a purple twilight began to fall

   The memories of Sandrine’s thin body still haunted his mind, and the fear laden eyes remained as vivid as ever. Sandrine had pounced like a beast in heat. He remembered the scene with a calm expression on his face.

He smirked when her shirtless hand touched his belt. The way Sandrine acted was like having a mirror brought up in front of him. Was this how it was with Odette, was this how he made her feel? The more he thought about it, the more disgusted he was with Sandrine.

   Bastian distanced himself from the whole thing and didn’t register what was going on until Sandrine cried out into the empty mansion. He found himself straddling her, who had been tossed onto the sofa, grabbing her by the neck. It was an instinct reaction.

   It was only a way to subdue her, who was out of control. He did not want to hurt her in the slightest, but he knew he could have easily strangled her neck. It was a cold and murderous intent he had never felt before, not even on the battlefield. Sandrine noticed it too, the sudden change in her eye told him so.

 When he felt the urge to kill for the first time in his life, it wasn’t Sandrine’s face he saw, but his own. It was the monster reflected in Odette’s eyes.

   Had he been successful in his quest for revenge? He asked himself that question a number of times, but could not find the answer.

  For the briefest moment, Bastian came back to reality as he flicked his cigarette out of the window. At that exact moment, a car came from the opposite direction, a black car. It could easily have been a trick of the failing light, but he could have sworn he saw Franz driving his father’s car and…

   “Odette?”

   Bastian’s mind became suddenly clear when he saw other passengers in the back seat. Without a single shred of doubt left, he knew it was her.

   Franz was driving at a dangerous pace and Bastian was almost sure that Odette had been banging on the window, calling out for help.

   Squealing tires broke the calm of the night and the sound of an engine being pushed to its limits.