Bastian
Chapter Side Story 11 - Promise

✧Promise✧

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

Bastian returned from the kitchen with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate and rum. Odette was inspecting the tree, looking for any spots where they might have missed.

   “Certainly looks like its all done,” Bastian said, offering a mug; a hot cocoa with rum to Odette.

   “Yes, I think so,” Odette said, taking the mug. It was the first thing they had said to each other since starting.They awkwardly sipped at their cocoa, their eyes still on the colorful ornamented and ribboned Christmas tree.

“Yours isn’t cocoa, is it?” Odette asked with a frown, glancing at the cup Bastian held.   

Bastian didn’t say anything and simply nodded. Odette’s disproving look quickly turned to a smile. Drinking this late in the night was not a habit Odette approved of, but it was the holidays, so she decided to overlook it for tonight especially since her cocoa also contained rum.

   “Thank you for today,” Odette said into her mug. “The luncheon went perfectly because of you.”

   “Your welcome, Lady Odette, it was rather pleasant,” Bastian said, exaggerating his politeness. It was his way of playfully teasing Odette.

   Odette laughed and adjusted the half empty mug in her hand. The parts of her heart that had begun to freeze over melted away. The reconciliation seemed trivial compared to their earlier quarrel.

   “What was that you said about a banquet with all the villagers? We had no such plans,” Odette finally asked the question she had held back while pretending to be part of a loving couple.

   “Oh, that,” Bastian said nonchalantly, adjusting one of the crooked decorations. “Sorry, I made a new plan.”

   “When?”

   “While you were busy being angry.”

   “Bastian!” Odette set her cup down on the table and turned on Bastian, her face full of worry. “How can you make such a decision without first consulting me? It might be a small village, but there are still over a hundred people here. Plus, renting a hall to accommodate a party of this scale and the fact that there are only the two of us…”

   “Don’t worry, the staff will take care of the bulk of the work,” Bastian said as calmly as ever.

   “What do you mean?”

Putting down his empty cup, Bastian leaned back and looked down at her. “Exactly as I said. I have sent for all the servants and maids at Ardenne Mansion to come and help us. The chef as well. Any other shortages will be handled by Lovis, who is in contact with an employment agency. All the supplies are coming in from the mansion. Will that be sufficient, my lady?”

   Odette could only stand and stare in disbelief at Bastian. “And where on earth will you accommodate all these people?” Odette could barely hold on to her composure,  looking around the cramped house.  

 “I’ve rented a hotel in the neighbouring village.” Bastian laughed out loud and gently cupped her cheek. “After the banquet, they will have a sort of mini vacation to the east and after tidying up the house, we we will return to Ardenne together. I thought it sounded like the perfect plan.”

   The fact the Bastian remained utterly calm as he walked Odette through his plan only served to strike Odette’s nerves even more. It all served to remind her of who exactly Bastian Klauswitz was.

   “Are you doing this to bribe me to follow your dream?” Odette said, her fists on her hips. She was trying to be playful, just as he had been with her, but the answer she got was serious.

   “No, Odette, of course not. I had been planning this since before our disagreement, but then you stopped talking to me so there was no right time to bring you in on the plan.”

   The playfulness left Odette and her blue eyes deepened with emotion.

   “A bribe would have suggested an expectation in return. No sane person would spend money on a plan that’s already been scrapped, my princess.”

   “What do you mean by that?”

   “I have decided that I will not return to a military career if it means hurting you,” Bastian said firmly. “When we return to Ardenne, I will request a discharge and then join the company as you wi…”

   “No, Bastian! That is not what I want at all,” Odette said, shaking her head. “I was not angry because I was hurt. I just needed time to come to terms with what you wanted and even if I gave you an answer right away, it would still have been the same, but giving the answer at the time would have meant things were really over and I wanted to hold on to this for a little longer, to have you all to myself.”

   “Odette…” Bastian’s calm demeanour began to waver, his eyes a reflection of the turmoil within.

   “I will always respect and accept your dream,” Odette said, on the brink of tears. A sentiment that had been lingering on her lips for days finally came out. “I knew all along that Bastian Klauswitz was a military man and that I would never be able to take you from the path of a soldier, it is your dream, but I can not say that the thought of you going back to that dangerous place saddens me, but I must accept it. I choose you and everything that you come with.”

   Odette reached up with a trembling hand and rested it on his cheek. As her eyes filled with tears, Bastian drew her in close.

   “I love you, but also I also love the life you have given me,” Odette said. “So I want to give you a life that brings you as much joy and love as our relationship does, Bastian. Please love it as deeply as you love me.”

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

Odette  conveyed her feeling with a kiss,  touching his cheek, his sharply defined nose, and his firmly closed lips. The kiss was long and deep. It conveyed emotions that could not be spoken out loud. It was a gesture of comfort to a boy that had been abused, of a man that cleaned blood from a blade of vengeance and a blessing to a man that had finally become the master of his life.

   “You shine the brightest when you are a soldier and you look handsome in uniform. Just promise me that you wont go and spend your life on recklessness,” Odette said, her fingers tenderly tracing the faint lines around Bastian’s face. “I don’t like being far from you, so promise me you wont go away, you’ll stay at the admiralty, behind a safe desk.”

   “Alright, I promise,” Bastian said in a low voice.

   “And promise me, no matter what, you will always come back to me.” Tears flowed down Odette’s cheeks. Bastian stared into his wife’s turquoise eyes, his own bloodshot too. “Do you know how dearly I treasure you?” Bastian nodded . “You belong to me, your life is not just yours any more, its mine too, I have that right as your wife. So, Bastian, don’t get hurt again, if you damage what I hold most precious, I will never forgive you.”

   Odette turned away from Bastian, the moment she caught a glimpse of her tear-stained reflection in the glass door all her carefully held emotions shattered at once. She unable to hide her shame any more and let her emotions spill out in uncontrolled sobs of emotions.  How could she gracefully accept this situation when it tore her apart inside?

   “Odette,” Bastian said, wrapping his arms around her waist.

   “I need to go wash up,” Odette said firmly, pushing herself away and out of the room, but she lost her balance on the wrappings of the decorations that were left strewn about the floor. She let out a sharp scream as she fell.

   There was no pain, her momentum seized as if she hit the ground, but she didn’t feel it. She opened her eyes to see that Bastian, with his arms still wrapped around her, had not let her go. He pulled her in tight with a smile. Odette tried to get up, but the world flipped. As she looked at the Christmas tree, Bastian’s face filled her vision.

   “Bastian!”. She did not have time to say anything more as he planted her with a deep, passionate kiss.

   Intertwined in each others arms like trees wrapped in vines, they fervently kissed back and forth. Some where out in the landing, the clock struck midnight and quickly, their blue sweaters lay littered all over the floor beside them by the fireplace.

They paused for a moment and locked into another embrace, their bodies fitting together like perfect puzzle pieces. There was no hesitation, only a sweet surrender to each other’s love.

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