صدای جدید اودت

Chapter five

Odet’s New Voice

The wizard entered Odile’s room with Odet. Odet was the same age and height as Odile, but she had dark hair. However, she wasn’t as beautiful as Odile, and this made her very jealous. The wizard spoke first.

“Sit down, Odile. I would like to ask you something.”

The wizard waved his hand and a large and very comfortable pink chair appeared. Odile sat on it.

“Odet tells me that you would like to go to the ball tonight. Is that true?”

“Yes.”

“If I let you go to this ball, will you promise to marry me?”

“I have told you, I will only marry a man who loves me and who I love.”

“But you know I love you.”

“If you loved me, you wouldn’t keep me locked up in this castle. You wouldn’t have killed my parents.”

“You are a fool! Would you like to marry the Prince? Is that it?”

“He loves me more than you do.”

“How do you know? He left you here with me. That shows you that you are wrong. He is afraid of me. He can’t love you very much if he is afraid.”

“He did it for me! I asked him to do it!”

“And did you tell him that you would go to the ball?”

“Yes.”

“Then you lied. You knew I would not let you go.”

“I said I would try. He knows that if I do not go it is not because I do not want to.”

“And how does he know this?”

“You do not have to cast a spell on someone or make them rich to love you. You understand it by looking in their eyes. You know it by the way they speak and act.”

“You are a dreamer!”

“And you have no heart!”

“Silence!”

The wizard raised both his arms and the castle shook. The curtain on the wall fell down, and the wizard saw the bird in the cage.

“Ah, the bird.”

“If you hurt that bird you are worse than I thought.”

The bird flew wildly as the wizard walked towards it. He picked up the cage.

“Now, why would I hurt this bird? It is like me. It has no heart. It does not feel anything when I do this.”

The wizard pointed his fingers at Odet. She changed into Odile. She had the same blonde hair, the same eyes. She was even wearing the crown. Odile stood up.

“Tonight, Odet will go to the ball as you, Odile. Zigfried will marry her and we will see what true love is. Your hearts are nothing compared to my magic.”

“You may look like me Odet, but there is something missing from your eyes. The prince will know this.”

“He does not love you Odile. He only loves what you look like.”

“I almost forgot!” The wizard waved his hand.

“Odet, say something.”

When Odet spoke, she sounded just like Odile. “Hello, Prince Zigfried. It’s me, Odile. I love you.” Odile ran to her bed, crying. She fell on the bed and covered her face. Rocford laughed loudly. He took Odet out of the room and locked the door behind him. When Odile looked up, only the bird was with her. It too, had a tear in its eye.