So, when I discovered that there was going to be a new Swan Princess movie coming out soon, I freaked. Then I was motivated to write this chapter.

But, mostly, you have swanprincessfan – my partner in crime, as it were - to thank for this. Without her insistent words of encouragement this story would be on hiatus forever.

Anyway, now that this chapter has been completed, I'm thinking that the rest should come along easier. This chapter is kind of pivotal and I had an exact image of how it was going to run in my head. The problem was, every time I went to write it, it didn't live up to the illusion. Thus, I got stuck. For two years.

So, read it, review it, and stick around for the final closing chapters of Not Without My Princess!

...

The sensible part of Odette knew that if she wanted to stay hidden in the castle while executing her extra chores before tomorrow, she should not walk past the Prince's chambers. Unfortunately, Odette found the sensible part of her had departed and showed no signs of returning that night.

Instead of dusting books in the deserted library like she could have done, she found herself washing the hall floor near his door. She kept her head glued to the stones, though, and away from the prying eyes of the guards on duty either side of their heir's door.

When she had scrubbed over the stones enough times to make them shinier than new glass, she plonked her brush into her cleaning bucket and roughly wiped her hands on her apron. She realised, with frustration, that she had been waiting for Derek to appear from his quarters and notice her working. Of course, that was a silly fantasy and she wanted to slap herself for even attempting to indulge in such a dangerous dream.

She scooped up her bucket hastily and scuttled off, trying to move as far away from the guards as possible. Surely they suspect something, she thought.

When she had turned a near corner, she stopped and leant up against a wall for support. How could she even tempt fate by parading around in front of the prince? Even after Lilly pointed out what Prince Derek may truly want with her, she still had chosen to come running to him...

Maria would have more than just her head for this. Her scalp ached in response, as if to remind Odette of the time she nearly had every strand of hair ripped from her head in one of Maria's fits.

It was foolish to even think that she could be worth something more than a servant. For once, she just couldn't see herself going on like this, forever on her hands and knees, scrubbing the floors of the royal castle. She knew that that is how it would be, but tonight the thoughts just sucked the life out of her. Her future may as well be devoid of colours and all senses if she had to forever sneak around corners and go nights without sleep.

She looked down the hall she had hid in. It was a line of bed chambers, a seemingly never-ending length of doors. Odette, in the two years she had been at the castle, had cleaned every single one of them in every way possible.

Suddenly, the door in front of her creaked open a foot or two.

Odette's mind went into an uncontrolled frenzy, the blood pumping incredibly hard in her ears. There was no way she could stand up and look proper by the time that door opened completely, and so she was frozen in place, wide-eyed.

Which royal was she going to have to grovel to tonight?

"Odette..." a familiar voice whispered from the dark. She opened her eyes wider, still unable to move from the rush of blood to her head.

Oh no.

The door opened wider and Prince Derek stuck his head out from the blackness.

No.

"Odette," he whispered again, quieter than the first time. "Come here."

Odette gazed up at him foolishly and he pulled his head back into the dark room.

The scene was surreal. Had she just imagined that the prince appeared from a guest room? Surely. There is no way that he could actually have wanted to see-

"Quickly," he hissed.

She scrambled against her clumsy feet, forgetting about the bucket on the floor, and tiptoed over to the door.

As she did, she glanced down either side of the hall for possible eye-witnesses. She didn't see any, but she also knew her judgement was a little impaired from her sudden dizziness.

She made a mental note to devise a solid motive for going into a royal chamber at night.

She turned on her side and brushed through the crack in the door Derek had made.

The door was pushed closed the moment she was inside the room. Two strong, lightly calloused hands found her by the waist immediately, welding themselves to her. One of them trailed a light path up to her chin. She back up against the wall, hoping to gain some space, but he simply followed.

She realised that this was just like those unwanted fantasies she had of him in her dreams. Only in her dreams had she ever dared to think of being so close to Derek.

"Don't you sleep?" he asked her, running a finger along her jaw.

His actions made her heart race, but not in a pleasant way. Suddenly, it became clear that Lilly had been right. Odette cursed herself for being so innocent. Derek had called her there purely for her body.

He was just like every other.

How could she even let herself get into this situation? What if Maria caught wind of their tryst? What if she already knew?

Derek lowered his lips hurriedly, but gently, onto her parted ones, wanting her to respond eagerly for once.

No such luck, of course.

He pulled back slightly, his fingers coming down to her chin again to tilt her face upwards.

"Odette," he said, scanning her face for life. She looked scared, and less lively than usual. "Kiss me."

That brought some colour back into her cheeks. "I... I..." she stuttered. She tried her best to look away, but Derek's hand kept her chin in place. "I cannot do that, your highness."

He tried not to let the disappointment show on his face at her formal address, but she still saw it.

"Derek, I-" she let slip.

"It's an order," he simply said.

Odette's lungs robbed her of breath. What could she do? She could not have relations with a royal member, but she could not disobey an order. Neither yielded a very good outcome, and before she had time to weigh up her decision, Derek leaned in and kissed her again. This time, he started by gently dragging his lips over hers, and pulling her closer by the waist.

Part of her wanted to respond because of the selfish joy leaping around in her stomach, but another part warned her of where the kiss might lead.

Her confusion made her tremble against his touch. Derek took this as a positive response to his kisses.

"Odette," he whispered against her lips, "please. Kiss me."

There was something so vulnerable in his tone, something that made her stomach twinge in guilt. He would not be interested in her forever, and her excuses of formalities and etiquette may have been driving a wedge into his heart.

With that in mind, she rolled ever so slightly forward on her heels and gently touched her lips to his. If there hadn't of been a small pulse of heat that coursed through him from the contact, Derek would have sworn that a feather had simply brushed passed his face.

While it was more of a response than most times, it still did not sate him.

He knew that she had to be careful, but so did he. After all, he was a betrothed member of a prestigious royal family and yet he was gallivanting around with another.

If he could see past all that, why couldn't she? What was stopping her?

He leaned back in to steal another kiss, again needing to be the one who instigated it. When he couldn't sense any difference in her passion from minutes earlier, he pulled away. He just had to tell her what he had been thinking about all day.

"I have something for you," he said to her mystified sapphire eyes. He loved the way her soft face seemed to glow angelically in the darkness.

Those words rendered Odette more thoughtless than she'd ever been, and so she let him pull her eagerly over towards the bed.

She thought she knew exactly what he was talking about and felt the muscles in her legs become a dead weight in response.

He wasn't heading for the bed, however. Instead, he let her hand go and stepped over to one of the bedside tables. He opened up a small trinket box beside the unlit lamp, pulling something metallic and small out of it.

He turned around and came over to her, reaching for her hands.

"Here," he said.

He turned Odette's hand over, and emptied the contents into her palm. A regal gold heart shaped locket fell against her skin, as did the equally expensive chain when he let it go.

Odette looked at it cautiously, as if it were a burning coal. Never had she been close enough to touch such a beautiful and costly piece of jewellery. He couldn't give her something so valuable. It was unheard of. It was improper.

Maria would think that she had stolen it.

"It was my mother's," Derek explained, curling her fingers around the gold piece of jewellery. "And then, naturally, my sister's... When they both died, it came to me and is to go to the woman I will marry."

Those words blew out all the air in Odette's lungs. She couldn't breathe with the implications.

"Odette," he said, taking up both her hands, the locket still pressed against her palm. "I will marry you. I don't care if we have to run away – I'd prefer it that way. We could take a horse and ride off into the night and no one will ever find us... Tonight. Come with me..."

She began to tremble. What had she done?

She wanted to scream a resounding 'yes' to him, but knew that she couldn't possibly do it.

Was the kingdom going to lose its only heir because of her? What would happen when he got bored of her, as he undoubtedly would? Would the kingdom have crumbled for a worthless, orphaned maid? Had she become the wicked whore that Maria claimed she was from such an early age?

Derek went on, trying desperately to make her look at him with his words. "You are all that I can think about. I want to marry for love, not for duty. I want you because you are my princess."

"I am not a princess," Odette finally breathed, shaking her head. The gold locket seemed to burn against the skin of her palm.

"No, don't do that," he begged, pulling her closer. "Don't say those things. Tomorrow, we could be free and start in a new world. Odette, please... I love you and I will do anything to prove my worth..."

He leaned in and kissed her again, wrapping his arms securely around her waist. She didn't know what to do. Had she just been asked to marry the prince?

No, that was just misconstruing the situation.

What was she supposed to do now? She couldn't get sucked into this fantastic fairytale... She was a maid.

A servant.

She tried to scream that to herself internally, to create a mantra, but it didn't work. Derek's lips pressing sensuously across her cheek broke her focus.

He backed up a few steps, pulling her along gently, and then sat on the edge of the bed. The force from his movements made Odette lose her balance momentarily, and she accidentally dug her hands into his shoulders to regain her steadiness. Derek elicited a moan at the pressure and instinctively pulled her standing frame between his legs.

Never breaking away, he removed the locket from her hands and expertly slid it around her neck. His hand lingered over the swell of her breast.

Odette knew what was going to happen, but she couldn't grasp the concept of it. She had not mentally prepared herself for this, nor had she gathered enough advice from her sisters. She wished she had known this morning that today was the day she would enter into womanhood.

Derek saw her eyes mulling over something in her mind, and he wanted her to just relax a little. "Odette..." he breathed, running his lips along her jaw line to distract her. "Run away with me."

Unable to think about anything more than the fact that she was about to lose her maidenhood, she didn't answer him. Instead, she withdrew her hands from his shoulders and began pulling at her corset laces up her back.

When he felt what she was doing, Derek clasped his hands over hers and halted her movements.

"Is that what you think I meant?" he asked, a hint of frustration leaking through. He pulled her hands back in front of her. Derek took her by the waist and nudged her over to his right, silently asking him to sit beside her on the bed. "Odette, I just want you to do what you want. Not what you think is right, or proper..."

She peered up from her folded hands and looked at him. Even in the blackness, his generous eyes burned away her insecurities. Then, she did the unthinkable. She practically threw herself at Derek, devouring his sweet lips.

This was what she wanted. This was the man who made her heart beat stronger, colours appear brighter, and the smell of a rose that much stronger. To be able to kiss the man that she loved was what she wanted, without the facts of life weighing her down.

He was thrilled by her sudden advance, and almost feared kissing her back in case she stopped what she was doing. He dared to slide his hands around her waist, but when she nipped hungrily at his bottom lip, he knew he didn't have to worry. The two rolled back against the mattress, Odette leaning over his torso and face.

Derek let his hands roam through her golden locks, the loose braid cascading down her back gently. He loved the way her body moulded to his, as if she was made as a perfect fit for him.

The way her hands pushed seductively down on his chest, the way her touch made tingles race up his spine, the way her luscious lips seemed to melt against her hot breath... he thought he might burst from the sensations.

When Odette pulled back to take in some much needed air, her eyes cracked open a fraction. She saw the regal oak wood bed frame, the rich tapestries pulled back over the colossal windows, and none other than Prince Derek lying helpless beneath her.

What are you doing?

The facts were that she was nothing, and he was the future king.

She froze in place again, sucking in a ragged breath.

"Odette?"

"I cannot. I'm so sorry," she gushed, clambering to her feet hurriedly. She turned around and darted out of the room, back into the night without so much as a glance back at him.

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