Swan Song ❂ Killian Jones [1]

9

Odette flew low to the ground, navigating through the trees and bushes as she evaded capture. He was close behind her, running after her excitedly as he tried to catch her. Of course, she could have moved much faster, but once she started to feel the familiar feeling that came over her as the sun began to set, she increased her speed, wanting to get further away before she finally turned.

But she didn't get to fly too far as her sight was enveloped by white, the forest around her momentarily fading from view as she felt her feet hit the ground firmly once she dropped from the sky. Knowing what was headed her way behind her, Odette didn't hesitate to turn around and spread her arms as she knelt to the floor, just in time to catch the figure.

"I caught you!" Roland's ecstatic call came as soon as he found himself in her arms, Odette rising back into a standing position as she let out a small laugh at his happiness.

"Yes you did, you're faster than a swan." Odette complimented the boy and the words made his smile widen even more, if it were even possible. As she finished her words, her eyes caught the sight of the rest of their group finally reaching them, all smiling and shaking their heads at the childish game of tag.

"Papa! Papa! I'm faster than a swan!" Roland exclaimed as the Merry Men all came to a stop once they reached the two of them. Robin smiled at his son, thrilled, as he was every time, to see him so happy.

"Are you sure, maybe you just got lucky?" Robin teased him as he took him from Odette's arms sending a thankful smile her way. Not once during her time with them did she turn down any of Roland's requests to play with him, no matter the form she was in.

"I am! Etty just said I am!" Roland defended proudly using the nickname he had bestowed upon Odette after the whole group had discovered the truth about her identity and making each of the men laugh as he spoke with the same conviction they often heard from his father.

"Well then it must be true." Robin said as he kissed the top of Roland's head with a large smile before turned to Odette with a questioning look. "Are you ready to go?"

"Are you sure about this village? Someone might recognize me." Odette asked as she looked among the men. After the ambush they had endured at their last location, the Merry Men had decided that their next location best be one where they knew they'd be safe. And while the village they were heading to was one that their group had helped in the past, and the men believed they wouldn't give them up to King George's guards, Odette still worried. The village was in what was once her kingdom, after all.

"You've said it yourself, soon enough everyone will know you're still alive, and I know the people over there, none are loyal to George. Nobody will turn us in." Robin reassured her patiently, and she took a couple of more seconds to think it through.

The day's hunt for food did not go as well as it usually did. And the whole camp was in need of it. That, paired with the fact that their medical supplies needed restocking, their only option at the moment was to go into one of the villages in the area they'd been occupying.