Page 52 of Odette's Vow

Hecuba shrugged and looked forlornly towards the retreating backs of Agamemnon and his marching entourage.

When I went to ask Odette another question, I caught her with a strange look of appraisal on her face, aimed at Hecuba. For some reason, only in that moment did I realise that these two small, slight women had murdered men far larger and stronger than them, and I had let them get away with it.

17

Odette

Swinging shadows and death’s decree.

Bound together are love and hate

eternally.

Beware the head that turns

when ghosts appear.

Joy is a bird.

For all coins are circles,

and circles, a loop

presented to you.

You have no choice.

One is bound to the other.

The head turns.

The circle loops.

The bind tightens.

The neck snaps.

The spirit drowns.

Swinging shadows.

Eternally bound.

Coup. Coup. Coup.

– Cassandra

18

Odette

Ihad not realised that accidental killing would feel so different from murder. The former was a wound that bled daily, no matter what I had tried to do to stop it, its poison leaking pus at every opportunity. The latter, however, that split-second moment when I had decided todosomething about the men whose actions harmed the innocent. That was more effective than any bandage I had found so far.

It was power. This was what it felt like.

I had never known it before, never understood the allure of making a split-second decision, seeing it through, having no one stop you, and being fine with where the consequences led you. I understood now why men coveted it.

I would forever be grateful to my queen for gifting me the opportunity to experience it.

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