Page 60 of Betraying Korth
“Let me guess,” Peter said, a smirk playing across his face. “You fell for that hoity-toity prince and your lies got found out, am I right?”
I frowned. “How would a prisoner like you know anything?”
“I have my sources.” He grinned. “Sounds like you did quite a number on Mr. Perfect. My informant said that your handsome prince has been moaning and groaning and trying to convince himself that he was never in love with you.” The boy closed his eyes and blew a puff of air up to flip the strands of red hair out of his face.
How could this boy know anything about what Korth and I had been through if he had been locked in the cell next to me? I hadn’t heard any informant come or go.
“How do you know about…” I couldn’t bring myself to say his name.
“What, how do I know about you and Korth?” He snorted. “Everyone knows.”
A wave of dread washed over me. No doubt Odette, once she had been let out, spread the story as far and wide as she could to gain sympathy. I could just imagine her self-righteous face now, fawning over Korth as she planned their wedding…the wedding that I still longed for. I hated the idea of her walking down the aisle. Would Korth smile for her the way he did for me? Would he continue our tradition of kissing on bridges with Odette?
I scrunched my eyes shut, as if doing so would block out the images flashing through my mind at lightning speed. My life’s mission had always been to overthrow my kingdom’s rulers. I’d known that from the cradle. For a few short weeks, I had allowed myself the fleeting idea that perhaps, my future could contain some vestige of happiness.
What lies.
People who were good and honorable like Korth deserved happy endings and bright futures. I deserved what I had—a damp jail cell to protect others from me.
Peter tried to engage me in conversation several more times, but I ignored him. Everyone I’d ever known other than Korth was a liar or a criminal. There was no need for me to engage in conversation with someone even more unethical than myself.
“Oi, you.” A burly guard with mutton chops had a pillow and a couple scratchy woolen blankets tucked under his arm. “Here.” He shoved them unceremoniously through the bars so they fell to the floor.
I sighed, then wearily rose and collected them. At least while I wasted away in prison, I’d have something to give my aching backside some reprieve from the hard slats of my wooden bunk. By the time I’d picked them up, the guard had disappeared.
The scrapeof wooden legs against a stone floor ground against my ears, tugging me from my sleep. I squinted in the dim light of the passageway and spotted Tess settling herself onto a stool outside Peter Pan’s cell, two copies of a children’s book in her hands.
My eyes darted back and forth between Korth’s little sister and the prisoner in the cell next to mine as I realized who Peter Pan’s informant was.
“Tess?” I asked cautiously.
Her hands flew up to her mouth as she spotted me emerging from underneath the blankets. “Odette! I mean?—”
“It’s Dahlia,” I supplied. The girl who might have been my sister hadn’t even known my name.
Who was I kidding? I had nearly married a man who thought I was someone else. He wouldn’t have even known his own wife’s real name.
“Dahlia, I’m sorry you’re here.” Tess’s wide, innocent eyes blinked rapidly. “Korth misses you.”
My smile was strained. “You’re sweet, Tess, but I promise, he’s better off without me.”
“But I thought you loved him.”
“I do, but sometimes that means knowing that you want something more for the person you love. Is…” I licked my chapped lips. “Is he marrying Odette?”
Her gaze dropping was all the answer I needed. The force of the realization impaled me, skewering my heart so that physical pain tore at my chest. Korth really had been in love with my title, after all.
“Their wedding is tomorrow.”
I cast about for a change in topic. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m teaching Peter to read.”
My eyes darted to glare at the red-headed teenager, who coyly saluted with two fingers. I knew the danger of someone trying to get close to someone in power all too well. Tess was far too young for nonsense like that.
“Tess, that isn’t a good idea.”
“We’re friends! Aren’t we?” She turned her head to Peter, who nodded fervently. “Korth said that we all learn from our mistakes. Besides, if I didn’t visit him, Korth said Peter would be alone all the time. So I’m his friend now.”
